Dresden 2017 – scientific programme

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MI: Fachverband Mikrosonden

MI 7: Poster: Microanalysis and Microscopy

MI 7.9: Poster

Wednesday, March 22, 2017, 18:00–20:00, P4

Positioning planar scanning probes by super-resolution microscopy — •Stefan Ernst and Friedemann Reinhard — Walter Schottky Institut and Physik Department, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany

Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is traditionally based on very sharp tips, where the small size of the apex is critical for resolution (STM, AFM, MFM). This paradigm is about to shift, since a new generation of planar probes (SQUIDs, scanning SETs, NV color centers in diamond) promises to image hitherto inaccessible quantities such as very small magnetic and electric fields. So far, much effort is put into fabricating these planar sensors on a tip, to be compatible with traditional SPM techniques and to bring the sensor close to the sample surface. This poses a significant engineering challenge, which is mastered by only a few groups.

Here we propose a novel, tipless, approach – a technique to scan a planar probe parallel to a planar sample at a distance of only a few nanometers. The core element of our scheme is a super-resolution microscopy technique to measure both sensor-sample tilt and distance with high accuracy (mrad/nm). In this project, we aim to use shallow NV centers at the planar surface of a bulk diamond as scanning probes. This will simultaneously reduce fabrication complexity, improve the sensor quality and reduce the sensor-sample distance compared to existing tip-based schemes [1, 2].

[1] P. Maletinsky, et al., Nature nanotechnology, 7(5):320–324, 2012.

[2] G. Balasubramanian, et al., Nature, 455(7213):648–651, 2008.