MRI: Acquisition of optical access in a cryogenic scanning probe microscope for quantum sensing capabilities

MRI：在低温扫描探针显微镜中获取光学通道以实现量子传感功能

• 批准号: 2216155
• 负责人: Christian Binek
• 金额: $ 35.82万
• 依托单位: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2216155&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Acquisition; optical; access; cryogenic

Materials science is in the midst of a second quantum revolution where quantum phenomena on a macroscopic scale enable new forms of quantum materials and quantum technologies with revolutionizing impact in medicine, banking, and defense due to quantum enabled advances in information technology, sensing, communication, computation, simulation and cryptography to name just a few examples. This Major Research Instrumentation award supports the University of Nebraska-Lincoln which hosts the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience (NCMN) and its NSF funded EPSCoR center on emerging quantum materials and technologies. With this MRI award, researchers will take full advantage of the existing cryogenic scanning probe microscope which enables atomic, magnetic and piezo force microscopy at temperatures between 4 and 300K and magnetic fields up to 9T, and utilize it to create a commercial high-resolution quantum sensing platform. This versatile characterization tool is a quantum sensing application which enables state-of-the-art characterization of novel quantum materials. The instrument puts Nebraska on the map as a pioneer in many areas of quantum materials science. Because the instrument is part of NCMN’s core facilities, it becomes accessible to internal and external users. Access to this instrumentation paves the way for Nebraska’s emerging quantum technology-based economy, which builds on the existing high-tech industry within the Silicon Prairie. Equally important is the fact that the access to this instrument allows educating students and training quantum engineers for the much-needed quantum workforce. This Track 1 Major Research Instrumentation award is for the acquisition of a Nitrogen Vacancy (NV)-Attocube (Atto) atomic force microscope (AFM) integrated with a confocal microscope (CFM), which allows magnetic, optical, and quantum measurements at the nanometer scale. The instrument will be located at the Surface and Materials Characterization division of the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience (NCMN) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). The acquisition of the module will transform the existing NSF-funded low-temperature high-magnetic-field multifunctional scanning probe microscope into a versatile platform for NV quantum sensing and fundamental research on quantum entanglement. The point defect atomic nature of the NV center and its spin millisecond quantum coherence lifetime allow measurements of a wide range of quantum materials with high sensitivity and spatial resolution ( 40 nm). Additionally, it operates at high magnetic fields and across a wide range of temperatures. The system can support various experiments, including magnetic imaging of solid-state materials and biomolecules as well as mapping optical and thermal properties of low-dimensional materials. Currently, there are five similar instruments in the U.S. with limitations in types of materials studied (e.g., only superconductors) or magnetic field range (only 0.5 T). In acquiring the NV-AttoAFM/CFM, the goal is to position UNL at the forefront of quantum sensing capabilities ushering in the age of applied quantum technologies in Nebraska and U.S. Midwest. The infrastructure of NCMN, a user facility serving the Midwest research community and startup companies, includes the technical support of a PhD-trained expert in scanning probe microscopy, which ensures long-term maintenance, sustainability, and user support.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

材料科学正处于第二次量子革命之中，宏观尺度上的量子现象使新形式的量子材料和量子技术成为可能，由于量子在信息技术、传感、通信、仅举几个例子，该重大研究仪器奖项支持内布拉斯加州大学林肯分校的内布拉斯加州材料和纳米科学中心 (NCMN) 及其 NSF 资助的 EPSCoR 新兴量子材料和技术中心。这MRI奖，研究人员将充分利用现有的低温扫描探针显微镜，在4至300K的温度和高达9T的磁场下实现原子、磁力和压力显微镜，并利用其创建商业高分辨率量子传感平台这种多功能表征工具是一种量子传感应用，可以对新型量子材料进行最先进的表征，使内布拉斯加州成为量子材料科学许多领域的先驱。 NCMN 的核心设施可供内部和外部用户使用，为内布拉斯加州新兴的基于量子技术的经济铺平了道路，该经济建立在硅草原现有的高科技产业的基础上。使用该仪器可以教育学生并培训急需的量子劳动力的量子工程师。该轨道 1 主要研究仪器奖用于购买氮空位 (NV)-Attocube (Atto) 原子力显微镜。 (AFM) 与共焦显微镜 (CFM) 集成，可进行纳米尺度的磁、光学和量子测量。该仪器将位于内布拉斯加州材料和纳米科学中心 (NCMN) 的表面和材料表征部门。内布拉斯加大学林肯分校 (UNL) 收购该模块将把现有的 NSF 资助的低温高磁场多功能扫描探针显微镜转变为用于 NV 量子传感和基础研究的多功能平台。 NV 中心的点缺陷原子性质及其自旋毫秒量子相干寿命允许以高灵敏度和空间分辨率（40 nm）测量各种量子材料。该系统可以支持各种实验，包括固态材料和生物分子的磁成像以及低维材料的光学和热特性绘图，目前美国有五种类似的仪器，但类型有限。研究材料的数量（例如，仅超导体）或磁场范围（仅 0.5 T） 购买 NV-AttoAFM/CFM 的目标是将 UNL 置于量子传感能力的前沿，从而引领内布拉斯加州和美国应用量子技术的时代。中西部 NCMN 是一个服务于中西部研究界和初创公司的用户设施，包括扫描探针显微镜领域受过博士学位的专家的技术支持，确保长期维护、可持续性和可持续发展。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。