- Number 448 |
- September 21, 2015
Magnetism at nanoscale
Ames Laboratory physicists are building a
nitrogen-vacancy center magnetoscope to
better understand magnetic fields at smaller
scales than ever before. The NV-
magnetoscope relies on the quantum
mechanical properties of NV centers in
diamond to help probe magnetic fields down
to a resolution of about 10 nanometers.
As the demand grows for ever smaller, smarter electronics, so does the demand for understanding materials’ behavior at ever smaller scales. Physicists Ames Laboratory are building a unique optical magnetometer to probe magnetism at the nano- and mesoscale.
The device, called a NV-magnetoscope, makes use of the unique quantum mechanical properties of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. The low temperature NV-magnetoscope setup incorporates a confocal microscope (CFM) and an atomic-force scanning microscope (AFM). The NV-magnetoscope will be able to sense the extremely weak magnetic fields of just a handful of electrons with the spatial resolution of about 10 nanometers.
“We want to determine magnetic textures more precisely than ever before, at smaller scales than ever before,” said Ames Laboratory physicist Ruslan Prozorov. “Our hope is to understand nano- and mesoscale magnetism, learn how to control it and, eventually, use that to create a new generation of technologies.”
Full Story:
https://www.ameslab.gov/news/feature-stories/magnetism-nanoscale
[Breehan Gerleman Lucchesi, 515.294.9750,
breehan@ameslab.gov]
