Ultrahigh Resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging -On-A-Chip

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In 1991 it was proposed that nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry with sensitivity at the level of a single proton might be achievable through mechanical detection using scanned probe techniques similar to AFM. Achieving this degree of sensitivity would constitute a truly revolutionary advance; it would permit three-dimensional atomic-scale imaging, with chemical specificity. Mechanically-detected MRI, often called Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy (MRFM) is now many orders of magnitude more sensitive than conventional MRI. The mechanical detection technique has clearly provided staggering advances, and it is clear that significant additional gains are on the horizon for MRFM. We project that MRI with atomic resolution will be attained in just a few years.The PI and co-PI propose as an ultimate goal MRI instruments with single-nucleus resolution, will require a radically new approach, one that involves single-chip integration of hybrid electro/magneto/opto/mechanical devices. Realizing such devices would be an important departure from the path being taken by all current workers, worldwide, in this new field of MRFM. This new research direction is what has been proposed in this submission. This grant, if awarded, will allow the PI to leverage his current efforts in, and facilities for, Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (NEMS) toward making important headway on the engineering and science of novel integrated systems (nanochips) for MRFM. When fully implemented, the magnetic resonance force microscope will become a unique scanned probe instrument offering the high spatial resolution of atomic force microscopy (AFM), while simultaneously offering three dimensional visualization capabilities of MRI within the engineering sciences it will enable new, high resolution studies of the microscopic subsurface properties for a broad range of new materials and electronic devices based upon buried interfaces. It is a technique that is both non-destructive and chemically specific.