Local Spectroscopy of Ferromagnetic/Superconductor Nanostructures

有人建议在亚微米尺度的器件上进行局域光谱和电位测量，以研究介观物理中一些最有趣的问题。将开发的工具将使许多其他方法无法实现的新的实验研究成为可能。这些研究中使用的探针是扫描隧道显微镜(STM)，近年来已被广泛用于研究纳米级的结构。根据拟议实验的要求，需要在一个实验工具中组装许多实验技术，这是以前从未做过的。仪器组装后，要进行的实验包括成像外部磁场在超导薄膜中产生的磁涡旋，以及通过嵌入超导薄膜中的铁磁性颗粒发出的磁场进行成像。该项目将需要与法国格勒诺布尔CRTBT的Herve‘Courtois教授小组密切合作。铁磁体作为各种潜在有用设备的部件正变得越来越重要。这些实验试图回答一些基本问题，这些问题涉及纳米尺度上的铁磁体的性质，以及它们与其他材料(如超导体)的相互作用。鉴于扫描探针显微镜在研究和表征纳米级系统的特性方面日益重要，参与该项目的学生将接受良好的技术培训，这些技术将在他们未来的职业生涯中有用，无论这些职业是在工业、学术界还是政府实验室。

It is proposed to conduct local spectroscopic and potentiometric measurements on submicron scale devices to investigate some of the most interesting issues in mesoscopic physics. The tools that will be developed will enable a host of new experimental investigations that would not be possible by any other means.The probe to be used in these studies is scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), one that has been used extensively in recent years to investigate structures on the nanometer scale. The requirements of the proposed experiments necessitate the assembly of a number of experimental techniques in one experimental tool, which has not been done before. After assembly of the instrument, the experiments to be performed involve imaging the magnetic vortices created in a superconducting film by an external magnetic field, and by the magnetic field emanating from ferromagnetic particles embedded in the film. The project will entail a close collaboration with Professor Herve' Courtois' group at the CRTBT in Grenoble, France.Ferromagnets are becoming increasingly important as components of a wide variety of potentially useful devices. These experiments seek to answer a number of fundamental questions regarding the properties of ferromagnets on the nanometer scale, and their interactions with other materials such as superconductors. Given the increasing importance of scanning probe microscopies in investigating and characterizing the properties of nanoscale systems, the students involved in this project will be well-trained in techniques that will be useful in their future careers, whether those careers are in industry, academia, or government laboratories.