Local Spectroscopy of Ferromagnetic/Superconductor Nanostructures

提出了在亚微米尺度器件上进行局部光谱和电位测量来研究介观物理中一些最有趣的问题。将开发的工具将使大量新的实验研究成为可能，这是任何其他手段都无法实现的。这些研究中使用的探针是扫描隧道显微镜（STM），这是近年来广泛用于纳米尺度结构研究的一种探针。所提出的实验的要求需要在一个实验工具中组合许多实验技术，这是以前从未做过的。在仪器组装完成后，将要进行的实验包括对外部磁场在超导薄膜中产生的磁涡流进行成像，以及对嵌入在薄膜中的铁磁粒子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。作为各种潜在有用器件的组成部分，铁磁体正变得越来越重要。这些实验试图回答一些关于铁磁体在纳米尺度上的性质的基本问题，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特性方面的重要性日益增加，参与本项目的学生将在技术方面得到良好的训练，这些技术将对他们未来的职业生涯有用，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.