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Wang M, Perez-Morelo DJ, Ramer G, Pavlidis G, Schwartz JJ, Yu L, Ilic R, Centrone A, Aksyuk VA. Beating thermal noise in a dynamic signal measurement by a nanofabricated cavity optomechanical sensor. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadf7595. [PMID: 36921059 PMCID: PMC10017032 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf7595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Thermal fluctuations often impose both fundamental and practical measurement limits on high-performance sensors, motivating the development of techniques that bypass the limitations imposed by thermal noise outside cryogenic environments. Here, we theoretically propose and experimentally demonstrate a measurement method that reduces the effective transducer temperature and improves the measurement precision of a dynamic impulse response signal. Thermal noise-limited, integrated cavity optomechanical atomic force microscopy probes are used in a photothermal-induced resonance measurement to demonstrate an effective temperature reduction by a factor of ≈25, i.e., from room temperature down as low as ≈12 K, without cryogens. The method improves the experimental measurement precision and throughput by >2×, approaching the theoretical limit of ≈3.5× improvement for our experimental conditions. The general applicability of this method to dynamic measurements leveraging thermal noise-limited harmonic transducers will have a broad impact across a variety of measurement platforms and scientific fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingkang Wang
- Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
- Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Diego J. Perez-Morelo
- Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
- Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Georg Ramer
- Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Nanoscale Devices Characterization Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
- Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics, TU Wien, Getreidemarkt 9, 1060 Vienna, Austria
| | - Georges Pavlidis
- Nanoscale Devices Characterization Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Jeffrey J. Schwartz
- Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Nanoscale Devices Characterization Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Liya Yu
- Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Robert Ilic
- Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Andrea Centrone
- Nanoscale Devices Characterization Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Vladimir A. Aksyuk
- Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
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Wang M, Ramer G, Perez-Morelo DJ, Pavlidis G, Schwartz JJ, Yu L, Ilic R, Aksyuk VA, Centrone A. High Throughput Nanoimaging of Thermal Conductivity and Interfacial Thermal Conductance. NANO LETTERS 2022; 22:4325-4332. [PMID: 35579622 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c00337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Thermal properties of materials are often determined by measuring thermalization processes; however, such measurements at the nanoscale are challenging because they require high sensitivity concurrently with high temporal and spatial resolutions. Here, we develop an optomechanical cantilever probe and customize an atomic force microscope with low detection noise ≈1 fm/Hz1/2 over a wide (>100 MHz) bandwidth that measures thermalization dynamics with ≈10 ns temporal resolution, ≈35 nm spatial resolution, and high sensitivity. This setup enables fast nanoimaging of thermal conductivity (η) and interfacial thermal conductance (G) with measurement throughputs ≈6000× faster than conventional macroscale-resolution time-domain thermoreflectance acquiring the full sample thermalization. As a proof-of-principle demonstration, 100 × 100 pixel maps of η and G of a polymer particle are obtained in 200 s with a small relative uncertainty (<10%). This work paves the way to study fast thermal dynamics in materials and devices at the nanoscale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingkang Wang
- Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
- Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Georg Ramer
- Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Nanoscale Devices Characterization Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
- Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics, TU Wien, Getreidemarkt 9, 1060 Vienna, Austria
| | - Diego J Perez-Morelo
- Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
- Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Georges Pavlidis
- Nanoscale Devices Characterization Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States
| | - Jeffrey J Schwartz
- Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Nanoscale Devices Characterization Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Liya Yu
- Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Robert Ilic
- Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Vladimir A Aksyuk
- Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Andrea Centrone
- Nanoscale Devices Characterization Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
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Schwab L, Allain PE, Mauran N, Dollat X, Mazenq L, Lagrange D, Gély M, Hentz S, Jourdan G, Favero I, Legrand B. Very-high-frequency probes for atomic force microscopy with silicon optomechanics. MICROSYSTEMS & NANOENGINEERING 2022; 8:32. [PMID: 35371536 PMCID: PMC8931076 DOI: 10.1038/s41378-022-00364-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Revised: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been consistently supporting nanosciences and nanotechnologies for over 30 years and is used in many fields from condensed matter physics to biology. It enables the measurement of very weak forces at the nanoscale, thus elucidating the interactions at play in fundamental processes. Here, we leverage the combined benefits of micro/nanoelectromechanical systems and cavity optomechanics to fabricate a sensor for dynamic mode AFM at a frequency above 100 MHz. This frequency is two decades above the fastest commercial AFM probes, suggesting an opportunity for measuring forces at timescales unexplored thus far. The fabrication is achieved using very-large-scale integration technologies derived from photonic silicon circuits. The probe's optomechanical ring cavity is coupled to a 1.55 μm laser light and features a 130 MHz mechanical resonance mode with a quality factor of 900 in air. A limit of detection in the displacement of 3 × 10-16 m/√Hz is obtained, enabling the detection of the Brownian motion of the probe and paving the way for force sensing experiments in the dynamic mode with a working vibration amplitude in the picometer range. When inserted in a custom AFM instrument embodiment, this optomechanical sensor demonstrates the capacity to perform force-distance measurements and to maintain a constant interaction strength between the tip and sample, an essential requirement for AFM applications. Experiments indeed show a stable closed-loop operation with a setpoint of 4 nN/nm for an unprecedented subpicometer vibration amplitude, where the tip-sample interaction is mediated by a stretched water meniscus.
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Affiliation(s)
- L. Schwab
- Laboratoire d’Analyse et d’Architecture des Systèmes, Université de Toulouse, CNRS UPR 8001, 31031 Toulouse, France
| | - P. E. Allain
- Laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques, Université de Paris, CNRS UMR 7162, 75013 Paris, France
| | - N. Mauran
- Laboratoire d’Analyse et d’Architecture des Systèmes, Université de Toulouse, CNRS UPR 8001, 31031 Toulouse, France
| | - X. Dollat
- Laboratoire d’Analyse et d’Architecture des Systèmes, Université de Toulouse, CNRS UPR 8001, 31031 Toulouse, France
| | - L. Mazenq
- Laboratoire d’Analyse et d’Architecture des Systèmes, Université de Toulouse, CNRS UPR 8001, 31031 Toulouse, France
| | - D. Lagrange
- Laboratoire d’Analyse et d’Architecture des Systèmes, Université de Toulouse, CNRS UPR 8001, 31031 Toulouse, France
| | - M. Gély
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, LETI, Minatec Campus, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - S. Hentz
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, LETI, Minatec Campus, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - G. Jourdan
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, LETI, Minatec Campus, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - I. Favero
- Laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques, Université de Paris, CNRS UMR 7162, 75013 Paris, France
| | - B. Legrand
- Laboratoire d’Analyse et d’Architecture des Systèmes, Université de Toulouse, CNRS UPR 8001, 31031 Toulouse, France
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Cheng B, Yang S, Li W, Li S, Shafique S, Wu D, Ji S, Sun Y, Jiang Z. Controlled growth of a single carbon nanotube on an AFM probe. MICROSYSTEMS & NANOENGINEERING 2021; 7:80. [PMID: 34721888 PMCID: PMC8519951 DOI: 10.1038/s41378-021-00310-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Revised: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be used as atomic force microscopy (AFM) tips for high-resolution scanning due to their small diameter, high aspect ratio and outstanding wear resistance. However, previous approaches for fabricating CNT probes are complex and poorly controlled. In this paper, we introduce a simple method to selectively fabricate a single CNT on an AFM tip by controlling the trigger threshold to adjust the amount of growth solution attached to the tip. The yield rate is over 93%. The resulting CNT probes are suitable in length, without the need for a subsequent cutting process. We used the CNT probe to scan the complex nanostructure with a high aspect ratio, thereby solving the long-lasting problem of mapping complex nanostructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Biyao Cheng
- State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049 China
| | - Shuming Yang
- State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049 China
| | - Wei Li
- National Institute of Metrology, Beijing, 102200 China
| | - Shi Li
- National Institute of Metrology, Beijing, 102200 China
| | - Shareen Shafique
- State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049 China
| | - Dong Wu
- Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, 230027 China
| | - Shengyun Ji
- Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, 230027 China
| | - Yu Sun
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8 Canada
| | - Zhuangde Jiang
- State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049 China
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