The scanning-tunneling-microscope-induced luminescence emerges recently as an incisive tool to measure the molecular properties down to the single-molecule level. The rapid experimental progress is far ahead of the theoretical effort to understand the observed phenomena. Such incompetence leads to a significant difficulty in quantitatively assigning the observed feature of the fluorescence spectrum to the structure and dynamics of a single molecule. This letter is devoted to reveal the microscopic origin of the molecular excitation via inelastic scattering of the tunneling electrons in scanning tunneling microscope. The current theory explains the observed large photon counting asymmetry between the molecular luminescence intensity at positive and negative bias voltage.
The molecular dark state participates in many important photon-induced processes, yet is typically beyond the optical-spectroscopic measurement due to the forbidden transition dictated by the selection rule. In this work, we propose to use the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) as an incisive tool to directly profile the dark-state transition density of a single molecule, taking advantage of the localized static electronic field near the metal tip. The detection of dark state is achieved by measuring the fluorescence from a higher bright state to the ground state with assistant optical pumpin…
The Scanning Quantum Cryogenic Atom Microscope (SQCRAMscope) is a quantum sensor in which a quasi-1D quantum gas images electromagnetic fields emitted from a nearby sample. We report improvements to the microscope. Cryogen usage is reduced by replacing the liquid cryostat with a closed-cycle system and modified cold finger, and cryogenic cooling is enhanced by adding a radiation shield. The minimum accessible sample temperature is reduced from 35 K to 5.8 K while maintaining low sample vibrations. A new sample mount is easier to exchange, and quantum gas preparation is streamlined.
Silicon can be isotopically enriched, allowing for the fabrication of highly coherent semiconductor spin qubits. However, the conduction band of bulk Si exhibits a six-fold valley degeneracy, which may adversely impact the performance of silicon quantum devices. To date, the spatial characterization of valley states in Si remains limited. Moreover, techniques for probing valley states in functional electronic devices are needed. We describe here a cryogen-free scanning gate microscope for the characterization of Si/Si$_{0.7}$Ge$_{0.3}$ quantum devices at mK temperatures. The microscope is base…
Multi-tip scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is a powerful method to perform charge transport measurements at the nanoscale. With four STM tips positioned on the surface of a sample, four-point resistance measurements can be performed in dedicated geometric configurations. Here, we present an alternative to the most often used scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging to infer the corresponding tip positions. After initial coarse positioning monitored by an optical microscope, STM scanning itself is used to determine the inter-tip distances. A large STM overview scan serves as a reference ma…
The quantitative characterization of the degree of randomness and aggregation of surface micro and nanostructures is critical to evaluate their effects on targeted functionalities. To this end, the methods of Point Pattern Analysis (PPA), largely used in ecology and medical imaging, seem to provide a powerful toolset. However, the application of these techniques requires the extraction of the point pattern of nanostructures from their microscope images. In this work, we address the issue of the impact that Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image processing may have on the fundamental metric o…
Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond is a promising quantum sensor with remarkably versatile sensing capabilities. While scanning NV magnetometry is well-established, NV electrometry has been so far limited to bulk diamonds. Here we demonstrate imaging external alternating (AC) and direct (DC) electric fields with a single NV at the apex of a diamond scanning tip under ambient conditions. A strong electric field screening effect is observed at low frequencies due to charge noise on the surface. We quantitatively measure its frequency dependence, and overcome this screening by mechanically o…
Inelastic electron tunneling in a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is used to generate excitons in monolayer tungsten disulfide (WS$_2$). Excitonic electroluminescence is measured both at positive and negative sample bias. Using optical spectroscopy and Fourier-space optical microscopy, we show that the bias polarity of the tunnel junction determines the spectral and angular distribution of the emitted light. At positive sample bias, only emission from excitonic species featuring an in-plane transition dipole moment is detected. Based on the spectral distribution of the emitted light, we in…
A scanning tunneling microscope for spectroscopic imaging below 90 mK in magnetic fields up to 17.5 T
我们描述了超高真空扫描隧道显微镜的发展和性能的组合极端条件下的超低温和高磁场。我们结合了顶部加载稀释制冷机和标准桶杜瓦瓶与底部加载超导磁体，以实现4.5天的运行时间，这是足够长的时间来执行各种光谱成像测量。为了使有效电子温度更接近混合室温度，我们特别注意滤除射频噪声，以及增强显微镜单元和混合室之间的热连接。通过测量铝的超导能隙谱，我们估计最低有效电子温度在90 mK以下。我们证实了长期稳定的光谱成像测量可视化超导涡旋的铜酸盐超导体Bi $_{2}$ Sr $_{2}$ CaCu $_{2}$ O $_{8+δ}$。
Ultrafast supercontinuum fiber-laser based pump-probe scanning MOKE microscope for the investigation of electron spin dynamics in semiconductors at cryogenic temperatures with picosecond time and micrometer spatial resolution
We report a scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) microscope in a cryogen-free dilution refrigerator with a base temperature at the sample stage of at least 30 mK. The microscope is rigidly mounted to the mixing chamber plate to optimize thermal anchoring of the sample. The microscope housing fits into the bore of a superconducting vector magnet, and our design accommodates a large number of wires connecting the sample and sensor. Through a combination of vibration isolation in the cryostat and a rigid microscope housing, we achieve relative vibrations between the SQUID …
