Magnetic Resonance Force Detection using a Membrane Resonator

Abstract

The availability of compact, low-cost magnetic resonance imaging instruments would further broaden the substantial impact of this technology. We report highly sensitive detection of magnetic resonance using low-stress silicon nitride (SiN${}_x$) membranes. We use these membranes as low-loss, high-frequency mechanical oscillators and find they are able to mechanically detect spin-dependent forces with high sensitivity enabling ultrasensitive magnetic resonance detection. The high force detection sensitivity stems from their high mechanical quality factor $Q\sim 10^6$ combined with the low mass of the resonator. We use this excellent mechanical force sensitivity to detect the electron spin magnetic resonance using a SiN${}_x$ membrane as a force detector. The demonstrated force sensitivity at 300 K is 4 fN/$\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$, indicating a potential low temperature (4 K) sensitivity of 25 aN/$\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$. Given their sensitivity, robust construction, large surface area and low cost, SiN${}_x$ membranes can potentially serve as the central component of a compact room-temperature ESR and NMR instrument that has superior spatial resolution to conventional approaches.

References in corpus (3)

• Mechanical Resonators for Quantum Optomechanics Experiments at Room Temperature
• High quality mechanical and optical properties of commercial silicon nitride membranes
• Ultralow-Noise SiN Trampoline Resonators for Sensing and Optomechanics

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Membrane-based scanning force microscopy
• Spin detection with a micromechanical trampoline: Towards magnetic resonance microscopy harnessing cavity optomechanics
• Analysis of membrane phononic crystals with wide bandgaps and low-mass defects
• Soft-clamped phononic dimers for mechanical sensing and transduction
• Roadmap on Nanoscale Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Spin detection via parametric frequency conversion in a membrane resonator
• Enhancing Membrane-Based Scanning Force Microscopy Through an Optical Cavity
• mrfmsim: A modular, extendable, and readable simulation package for magnetic resonance force microscopy experiments
• Measuring high field gradients of cobalt nanomagnets in a spin-mechanical setup