A Planar Scanning Probe Microscope

Abstract

Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is traditionally based on very sharp tips, where the small size of the apex is critical for resolution. This paradigm is about to shift, since a novel generation of planar probes (color centers in diamond, superconducting sensors and single electron transistors) promises to image small electric and magnetic fields with hitherto inaccessible sensitivity. To date, much effort has been put into fabricating these planar sensors on tip-like structures. This compromises performance and poses a considerable engineering challenge, which is mastered by only a few laboratories. Here we present a radically simplified, tipless, approach - a technique for scanning an extended planar sensor parallel to a planar sample at a distance of few tens of nanometers. It is based on a combination of far-field optical techniques to measure both tilt and distance between probe and sample with sub-mrad and sub-nm precision, respectively. Employing these measurements as a feedback signal, we demonstrate near-field optical imaging of plasmonic modes in silver nanowires by a single NV center. Our scheme simultaneously improves the sensor quality and enlarges the range of available sensors beyond the limitations of existing tip-based schemes.

References in corpus (9)

• High-sensitivity diamond magnetometer with nanoscale resolution
• Observation of Electron-Hole Puddles in Graphene Using a Scanning Single Electron Transistor
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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Single-molecule Scale Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy using Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Diamond
• An Integrated Widefield Probe for Practical Diamond Nitrogen-Vacancy Microscopy
• Minimizing sensor-sample distances in scanning nitrogen-vacancy magnetometry
• Towards high spatial resolution magnetic imaging with a compact practical quantum diamond microscope
• Planar scanning probe microscopy enables vector magnetic field imaging at the nanoscale
• Widefield quantum microscopy with nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond: strengths, limitations, and prospects
• Harnessing the Diamond-Air Interface as an Efficient Photon Antenna for Solid-State Emitters