Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy

"A product development effort aimed at constructing a novel magnetic resonance force microscope that is an exciting powerful new technology for detecting nuclear magnetic and electron-spin resonance of nanoscale samples and imaging subsurface features. Aprototype variable-temperature, variable-field instrument has been constructed at Cornell University and has already been used to detect both electron spin resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance. In Phase I, we will demonstrate additional keytechnologies required to bring the instrument to market with single-electron sensitivity. A real-time embedded controller for actively controlling the dynamics of the ultrafloppy cantilevers used in the microscope will be created. Three-dimensionalscanning capability is integrated into the prototype research instrument, and will demonstrate a protocol for batch fabricating the first-ever nanomagnet-on-tip ultrafloppy cantilevers. This is the development of the first-ever commercially availablescanned probe microscope capable of imaging subsurface features with isotopic selectivity. The proposed magnetic resonance force microscope represents a dramatic enhancement in imaging capability over existing scanned-probe microscopes. Since themagnetic resonance force microscope enables imaging of subsurface features for the first time, and has the unique capacity of being able to image with isotopic selectivity, the potential commercial applications are enormous. CryoIndustries envisionsproducing a cryogenic magnetic resonance force microscope for initial applications in thin-film materials analysis. The technology will have broad commercial and military utility including: research of advanced materials, advanced semiconductor-deviceresearch (e.g. individual impurity and defect characterization), single-molecule analytical chemistry, infectious disease research, biotechnology, nanoelectronics, and new solid-state physics research (e.g. investigations of electron spin couplingmechanisms and quantum computational physics)."