The discovery of multi-messenger nanoprobes allows scientists to simultaneously probe multiple properties of quantum materials at nanometer-scale spatial resolutions. Image: Ella Maru Studio.Researchers at Columbia University and the University of California, San Diego have introduced a novel ‘multi-messenger’ approach to quantum physics that represents a technological leap in how scientists can explore quantum materials. They report their findings in a paper in Nature Materials.
"We have brought a technique from the inter-galactic scale down to the realm of the ultra-small," said Dmitri Basov, professor of physics and director of the Energy Frontier Research Center at Columbia University. "Equipped with multi-modal nanoscience tools, we can now routinely go places no one thought would be possible as recently as five years ago."
The work was inspired by ‘multi-messenger’ astrophysics, which emerged during the last decade as a revolutionary technique for studying distant phenomena like black hole mergers. Simultaneous measurements from instruments such as infrared, optical, X-ray and gravitational-wave telescopes can, taken together, deliver a physical picture greater than the sum of their individual parts.
The search is on for new materials that can supplement conventional electronic semiconductors. One example is materials with properties that can be controlled by light, which can offer improved functionality, speed, flexibility and energy efficiency for next-generation computing platforms.
Experimental papers on quantum materials have typically reported results obtained using only one type of spectroscopy. The researchers have now shown the power of using a combination of measurement techniques to simultaneously examine a material’s electrical and optical properties.
The researchers performed their experiments by focusing laser light onto the sharp tip of a needle probe coated with magnetic material. When thin films of metal oxide are subject to a unique strain, ultra-fast light pulses can trigger the material to switch into an unexplored phase of nanometer-scale domains, and this change is reversible.
By scanning the probe over the surface of their thin film sample, the researchers were able to trigger the change locally. They also simultaneously manipulated and recorded the electrical, magnetic and optical properties of these light-triggered domains with nanometer-scale precision.
The study reveals how unanticipated properties can emerge in long-studied quantum materials at ultra-small scales when scientists tune them by strain.
"It is relatively common to study these nano-phase materials with scanning probes. But this is the first time an optical nano-probe has been combined with simultaneous magnetic nano-imaging, and all at the very low temperatures where quantum materials show their merits," McLeod said. "Now, investigation of quantum materials by multi-modal nanoscience offers a means to close the loop on programs to engineer them."
This story is adapted from material from Columbia University, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier. Link to original source.