Nanoscale electrical conductivity imaging using a nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond

Amila Ariyaratne, Dolev Bluvstein, Bryan A. Myers and Ania C. Bleszynski Jayich ()
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Amila Ariyaratne: University of California Santa Barbara
Dolev Bluvstein: University of California Santa Barbara
Bryan A. Myers: University of California Santa Barbara
Ania C. Bleszynski Jayich: University of California Santa Barbara

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The electrical conductivity of a material can feature subtle, non-trivial, and spatially varying signatures with critical insight into the material’s underlying physics. Here we demonstrate a conductivity imaging technique based on the atom-sized nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect in diamond that offers local, quantitative, and non-invasive conductivity imaging with nanoscale spatial resolution. We monitor the spin relaxation rate of a single NV center in a scanning probe geometry to quantitatively image the magnetic fluctuations produced by thermal electron motion in nanopatterned metallic conductors. We achieve 40-nm scale spatial resolution of the conductivity and realize a 25-fold increase in imaging speed by implementing spin-to-charge conversion readout of a shallow NV center. NV-based conductivity imaging can probe condensed-matter systems in a new regime not accessible to existing technologies, and as a model example, we project readily achievable imaging of nanoscale phase separation in complex oxides.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04798-1

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