M Poggio and C L Degen 2010 Nanotechnology 21 342001 doi:10.1088/0957-4484/21/34/342001
M Poggio1 and C L Degen2
Show affiliationsWe review recent efforts to detect small numbers of nuclear spins using magnetic resonance force microscopy. Magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM) is a scanning probe technique that relies on the mechanical measurement of the weak magnetic force between a microscopic magnet and the magnetic moments in a sample. Spurred by the recent progress in fabricating ultrasensitive force detectors, MRFM has rapidly improved its capability over the last decade. Today it boasts a spin sensitivity that surpasses conventional, inductive nuclear magnetic resonance detectors by about eight orders of magnitude. In this review we touch on the origins of this technique and focus on its recent application to nanoscale nuclear spin ensembles, in particular on the imaging of nanoscale objects with a three-dimensional (3D) spatial resolution better than 10 nm. We consider the experimental advances driving this work and highlight the underlying physical principles and limitations of the method. Finally, we discuss the challenges that must be met in order to advance the technique towards single nuclear spin sensitivity—and perhaps—to 3D microscopy of molecules with atomic resolution.
Issue 34 (27 August 2010)
Received 15 March 2010, in final form 16 June 2010
Published 30 July 2010
M Poggio and C L Degen 2010 Nanotechnology 21 342001
Matthew Kenworthy et al 2001 ApJ 554 L67