Manipulation Of Atoms Research Articles

Color-Tunablility in GaN LEDs Based on Atomic Emission Manipulation under Current Injection

The development of efficient electrically driven color-tunable solid-state light sources will enable new capabilities in lighting and display technologies. Although alternative light sources such a...

Neural network sliding mode controller of atomic force microscope-based manipulation with different cantilever probes.

Development of nanotechnology has given rise to various applications, including the nano-manipulation process within small-size environments. The implementation of such processes requires the use of tools and proper equipment and understanding of various factors influencing it. One such tool is the atomic force microscope (AFM) and its probe, used for imaging surfaces and manipulation tools. The AFM probe is the most important element of the AFM with a key role in system function. The dynamic analysis and control of AFM are necessary to increase efficiency. In this paper, a model of AFM is reviewed and rewritten by considering various cantilever probes, including rectangular, V-shaped, and dagger. The AFM actuator was modeled and analyzed on uncertain conditions. The position of the stage was controlled to the desired position through the desired motion profiles. To overcome the problem of model nonlinearity, a neural network (NN) sliding mode controller was used to optimize the controller parameter and provide the desired output. The simulation of system was performed by the effective parameters, its control was implemented, and the results were analyzed. The simulation revealed that the modified sliding mode controller with learnable NN improved controller performance by decreasing the rise time and eliminating the overshot.

Intuitive human interface to a scanning tunnelling microscope: observation of parity oscillations for a single atomic chain.

A new way to control individual molecules and monoatomic chains is devised by preparing a human–machine augmented system in which the operator and the machine are connected by a real-time simulation. Here, a 3D motion control system is integrated with an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscope (STM). Moreover, we coupled a real-time molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to the motion control system that provides a continuous visual feedback to the operator during atomic manipulation. This allows the operator to become a part of the experiment and to make any adaptable tip trajectory that could be useful for atomic manipulation in three dimensions. The strength of this system is demonstrated by preparing and lifting a monoatomic chain of gold atoms from a Au(111) surface in a well-controlled manner. We have demonstrated the existence of Fabry–Pérot-type electronic oscillations in such a monoatomic chain of gold atoms and determined its phase, which was difficult to ascertain previously. We also show here a new geometric procedure to infer the adatom positions and therefore information about the substrate atoms, which are not easily visible on clean metallic surfaces such as gold. This method enables a new controlled atom manipulation technique, which we will refer to as point contact pushing (PCP) technique.

First-Principle Prediction on STM Tip Manipulation of Ti Adatom on Two-Dimensional Monolayer YBr3.

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is an important tool in surface science on atomic scale characterization and manipulation. In this work, Ti adatom manipulation is theoretically simulated by using a tungsten tip (W-tip) in STM based on first-principle calculations. The results demonstrate the possibility of inserting Ti adatoms into the atomic pores of monolayer YBr3, which is thermodynamically stable at room temperature. In this process, the energy barriers of vertical and lateral movements of Ti are 0.38 eV and 0.64 eV, respectively, and the Ti atoms are stably placed within YBr3 by >1.2 eV binding energy. These theoretical predictions provide an insight that it is experimentally promising to manipulate Ti adatom and form artificially designed 2D magnetic materials.

The qPlus sensor, a powerful core for the atomic force microscope.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was introduced in 1986 and has since made its way into surface science, nanoscience, chemistry, biology, and material science as an imaging and manipulating tool with a rising number of applications. AFM can be employed in ambient and liquid environments as well as in vacuum and at low and ultralow temperatures. The technique is an offspring of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), where the tunneling tip of the STM is replaced by using a force sensor with an attached tip. Measuring the tiny chemical forces that act between the tip and the sample is more difficult than measuring the tunneling current in STM. Therefore, even 30 years after the introduction of AFM, progress in instrumentation is substantial. Here, we focus on the core of the AFM, the force sensor with its tip and detection mechanism. Initially, force sensors were mainly micro-machined silicon cantilevers, mainly using optical methods to detect their deflection. The qPlus sensor, originally based on a quartz tuning fork and now custom built from quartz, is self-sensing by utilizing the piezoelectricity of quartz. The qPlus sensor allows us to perform STM and AFM in parallel, and the spatial resolution of its AFM channel has reached the subatomic level, exceeding the resolution of STM. Frequency modulation AFM (FM-AFM), where the frequency of an oscillating cantilever is altered by the gradient of the force that acts between the tip and the sample, has emerged over the years as the method that provides atomic and subatomic spatial resolution as well as force spectroscopy with sub-piconewton sensitivity. FM-AFM is precise; because of all physical observables, time and frequency can be measured by far with the greatest accuracy. By design, FM-AFM clearly separates conservative and dissipative interactions where conservative forces induce a frequency shift and dissipative interactions alter the power needed to maintain a constant oscillation amplitude of the cantilever. As it operates in a noncontact mode, it enables simultaneous AFM and STM measurements. The frequency stability of quartz and the small oscillation amplitudes that are possible with stiff quartz sensors optimize the signal to noise ratio. Here, we discuss the operating principles, the assembly of qPlus sensors, amplifiers, limiting factors, and applications. Applications encompass unprecedented subatomic spatial resolution, the measurement of forces that act in atomic manipulation, imaging and spectroscopy of spin-dependent forces, and atomic resolution of organic molecules, graphite, graphene, and oxides.

Design and application of flat spiral phase plate

Phase is an important characteristic of electromagnetic waves. It is well known that a beam with a helical wave front characterized by a phase of <inline-formula><tex-math id="M1">\begin{document}$\exp({\rm{i}}l\theta )$\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="5-20181677_M1.jpg"/><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="5-20181677_M1.png"/></alternatives></inline-formula> (which depends on azimuthal angle <inline-formula><tex-math id="M2">\begin{document}$\theta$\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="5-20181677_M2.jpg"/><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="5-20181677_M2.png"/></alternatives></inline-formula> and topological charge <i>l</i>), has a momentum component along the azimuthal direction, resulting in an orbital angular momentum of per photon along the beam axis. Owing to its fascinating properties, the beam has received a great deal of attention and has provided novel applications in manipulation of particles or atoms, optical communication, optical data storage. In order to meet the needs of various applications, techniques for efficiently generating optical beams carrying orbital angular momentum are always required. Current schemes for generating the beams carrying orbital angular momentum include computer-generated holograms, spiral phase plates, spatial light modulators, and silicon integrated optical vortex emitters. Among the usual methods to produce helical beams, the traditional spiral phase plate is an optical device that utilizes the progressive increasing of height of a dielectric material along an azimuthal direction to produce a vortex beam for beam phase modulation with a high conversion efficiency. However, it is difficult to regulate the topological charge <i>l</i> of the outgoing beam through the superposition of the phase plates due to the special geometric feature. In this paper, the flat spiral phase plate is designed by compressing the height of traditional spiral phase plate, and inducing the refractive index to increase in the azimuthal direction based on coordinate transformation. By means of theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, it is found that the flat spiral phase plate can produce high quality vortex beams just as the traditional spiral phase plate can do. Particularly, the height of the flat spiral phase plate and the topological charge <i>l</i> carried by the vortex beams can be arbitrarily adjusted according to the refractive index selection of the dielectric material. In order to meet the needs of practical applications, the vortex beams with different topological charges can be obtained by stacking multiple layers of flat spiral phase plates. The flat spiral phase plate has broad potential applications in the fields of optical transmission and optical communication.

Momentum-space crystal in narrow-line cooling of 87Sr**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11474282 and 61775220), the Key Research Project of Frontier Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. QYZDB-SSW-JSC004), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB21030100).

The discovery of the momentum space crystal based on the alkaline-earth atom 88Sr in narrow-line cooling has paved the way to explore this novel physical phenomenon in other cold atom systems. In this paper, a momentum space crystal based on the fermions 87Sr in narrow-line cooling of transition 1S0–3P1 is demonstrated. We theoretically analyze and compare the formation principle of the narrow-line with that of broad-line cooling, and achieve the momentum space crystal in experiment. Beyond that we present a series of numerical calculations of those important parameters which influence the distribution and size of the momentum space crystal. Correspondingly, we vary the values of these parameters in experiment to observe the momentum space crystal evolution and distribution. The experimental results are in conformity with the results of the theoretically numerical calculations. These results and analyses provide a detailed supplementary study on the formation and evolution of momentum space crystal. In addition, this work could also give a guideline on atomic manipulation by narrow-line cooling.

Controlled Fragmentation of Single Molecules with Atomic Force Microscopy by Employing Doubly Charged States.

By atom manipulation we performed on-surface chemical reactions of a single molecule on a multilayer insulating film using noncontact atomic force microscopy. The single-electron sensitivity of atomic force microscopy allows us to follow the addition of single electrons to the molecule and the investigation of the reaction products. By performing a novel strategy based on long-lived doubly charged states a single molecule is fragmented. The fragmentation can be reverted by again changing the charge state of the system, characterizing a reversible reaction. The experimental results in addition to density-functional theory provide insight into the charge states of the different products and reaction pathways. Similar molecular systems could be used as charge-transfer units and to induce reversible chemical reactions.

Design and characterization of electrons in a fractal geometry

The dimensionality of an electronic quantum system is decisive for its properties. In one dimension electrons form a Luttinger liquid and in two dimensions they exhibit the quantum Hall effect. However, very little is known about the behavior of electrons in non-integer, or fractional dimensions1. Here, we show how arrays of artificial atoms can be defined by controlled positioning of CO molecules on a Cu (111) surface2–4, and how these sites couple to form electronic Sierpiński fractals. We characterize the electron wave functions at different energies with scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy and show that they inherit the fractional dimension. Wave functions delocalized over the Sierpiński structure decompose into self-similar parts at higher energy, and this scale invariance can also be retrieved in reciprocal space. Our results show that electronic quantum fractals can be artificially created by atomic manipulation in a scanning tunneling microscope. The same methodology will allow future study to address fundamental questions about the effects of spin-orbit interaction and a magnetic field on electrons in non-integer dimensions. Moreover, the rational concept of artificial atoms can readily be transferred to planar semiconductor electronics, allowing for the exploration of electrons in a well-defined fractal geometry, including interactions and external fields.

Enhanced quantum coherence in exchange coupled spins via singlet-triplet transitions.

Manipulation of spin states at the single-atom scale underlies spin-based quantum information processing and spintronic devices. These applications require protection of the spin states against quantum decoherence due to interactions with the environment. While a single spin is easily disrupted, a coupled-spin system can resist decoherence by using a subspace of states that is immune to magnetic field fluctuations. Here, we engineered the magnetic interactions between the electron spins of two spin-1/2 atoms to create a "clock transition" and thus enhance their spin coherence. To construct and electrically access the desired spin structures, we use atom manipulation combined with electron spin resonance (ESR) in a scanning tunneling microscope. We show that a two-level system composed of a singlet state and a triplet state is insensitive to local and global magnetic field noise, resulting in much longer spin coherence times compared with individual atoms. Moreover, the spin decoherence resulting from the interaction with tunneling electrons is markedly reduced by a homodyne readout of ESR. These results demonstrate that atomically precise spin structures can be designed and assembled to yield enhanced quantum coherence.

Applications of atomic force microscope manipulator operating in hybrid mode

The topography images by atomic force microscope (AFM) operating in a new hybrid mode with nanometre scale noise are obtained. Using the improved feedback of the AFM hybrid mode, the possibility of the manipulations of the microdrops by microscope tip is shown. Additionally, we introduce a method of an extra gentle movement of nanowires by liquid flow organized by the AFM tip.

Hyperfine interaction of individual atoms on a surface.

Taking advantage of nuclear spins for electronic structure analysis, magnetic resonance imaging, and quantum devices hinges on knowledge and control of the surrounding atomic-scale environment. We measured and manipulated the hyperfine interaction of individual iron and titanium atoms placed on a magnesium oxide surface by using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy in combination with single-atom electron spin resonance. Using atom manipulation to move single atoms, we found that the hyperfine interaction strongly depended on the binding configuration of the atom. We could extract atom- and position-dependent information about the electronic ground state, the state mixing with neighboring atoms, and properties of the nuclear spin. Thus, the hyperfine spectrum becomes a powerful probe of the chemical environment of individual atoms and nanostructures.

Magnetic-enhanced modulation transfer spectroscopy and laser locking for 87Rb repump transition.

Locking of a laser frequency to an atomic or molecular resonance line is a key technique in applications of laser spectroscopy and atomic metrology. Modulation transfer spectroscopy (MTS) provides an accurate and stable laser locking method which has been widely used. Normally, the frequency of the MTS signal would drift due to Zeeman shift of the atomic levels and rigorous shielding of stray magnetic field around the vapor cell is required for the accuracy and stability of laser locking. Here on the contrary, by applying a transverse bias magnetic field, we report for the first time observation of a magnetic-enhanced MTS signal on the transition of 87Rb D2-line Fg = 1→ Fe = 0 (close to the repump transition of Fg = 1→ Fe = 2), with signal to noise ratio larger than 100:1. The error signal is immune to the external magnetic fluctuation. Compared to the ordinary MTS scheme, it provides a robust and accurate laser locking approach with more stable long-term performance. This technique can be conveniently applied in areas of laser frequency stabilization, laser manipulation of atoms and precision measurement.

Bonding Motifs in Metal-Organic Compounds on Surfaces.

The bonds in metal organic networks on surfaces govern the resulting geometry as well as the electronic properties. Here, we study the nature of these bonds by forming phenazine-copper complexes on a copper surface by means of atomic manipulation. The structures are characterized by a combination of scanning probe microscopy and density functional theory calculations. We observed an increase of the molecule-substrate distance upon covalent bond formation and an out-of-plane geometry that is in direct contradiction with the common expectation that these networks are steered by coordination bonds. Instead, we find that a complex energy balance of hybridization with the substrate, inhomogeneous Pauli repulsion, and elastic deformation drives the phenazine-copper interaction. Most remarkably, this attractive interaction is not driven by electron acceptor properties of copper but is of completely different donation/back-donation mechanism between molecular π-like orbitals and sp-like metal states. Our findings show that the nature of bonds between constituents adsorbed on surfaces does not have to follow the common categories.

Effective non-linear spinor dynamics in a spin-1 Bose–Einstein condensate

We derive from first principles the experimentally observed effective dynamics of a spinor Bose gas initially prepared as a Bose–Einstein condensate and then left free to expand ballistically. In spinor condensates, which represent one of the recent frontiers in the manipulation of ultra-cold atoms, particles interact with a two-body spatial interaction and a spin–spin interaction. The effective dynamics is well-known to be governed by a system of coupled semi-linear Schrödinger equations: we recover this system, in the sense of marginals in the limit of infinitely many particles, with a mean-field re-scaling of the many-body Hamiltonian. When the resulting control of the dynamical persistence of condensation is quantified with the parameters of modern observations, we obtain a bound that remains quite accurate for the whole typical duration of the experiment.

Characterization and optimization of a tapered amplifier by its spectra through a long multi-pass rubidium absorption cell.

We present a method to characterize and optimize a tapered-amplifier laser system (TALS) by its spectral quality through a long multi-pass rubidium absorption cell. A thermal vapor cell is used to measure the non-resonant spectrum of TALS, including the broadband amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), which is its main spectral noise. This method gives a simple quantified measurement to optimize various working parameters of a TA, including current and temperature online. It can as well be used to compare various TA chips based on their usage time during our precision measurement experiments. The results of this method are compared and found in sync with traditional methods of Fabry-Perot cavity and beat measurements. Such characterization and optimization are important for noise control in atom interferometers, atomic clocks, and other atomic manipulations. It can very well be used for investigating nonlinearity and ASE inside amplifying chips and can be utilized in other applications of ASE using bioimaging.

Micrometre-long covalent organic fibres by photoinitiated chain-growth radical polymerization on an alkali-halide surface.

On-surface polymerization is a promising technique to prepare organic functional nanomaterials that are challenging to synthesize in solution, but it is typically used on metal substrates, which play a catalytic role. Previous examples on insulating surfaces have involved intermediate self-assembled structures, which face high barriers to diffusion, or annealing to higher temperatures, which generally causes rapid dewetting and desorption of the monomers. Here we report the photoinitiated radical polymerization, initiated from a two-dimensional gas phase, of a dimaleimide monomer on an insulating KCl surface. Polymer fibres up to 1 μm long are formed through chain-like rather than step-like growth. Interactions between potassium cations and the dimaleimide's oxygen atoms facilitate the propagation of the polymer fibres along a preferred axis of the substrate over long distances. Density functional theory calculations, non-contact atomic force microscopy imaging and manipulations at room temperature were used to explore the initiation and propagation processes, as well as the structure and stability of the resulting one-dimensional polymer fibres.

Effect of TiO2 nanoparticles in thyme under reduced irrigation conditions

The nanotechnology is a relatively new technology that has recently entered the field of agriculture. Nanotechnology covers the integration or manipulation of individual atoms, molecules or molecular masses to a diverse array of structures allowing the production of new characteristics and traits of interest. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of foliar application of TiO2 nanoparticles on quantitative traits (plant height, number of branches, dry weight of shoots and roots) and the essential oil content of thyme under different levels of field capacity. Our results showed that the application of TiO2 nanoparticles had significant effects on thyme growth, while the essential oil concentrations not affected. These results imply that the application of TiO2 nanoparticles in plants increase agronomic value under reduced irrigation conditions but has not different significant on essential oil.

Nonlinearity-Induced Multiplexed Optical Trapping and Manipulation with Femtosecond Vector Beams.

Optical trapping and manipulation of atoms, nanoparticles, and biological entities are widely employed in quantum technology, biophysics, and sensing. Single traps are typically achieved with linearly polarized light, while vortex beams form rotationally unstable symmetric traps. Here we demonstrate multiplexed optical traps reconfigurable with intensity and polarization of the trapping beam using intensity-dependent polarizability of nanoparticles. Nonlinearity combined with a longitudinal field of focused femtosecond vortex beams results in a stable optical force potential with multiple traps, in striking contrast to a linear trapping regime. The number of traps and their orientation can be controlled by the cylindrical vector beam order, polarization, and intensity. The nonlinear trapping demonstrated here on the example of plasmonic nanoparticles opens up opportunities for deterministic trapping and polarization-controlled manipulation of multiple dielectric and semiconductor particles, atoms, and biological objects since most of them exhibit a required intensity-dependent refractive index.

Hollow Gaussian beams with the power-exponent-phase vortex

ABSTRACTA kind of hollow Gaussian beams with the power-exponent-phase vortex is introduced. Based on the Collins integral, an analytical expression of a hollow Gaussian beam with the power-exponent-phase vortex passing through a paraxial optical system described by the ABCD matrix approach is derived. The analytical expressions for the beam propagation factors and the orbital angular momentum density of such hollow vortex Gaussian beam passing through a paraxial optical system described by the ABCD matrix approach are also derived, respectively. As a numerical example, the propagation properties of a hollow Gaussian beam with the power-exponent-phase vortex are demonstrated in free space. The evolutions of the normalized intensity, the phase and the orbital angular momentum density distributions are investigated, respectively. The influences of the power order and the topological charge on the beam propagation factors in the x- and y-directions are analysed. The introduced hollow Gaussian beam has potential applications in the atom manipulation and the optical trapping.