Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The emerging technique of neutral beam microscopy offers a non-perturbative way of imaging surfaces of various materials which cannot be studied using conventional microscopes. Current neutral beam microscopes use either diffractive focusing or pin-hole scanning to achieve spatial resolution, and are characterised by a strong dependence of the imaging time on the required resolution. In this work we introduce an alternative method for achieving spatial resolution with neutral atom beams which is based on manipulating the magnetic moments of the beam particles in a gradient field, and is characterised by a much weaker dependence of the imaging time on the image resolution. The validity of the imaging approach is demonstrated experimentally by reconstructing one dimensional profiles of the beam which are in good agreement with numerical simulation calculations. Numerical simulations are used to demonstrate the dependence of the signal to noise on the scan resolution and the topography of the sample, and assess the broadening effect due to the spread of velocities of the beam particles. The route towards implementing magnetic encoding in high resolution microscopes is discussed.
Source: Nature Communications
Institution: Swansea University
Language: English
Subfield: Computational Mechanics
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,790
Awards: Controlling and resolving rotational quantum states in a molecule-surface collision: Matter-wave magnetic interference experiments with ground state molecules., Quantum controlled collisions; an empirical approach for studying the interaction potential of molecule-surface systems., G8779424505
OpenAlex ID: W4401611119