My current research project is to measure the spin flucutation (spin noise) of the donor electrons in phosphorus doped silicon by Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy (MRFM) at low temperature.

Phosphorus doped silicon (Si:P) has tremendous technological importance as the workhorse of consumer electronics. The ability to microscopically image and study the properties of individual donors would substantially impact this industry. Furthermore this material has substantial interest arising from the potential for using the spin of the electron in both classical and quantum information processing. For these applications, studying and manipulating the individual spins buried in the silicon, a unique capability of MRFM, will be essential.

MRFM is a novel scan probe technique to force detect magnetic resonance of electrons or nuclear spins through their coupling to an ultrahigh sensitivity (atto-Newton) force sensor, i.e. cantilever. Recently, the MRFM setup I constructed has reached 2 net spins sensitivity. We are planning to study electron spin relaxation rate of Si:P in various device structures and to image individual dopant. Long term goal of this project is to achieve the detection of single dopant (phosphorus) nuclei via its hyperfine interaction with the electron, a technique known as Electron-Nuclear DOuble Resonance (ENDOR).

Publications