A 4 K cryogenic probe for use in magnetic resonance force microscopy experiments.

The detailed design of a mechanically detected nuclear magnetic resonance probe using the SPAM (Springiness Preservation by Aligning Magnetization) geometry, operating at 4 K, in vacuum, and a several-Tesla magnetic field is described. The probe head is vibration-isolated well enough from the environment by a three-spring suspension system that the cantilever achieves thermal equilibrium with the environment without the aid of eddy current damping. The probe uses an ultra-soft Si cantilever with a Ni sphere attached to its tip, and magnetic resonance is registered as a change in the resonant frequency of the driven cantilever.

NMR spectroscopy with force-gradient detection on a GaAs epitaxial layer.

We demonstrate nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy on 35 μm(3) of (69)Ga in a GaAs epitaxial layer in vacuum at 5K, and 5T yielding a linewidth on the order of 10 kHz. This was achieved by a force-gradient magnetic resonance detection scheme, using the interaction between the force-gradient of a Ni sphere-tipped single crystal Si cantilever and the nuclear spins to register changes in the spin state as a change in the driven cantilever's natural resonant frequency. The dichotomy between the background magnetic field (B0) homogeneity requirements imposed by NMR spectroscopy and the magnetic particle's large magnetic field gradient is resolved via sample shuttling during the NMR pulse encoding.

Single-shot nuclear magnetization recovery curves with force-gradient detection.

We measure the spin-lattice relaxation time as a function of sample temperature in GaAs in a real-time single-shot inversion recovery experiment using spin force gradients acting on a magnetic tipped cantilever. After inverting Ga spins localized near the magnet with a single 20 ms adiabatic rapid passage sweep, the spins' magnetization recovery was passively tracked by recording the cantilever's frequency change, which is proportional to the longitudinal component of the spins' magnetization. The cantilever's frequency was recorded for a time 3*T for sample temperatures ranging from 4.