Cooled Scanning Probe Microscopy of Electrons in Quantum materials

Quantum materials such as graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) and topological insulators are excellent candidates for new electronics and photonics based on quantum mechanics. To understand their physics, it is crucial to know how electrons move through them. In this talk, I will present design of a liquid Nitrogen cooled scanning probe microscope (SPM) that allows us to probe local electronic properties of such quantum materials. Electronic properties such as trajectory of electrons, local density of states and quantum capacitance can be measured with a capacitively coupled SPM tip. An image is obtained by displaying the change in conduction or capacitance as the tip is raster scanned across the sample. We plan to use this tool for quantum materials research at an undergraduate institution. The results from such experiments will help us understand device physics in quantum materials to develop quantum devices such as quantum sensors.