Special Quantum Seminar: Nanoscale imaging of potential landscapes with the atomic SET, Dahlia Klein (Weizmann Institute)

Date
Feb 4, 2025, 12:30 pm1:30 pm

Details

Event Description

Title: Nanoscale imaging of potential landscapes with the atomic SET

Abstract: Electrons in a solid are governed by the periodic potential landscape of the lattice. The advent of moiré lattices has revolutionized our ability to engineer such landscapes on nanometer scales, leading to numerous groundbreaking discoveries. Despite this progress, direct imaging of these electrostatic potential landscapes remains elusive. In my talk, I will introduce the Atomic Single Electron Transistor (SET), a novel scanning probe utilizing a single atomic defect in a van der Waals (vdW) material as an ultrasensitive, high-resolution potential imaging sensor. Built upon the quantum twisting microscope (QTM) platform, this probe leverages its unique ability to form a scannable 2D interface between vdW layers. Using the Atomic SET, I will present the first direct images of the electrostatic potential in the canonical moiré interface of graphene aligned to hexagonal boron nitride. Intriguingly, the magnitude of the measured potential significantly exceeds theoretical predictions, suggesting that current understanding may be incomplete. With a spatial resolution of 1 nm and a sensitivity to detect the potential of a few millionths of an electron charge, the Atomic SET opens the door for ultrasensitive imaging of charge order and thermodynamic properties for a range of quantum phenomena, including various symmetry-broken phases, quantum crystals, vortex charges, and fractionalized quasiparticles.

Sponsor
Ali Yazdani