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An off-board quantum point contact as a sensitive detector of cantilever motion

Nature Physics volume 4, pages 635–638 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Recent advances in the fabrication of microelectromechanical systems and their evolution into nanoelectromechanical systems have enabled researchers to measure extremely small forces, masses and displacements1. In particular, researchers have developed position transducers with resolution approaching the uncertainty limit set by quantum mechanics2,3,4,5. The achievement of such resolution has implications not only for the detection of quantum behaviour in mechanical systems, but also for a variety of other precision experiments including the bounding of deviations from newtonian gravity at short distances6 and the measurement of single spins7. Here, we demonstrate the use of a quantum point contact as a sensitive displacement detector capable of sensing the low-temperature thermal motion of a nearby micromechanical cantilever. Advantages of this approach include versatility due to its off-board design, compatibility with nanoscale oscillators and, with further development, the potential to achieve quantum-limited displacement detection8,9.

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Figure 1: Components and geometry of the experiment.
Figure 2: Pinching off the QPC using both gate voltage and lever voltage.
Figure 3: ∂ G/∂ x plotted as a function of cantilever x and y over the QPC device.
Figure 4: Cantilever thermal noise spectrum observed using a QPC transducer.
Figure 5: The response of the QPC to the thermal motion of the cantilever tip.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. A. Clerk for useful discussions and L. S. Moore for measuring the properties of the 2DEG used here. This work was supported by the Stanford-IBM Center for Probing the Nanoscale, an NSF NSEC, grant PHY-0425897. M.P.J. acknowledges support from an NDSEG Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California 95120, USA

    M. Poggio, C. L. Degen, H. J. Mamin & D. Rugar

  2. Center for Probing the Nanoscale, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA

    M. Poggio

  3. Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA

    M. P. Jura

  4. Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA

    M. A. Topinka & D. Goldhaber-Gordon

  5. Department of Material Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA

    M. A. Topinka

Authors
  1. M. Poggio
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  2. M. P. Jura
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  3. C. L. Degen
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  4. M. A. Topinka
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  5. H. J. Mamin
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  6. D. Goldhaber-Gordon
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  7. D. Rugar
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Contributions

M.P. conceived and planned the experiment in collaboration with M.P.J., C.L.D., D.G.-G. and D.R. M.P.J. prepared and characterized the QPC samples, which were fabricated by M.A.T. and M.P.J. M.P. carried out the experiment with the assistance of C.L.D., M.P.J. and H.J.M. M.P. analysed the data and wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the manuscript.

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Correspondence to M. Poggio.

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Poggio, M., Jura, M., Degen, C. et al. An off-board quantum point contact as a sensitive detector of cantilever motion. Nature Phys 4, 635–638 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys992

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