Nanotechnology

The Deep Ultravi Laser microscope reveals diamond’s nanoscale transport behavior

Dissemination optical creates two DUV beams. It uses a 4F imaging system to interfere with the sample surface (diamond) to generate a microscopic sine -stringed profile. Credit: Stephen Barouss/Mulnane and Caputein Group

Ultra Wade band gaps such as diamonds are promising for next -generation electronic devices, higher voltage, and higher frequencies, and operates at higher frequencies because of the large energy gap between the value and the conductors. Make it possible to provide greater efficiency compared to ingredients. silicon.

However, their unique characteristics make it difficult to investigate and understand how the charge and heat move on the scale from nanometer to micron. Visible light has a very limited ability to probably probably the characteristics of nanoscale, and is not absorbed by diamonds, so it cannot be used for current or quick heating.

Currently, Jila’s Fellows, Coloradian University Professor Margaret Mulnane and Henry Caputane, Lila researchers, graduate students Emma Nelson, Theodore Karman, Brendan Macbenett, former Jila Post Doctor. Researcher Albert Biad and Joshua Norbro have developed novels. A microscope that allows these materials to be possible on an unprecedented scale.

The team’s work published in the Physical Review Applied introduces a desktop Deep-ultraviolet (DUV) laser that can excite and investigate nanoscale transportation with materials such as diamonds.

This microscope uses high -energy DUV laser light to create a nanoscale interference pattern on the surface of the material and heat it with a controlled periodic pattern.

Observing how this pattern declines over time, as in 287 nanometers, far below the visible wavelength, insights on the electron, heat, and mechanical characteristics in spatial resolution. You can get it.

Murnane states that this new probe function is important for future power electronics, high -frequency communication, and computing devices based on diamonds or nitride instead of silicon. Only by understanding the behavior of the material, scientists can deal with short life -end tasks observed in many nanodibices incorporating Ultra Wade Band Gap Materials.

Challenge from industry partners

For Nelson and other Jila researchers, the project began with an unexpected challenge from 3M material scientists, one of the collaborators in the industry.

“3M is approaching to study ultra -wavy material samples that are not compatible with existing microscopes,” Nelson says. Later, the team worked with a 3M scientist Matthew Frey and Matthew Atkinson to build a microscope that can imagine transporting this material.

The conventional imaging method depends on the visible light and checks the microscope composition and transport behavior of semiconductors and other materials. This is effective in studying materials using smaller band gaps.

However, materials such as diamonds often used in electronic components have a much larger energy gap between the value and the conductors. This is transparent to lower energy visibility and infrared light beyond the four electronic bolts (EVs). High -energy photons with ultraviolet rays (UV) range are needed to interact with the electrons of these materials.

The visible light setup is also struggling with spatial resolution because a longer wavelength limits the ability to probably prove the dimensions of nanoscale related to the latest devices.

With these restrictions, the team began to consider the outside of the box to set up imaging.

“We have brushed new experiments to expand what the labs can do,” Nelson says.

As a result, a multi -year effort was obtained to develop a compact microscope using DUV light to generate a nanoscale heat pattern on the surface of the material without changing the material itself.

Jump into deep ultraviolet rays

To generate DUV lights, the team first started with a laser emitting pulse with 800 nanometers wavelengths. Next, by passing the laser light through the nonlinear crystal and operating the energy, the team was gradually converted to a short wavelength, and eventually created a 200 nanometers wavelength and powerful deep -sea light source.

In each step, the accurate alignment of the laser pulse in the crystal and time was required to efficiently achieve the appropriate wavelength.

“It took several years to work on experiments during pandemics,” Nelson explains the trial and error process to adjust light through three consecutive crystals. “However, once the setup is set, you can create a pattern on a scale that has never been achieved on the table.”

In order to generate a periodic pattern called transitional personality, researchers divide DUV light into two same beams using a diffracted grid.

These beams were pointed at the surface of the material at a slightly different angle, overlapping each other and interfering, and formed a high -energy and low -energy sine wave pattern. This interference pattern functioned as a nanoscale “grating”, heated the material in a temporarily controlled manner to generate local energy fluctuations.

With this process, the team has been able to study how the heat, electron, or machine waves expand and interacts with the entire nanoscale lattice. The periodic period of the grid that defines the distance between the peaks of these high -energy is closely related to the wavelength of the light source, and researchers can get a short period using higher energy (and short wavelengths) light. I did it.

The periodicity can be adjusted by adjusting the angle of the beam, enabling detailed research on transportation phenomena on a microscope scale. For example, in this experiment, the team achieved the same delicate lattice pattern as 287 nanometers. This is a record of the laser desk setup.

New DUV microscope test

When the temporary grating system of DUV worked, the team focused on verifying its accuracy and investigating its abilities. Their first test contained a thin gold film that functioned as a benchmark material for well -understood characteristics.

Researchers used the system to generate a nanoscale heat pattern and launch a sound wave on the surface of the movie. By analyzing the frequency and behavior of these waves, they have extracted material characteristics such as density and elasticity.

To confirm the results, Nelson has developed a computer model that simulates how the allocation works under similar conditions. The experimental data closely matched her forecasts and strongly verified the accuracy of the system.

“It was a safe and exciting milestone to match the models that the experiment functioned and created,” Nelson says.

Next, the team used a new DUV microscope to examine diamonds, a material that represents the outstanding electronic and thermal characteristics. Previous technologies for studying diamonds often needed physical changes, such as adding nano structures and coating, and their characteristics have changed inadvertently. The DUV system has eliminated this need so that the team can study diamonds in its unsatisfactory state.

Researchers used a new setup to see how charge carriers were expanding throughout the diamonds after getting excited about DUV lights. This process has revealed a new insight on diamonds of diamonds, especially on the Nanometer scale.

In addition to verifying the system and exploring the characteristics of diamonds, the results of the team are lit on a broader problem with nanoscale thermal transportation. Such a small scale does not always work, as predicted by conventional physical models. This assumes a smooth and continuous flow.

Instead, transportation of nanoscale includes balloons and fluid dynamics. There, an energy carrier like a phonon may move straight without scattering, or spreads water flowing.

As researchers improve these technologies and continue to explore new materials, this progress can play an important role in the development of high -performance power electronics, efficient communication systems, and quantum technology. Diamonds may not last forever in the exploration to push the boundary of modern devices, but the impact on nanoperability is true.

Details: EMMA E. Nelson et al, Tabletop Deep-Ultraviolet Transienting for Ultrafast Measures, Super Binder-Transport, and physical reviews (202 4). Doi: 10.1103/Physrevapplied.22.054007

Quoted: In the deep-sea laser microscope, https://phys.org/news/2025-01-deep-ultraviolet-microScope-reveals.htmls.htmlml.

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