Attosecond Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
Abstract
We propose to acquire a Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) instrument to improve and strengthen the capability of the teaching and research programs in the Physics department and the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Arizona. STM is a powerful imaging instrument that permits the imaging of the structure in 3D on the atomics scale, which has found a wide range of applications, including material sciences, chemistry, and biology. Introducing the time dimension recently to the STM and developing the ultrafast STM was a revolutionary step that enabled the imaging of the ultrafast dynamics of matter with an angstrom spatial resolution and femtosecond time scale. Here, we propose to acquire and utilize the STM to develop the Attosecond Scanning Tunneling Microscope (ASTM) for imaging the electron motion in real-time and space. This significant improvement of the STM temporal resolution promises to open the door for many attosecond electron imaging applications such as studying the charge transfer in molecular systems and amino acids, the electron dynamics in 2D materials, and the electronic structure change in quantum systems. This new tool (ASTM) will be used to support the ultrafast science and material sciences research activities (mostly funded by DoD agencies such as; ASFOR, ARO, and ONR) at the University of Arizona. Faculty members across campus express strong interest in exploiting STM to explore more science that is currently beyond the reach. The requested equipment (STM) and the development of (ASTM) will allow to characterize different types of solid-state materials (especially 2D and quantum materials) and study its interaction with laser field and its electronic dynamics in real time and space at atomic scale. These studies would impact the use of new materials in different types of applications such as ultrafast photonic optical switches, communications, and quantum computations, which are of high interest to the DoD. University of Arizona is the first four-year public university in the state of Arizona to be federally recognized as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). One third of the student population are Hispanic, Latino, Black African American, and Native American Indian. The STM instrument will enhance the education program at the University of Arizona. The graduate students will have access to extensive training on the STM instrument, which would broaden their skills set to prepare them for the job market. Moreover, training on the STM will be integrated into the Experimental Physics course for the physics underage students in the department. Also, the Physics department is launching an applied physics program and the training course on the STM would strengthen this new education program. Finally, summer high-school students from the state of Arizona will have access to the instrument through well-established outreach programs at the University of Arizona, such as KEYS and ASEMS programs, which attracts minorities from the local communities and helps the university fulfill its MSI and inclusive mission. The ASTM development will create an immersive environment for the graduate and undergraduate students to develop advanced technical skills in optical, electronics and materials handling that is of urgent significant interest to the Department of Defense.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 02, 2022
- Source ID
- W911NF2210129
Entities
People
- Mohammed Mohammed
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- University of Arizona