Research
The study of physical processes occurring at the nanometer scale or in systems with dimensions reduced to that scale has rapidly expanded
during the past two decades. To a large extent this rapid evolution has been made possible and has been spurred by the invention and further
development of scanning probe microscopy (SPM). Starting with the scanning tunneling microscope, a whole family of scanning probe varieties
has been and is being developed, providing unprecedented access with nanometer resolution to the structural properties as well as to the nanometer
scale variations of various other physical properties, including the local electrical, magnetic and mechanical behavior.
In Leuven we have access to state-of-the-art SPM facilities. Tunneling and force microscopy can be applied down to liquid helium temperatures
and in the presence of a magnetic field. SPM studies can be performed in ultra-high vacuum or in a controlled gas atmosphere.
In our research work, SPM is integrated at various levels with more conventional characterization and measurement techniques like x-ray
and neutron scattering, magnetotransport and magnetization measurements, and laser spectroscopy. In a first series of experiments we focus on the
study of high-quality thin-metal films and multilayers, which are patterned at the micrometer and submicrometer scale using lithographic methods
('top-down method'). In a second series of experiments we focus on nanostructures grown by self-assembly, including carbon nanotubes, metallic
nanoclusters and biomolecular assemblies ('bottom-up method'). The reduced dimensions and the spatial confinement give rise to modified or
new physical properties.
We invite you to take a further look at the research topics we focus on and at the experimental techniques we are using.
Current research topics
- Finite-size effects in patterned ferromagnets and in patterned ferromagnet/antiferromagnet bilayers with exchange bias
- Finite-size effects in dilute magnetic alloys
- Quantum confinement in metallic nanoparticles (including single atoms, nanowires, islands and clusters) on surfaces
- Mechanical and electromechanical properties of carbon nanotubes
- Electronic properties of diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition
- Structural and electronic properties of biomolecules
Experimental techniques
- Advanced scanning force microscopy, including ultrasonic force microscopy
- Combined magnetic force microscopy and magnetotransport measurements at low temperatures and in the presence of a magnetic field
- Magnetic resonance force microscopy at low temperatures
- Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, including spin-polarized scanning tunneling spectroscopy, in ultra-high vacuum between room temperature and liquid helium temperature
- Lithographic patterning with the tip of a scanning probe microscope
