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Thermally stimulated current measurements are carried out on TlInS2 layered single crystal with the current flowing perpendicular to the c-axis in the temperature range of 10 to 90 K. The results are analyzed according to various methods, such as curve fitting, heating rate, and initial rise methods, which seem to be in good agreement with each other. Experimental evidence is found for one trapping center in TlInS 2 crystal in the low-temperature region.

We describe the design of a low temperature scanning Hall probe microscope (SHPM) for a dilution refrigerator system. A detachable SHPM head with 25.4 mm OD and 200 mm length is integrated at the end of the mixing chamber base plate of the dilution refrigerator insert (Oxford Instruments, Kelvinox MX−400) by means of a dedicated docking station. It is also possible to use this detachable SHPM head with a variable temperature insert (VTI) for 2 K–300 K operations. A microfabricated 1μm size Hall sensor (GaAs/AlGaAs) with integrated scanning tunneling microscopy tip was used for magnetic imaging. The field sensitivity of the Hall sensor was better than 1 mG/√Hz at 1 kHz bandwidth at 4 K. Both the domain structure and topography of LiHoF4, which is a transverse-field Ising model ferromagnet which orders below TC = 1.53 K, were imaged simultaneously below 40 mK.

We describe the design of a wide temperature range (300 mK-300 K) atomic force microscope/magnetic force microscope with a self-aligned fibre-cantilever mechanism. An alignment chip with alignment groves and a special mechanical design are used to eliminate tedious and time consuming fibre-cantilever alignment procedure for the entire temperature range. A low noise, Michelson fibre interferometer was integrated into the system for measuring deflection of the cantilever. The spectral noise density of the system was measured to be ∼12 fm/√Hz at 4.2 K at 3 mW incident optical power. Abrikosov vortices in BSCCO(2212) single crystal sample and a high density hard disk sample were imaged at 10 nm resolution to demonstrate the performance of the system.

We describe a novel radiation pressure based cantilever excitation method for imaging in dynamic mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) for the first time. Piezo-excitation is the most common method for cantilever excitation, however it may cause spurious resonance peaks. Therefore, the direct excitation of the cantilever plays a crucial role in AFM imaging. A fiber optic interferometer with a 1310 nm laser was used both for the excitation of the cantilever at the resonance and the deflection measurement of the cantilever in a commercial low temperature atomic force microscope/magnetic force microscope (AFM/MFM) from NanoMagnetics Instruments. The laser power was modulated at the cantilever's resonance frequency by a digital Phase Locked Loop (PLL). The laser beam is typically modulated by ∼500 μW, and ∼141.8 nm oscillation amplitude is obtained in moderate vacuum levels between 4 and 300 K. We have demonstrated the performance of the radiation pressure excitation in AFM/MFM by imaging atomic steps in graphite, magnetic domains in CoPt multilayers between 4 and 300 K and Abrikosov vortex lattice in BSCCO(2212) single crystal at 4 K for the first time.

We studied the magnetic properties of self-assembled aggregates of BiFeO3 nanoparticles (∼20 nm–40 nm). The aggregates formed two different structures—one with limited and another with massive crosslinking—via the “drying-mediated self-assembly” process following dispersion of the nanoparticles within different organic solvents. They exhibit large coercivity HC (>1000 Oe) and exchange bias field HE (∼350–900 Oe) in comparison to what is observed in isolated nanoparticles (HC ∼ 250 Oe; HE ∼ 0). HE turns out to be switching from negative to positive depending on the structure of the aggregates, with ∣+HE∣ being larger. Magnetic force microscopy reveals the magnetic domains (extending across 7–10 nanoparticles) as well as the domain switching characteristics and corroborates the results of magnetic measurements. Numerical simulation of the “drying-mediated self-assembly” process shows that the nanoparticle–solvent interaction plays an important role in forming the “nanoparticle aggregate structures” observed experimentally. Numerical simulation of the magnetic hysteresis loops, on the other hand, points out the importance of spin pinning at the surface of nanoparticles as a result of surface functionalization of the particles in different suspension media. Depending on the concentration of pinned spins at the surface pointing preferably along the easy-axis direction—from greater than 50% to less than 50%—HE switches from negative to positive. Quite aside from the bulk sample and isolated nanoparticle, nanoparticle aggregates—resulting from surface functionalization—therefore offer remarkable tunability of properties depending on structures.

We describe the design of a thermal refocusing method for spaceborne high-resolution imagers where Korsch optical design is usually implemented. The secondary mirror is made of aluminum, a high thermal expansion coefficient material, instead of conventional zero-expansion glass ceramics. In this way, the radius of the curvature can be controlled by means of temperature change of the mirror. Change in the radius of curvature also changes the effective focal length of the camera which is used for compensation of the defocus that occurred in space. We show that the 30 μm despace of the secondary mirror in the optical system can be compensated by an ∼10°C temperature change of the mirror while the image quality is maintained.