Senior Researcher, Advanced Materials Laboratory, National Institute for Materials Science
Development of nano spectroscopy and its application to characterization for advanced inorganic materials
Our group is developing novel characterization techniques for physical properties in nanoscale structures, which are indispensable tools for nano science and technology. Recent studies of electronic ceramics have focused interest in properties of highly integrated devices and nanoscale structures (“nano-materials”). The use of nanoscale structures could potentially stabilize and improve properties superior to those of bulk phase, while the detailed characterization of properties for these structures is almost always difficult. In particular, in situ characterization techniques for nanoscale structures under actual operating conditions (such as temperature, electric field, etc.) becomes increasingly critical for evaluating materials’ performance but is the most challenging.
We recently established super-high spatial resolution spectroscopy using an atomic force microscope equipped with near-field optics, which enables the combined optical characterizations (reflectance, photoluminescence, Raman spectra) with electronic/magnetic properties in nanoscale structures. This technique allows one to perform spatial and temporal characterizations for optical properties and electronic/magnetic structures at surfaces/interfaces or in nanoscale structures of various materials. By using this technology, we are now focused on physical properties in the strongly correlated oxide materials including superconductivity, colossal magnetoresistance, ferroelectric property, and searching for their mechanisms and novel giant phenomena inherent to nanoscale electronic/spin structures.
As a next target, we are also looking at new ways to develop “nano-analysis” for single-molecule, low-dimensional nano-structures, which will be a key tool in future nano-technology study.
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| Fig. 1 |
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| Schematics of nanoscale characterizations for advanced inorganic materials with near-field spectroscopy |
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| Fig. 2 |
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| Nanoscale domain engineering in bismuth-layered structured ferroelectrics. (a) Crystal structure of Bi4Ti3O12. (b) Nanoscale observation of domain structures in BIT thin film with SNOM Raman and piezo response microscopy. (c) Photoinjected domain and nanoscale domain switching in BIT thin film with SNOM. |
Relevant papers
- Osada, M. et al.
Nanoscale observation of domain switching in Bi-based layer structured ferroelectrics with near-field Raman spectroscopy
To be published in Applied Physics Letters - Osada, M., Kakihana, M., Kall, M. & Borjesson, L.
Charge redistribution in YBa2Cu3O7-d probed by Raman spectroscopy: CuO2-plane phonon as a probe of carrier dynamics in the CuO2 plane
Applied Physics Letters 81, 4988-4990 (2002)
