Atomic-scale quantum sensing based on the ultrafast coherence of an H<sub>2</sub> molecule in an STM cavity.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35446636.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/science.abn9220.
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Abstract
A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) combined with a pump-probe femtosecond terahertz (THz) laser can enable coherence measurements of single molecules. We report THz pump-probe measurements that demonstrate quantum sensing based on a hydrogen (H<sub>2</sub>) molecule in the cavity created with an STM tip near a surface. Atomic-scale spatial and femtosecond temporal resolutions were obtained from this quantum coherence. The H<sub>2</sub> acts as a two-level system, with its coherent superposition exhibiting extreme sensitivity to the applied electric field and the underlying atomic composition of the copper nitride (Cu<sub>2</sub>N) monolayer islands grown on a Cu(100) surface. We acquired time-resolved images of THz rectification of H<sub>2</sub> over Cu<sub>2</sub>N islands for variable pump-probe delay times to visualize the heterogeneity of the chemical environment at sub-angstrom scale.