Energy dissipation is a fundamental process governing the dynamics of classical and quantum systems. Despite its vital importance, direct imaging and microscopy of dissipation in quantum systems is currently mostly inaccessible because the existing thermal imaging methods lack the necessary sensitivity and are unsuitable for low temperature operation. We developed a scanning nanoSQUID that resides at the apex of a sharp pipette acting simultaneously as nanomagnetometer with single spin sensitivity and as nanothermometer providing cryogenic thermal imaging with four orders of magnitude improved thermal sensitivity of below 1 µK [1]. The non-contact non-invasive thermometry enables direct visualization and control of the minute heat generated by electrons scattering off a single atomic defect in graphene [2]. By further combining the scanning nanothermometry with simultaneous scanning gate microscopy we demonstrate independent imaging of work and dissipation and reveal the microscopic mechanisms that conceal the true topological protection in the quantum Hall state in graphene [3].
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[1] D. Halbertal, J. Cuppens, M. Ben Shalom, L. Embon, N. Shadmi, Y. Anahory, H. R. Naren, J. Sarkar, A. Uri, Y. Ronen, Y. Myasoedov, L. S. Levitov, E. Joselevich, A. K. Geim, and E. Zeldov, Nature 539, 407 (2016).
[2] D. Halbertal, M. Ben Shalom, A. Uri, K. Bagani, A.Y. Meltzer, I. Marcus, Y. Myasoedov, J. Birkbeck, L.S. Levitov, A.K. Geim, and E. Zeldov, Science 358, 1303 (2017).
[3] A. Marguerite, J. Birkbeck, A. Aharon-Steinberg, D. Halbertal, K. Bagani, I. Marcus, Y. Myasoedov, A.K. Geim, D.J. Perello, and E. Zeldov, Nature 575, 628 (2019).

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Bio

Born in Riga, Latvia, he received his BSc and PhD from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, carried out his postdoc at IBM – Yorktown Heights, NY, and joined Weizmann Institute of Science in 1992. Eli Zeldov is an expert in superconductivity and vortex matter in superconductors. In recent years he has focused on development of new tools of magnetic and thermal microscopy for study of quantum materials and condensed matter systems. In particular, he has developed SQUID-on-tip that allows nanoscale scanning magnetic imaging with single spin sensitivity and cryogenic thermal imaging and spectroscopy with µK sensitivity. His current research interests include vortex dynamics, magnetism and dissipation in quantum states of matter, and van der Waals materials and devices.