170nm nuclear magnetic resonance imaging using magnetic resonance force microscopy

We demonstrate one-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of the semiconductor GaAs with 170 nm slice separation and resolve two regions of reduced nuclear spin polarization density separated by only 500 nm. This was achieved by force detection of the magnetic resonance, magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM), in combination with optical pumping to increase the nuclear spin polarization. Optical pumping of the GaAs created spin polarization up to 12 times larger than the thermal nuclear spin polarization at 5 K and 4 T. The experiment was sensitive to sample volumes of 50 mum(3) containing similar to4 x 10(11 71)Ga/rootHz. These results demonstrate the ability of force-detected magnetic resonance to apply magnetic resonance imaging to semiconductor devices and other nanostructures. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.