Spin-labeling of molecules with paramagnetic ions is an important approach for determining molecular structure, however current ensemble techniques lack the sensitivity to detect few isolated spins. In this Letter, we demonstrate two-dimensional nanoscale imaging of paramagnetic gadolinium compounds using scanning relaxometry of a single nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond. Gadopentetate dimeglumine attached to an atomic force microscope tip is controllably interacted with and detected by the NV center, by virtue of the fact that the NV exhibits fast relaxation in the fluctuating magnetic field generated by electron spin flips in the gadolinium. Using this technique, we demonstrate a reduction in the $T_1$ relaxation time of the NV center by over two orders of magnitude, probed with a spatial resolution of 20 nm. Our result exhibits the viability of the technique for imaging individual spins attached to complex nanostructures or biomolecules, along with studying the magnetic dynamics of isolated spins.

At low temperatures, the thermal wavelength of acoustic phonons in a metallic thin film on a substrate can widely exceed the film thickness. It is thus generally believed that a mesoscopic device operating at low temperature does not carry an individual phonon population. In this work, we provide direct experimental evidence for the thermal decoupling of phonons in a mesoscopic quantum device from its substrate phonon heat bath at a sub-Kelvin temperature. A simple heat balance model assuming an independent phonon bath following the usual electron-phonon and Kapitza coupling laws can account for all experimental observations.

A method to fabricate large-area superconducting hybrid tunnel junctions with a suspended central normal metal part is presented. The samples are fabricated by combining photo-lithography and chemical etch of a superconductor—insulator—normal metal multilayer. The process involves few fabrication steps, is reliable and produces extremely high-quality tunnel junctions. Under an appropriate voltage bias, a significant electronic cooling is demonstrated. We analyze semi-quantitatively the thermal behavior of a typical device.

The diffusion of excess quasiparticles in a current-biased superconductor strip in proximity to a metallic trap junction is studied. In particular, we have measured accurately the superconductor temperature at a near-gap injection voltage. By analyzing our data quantitatively, we provide a full description of the spatial distribution of excess quasiparticles in the superconductor. We show that a metallic trap junction contributes significantly to the evacuation of excess quasiparticles.

Single-crystal diamond is a promising material for MEMs devices because of its low mechanical loss, compatibility with extreme environments, and built-in interface to high-quality spin centers. But its use has largely been limited by challenges in processing and growth. We demonstrate a wafer bonding-based technique to form diamond on insulator, from which we make single-crystal diamond micromechanical resonators with mechanical quality factors as high as 338,000 at room temperature. Variable temperature measurements down to 10 K reveal a nonmonotonic dependence of quality factor on temperature. These resonators enable integration of single-crystal diamond into MEMs technology for classical and quantum applications.

We discuss the heat transfer by photons between two metals coupled by a circuit containing linear reactive impedances. Using a simple circuit approach we calculate the spectral power transmitted from one metal to the other and find that it is determined by a photon transmission coefficient which depends on the impedances of the metals and of the coupling circuit. We study the total photonic power flow for different coupling impedances both in the linear regime where the temperature difference between the metals is small and in the nonlinear regime of large temperature differences.

Scanning tunneling spectroscopies in the subKelvin temperature range were performed on superconducting Silicon epilayers doped with Boron in the atomic percent range. The resulting local differential conductance behaved as expected for a homogeneous superconductor, with an energy gap dispersion below +/- 10%. The spectral shape, the amplitude and temperature dependence of the superconductivity gap follow the BCS model, bringing further support to the hypothesis of a hole pairing mechanism mediated by phonons in the weak coupling limit.

Thermal hysteresis in a micron-size superconducting quantum interference device (mu-SQUID), with weak links as Josephson junctions, is an obstacle for improving its performance for magnetometry. Following the "hot-spot" model of Skocpol et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 45, 4054 (1974)] and by incorporating the temperature dependence of the superconductor thermal conductivity under a linear approximation, we find a much better agreement with the observed temperature dependence of the retrapping current in short superconducting Nb-based weak links and mu-SQUIDs. In addition, using the temperature dependence of the critical current, we find that above a certain temperature hysteresis disappears. We analyze the current-voltage characteristics and the weak link temperature variation in both the hysteretic and nonhysteretic regimes. We also discuss the effect of the weak link geometry in order to widen the temperature range of hysteresis-free operation.