Development of low temperature scanning probe microscope for electrostatic force measurements on LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ interface devices

A low temperature scanning probe microscope (SPM) is a powerful instrument to study a wide variety of effects in solid state systems. Simultaneous SPM and transport measurements are a great tool for probing new and unknown physics. Our goal is to study novel emergent phenomena in complex oxide heterostructures, in particular, LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ interface devices. With this goal in mind, we report on our progress in developing a SPM that can be cooled down to sub-kelvin temperatures in a dilution refrigerator, capable of carrying out simultaneous transport and electrostatic force microscopy, scanning capacitance microscopy and scanning gate microscopy measurements.