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EMCD: Magnetic Chiral Dichroism in the Electron Microscope

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Stefano Rubino ,
Peter Schattschneider ,
Michael Stöger-Pollach ,
Cécile Hébert ,
Ján Rusz ,
Lionel Calmels ,
Benedicte Warot-Fonrose ,
Florent Houdellier ,
Virginie Serin  and
Pavel Novàk
Stefano Rubino
Affiliation:
[email protected], Vienna University of Technology, Institute for Solid State Physics, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10/138, Vienna, A-1040, Austria
Peter Schattschneider
Affiliation:
[email protected], Vienna University of Technology, Institute for Solid State Physics, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10/138, Vienna, A-1040, Austria
Michael Stöger-Pollach
Affiliation:
[email protected], Vienna University of Technology, Service centre for TEM, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10/138, Vienna, A-1040, Austria
Cécile Hébert
Affiliation:
[email protected], EPFL, SB-CIME station 12, Lausanne, N/A, Switzerland
Ján Rusz
Affiliation:
[email protected], Uppsala University, Department of Physics, Box 530, Uppsala, S-751 21, Sweden
Lionel Calmels
Affiliation:
[email protected], CEMES-CNRS, Nanomaterieaux group, Toulouse, N/A, France
Benedicte Warot-Fonrose
Affiliation:
[email protected], CEMES-CNRS, Nanomaterieaux group, Toulouse, N/A, France
Florent Houdellier
Affiliation:
[email protected], CEMES-CNRS, Nanomaterieaux group, Toulouse, N/A, France
Virginie Serin
Affiliation:
[email protected], CEMES-CNRS, Nanomaterieaux group, Toulouse, N/A, France
Pavel Novàk
Affiliation:
[email protected], Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Physics, Na Slovance 2, Prague, CZ-18221, Czech Republic
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Abstract

A new technique called Energy-loss Magnetic Chiral Dichroism (EMCD) has recently been developed [1] to measure Magnetic Circular Dichroism (MCD) in the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) with a spatial resolution of 10 nm. This novel technique is the TEM counterpart of X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism (XMCD), which is widely used for the characterization of magnetic materials with synchrotron radiation.

In this paper we describe several experimental methods which can be used to measure the EMCD signal [1-5] and give a review of the recent improvements of this new investigation tool. The dependence of the EMCD on several experimental conditions (such as thickness, relative orientation of beam and sample, collection and convergence angle) is investigated in the transition metals Iron, Cobalt and Nickel. Different scattering geometries are illustrated; their advantages and disadvantages are detailed, together with current limitations. The next realistic perspectives of this technique will consist in measuring atomic specific magnetic moments, using suitable spin and orbital sum rules [4,6], with a resolution down to 2-3 nm.

Keywords

electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS)magnetic propertiestransmission electron microscopy (TEM)
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1026: Symposium C – Quantitative Electron Microscopy for Materials Science , 2007 , 1026-C13-05
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

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