ISSN:
1089-7550
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
Conventional techniques of magnetic domain imaging are usually not selective with respect to the chemical species in a system under investigation. This limitation can be overcome by employing soft x-ray magnetic dichroism which combines both magnetic sensitivity and chemical selectivity. We present first results on magnetic domain imaging at surfaces obtained with a newly developed photoelectron emission microscope using magnetic circular dichroism (MCD). Topographic studies on a silicon surface showed the instrument to be capable of a lateral resolution of better than 50 nm. Two approaches of separating chemical and magnetic information are demonstrated for Permalloy micropatterns on silicon. First, the lateral distribution of the different chemical species or the magnetic domains is obtained by subtracting images taken at different photon energies (spectromicroscopy). Second, a "small spot" mode permits the acquisition of x-ray absorption spectra from surface areas of less than 2 μm diameter. The latter technique is called microspectroscopy. On a Fe(100) whisker surface we observed magnetic domains with domain boundaries ∼300 nm wide. This value corresponds to the intrinsic width of a 180° domain wall at the surface, as determined by scanning electron microscopy with spin polarization analysis.1 The studies in Ref. 1 have also shown that this kind of domain wall behaves Neél-like at the surface, i.e., the magnetization vector M rotates within the film plane over the domain boundary. Exploiting the directional characteristics of MCD we can map the component of M normal to the domain boundary and thus selectively image the wall itself. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.364495
