Synopses & Reviews
Responding to growing interest in the miniaturization of magnetic-storage media and the quest for novel spintronics applications, this account asserts energy-loss magnetic chiral dichroism (EMCD) as a promising technique for magnetic studies on the nanometer and subnanometer scale, providing the technical and logistic advantages of electron microscopy such as in situ chemical and structural information, easy access, and low cost. Regarding EMCD in the broader context of anisotropy in electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), the role of the crystal as an electron interferometer for the setup of chiral electronic transitions, the appearance of retardation effects in EELS, theoretical approaches to X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and sum rules for spin and orbital moments, this intensive report explores the innovative methods being applied to research in the EMCD and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) fields.
Synopsis
This book describes energy loss magnetic chiral dichroism (EMCD), a phenomenon in energy loss spectroscopy discovered in 2006. EMCD is the equivalent of XMCD but is based on fast probe electrons in the electron microscope. A spatial resolution of 2 nm has been demonstrated, and the lattice-resolved mapping of atomic spins appears feasible. EMCD is, thus, a promising technique for magnetic studies on the nanometer and sub-nanometer scale, providing the technical and logistic advantages of electron microscopy, such as in situ chemical and structural information, easy access, and low cost.
About the Author
Peter Schattschneider is a professor at the Institute for Solid State Physics of the Vienna University of Technology.