M Bode 2003 Rep. Prog. Phys. 66 523 doi:10.1088/0034-4885/66/4/203
M Bode
Show affiliationsThe recent experimental progress in spin-polarized scanning tunnelling microscopy (SP-STM)—a magnetically sensitive imaging technique with ultra-high resolution—is reviewed. The basics of spin-polarized electron tunnelling are introduced as they have been investigated in planar tunnel junctions for different electrode materials, i.e. superconductors, optically excited GaAs, and ferromagnets. It is shown that ferromagnets and antiferromagnets are suitable tip materials for the realization of SP-STM. Possible tip designs and modes of operations are discussed for both classes of materials. The results of recent spatially resolved measurements as performed with different magnetic probe tips and using different modes of operation are reviewed and discussed in terms of applicability to surfaces, thin films, and nanoparticles. The limits of spatial resolution, and the impact of an external magnetic field on the imaging process are debated.
72.25.-b Spin polarized transport
68.37.Ef Scanning tunneling microscopy (including chemistry induced with STM)
75.60.Ej Magnetization curves, hysteresis, Barkhausen and related effects
Issue 4 (April 2003)
Received 4 December 2002
Published 14 March 2003
M Bode 2003 Rep. Prog. Phys. 66 523
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