Convergent-beam EMCD: benefits, pitfalls and applications

Energy-loss magnetic chiral dichroism (EMCD) is a versatile method for studying magnetic properties on the nanoscale. We study the theoretical possibilities of convergent beam EMCD, particularly the influence of detector position, convergence and collection angle on the detectable EMCD signal and th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of electron microscopy 2018-03, Vol.67 (suppl_1), p.i60-i71
Main Authors: Löffler, S, Hetaba, W
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Energy-loss magnetic chiral dichroism (EMCD) is a versatile method for studying magnetic properties on the nanoscale. We study the theoretical possibilities of convergent beam EMCD, particularly the influence of detector position, convergence and collection angle on the detectable EMCD signal and the signal-to-noise ratio. Additionally, we give some guidelines for achieving optimal EMCD results. Abstract Energy-loss magnetic chiral dichroism (EMCD) is a versatile method for studying magnetic properties on the nanoscale. However, the classical EMCD technique is notorious for its low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which is why many experimentalists have adopted a convergent-beam approach. Here, we study the theoretical possibilities of using a convergent beam for EMCD. In particular, we study the influence of detector positioning as well as convergence and collection angles on the detectable EMCD signal. In addition, we analyse the expected SNR and give some guidelines for achieving optimal EMCD results.
ISSN:0022-0744
2050-5698
1477-9986
2050-5701
DOI:10.1093/jmicro/dfx129