A SPIN ROTATOR FOR DETECTING ALL 3 MAGNETIZATION VECTOR COMPONENTS BYSPIN-POLARIZED SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY

A spin rotator for observing magnetic domains with all three magnetiza tion components of a sample surface by spin-polarized scanning electro n microscopy (spin SEM) has been developed. The spin rotator is placed between the sample and the spin detector in a spin SEM, and can rotat e the polarization vector of secondary electrons by pi/2. Although the spin detector itself can detect only two independent polarization com ponents, the rotation of polarization makes third-component detection possible. The conventional spin rotator, which is a well-known energy filter named a Wien filter, has been much improved to have a large foc using area by using hyperbolic cylindrical pole pieces as a magnet and several auxiliary electrodes. As a result, all the secondary electron s emitted from the area of a surface as large as 1 mm in diameter can pass the spin rotator with uniform spin rotation, and the distribution of all three magnetization components can be imaged successfully by s pin SEM. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.