THEORY OF SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY WITH SPIN-POLARIZED ELECTRONSOBTAINED FROM A SEMICONDUCTING TIP

Authors
LAIHO R REITTU HJ
Citation
R. Laiho et Hj. Reittu, THEORY OF SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY WITH SPIN-POLARIZED ELECTRONSOBTAINED FROM A SEMICONDUCTING TIP, Surface science, 289(3), 1993, pp. 363-369
Citations number
20
Categorie Soggetti
Chemistry Physical
Journal title
Surface science → ACNP
ISSN journal
00396028
Volume
289
Issue
3
Year of publication
1993
Pages
363 - 369
Database
ISI
SICI code
0039-6028(1993)289:3<363:TOSWSE>2.0.ZU;2-P
Abstract
A principle of spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) for studying surface magnetism is theoretically analysed. In this approach the source of spin-polarized electrons is a semiconducting (e.g. GaAs ) tip illuminated by circularly polarized light. Equations describing the tunneling current flowing between the tip and a ferromagnetic samp le are derived. It is found that the magnetic domains and the quantiza tion axis of the surface spins can be resolved with this method.