Experimental Demonstration Of Scanned Spin-Precession Microscopy

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel spin-microscopy technique that uses a scanned probe to detect local spin properties in materials, achieving 5.5-micron resolution and enabling subsurface imaging of spin structures.

Contribution

The authors demonstrate a new, material-independent spin-microscopy method based on global spin-precession signal variation caused by a scanned magnetic probe.

Findings

Achieved 5.5-micron spatial resolution in mapping spin density in GaAs.

Method applicable to various spin properties and materials, including buried interfaces.

Potential for resolution improvement and broader application in spintronics devices.

Abstract

Progress in spintronics has been aided by characterization tools tailored to certain archetypical materials. New device structures and materials will require characterization tools that are material independent, provide sufficient resolution to image locally-varying spin properties and enable subsurface imaging. Here we report the demonstration of a novel spin-microscopy tool based on the variation of a global spin-precession signal in response to the localized magnetic field of a scanned probe. We map the local spin density in optically pumped GaAs from this spatially-averaged signal with a resolution of 5.5 microns. This methodology is also applicable to other spin properties and its resolution can be improved. It can extend spin microscopy to device structures not accessible by other techniques, such as buried interfaces and non-optically active materials, due to the universal nature of magnetic interactions between the spins and the probe.