Preparation of magnetic tips for spin-polarized STM on Fe_{1+y}Te

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a simple method to prepare magnetic tips for spin-polarized STM on FeTe crystals, enabling atomic-scale magnetic and electronic studies without complex ultra-high vacuum procedures.

Contribution

It introduces a straightforward approach to create ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic tips on FeTe, facilitating combined magnetic and electronic characterization at the atomic level.

Findings

Magnetic tips can be prepared directly on FeTe crystals.

The method allows for spin-polarized STM without ultra-high vacuum.

Enables simultaneous study of magnetic and electronic properties.

Abstract

The interplay of electronic nematic modulations, magnetic order, superconductivity and structural distortions in strongly correlated electron materials calls for methods which allow characterizing them simultaneously - to allow establishing directly the relationship between these different phenomena. Spin-polarized STM enables studying both, electronic excitations as well as magnetic structure in the same measurement at the atomic scale. Here we demonstrate preparation of magnetic tips, both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic, on single crystals of FeTe. This opens up preparation of spin-polarized tips without the need for sophisticated ultra-high vacuum preparation.