NIST's SEMPA facility upgraded

The ability of NIST scientists to image small magnetic structures has been recently improved by the installation of a new, ultra-high vacuum, field emission scanning electron microscope in the NIST Scanning Electron Microscopy with Polarization Analysis (SEMPA) facility. This new instrument, when coupled to the NIST polarization detection system, will allow faster imaging with higher resolution.

The new microscope replaces two older units and provides a high-intensity field emission electron source and state-of-the-art electron optics. NIST will now be able to image the magnetization of magnetic nanostructures with 10 nm spatial resolution, the highest of any SEMPA system worldwide. The improved performance is essential to keep pace with the shrinking length scales of magnetic structures in magnetic media, spintronic devices, and magnetic sensors. The microscope is also an Auger microprobe with facilities for in situ thin film growth and tools for nanoscale compositional and structural analysis. The microscopes operation is fully automated and under computer control, permitting remote control of the microscope, and immediate electronic transfer of SEMPA images and measurements to NIST customers.

CONTACT: John Unguris, [phone]; john. [email protected].