Topographic and magnetic-sensitive scanning tunneling microscope study of magnetite.
The topographic and magnetic surface structure of a natural single crystal of magnetite (Fe(3)0(4)), a common mineral, has been studied from the submicrometer scale down to the atomic scale with a scanning tunneling microscope having nonmagnetic tungsten as well as ferromagnetic iron probe tips. Several different (001) crystal planes were imaged to atomic resolution with both kinds of tips. A selective imaging of the octahedrally coordinated Fe B-sites in the Fe-O planes, and even a selective imaging of the different magnetic ions Fe(2+) and Fe(3+), has been achieved, demonstrating for the first time that magnetic imaging can be realized at the atomic level.
Wiesendanger
R
R
Shvets
I V
IV
Bürgler
D
D
Tarrach
G
G
Güntherodt
H J
HJ
Coey
J M
JM
Gräser
S
S