Magnetic properties of single nanomagnets: Electron energy-loss magnetic chiral dichroism on FePt nanoparticles.
Electron energy-loss magnetic chiral dichroism (EMCD) allows for the quantification of magnetic properties of materials at the nanometer scale. It is shown that with the support of simulations that help to identify the optimal conditions for a successful experiment and upon implementing measurement routines that effectively reduce the noise floor, EMCD measurements can be pushed towards quantitative magnetic measurements even on individual nanoparticles. With this approach, the ratio of orbital to spin magnetic moments for the Fe atoms in a single L10ordered FePt nanoparticle is determined to be ml/ms=0.08±0.02. This finding is in good quantitative agreement with the results of XMCD ensemble measurements.
IFW Dresden, Institute for Metallic Materials, PO Box 270116, D-01171 Dresden, Germany; TU Dresden, Institut für Festkörperphysik, D-01062 Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: sebastian.schneider@ifw-dresden.de.
Sebastian
S
Schneider
IFW Dresden, Institute for Metallic Materials, PO Box 270116, D-01171 Dresden, Germany.
Darius
D
Pohl
TU Wien, University Service Centre for Electron Microscopy, Wiedner Hauptstraße 8-10, A-1040 Vienna, Austria; McMaster University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S4L8.
Stefan
S
Löffler
Uppsala University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, PO Box 516, S-75120 Uppsala, Sweden.
Ján
J
Rusz
Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Physik fester Stoffe, Department of Physics of Correlated Matter, Nöthnitzer Straße 40, D-01187 Dresden, Germany.
Deepa
D
Kasinathan
TU Wien, University Service Centre for Electron Microscopy, Wiedner Hauptstraße 8-10, A-1040 Vienna, Austria; TU Wien, Institute of Solid State Physics, Wiedner Hauptstraße 8-10, A-1040 Vienna, Austria.
Peter
P
Schattschneider
IFW Dresden, Institute for Metallic Materials, PO Box 270116, D-01171 Dresden, Germany; TU Dresden, Institut für Festkörperphysik, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
Ludwig
L
Schultz
IFW Dresden, Institute for Metallic Materials, PO Box 270116, D-01171 Dresden, Germany.
Bernd
B
Rellinghaus
EMCD; L1(0) ordered FePt nanoparticles; Ratio of orbital to spin magnetic moment