Schneider Sebastian, Pohl Darius, Löffler Stefan, Rusz Ján, Kasinathan Deepa, Schattschneider Peter, Schultz Ludwig, Rellinghaus Bernd
IFW Dresden, Institute for Metallic Materials, PO Box 270116, D-01171 Dresden, Germany; TU Dresden, Institut für Festkörperphysik, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
IFW Dresden, Institute for Metallic Materials, PO Box 270116, D-01171 Dresden, Germany.
Ultramicroscopy. 2016 Dec;171:186-194. doi: 10.1016/j.ultramic.2016.09.009. Epub 2016 Sep 20.
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 L1 ordered FePt nanoparticle is determined to be m/m=0.08±0.02. This finding is in good quantitative agreement with the results of XMCD ensemble measurements.