Building an atomic-scale vacuum trap for spin-polarized electrons
Artist’s view of the injection of spin-polarized electrons into a vacuum trap formed between an atomically sharp tip and magnetic atoms on a surface. S. Krause, University of Hamburg
They placed an atomically sharp magnetic probe tip in front of a magnetic sample surface, thereby realizing a one-dimensional trap for electrons in the gap.
Only when resonance conditions in terms of electron energy and spin are fulfilled, standing wave states evolve in the trap, and injection of spin-polarized electrons into these states allows for the investigation of single electron reflection at the underlying atom at the surface.
Providing unprecedented insights into the atomic-scale scattering mechanism, the study potentially paves the way towards future spintronic devices employing spin-dependent electron scattering and transport.
Dr. Anika Schlenhoff
Department of Physics
University of Hamburg
Phone: +49 40 42838 6201
E-Mail: aschlenh@physnet.uni-hamburg.de
Prof. Dr. Roland Wiesendanger
Department of Physics
University of Hamburg
Phone: +49 40 42838 5244
E-Mail: wiesendanger@physnet.uni-hamburg.de
A. Schlenhoff, S. Kovařík, S. Krause, and R. Wiesendanger,
Vacuum resonance states as atomic-scale probes of noncollinear surface magnetism,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 087202 (2019).
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.087202
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