Project title: Magnetic measurements with sub-nanometer precision
Main applicant: Jan Rusz, Division of Materials Theory
Grant amount: 3 600 000 SEK for the period 2017-2021
Funder: Project grant from the Swedish Research Council
In recent years we have witnessed substantial methodological progress in detection of magnetism at nanoscale, utilizing transmission electron microscopy. Innovation originated to a large extent from theoretical predictions, which were then confirmed by the experiment. As the primary task of this project we want to complete the quest of a development of a quantitative magnetic characterization technique at a nano-scale. This consists of two major steps: 1) completing the theoretical understanding of generation of the magnetic signal (coherence, atomic vibrations, delocalization of the magnetic signal component) and 2) proposing and testing optimized general experimental setups. We will utilize the method to observe evolution of magnetic properties at interfaces with sub-nanometer spatial resolution. These changes are assumed to vastly influence properties of magnetic tunnel junctions, e.g., at the ferromagnet-insulator interfaces in Fe/MgO/Fe. Another class of applications are core-shell magnetic nanoparticles and correlation of structure modifications and magnetic properties at microscopic level.
