Spin polarization asymmetry at the surface of chromia

Authors

Shi Cao, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Xin Zhang, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Ning Wu, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
A T. N'Diaye, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
G Chen, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
A K. Schmid, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Xumin Chen, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
W Echtenkamp, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Axel Enders, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Christian Binek, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Peter A. Dowben, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2014

Citation

New Journal of Physics 16 (2014)

Comments

Copyright 2014 Used by permission

Abstract

We demonstrate boundary spin polarization at the surface of a Cr₂O₃ single crystal using spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy (SPLEEM), complementing prior spin polarized photoemission, spin polarized inverse photoemission, and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism photoemission electron microscopy measurements. This work shows that placing a Cr₂O₃ single crystal into a single domain state will result in net Cr₂O₃ spin polarization at the boundary, even in the presence of a gold overlayer. There are indications that the SPLEEM contrast for the two polarization states may be different, consistent with scanning tunneling microscopy spectroscopy results obtained from ultrathin films of Cr₂O₃.