Download Imaging of local magnetic structure by polarized neutron holography

Imaging of local magnetic structure by polarized
neutron holography
A. Szakál
Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Budapest, Hungary
E-mail: [email protected]
Atomic resolution holography is an emerging technique for investigation of the
structure of materials on atomic scale. Using this method questions concerning the
local arrangement of nuclei around a specific nucleus can be answered but
discovering the local spin arrangement around a specific (e.g. impurity) nucleus is still
a challenging problem. Neutrons possess magnetic moment and therefore they are
candidates for holographic mapping of local magnetic structure but until the present
time no model calculation has been done to describe the expected magnetic
hologram. A model of a magnetic hologram is hereby presented taking into account
the magnetic interaction between neutrons and magnetic atoms. Particular features
of the hologram are discussed and a method to reconstruct the components of the
magnetic moments in the sample is provided. The proposed method opens the way
to image the local magnetic field inside the sample on atomic scale.