Tetsuro Ueno

Design and performance of a compact scanning transmission X-ray microscope at the Photon Factory

We present a new compact instrument designed for scanning transmission X-ray microscopy. It has piezo-driven linear stages, making it small and light. Optical components from the virtual source point to the detector are located on a single optical table, resulting in a portable instrument that can be operated at a general-purpose spectroscopy beamline without requiring any major reconstruction. Careful consideration has been given to solving the vibration problem common to high-resolution microscopy, so as not to affect the spatial resolution determined by the Fresnel zone plate. Results on bacteriogenic iron oxides, single particle aerosols, and rare-earth permanent magnets are presented as examples of its performance under diverse applications.

Enhanced orbital magnetic moments in magnetic heterostructures with interface perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.

We have studied the magnetic layer thickness dependence of the orbital magnetic moment in magnetic heterostructures to identify contributions from interfaces. Three different heterostructures, Ta/CoFeB/MgO, Pt/Co/AlOx and Pt/Co/Pt, which possess significant interface contribution to the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, are studied as model systems. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy is used to evaluate the relative orbital moment, i.e. the ratio of the orbital to spin moments, of the magnetic elements constituting the heterostructures. We find that the relative orbital moment of Co in Pt/Co/Pt remains constant against its thickness whereas the moment increases with decreasing Co layer thickness for Pt/Co/AlOx, suggesting that a non-zero interface orbital moment exists for the latter system. For Ta/CoFeB/MgO, a non-zero interface orbital moment is found only for Fe. X-ray absorption spectra shows that a particular oxidized Co state in Pt/Co/AlOx, absent in other heterosturctures, may give rise to the interface orbital moment in this system. These results show element specific contributions to the interface orbital magnetic moments in ultrathin magnetic heterostructures.

Magnetization Reversal Process in Pr-Cu Infiltrated Nd-Fe-B Nanocrystalline Magnet Investigated by Small-Angle Neutron Scattering

Magnetization reversal process in Nd-Fe-B nanocrystalline magnets was investigated by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) using a non-polarized neutron beam. The magnetic-field dependence of the SANS intensities was obtained for as-deformed and Pr-Cu infiltrated Nd-Fe-B magnets. The SANS intensity variation with the magnetic field is suppressed in Pr-Cu infiltrated sample as compared with that in as-deformed sample. The isolation of Nd2Fe14B grains along the [001]-axis direction was found to be caused by the infiltration of the Pr-Cu eutectic alloy, resulting in coercive force enhancement. The results suggest that magnetic isolation of the grains is the key to developing magnets with high coercive force.

Adaptive design of an X-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy experiment with Gaussian process modelling

Spectroscopy is a widely used experimental technique, and enhancing its efficiency can have a strong impact on materials research. We propose an adaptive design for spectroscopy experiments that uses a machine learning technique to improve efficiency. We examined X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) spectroscopy for the applicability of a machine learning technique to spectroscopy. An XMCD spectrum was predicted by Gaussian process modelling with learning of an experimental spectrum using a limited number of observed data points. Adaptive sampling of data points with maximum variance of the predicted spectrum successfully reduced the total data points for the evaluation of magnetic moments while providing the required accuracy. The present method reduces the time and cost for XMCD spectroscopy and has potential applicability to various spectroscopies.Spectroscopy: Machine learning for efficient measurementsMachine learning methods can make spectroscopy more time- and cost-efficient. Spectroscopy is a powerful experimental technique for characterising the properties of materials, but measurement times can often be long resulting in high running costs. There are many different types of spectroscopy, using light at different wavelengths. A team of Japanese researchers led by Tetsuro Ueno and Kanta Ono now show that machine learning methods can be used to reduce the number of data points required to determine the magnetic moments in a material using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy. This method, which repeatedly adapts the experimental sampling based on model predictions, not only reduces the time and cost for this type of spectroscopy, but it should be applicable to others.

Multiple magnetic scattering in small-angle neutron scattering of Nd-Fe-B nanocrystalline magnet.

We have investigated the influence of multiple scattering on the magnetic small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) from a Nd–Fe–B nanocrystalline magnet. We performed sample-thickness- and neutron-wavelength-dependent SANS measurements, and observed the scattering vector dependence of the multiple magnetic scattering. It is revealed that significant multiple scattering exists in the magnetic scattering rather than the nuclear scattering of Nd–Fe–B nanocrystalline magnet. It is considered that the mean free path of the neutrons for magnetic scattering is rather short in Nd–Fe–B magnets. We analysed the SANS data by the phenomenological magnetic correlation model considering the magnetic microstructures and obtained the microstructural parameters.

Magnetization reversal of a Nd-Cu-infiltrated Nd-Fe-B nanocrystalline magnet observed with small-angle neutron scattering

The magnetization reversal process of Nd-Fe-B nanocrystalline magnets infiltrated with Nd-Cu alloy was examined using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The magnetic-field dependence of SANS intensity revealed a qualitative difference between Nd-Cu-infiltrated samples and as-deformed samples. Insufficient magnetic isolation along the direction perpendicular to the nominal c-axis is expected from comparable SANS intensities for different ranges of q values along this direction. For small q values near the coercivity field, Nd-Cu-infiltrated samples show a noticeable reduction in SANS intensity along the nominal c-axis, which is parallel to the external magnetic field. This indicates less spatial fluctuation of magnetic moments in Nd-Cu-infiltrated samples, owing to magnetically isolated Nd2Fe14B grains.

Development of a Compact Scanning Transmission X-Ray Microscope

We report a compact scanning transmission X-ray microscope newly designed and developed at the Photon Factory. The microscope has very compact size and is equipped with fully digitized control electronics to realize high stability, precise positioning and fast data acquisition. The hardware design of the microscope is described in detail. Results of measurement using test samples are also presented.

Relation between electronic structure and magnetic anisotropy in amorphous TbCo films probed by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

Magnetic anisotropy of amorphous TbCo films was investigated by x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and synchrotron radiation x-ray diffraction (XRD). The easy magnetization axis was out-of-plane and in-plane for the as-deposited and annealed films, respectively. Remarkable features observed with regard to annealing were a peak-energy shift and increased asymmetry in the Co L 2,3 XMCD spectra and variations of the fine structures in the Tb M 4,5 XMCD spectra. A quantitative analysis of the XMCD results revealed that the Co 3d spin magnetic moment decreased and the orbital magnetic moment increased with annealing. On the other hand, both Tb 4f spin and orbital magnetic moments decreased with annealing. In contrast to the clear change in XAS and XMCD by annealing, no significant change in the amorphous structure was detected by XRD.

End station for nanoscale magnetic materials study: Combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy

We have constructed an end station for nanoscale magnetic materials study at the soft X-ray beamline HiSOR BL-14 at Hiroshima Synchrotron Radiation Center. An ultrahigh-vacuum scanning tunneling microscope (STM) was installed for an in situ characterization of nanoscale magnetic materials in combination with soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) spectroscopy experiment. The STM was connected to the XMCD experimental station via damper bellows to isolate it from environmental vibrations, thus achieving efficient spatial resolution for observing Si(111) surface at atomic resolution. We performed an in situ experiment with STM and XMCD spectroscopy on Co nanoclusters on an Au(111) surface and explored its practical application to investigate magnetic properties for well-characterized nanoscale magnetic materials.

Hole-doping-induced melting of spin-state ordering in PrBaCo2O5.5+x

The layered perovskite cobaltite RBaCo