The first images of a surface which exhibited a clear antiferromagnetic contrast was presented. The images were obtained from 10 to 80nm-thick NiO(100) films, which had been grown onto Mg(100), by using X-ray magnetic linear dichroism spectroscopy and high-resolution photo-electron emission microscopy. Surface-sensitive images, with a lateral resolution of better than 50nm, revealed surface line defects that exhibited antiferromagnetic order with a reduced Néel temperature (455K) relative to that (523K) of the remainder of the film surface and the bulk. An analysis of the temperature-dependent images permitted the separation of the spin and charge components of the linear dichroism effect.

Images of the Antiferromagnetic Structure of a NiO(100) Surface by means of X-Ray Magnetic Linear Dichroism Spectromicroscopy. J.Stöhr, A.Scholl, T.J.Regan, S.Anders, J.Lüning, M.R.Scheinfein, H.A.Padmore, R.L.White: Physical Review Letters, 1999, 83[9], 1862-5