A data acquisition and display system for spin-polarized scanning electron microscopy (spin SEM)

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Abstract
A new data‐acquisition and display system has been developed for magnetic domain observation using spin‐polarized scanning electron microscopy. The system is composed of 32 frame memories (512×512×16 bit), an image processor with two high‐speed digital signal processors, and a 1280×1024 pixel color monitor. It has the following capabilities: electron probe scanning control; high‐speed (21 s/512×512 pixel image) computing and recording of two components (P x , P y ) of secondary‐electron spin polarization; computing and displaying the averaged P x and P y obtained with repetitive scanning; domain image formation for an arbitrary component from (P x ,P y ) data (8 s/512×512 pixel image); variable speed scanning to obtain a homogeneous quality image in minimum time, even when secondary‐electron intensity varies due to surface inclination; two‐dimensional display of polarization vector distribution; and angle image of the magnetization direction in both black and white and color representation.