Nano-scale thin film investigations with slow polarized muons

Abstract

Muons with 100% spin polarization and whose energy can be continuously varied from 0.5 to 30 keV provide a novel extension of the <em>μ</em>SR technique allowing depth dependent studies of thin films and multilayered structures in the range from ∼1 to ∼200 nm. For example it is possible to study magnetic field profiles near the surface of superconductors and directly determine fundamental quantities such as the magnetic penetration depth. Low energy muons (LE-<em>μ</em>+) also allow mapping the spin polarization in multilayered structures, for instance that of the conduction electrons of a non-magnetic buried layer in between thin ferromagnetic layers.