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Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions are key interactions in modern spintronics. These interactions are thought to be dominated by the oxidation of the Co|Al interface in the archetypal Platinum-Cobalt-Aluminum oxide system. Here, we observe a double sign change in the anisotropy and about threefold variation in interfacial chiral interaction, influenced not only by the oxidation, but also by the metallic Al thickness. Contrary to previous assumptions about negligible spin-orbit effects at light metal interfaces, we not only observe strong PMA with fully oxidized Al, decreasing and turning negative (in-plane) with less oxygen at the Co|Al interface, we also observe that the magnetic anisotropy reverts to positive (out-of-plane) values at fully metallic Co|Al interface. These findings suggest modification in Co d band via Co|Al orbital hybridization, an effect supported by X-ray absorption spectroscopy and ab initio theory calculations, highlighting the key impact of strain on interfacial mechanisms at fully metallic Co|Al interface., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures

In contrast to static holographic phase shifters, which are restricted to specific electron beam energies and microscope settings, Boersch phase shifters are promising for creating programmable arrays for generating two- and three-dimensional electron beam patterns. We recently demonstrated a three-element Boersch phase shifter device [Thakkar et al., J. Appl. Phys. 128 (2020), 134502], which was fabricated by electron beam lithography and is compatible with up-scaling. However, it suffers from parasitic beam deflection and resulting cross-talk. Here, we report a five-layer phase shifter device, which is based on a metal-insulator-metal-insulator-metal structure (as originally envisioned by Boersch) that reduces cross-talk. We demonstrate a three-element Boersch phase shifter that shows minimal beam deflection of voltage-controlled three-electron-beam interference patterns in a transmission electron microscope operated at 200 keV. The feasibility of using such multi-element phase shifter arrays is discussed., Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures

Quantitative interpretation of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) data of crystalline specimens often requires the accurate knowledge of the local crystal orientation. A method is presented which exploits momentum-resolved scanning TEM (STEM) data to determine the local mistilt from a major zone axis. It is based on a geometric analysis of Kikuchi bands within a single diffraction pattern, yielding the centre of the Laue circle. Whereas the approach is not limited to convergent illumination, it is here developed using unit-cell averaged diffraction patterns corresponding to high-resolution STEM settings. In simulation studies, an accuracy of approximately 0.1mrad is found. The method is implemented in automated software and applied to crystallographic tilt and in-plane rotation mapping in two experimental cases. In particular, orientation maps of high-Mn steel and an epitaxially grown La$_{\text{0.7}}$Sr$_{\text{0.3}}$MnO$_{\text{3}}$-SrTiO$_{\text{3}}$ interface are presented. The results confirm the estimates of the simulation study and indicate that tilt mapping can be performed consistently over a wide field of view with diameters well above 100nm at unit cell real space sampling.

Recently, considerable efforts have been made on research and improvement for Ni-rich lithium-ion batteries to meet the demand from vehicles and grid-level large-scale energy storage. Development of next-generation high-performance lithium-ion batteries requires a comprehensive understanding on the underlying electrochemical mechanisms associated with its structural evolution. In this work, advanced operando neutron diffraction and four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy techniques are applied to clarify the structural evolution of electrodes in two distinct full cells with identical LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathode but different anode counterparts. It is found that both of cathodes in two cells exhibit non-intrinsic two-phase-like behavior at the early charge stage, indicating selective Li+ extraction from cathodes. But the heterogeneous evolution of cathode is less serious with graphite-silicon blended anode than that with graphite anode due to the different delithiation rate. Moreover, it is revealed that the formation of heterogeneous structure is led by the distribution of defects including Li/Ni disordering and microcracks, which should be inhibited by assembling appropriate anode to avoid potential threaten on cell performance. The present work unveils the origin of inhomogeneity in Ni-rich lithium-ion batteries and highlights the significance of kinetics control in electrodes for batteries with higher capacity and longer life., Comment: 29 pages and 5 figures for manuscript; 30 pages, 14 figures and 4 tables for supplementary information

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically nontrivial spin configurations that possess particle-like properties. Earlier research was mainly focused on a specific type of skyrmion with topological charge Q = -1. However, theoretical analyses of two-dimensional chiral magnets have predicted the existence of skyrmion bags -- solitons with arbitrary positive or negative topological charge. Although such spin textures are metastable states, recent experimental observations have confirmed the stability of isolated skyrmion bags in a limited range of applied magnetic fields. Here, by utilizing Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, we show the extraordinary stability of skyrmion bags in thin plates of B20-type FeGe. In particular, we show that skyrmion bags embedded within a skyrmion lattice remain stable even in zero or inverted external magnetic fields. A robust protocol for nucleating such embedded skyrmion bags is provided. Our results agree perfectly with micromagnetic simulations and establish thin plates of cubic chiral magnets as a powerful platform for exploring a broad spectrum of topological magnetic solitons., Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures

Achieving a correlative measurement of both magnetic and atomic structures at the nanoscale is imperative to understand the fundamental magnetism of matters and for fostering the development of new magnetic nanomaterials. Conventional microscopy methods fall short in providing the two information simultaneously. Here, we develop a new approach to simultaneously map the magnetic field and atomic structure at the nanoscale using Lorentz 4-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (Ltz-4D-STEM). This method enables precise measurement of the characteristic atomic and magnetic structures across an extensive field of view, a critical aspect for investigating real-world ferromagnetic materials. It offers a comprehensive visualization and statistical evaluation of the different structural information at a pixel-by-pixel correlation. The new method allows to directly visualize the magnetoelastic coupling and the resulting complex magnetization arrangement as well as the competition between magnetoelastic and magnetostatic energy. This approach opens new avenues for in-depth studying the structure-property correlation of nanoscale magnetic materials., Comment: 28 pages, 14 figures

In four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D STEM) a focused beam is scanned over a specimen and a diffraction pattern is recorded at each position using a pixelated detector. During the experiment, it must be ensured that the scan coordinate system of the beam is correctly calibrated relative to the detector coordinate system. Various simplified and approximate models are used implicitly and explicitly for understanding and analyzing the recorded data, requiring translation between the physical reality of the instrument and the abstractions used in data interpretation. Here, we introduce a calibration method where interactive live data processing in combination with a digital twin is used to match a set of models and their parameters with the action of a real-world instrument.

The exchange bias phenomenon, inherent in exchange-coupled ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic systems, has intrigued researchers for decades. Van der Waals materials, with their layered structure, provide an optimal platform for probing such physical phenomena. However, achieving a facile and effective means to manipulate exchange bias in pristine van der Waals heterostructures remains challenging. In this study, we investigate the origin of exchange bias in MnPS3/Fe3GeTe2 van der Waals heterostructures. Our work demonstrates a method to modulate unidirectional exchange anisotropy, achieving an unprecedented nearly 1000% variation through simple thermal cycling. Despite the compensated interfacial spin configuration of MnPS3, magneto-transport measurements reveal a huge 170 mT exchange bias at 5 K, the largest observed in pristine van der Waals antiferromagnet-ferromagnet interfaces. This substantial magnitude of the exchange bias is linked to an anomalous weak ferromagnetic ordering in MnPS3 below 40 K. On the other hand, the tunability of exchange bias during thermal cycling is ascribed to the modified arrangement of interfacial atoms and changes in the vdW gap during field cooling. Our findings highlight a robust and easily adjustable exchange bias in van der Waals antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic heterostructures, presenting a straightforward approach to enhance other interface related spintronic phenomena for practical applications.

Altermagnetism represents an emergent collinear magnetic phase with compensated order and an unconventional alternating even-parity wave spin order in the non-relativistic band structure. We investigate directly this unconventional band splitting near the Fermi energy through spinintegrated soft X-ray angular resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The experimentally obtained angle-dependent photoemission intensity, acquired from epitaxial thin films of the predicted altermagnet CrSb, demonstrates robust agreement with the corresponding band structure calculations. In particular, we observe the distinctive splitting of an electronic band on a low-symmetry path in the Brilliouin zone that connects two points featuring symmetry-induced degeneracy. The measured large magnitude of the spin splitting of approximately 0.6 eV and the position of the band just below the Fermi energy underscores the signifcance of altermagnets for spintronics based on robust broken time reversal symmetry responses arising from exchange energy scales, akin to ferromagnets, while remaining insensitive to external magnetic fields and possessing THz dynamics, akin to antiferromagnets., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures (including supplementary information)

Concurrent structural and electronic transformations in VO2 thin films are of twofold importance: enabling fine-tuning of the emergent electrical properties in functional devices, yet creating an intricate interfacial domain structure of transitional phases. Despite the importance of understanding the structure of VO2 thin films, a detailed real space atomic structure analysis in which also the oxygen atomic columns are resolved is lacking. Moreover, intermediate atomic structures have remained elusive due to the lack of robust atomically resolved quantitative analysis. Here, we directly resolve both V and O atomic columns and discover the presence of the strain-stabilized intermediate monoclinic (M2) phase nanolayers (less than 2 nm thick) in epitaxially grown VO2 films on a TiO2 (001) substrate, where the dominant part of VO2 undergoes a transition from the tetragonal (rutile) phase to the monoclinic M1 phase. We unfold the crucial role of imaging the spatial configurations of the oxygen anions (in addition to V cations) utilizing atomic-resolution electron microscopy. Our approach sets a direct pathway to unravel the structural transitions in wide range of correlated oxides, offering substantial implications for e.g. optoelectronics and ferroelectrics., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures

Over the past few years, the combination of diffuser and near-field electron ptychography has drawn more attention by its ability to recover large field of view with few diffraction patterns. In this paper, we purpose a novel design and implementation of amplitude diffuser. The amplitude diffuser introduces structures to the illumination while reducing the inelastic scattering. And the amplitude diffuser is implemented at the condenser lens aperture, allowing us to vary the illumination size under the same microscope setup. We demonstrate the reconstruction results under both conventional Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) mode as well as Lorentz mode., Comment: Presented in ISCS23

Despite significant advances in the last decade regarding the room temperature stabilization of skyrmions or their current induced dynamics, the impact of local material inhomogeneities still remains an important issue that impedes to reach the regime of steady state motion of these spin textures. Here, we study the spin-torque driven motion of skyrmions in synthetic ferrimagnetic multilayers with the aim of achieving high mobility and reduced skyrmion Hall effect. We consider Pt|Co|Tb multilayers of various thicknesses with antiferromagnetic coupling between the Co and Tb magnetization. The increase of Tb thickness in the multilayers allows to reduce the total magnetic moment and increases the spin-orbit torques allowing to reach velocities up to 400 m.s-1 for skyrmions with diameters of about 160 nm. We demonstrate that due to reduced skyrmion Hall effect, combined with the edge repulsion of the magnetic track making the skyrmions moving along the track without any transverse deflection. Further, by comparing the field-induced domain wall motion and current-induced skyrmion motion, we demonstrate that the skyrmions at the largest current densities present all the characteristics of a dynamical flow regime., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures

Severe plastic deformation of powder blends consisting of SmCo5-Cu results in magnetically hardened nanocomposite bulk materials. The microstructure is continuously refined with increasing torsional deformation, yet, coercivity saturates at a certain level of strain. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation of the microstructure reveals a partial amorphization of the SmCo5 phase due to high-pressure torsion by 20 applied rotations. In this amorphous matrix nanocrystals are embedded. The effect of these experimentally observed microstructural features on the magnetic properties are investigated by micromagnetic simulations, which show that an increasing volume fraction of nanocrystals is beneficial for higher coercivities. For a fixed volume fraction of nanocrystals the simulations reveal an increasing coercivity with decreasing the size of the nanocrystals due to increasing number of interfaces acting as pinning sites. Furthermore, our micromagnetic simulations disclose the mechanisms of the saturation and decline of magnetic hardening due to the strain induced by high-pressure torsion. The calculated coercivity fits very well to the experimentally observed coercivity of Hc=1.34 T. The knowledge can also be used to develop and provide optimization strategies from the microstructure perspective.

Metallic/intermetalic materials with BCC structures hold an intrinsic instability due to phonon softening along [110] dirrection, causing BCC to lower-symmetry phases transformation when the BCC structures are thermally or mechanically stressed. Fe50Rh50 binary system is one of the exceptional BCC structures (ordered-B2) that has not been yet showing such transformation upon application of thermal stress, although mechanical deformation results in B2 to disordered FCC (gamma) and L10 phases transformation. Here, a comprehensive transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study is conducted on thermally-stressed samples of Fe50Rh50 aged at water and liquid nitrogen from 1150 degree C and 1250 degree C. The results show that, samples quenched from 1150 degree C into water and liquid nitrogen show presence of 1/4{110} and 1/2{110} satellite reflections, the latter of which is expected from phonon dispersion curves obtained by density functional theory calculation. Therefore, it is believed that Fe50Rh50 maintains the B2 structure that is in premartensite state. Once Fe50Rh50 is quenched from 1250 degree C into liquid nitrogen, formation of two short-range ordered tetragonal phases with various c/a ratios (~1.15 and 1.4) is observed in line with phases formed from mechanically deformed (30%) sample. According to our observations, an accurate atomistic shear model ({110}<1-10>) is presented that describes the martensitic transformation of B2 to these tetragonal phases. These findings offer implications useful for understanding of magnetic and physical characteristics of metallic/intermetallic materials.

This work investigates the effect of copper substitution on the magnetic properties of SmCo$_{5}$ thin films synthesized by molecular beam epitaxy. A series of thin films with varying concentrations of Cu were grown under otherwise identical conditions to disentangle structural and compositional effects on the magnetic behavior. The combined experimental and theoretical studies show that Cu substitution at the Co$_{3g}$ sites not only stabilizes the formation of the SmCo$_{5}$ structure but enhances magnetic anisotropy and coercivity. Density functional theory calculations indicate that Sm(Co$_4$Cu$_{3g}$)$_5$ possesses a higher single-ion anisotropy as compared to pure SmCo$_{5}$. In addition, X-ray magnetic circular dichroism reveals that Cu substitution causes an increasing decoupling of the Sm 4\textit{f} and Co 3\textit{d} moments. Scanning transmission electron microscopy confirms predominantly SmCo$_{5}$ phase formation and reveals nanoscale inhomogeneities in the Cu and Co distribution. Our study based on thin film model systems and advanced characterization as well as modeling reveals novel aspects of the complex interplay of intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to magnetic hysteresis in rare earth-based magnets, \textit{i.e.} the combination of increased intrinsic anisotropy due to Cu substitution and the extrinsic effect of inhomogeneous elemental distribution of Cu and Co.

Two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures are an attractive platform for studying exchange bias due to their defect free and atomically flat interfaces. Chromium thiophosphate (CrPS4), an antiferromagnetic material, possesses uncompensated magnetic spins in a single layer, rendering it a promising candidate for exploring exchange bias phenomena. Recent findings have highlighted that naturally oxidized vdW ferromagnetic Fe3GeTe2 exhibits exchange bias, attributed to the antiferromagnetic coupling of its ultrathin surface oxide layer (O-FGT) with the underlying unoxidized Fe3GeTe2. Anomalous Hall measurements are employed to scrutinize the exchange bias within the CrPS4/(O-FGT)/Fe3GeTe2 heterostructure. This analysis takes into account the contributions from both the perfectly uncompensated interfacial CrPS4 layer and the interfacial oxide layer. Intriguingly, a distinct and non-monotonic exchange bias trend is observed as a function of temperature below 140 K. The occurrence of exchange bias induced by a 'pre-set field' implies that the prevailing phase in the polycrystalline surface oxide is ferrimagnetic Fe3O4. Moreover, the exchange bias induced by the ferrimagnetic Fe3O4 is significantly modulated by the presence of the van der Waals antiferromagnetic CrPS4 layer, forming a heterostructure, along with additional iron oxide phases within the oxide layer. These findings underscore the intricate and complex nature of exchange bias in van der Waals heterostructures, highlighting their potential for tailored manipulation and control.

For energy efficient and fast magnetic memories, switching of perpendicular magnetization by the spin-orbit torque (SOT) appears as a very promising solution, even more using magnetic insulators that suppress electrical shunting. This SOT switching generally requires the assistance of an in-plane magnetic field to break the symmetry. Here, we present experiments demonstrating the field-free SOT switching of perpendicularly magnetized layers of the thulium iron garnet (Tm_{3}Fe_{5}O_{12}) magnetic insulator. The polarity of the switching loops, clockwise (CW) or counter-clockwise (CCW), is determined by the direction of the initial current pulses, in contrast with field-assisted switchings in which this polarity is controlled by the direction of the field. After an independent determination of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), we relate the field free switching to the interplay of SOT and DMI and the polarity of the loops to the imprint of a N\'eel domain wall induced by the first pulse, in agreement with Kerr imaging. Our observation and interpretation of field-free electrical switching of a magnetic insulator is an important milestone for future low power spintronic devices., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures

We propose a modification of Wigner Distribution Deconvolution (WDD) to support live processing ptychography. Live processing allows to reconstruct and display the specimen transfer function gradually while diffraction patterns are acquired. For this purpose we reformulate WDD and apply a dimensionality reduction technique that reduces memory consumption and increases processing speed. We show numerically that this approach maintains the reconstruction quality of specimen transfer functions as well as reduces computational complexity during acquisition processes. Although we only present the reconstruction for Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) datasets, in general, the live processing algorithm we present in this paper can be applied to real-time ptychographic reconstruction for different fields of application.

The topological charge $m$ of vortex electrons spans an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space. Selecting a two-dimensional subspace spanned by $m=\pm 1$, a beam electron in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) can be considered as a quantum bit (qubit) freely propagating in the column. A combination of electron optical quadrupole lenses can serve as a universal device to manipulate such qubits at the experimenter's discretion. We set up a TEM probe forming lens system as a quantum gate and demonstrate its action numerically and experimentally. High-end TEMs with aberration correctors are a promising platform for such experiments, opening the way to study quantum logic gates in the electron microscope.

Self-assembled quantum dots based on III-V semiconductors have excellent properties for applications in quantum optics. However, the presence of a 2D wetting layer which forms during the Stranski-Krastanov growth of quantum dots can limit their performance. Here, we investigate wetting layer formation during quantum dot growth by the alternative droplet epitaxy technique. We use a combination of photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy, lifetime measurements, and transmission electron microscopy to identify the presence of an InGaAs wetting layer in these droplet epitaxy quantum dots, even in the absence of distinguishable wetting layer photoluminescence. We observe that increasing the amount of Ga deposited on a GaAs (100) surface prior to the growth of InGaAs quantum dots leads to a significant reduction in the emission wavelength of the wetting layer to the point where it can no longer be distinguished from the GaAs acceptor peak emission in photoluminescence measurements.

The diversity of three-dimensional magnetic states in a FeGe nanocylinder is studied using micromagnetic simulations and off-axis electron holography in the transmission electron microscope. In particular, we report the observation of a dipole string -- a spin texture composed of two coupled Bloch points -- which becomes stable under geometrical confinement. Quantitative agreement is obtained between experimental and theoretical phase shift images by taking into account the presence of a damaged layer on the surface of the nanocylinder. The theoretical model is based on the assumption that the damaged surface layer, which results from focused ion beam milling during sample preparation, has similar magnetic properties to those of an amorphous FeGe alloy. The results highlight the importance of considering the magnetic properties of the surface layers of such nanoscale samples, which influence their magnetic states., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

The key to optimizing spatial resolution in a state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscope is the ability to precisely measure and correct for electron optical aberrations of the probe-forming lenses. Several diagnostic methods for aberration measurement and correction with maximum precision and accuracy have been proposed, albeit often at the cost of relatively long acquisition times. Here, we illustrate how artificial intelligence can be used to provide near-real-time diagnosis of aberrations from individual Ronchigrams. The demonstrated speed of aberration measurement is important as microscope conditions can change rapidly, as well as for the operation of MEMS-based hardware correction elements that have less intrinsic stability than conventional electromagnetic lenses., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 1 table

A fundamental property of particles and antiparticles, such as electrons and positrons, is their ability to annihilate one another. Similar behavior is predicted for magnetic solitons -- localized spin textures that can be distinguished by their topological index $Q$. Theoretically, magnetic topological solitons with opposite values of $Q$, such as skyrmions and their antiparticles -- antiskyrmions -- are expected to be able to merge continuously and to annihilate. However, experimental verification of such particle-antiparticle pair production and annihilation processes has been lacking. Here, we report the creation and annihilation of skyrmion-antiskyrmion pairs in an exceptionally thin film of the cubic chiral magnet B20-type FeGe observed using transmission electron microscopy. Our observations are highly reproducible and are fully consistent with micromagnetic simulations. Our findings provide a new platform for fundamental studies of particles and antiparticles based on magnetic solids and open new perspectives for practical applications of thin films of isotropic chiral magnets., Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures

Beam shaping - the ability to engineer the phase and the amplitude of massive and massless particles - has long interested scientists working on communication, imaging and the foundations of quantum mechanics. In light optics, the shaping of electromagnetic waves (photons) can be achieved using techniques that include, but are not limited to, direct manipulation of the beam source (as in X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) and Synchrotrons), deformable mirrors, spatial light modulators, mode converters and holograms. The recent introduction of holographic masks for electrons provides new possibilities for electron beam shaping. Their fabrication has been made possible by advances in micrometric and nanometric device production using lithography and focused ion beam patterning. This article provides a tutorial on the generation, production and analysis of synthetic holograms for transmission electron microscopy. It begins with an introduction to synthetic holograms, outlining why they are useful for beam shaping to study material properties. It then focuses on the fabrication of the required devices from theoretical and experimental perspectives, with examples taken from both simulations and experimental results. Applications of synthetic electron holograms as aberration correctors, electron vortex generators and spatial mode sorters are then presented.

Iron and its alloys have made modern civilisation possible, with metallic meteorites providing one of the human's earliest sources of usable iron as well as providing a window into our solar system's billion-year history. Here highest-resolution tools reveal the existence of a previously hidden FeNi nanophase within the extremely slowly cooled metallic meteorite NWA 6259. This new nanophase exists alongside Ni-poor and Ni-rich nanoprecipitates within a matrix of tetrataenite, the uniaxial, chemically ordered form of FeNi. The ferromagnetic nature of the nanoprecipitates combined with the antiferromagnetic character of the FeNi nanophases give rise to a complex magnetic state that evolves dramatically with temperature. These observations extend and possibly alter our understanding of celestial metallurgy, provide new knowledge concerning the archetypal Fe-Ni phase diagram and supply new information for the development of new types of sustainable, technologically critical high-energy magnets., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

Filamentary textures can take the form of braided, rope-like superstructures in nonlinear media such as plasmas and superfluids. The formation of similar superstructures in solids has been predicted, for example from flux lines in superconductors. However, their observation has proved challenging. Here, we use electron microscopy and numerical methods to reveal braided superstructures of magnetic skyrmions in thin crystals of B20-type FeGe. Their discovery opens the door to applications of rich topological landscapes of geometric braids in magnetic solids., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

Magnetic high entropy alloys (HEAs) are a new category of high-performance magnetic materials, with multi-component concentrated compositions and complex multi-phase structures. Although there have been numerous reports of their interesting magnetic properties, there is very limited understanding about the interplay between their hierarchical multi-phase structures and their local magnetic structures. By employing high spatial resolution correlative magnetic, structural and chemical studies, we reveal the influence of a hierarchically decomposed B2 + A2 structure in an AlCo0.5Cr0.5FeNi HEA on the formation of magnetic vortex states within individual A2 (disordered BCC) precipitates, which are distributed in an ordered B2 matrix that is weakly ferromagnetic. Non-magnetic or weakly ferromagnetic B2 precipitates in large magnetic domains of the A2 phase, and strongly magnetic Fe-Co-rich interphase A2 regions, are also observed. These results provide important insight into the origin of coercivity in this HEA, which can be attributed to a complex magnetization process that includes the successive reversal of magnetic vortices.

Magnetic skyrmions are stable topological solitons with complex non-coplanar spin structures. Their nanoscopic size and the low electric currents required to initiate and control their motion has opened a new field of research, skyrmionics, that aims at using skyrmions as information carriers for data storage and manipulation. Recent advances in skyrmionics prompt for a thorough understanding of the detailed three-dimensional (3D) spin texture of a skyrmion including skyrmion-skyrmion interactions and their coupling to surfaces and interfaces. These properties crucially affect application-related aspects such as the stability and mobility of skyrmions in confined structures. To date, however, experimental techniques to measure the three-dimensional spin texture with nanometer resolution are largely missing. We therefore adapt holographic vector field electron tomography to the problem and report on the first quantitative reconstruction of the 3D spin texture of skyrmions with sub-10 nanometer resolution. The reconstructed textures reveal a variety of previously unseen local deviations from a homogeneous Bloch character within the skyrmion tubes (SkTs), details of the collapse of the skyrmion texture at surfaces, and a correlated modulation of the SkT in FeGe along their tube axes. The quantitative 3D data of the magnetic induction also allow to experimentally confirm some principles of skyrmion formation by deriving spatially resolved maps of the magnetic energy density across these magnetic solitons.

The characteristic microstructure of Sm(Co,Fe,Cu,Zr)$_z$ alloys with SmCo$_5$ cell walls in Sm$_2$Co$_{17}$ cells, all intersected by Zr-rich platelets, makes them some of the best performing high-temperature permanent magnets. Plentiful research has been performed to tailor the microstructure at the nanoscale, but due to its complexity many questions remain unanswered about the effect of the individual phases on the magnetic performance at different temperatures. Here, we explore this mechanism effect for three different Sm(Co,Fe,Cu,Zr)$_z$ alloys by deploying high-resolution magnetic imaging via in-situ transmission electron microscopy and three-dimensional chemical analysis using atom probe tomography. We show that their microstructures differ in terms of SmCo$_5$ cell-wall and Z-phase size and density, as well as the Cu concentration in the cell walls, and demonstrate how these features influence the magnetic domain size and density and thus form different magnetic textures. Moreover, we illustrate that the dominant coercivity mechanism at room temperature is domain-wall pinning and show that magnets with a denser cell-wall network, a steeper Cu gradient across the cell-wall boundary, and thinner Z-phase platelets have a higher coercivity. We also show that the coercivity mechanism at high temperatures is domain-wall nucleation at the cell walls. Increasing the Cu concentration inside the cell walls decreases the transition temperature between pinning and nucleation, significantly decreasing the coercivity with increasing temperature. We therefore provide a detailed explanation of how the microstructure on the atomic to nanoscale directly affects the magnetic performance and provide detailed guidelines for an improved design of Sm(Co,Fe,Cu,Zr)$_z$ magnets., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures

Modern nanotechnology techniques offer new opportunities for fabricating structures and devices at the micron and sub-micron level. Here, we use focused ion beam techniques to realize drift tube Zernike phase plates for electrons, whose operation is based on the presence of contact potentials in Janus bimetallic cylinders, in a similar manner to the electrostatic Aharonov-Bohm effect in bimetallic wires. We use electron Fraunhofer interference to demonstrate that such bimetallic pillar structures introduce phase shifts that can be tuned to desired values by varying their dimensions, in particular their heights., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, preprint

Spontaneous polarization is essential for ferroelectric functionality in non-centrosymmetric crystals. High-integration-density ferroelectric devices require the stabilization of ferroelectric polarization in small volumes. Here, atomic-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging reveals that twinning-induced symmetry breaking in colloidal nanocrystals of centrosymmetric HfO2 leads to the formation of multiple polarization orders, which are associated with sub-nanometer ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases. The minimum size limit of the ferroelectric phase is found to be ~4 nm3. Density functional theory calculations indicate that transformations between the ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases can be modulated by lattice strain and are energetically possible in either direction. The results of this work provide a route towards applications of HfO2 nanocrystals in information storage at densities that are more than an order of magnitude higher than the scaling limit defined by the nanocrystal size.

The Gatan K2 IS direct electron detector (Gatan Inc., 2018), which was introduced in 2014, marked a watershed moment in the development of cameras for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) (Pan & Czarnik, 2016). Its pixel frequency, i.e. the number of data points (pixels) recorded per second, was two orders of magnitude higher than the fastest cameras available only five years before. Starting from 2009, the data rate of TEM cameras has outpaced the development of network, mass storage and memory bandwidth by almost two orders of magnitude. Consequently, solutions based on personal computers (PCs) that were adequate until then are no longer able to handle the resulting data rates. Instead, tailored high-performance setups are necessary. Similar developments have occurred for advanced X-ray sources such as the European XFEL, requiring special information technology (IT) systems for data handling (Sauter, Hattne, Grosse-Kunstleve, & Echols, 2013) (Fangohr, et al., 2018). Information and detector technology are currently under rapid development and involve disruptive technological innovations. This chapter briefly reviews the technological developments of the past 20 years, presents a snapshot of the current situation at the beginning of 2019 with many practical considerations, and looks forward to future developments.

We report the first experimental demonstration of an electrostatic electron orbital angular momentum (OAM) sorter, which can be used to analyze the OAM states of electrons in a transmission electron microscope. We verify the sorter functionality for several electron beams possessing different superpositions of OAM states, and use it to record the electron beams OAM spectra. Our current electrostatic OAM sorter has an OAM resolution of 2 in the units of h/bar - the reduced Planck constant. It is expected to increase the OAM resolution of the sorter to the optimal resolution of 1 in the future via fine control of the sorting phase elements.

The orbital angular momentum (OAM) sorter is a new electron optical device for measuring an electron s OAM. It is based on two phase elements, which are referred to as the unwrapper and corrector and are placed in Fourier conjugate planes in an electron microscope. The most convenient implementation of this concept is based on the use of electrostatic phase elements, such as a charged needle as the unwrapper and a set of electrodes with alternating charges as the corrector. Here, we use simulations to assess the role of imperfections in such a device, in comparison to an ideal sorter. We show that the finite length of the needle and the boundary conditions introduce astigmatism, which leads to detrimental cross-talk in the OAM spectrum. We demonstrate that an improved setup comprising three charged needles can be used to compensate for this aberration, allowing measurements with a level of cross-talk in the OAM spectrum that is comparable to the ideal case.

The most powerful magnets for high temperature applications are Sm-Co-based alloys with a microstructure that combines magnetically soft and hard regions. The microstructure consists of a dense domain-wall-pinning network that endows the material with remarkable magnetic hardness. A precise understanding of the coupling between magnetism and microstructure is essential for enhancing the performance of Sm-Co magnets, but experiments and theory have not yet converged to a unified model. Here, we combine transmission electron microscopy, atom probe tomography, and nanometer-resolution off-axis electron holography with micromagnetic simulations to show that the magnetization processes in Sm-Co magnets result from an interplay between curling instabilities and pinning effects at the intersections between magnetically soft and hard regions. We also find that topologically non-trivial magnetic domains separated by a complex network of domain walls play a key role in the magnetic state. Our findings reveal a previously hidden aspect of magnetism and provide insight into the full potential of high-performance magnetic materials.