Probing surface magnetism with ion beams

Ion beams can be used to probe magnetic properties of surfaces by a variety of different methods. Important features of these methods are related to trajectories of atomic projectiles scattered from the surface of a solid target and to the electronic interaction mechanisms in the surface region. Both items provide under specific conditions a high sensitivity for the detection of magnetic properties in the region at the topmost layer of surface atoms. This holds in particular for scattering under planar surface channeling conditions, where under grazing impact atoms or ions are reflected specularly from the surface without penetration into the subsurface region. Two different types of methods are employed based on the detection of the spin polarization of emitted or captured electrons and on spin blocking effects for capture into atomic terms. These techniques allow one to probe the long range and short range magnetic order in the surface region.