Magnetic circular dichroism in electron microscopy

Although the analogies between the electron energy loss spectra and X-ray absorption spectra were recognized long ago, the possibility to observe the magnetic circular dichroism in the electron microscope was demonstrated only recently. This technique combines the atom specificity with the high spatial resolution of the transmission electron microscope. Being a very young technique, there are still many open questions concerning the optimization of the signal to noise ratio. In this paper we study the dichroic signal dependence on the sample thickness, acceleration voltage and incoming beam tilt angle of bcc-Fe and fcc-Ni.