An imaging method, based on the measurement of the number and binding energy of photoelectrons, emitted upon irradiation with X-ray or UV photons, from the consecutive points of raster-scanned samples. The spatial resolution of the method is a few tens of nanometers. Thanks to the chemical sensitivity, it is possible to obtain chemical composition maps. In conjunction with XMCD method (link), it also allows to image the magnetic domains at the surface of studied compounds.

The method is surface-sensitive and the signal is gathered from the depth of up to a few nanometers.

PEEM method can be used in the following industries:

• surface engineering (thin film deposition, ageing, surface phase transitions)
• magnetism (imaging magnetic domains and their temperature stability)
• low-dimensional materials (imaging two-dimensional solids, e.g. graphene, or transition metal dichalcogenides).

PEEM method is available at the DEMETER beamline, using soft X-ray photons, with the available energy ranging from 150eV to 2000eV. Only UHV-compatible solids can be studied on the research station. The spatial resolution is equal to a few tens of nanometers and the temperature of samples can be varied from to -170°C to 900°C, which allows for the observation of magnetic phase transitions.