Magnetic imaging with soft X-ray microscopies

yyX-ray magnetic circular dichroism yields at inner-core absorption edges large values up to 50%. This serves as huge magnetic contrast mechanism to image magnetic domain structures. The current status of magnetic soft X-ray microscopy providing currently a resolution down to about 20nm to study static domain configurations is demonstrated by selected examples on high magnetostrictive thin films and laterally microstructured elements measured at the XM-I microscope at the ALS (Berkeley CA). Element-specificity allows insight into magnetic coupling mechanisms and the evolution of the domain patterns within full hysteresis loops can be studied by recording the images within external magnetic fields. Both in-plane and out-of-plane configurations of the magnetization can be addressed by tilting the sample at an axis perpendicular to the photon propagation direction. Magnetic X-PEEM measurements obtained at the Swiss Light Source provide complementary information. Spin dynamics, i.e. precession and relaxation of the magnetization, can be addressed by taking into account the inherent pulsed time structure of synchrotrons. First results with a sub-100psee time resolution obtained in a stroboscopic pump-probe experiment with a patterned permalloy element at the XM-1are reported.