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The real-space observation of chemistry and magnetic structure using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) or synchrotron-based x-ray microscopy (XM) continues to have a tremendous impact on our understanding of nanoscale materials. However, although STM provides high spatial resolution, it lacks direct chemical contrast. On the other hand, XM can provide chemical as well as magnetic sensitivity, but the spatial resolution is inferior. In order to overcome these limitations, we have developed a technique that combines the spin sensitivity and chemical contrast of synchrotron x-rays with the locality of STM.

Generally, materials characterization by x-rays requires a large number of atoms and reducing the material quantity for measurements is a long-standing goal. To date, attogram amount of sample can be detected by x-rays; however, this is still in the range of 104 atoms or more and gaining access to a much smaller samples is becoming extremely arduous.