Due to it’s chirality, the electron transport or electronic transmission through a molecule can have a spin preference. This is called the Chiral-Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS) effect....Show moreDue to it’s chirality, the electron transport or electronic transmission through a molecule can have a spin preference. This is called the Chiral-Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS) effect. Understanding CISS may contribute to the understanding of life but can also be useful for spintronic applications. Within this research, a setup for measuring the CISS-effect locally, using a Photo-Emission Electron Microscope (PEEM), is investigated. It is found that using a linear polarizer in combination with a lambda half plate can be related to the parallel and perpendicular polarization direction with respect to the sample. This is useful for tuning circular and elliptical polarization to the samples surface. Besides, it turned out that difference in illumination response for metallic structures for different handedness of the elliptically polarized light, is mostly related to the size (∼ 1µm) of the structures, but not significantly to its geometry. The setup is tested for a Self-Assembled Monolayer consisting of alkanethiol molecules, for which it shows equal response for left- and right-handed circularly polarized light. A Low-Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM) measurement shows that the self-assembly process has led to an ordered layer on the gold on Mica substrate. In extension to this research, for future research on the CISS-effect, it would be interesting to fabricate a Self-Assembled Monolayer of chiral molecules with different handedness in order to measure whether or not opposite response to different elliptical light polarizations.Show less
Performing real-time non-invasive nanoscale microscopy on surfaces is essential to studies of plasmonics, electrochemistry and protein dynamics. Optical near-field electron microscopy (ONEM) is a...Show morePerforming real-time non-invasive nanoscale microscopy on surfaces is essential to studies of plasmonics, electrochemistry and protein dynamics. Optical near-field electron microscopy (ONEM) is a proposed imaging technique that achieves this by converting an optical near-field image to an electron image through a low-workfunction thin-film photocathode and imaging these electrons with the detection optics of a low-energy electron microscope (LEEM). In this thesis, we perform theory, sample fabrication and microscopy experiments as a stepping stone towards ONEM. We focus on photocathode properties and resolution considerations.Show less
