Spin-polarized scanning electron microscopy (spin SEM), where the secondary electron spin polarization is used as the image signal, is a novel technique for magnetic domain observation. Since its first development by Koike and Hayakawa in 1984, several laboratories have extensively studied this technique and have greatly improved its capability for data extraction and its range of applications. This paper reviews the progress over the last few years.Almost all the high expectations initially held for spin SEM have been realized. A spatial resolution of several hundreds angstroms has been attained, which is nearly one order of magnitude higher than that of conventional methods for thick samples. Quantitative analysis of magnetization direction has been performed more easily than with conventional methods. Domain observation of the surface of three-dimensional samples has been confirmed to be possible. One of the drawbacks, a long image acquisition time, has been eased by combining highspeed image-signal processing with high speed scanning, although at the cost of image quality. By using spin SEM, the magnetic structure of a 180 degrees surface Neel wall, magnetic thin films, multilayered films, magnetic discs, etc., have been investigated.
