LEEM image phase contrast of MnAs stripes

Low energy electron microscopy (LEEM) imaging of strained MnAs layers epitaxially grown on GaAs(001) reveals striped contrast features that become more pronounced and vary systematically in width with increasing defocus, but that are completely absent in focus. Weaker subsidiary fringe-like features are observed along the stripe lengths, while asymmetric contrast reversal occurs between under-focus and over-focus conditions. A Fourier optics calculation is performed that demonstrates that these unusual observations can be attributed to a phase contrast mechanism between the hexagonal α phase and orthorhombic β phase regions of the MnAs film, which self-organize into a periodic stripe array with ridge-groove morphology. The unequal widths of the α and β phase regions are determined accurately from the through focus series, while the height variation in this system can also be determined in principle from the energy dependence of contrast.