The effect was first proposed in 2003[2] and experimentally confirmed in 2006[3] by the group of Prof. Peter Schattschneider at the Vienna University of Technology.
Similarly to XMCD, EMCD is a difference spectrum of two EELS spectra taken in a magnetic field with opposite helicities.
Under appropriate scattering conditions[4] virtual photons with specific circular polarizations can be absorbed, giving rise to spectral differences.
[5] In the case of transition metals such as iron, cobalt, and nickel, the absorption spectra for EMCD are usually measured at the L-edge.
[3] However, a new method has recently demonstrated that electron vortex beams can also be used to measure EMCD without the geometrical constraints of the original procedure.