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A set of reference samples for comparing the results obtained with different Magnetic Force Microscopes (MFM) has been prepared. These samples consist of CoNi/Pt magneto-optic multilayers with different thickness. The magnetic properties of the multilayer are tailored in such a way that a very fine stripe domain structure occurs in remanence. On top of this intrinsic domain structure, bits were written thermomagnetically using different laser powers. These samples have been imaged in six different laboratories employing both home-built and commercial magnetic force microscopes. The resolution obtained with these different microscopes, tips and measurement methods varies between 30 and 100 nm.

Magnetic CoNi/Pt interfaces are studied as a function of their preparation conditions by magnetization-induced second-harmonic generation (MSHG) measurements. A detailed method has been developed to decompose the total MSHG response into magnetic and crystallographic contributions for each interface. Although the bulk magnetism of the CoNi film (3 nm thick) shows only a subtle dependence on the sputtering Ar pressure, the interfaces appear to be dramatically affected. It can be shown that the crystallographic part probes the increase in the interface roughness while the magnetic one clearly reveals a maximum in the in-plane magnetization of the interface.

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