In this work we briefly describe the most relevant features of WSXM, a freeware scanning probe microscopy software based on MS-Windows. The article is structured in three different sections: The introduction is a perspective on the importance of software on scanning probe microscopy. The second section is devoted to describe the general structure of the application; in this section the capabilities of WSXM to read third party files are stressed. Finally, a detailed discussion of some relevant procedures of the software is carried out.

A magnetic force microscopy based study on the formation of stripe domains in Permalloy (Ni80Fe20) thin films is presented. Our results show that the critical thickness for stripe domain initiation depended on the sputtering rate, the substrate temperature, and the film thickness. Beyond the stripe domain formation, an increase of the period of a highly ordered array of stripe domains was evident with increasing film thickness. Thin films sputtered at room temperature with thickness variation between ∼80 and ∼350nm exhibited square-root growth dependency on stripe domains periodicity from ∼150to∼380nm, respectively. Above a certain thickness, the domain period decreased and the periodicity deteriorated with the array becoming more random, which is a strong indicator of relatively high structural perpendicular anisotropy. To illustrate, Permalloy sputtered at 100°C initially showed linear dependence in stripe domain periodicity growth up until ∼650nm thick films. The magnetic stripe domain structure began breaking down for thicker Permalloy films. Our data also suggested that the perpendicular anisotropy responsible for the formation of stripe domains might have resulted from strain-caused magnetostriction and the thin-film microstructure shape effect.

A quantitative comparison between experiment and theory is given for the constant height mode imaging of metal nanoclusters in dynamic scanning force microscopy. We explain the fundamental mechanisms in the contrast formation with the help of the system Pd/MgO001. The comparison shows that the shape and size of nanoclusters are precisely imaged due to the sharpness of the tip's last nanometer. This quantitative comparison proves our previously proposed model for the contrast formation.

The magnetic properties, structural properties, and thermal conductivity of FePt films deposited on Ag and Cu heat sink layers designed for use in heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) were investigated. It has been found that FePt films grown on Cu have a well-defined L10-FePt (001) texture while the FePt films grown on Ag appear to be more isotropic. As the thickness of the heat sink layer increases from 15 to 120 nm the coercivity of the FePt films decreases from 1.7 to 1.5 T for Cu and from 1.3 to 1.0 T for Ag. The thermal conductivity measurements, carried out with the “laser-flash” technique, revealed that the overall thermal resistance of the examined structures is dominated by the thermal boundary resistance and the interface effects. The increase in the thickness of Ag and Cu heat sink layers does not lead to the higher effective thermal conductivity of the layered structure in the cross-plane direction. The obtained results are important for optimization of the FePt-based structures for HAMR.

No abstract