Observation of magnetic forces by the atomic force microscope

Abstract

We present a new way to observe the surface domain distribution of a magnetic sample at a submicrometer scale. This magnetic microscopy is based on the idea of measuring magnetic forces with the recently developed atomic force microscope (AFM). We study the magnetic forces involved in the interaction between a single-domain microtip and the sample surface magnetic domains. The influence of the experimental conditions on the performance of the AFM as a magnetic profiling device is also discussed. Preliminary experimental results are reported

Force measurements with the atomic force microscope: Technique, interpretation and applications

“…The quality factor at normal pressure is strongly reduced as compared to vacuum. In vacuum a typical quality factor falls in the range 10 4 to 10 8 . In air this is reduced to .…”

“…This stimulated the measurement of magnetic [7][8][9][10] and electrostatic forces [11][12][13] and led to the development of magnetic force, electric force, and Kelvin probe microscopy [14]. The goal was not so much to understand the force but to image the distribution of magnetization, charge, or surface potential, respectively.…”

Visualizing ferromagnetic domains in magnetic topological insulators

“…2(d), in good agreement with MFM signals at domain wall in a ferromagnetic thin film with out-of-plane uniaxial anisotropy. 28 The evolution of pinned bubble domains with magnetic fields is shown in Figures 3(a)-3(f). Many of them disappear at 100 mT, indicating a distribution of local pinning strengths.…”

Imaging of micro- and nanomagnetic strudures

“…Apart from other powerful magnetic imaging techniques, we focus on two particular techniques to investigate the magnetic domain configurations of micro-and nanomagnetic structures: Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) [1,2] and Scanning NearField Optical Microscopy (SNOM) [3,4].…”