TY - JOUR
T1 - Resolving magnetic nanostructures in the 10-nm range using MFM at ambient conditions
AU - Koblischka, M. R.
AU - Hartmann, U.
AU - Sulzbach, T.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank all members of the MAGNETUDE consortium for their helpful discussions. This work is part of the EU research project “MAGNETUDE” under Contract No. G5RD-CT-1999-00005. This financial support is gratefully acknowledged.
PY - 2003/12/15
Y1 - 2003/12/15
N2 - Following the demand of the magnetic data storage industry, the magnetic structures in hard disk heads are continuously shrinking. This requires a powerful tool to investigate the magnetic properties of these elements in the range of about 10 nm. To achieve this goal, we prepared MFM tips using the electron-beam deposition (EBD) contamination technique, where carbon caps and needles are grown onto the micromachined Si cantilevers. For batch production of MFM tips, however, this technique is not suited well, so we employ the focussed ion-beam (FIB) technique to produce MFM tips with a high aspect ratio similar to those tips with carbon needles. We show that the use of these tips not only improves the lateral resolution, but also considerably reduces the disturbation effects of the weak magnetic structures due to the magnetic tips.
AB - Following the demand of the magnetic data storage industry, the magnetic structures in hard disk heads are continuously shrinking. This requires a powerful tool to investigate the magnetic properties of these elements in the range of about 10 nm. To achieve this goal, we prepared MFM tips using the electron-beam deposition (EBD) contamination technique, where carbon caps and needles are grown onto the micromachined Si cantilevers. For batch production of MFM tips, however, this technique is not suited well, so we employ the focussed ion-beam (FIB) technique to produce MFM tips with a high aspect ratio similar to those tips with carbon needles. We show that the use of these tips not only improves the lateral resolution, but also considerably reduces the disturbation effects of the weak magnetic structures due to the magnetic tips.
KW - MFM imaging
KW - Preparation of tips
KW - Resolution
KW - Soft magnetic samples
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U2 - 10.1016/j.msec.2003.09.146
DO - 10.1016/j.msec.2003.09.146
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0345550318
SN - 0928-4931
VL - 23
SP - 747
EP - 751
JO - Materials Science and Engineering C
JF - Materials Science and Engineering C
IS - 6-8
ER -