An Ultra-high Resolution Single-domain Magnetic Force Micrscope Tip Fabricated Using Nanolithography

Stephen Y. Chou, Mark S. Wei, Paul B. Fischer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

An ultra-high resolution MFM tip is proposed and demonstrated. The tip consists of a -30 nm thick ferromagnetic film coated on a non-magnetic pillar that has a diameter of 150 nm, a length over 1.5 µm and a sharp end of a 10 nm radius. The pillar was fabricated on the apex of a commercial scanning force microscope tip using electron beam lithography. The ferromagnetic films were coated only on one side of the pillar but not on the rest of the tip. Therefore, the tip has a trough shape and a tapered end with a tip radius of -10 nm. The ferromagnetic trough is single-domain because of its nanoscale size and shape anisotropy. Compared to conventional Ni wire tips, the new tips have a much smaller magnetic charge distribution at the end of the tip, thus offering better imaging resolution. Furthermore, they have a lower stray field, thus making them well suited to measuring soft magnetic materials.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4485-4487
Number of pages3
JournalIEEE Transactions on Magnetics
Volume30
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1994
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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