The CantiClever. A dedicated probe for magnetic force microscopy

Summary form only given. With the current rate of increase in areal density of magnetic recording systems, todays resolution of MFM needs to be improved in order to remain useful as a measurement tool. The resolution of MFM is amongst others determined by the geometry of the magnetic tip, which for commercial probes consists of a thin magnetic coating deposited on a pyramidal Si AFM tip. Analysis of the imaging process shows that the shape of these tips is not ideal. For higher resolution, the tip must be shaped as an elongated bar with a flat front end. In this contribution we present a completely new MFM cantilever, the CantiClever, which is not derived from traditional AFM probes but optimized for MFM. Our design incorporates the cantilever and the magnetic tip in a single manufacturing process with the use of silicon micromachining techniques, allowing for batch fabrication of the probes. We realise the ideal tip shape by deposition of the magnetic material (Co) on the side of a free hanging silicon nitride layer.