A synthetic multiple layer tip for magnetic force microscopy

Summary form only given. Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) is widely used to study the magnetic domain and magnetization switching processes of magnetic materials. Although under optimized conditions, it offers a spatial resolution of about 20 nm, there always is a demand for even higher resolutions. The most popular approach for achieving a higher resolution is to sharpen the tip itself using focused ion beam trimming. Although this technique has proven effective in improving the resolution, it is only up to a certain extent because the lateral size of the tip is not the only factor that determines the resolution of MFM; the distribution of magnetized coatings in the depth direction also affects the resolution substantially. To address the latter issue, tips with localized magnetic coatings have been proposed. In addition to the resolution-related issues, the MFM is also known to have difficulties in imaging the domain structure of soft magnetic materials. To reduce the tip-sample interaction imaging has to be performed either at a large lift-height or using a low moment tip, both of which will lead to a degradation of the image quality. In this work we proposed a tip consisting of a synthetic multiple layer coating.