Development of MFM-SEM System for Observation of Magnetic Domains

The magnetic force microscope (MFM) has the potential of enabling observations of fine magnetic domain structures, but remaining problems must be resolved before practical application is possible. As a result of theoretical analysis, the most suitable values of the probe-sample distance h and probe radius R were found to be h = 600 Å and R = 100 Å. Using these values, an MFM cantilever of length 130 ¿m, width 10 ¿m and thickness 1 ¿m was designed. A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) was used to detect the cantilever displacement resulting from the magnetic force. A new domain configuration was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) by bringing a sharp Fe wire tip close to a sample and observing the influence of the leakage field of the tip.