Magnetic Force Microscope Probes With High Resolution by Soft Magnetic Vortex

Magnetic force microscope (MFM) probes are fabricated by coating magnetically soft FeCo films in a facing targets sputtering (FTS) system. Compared with DC magnetron sputtering, probes coated by FTS show smaller tip radius. Lateral resolution about 12 nm has been achieved by the probes. Simulation results show that a magnetic vortex is formed at the probe apex. The resulting effective magnetic moment of the probes will be minimized by the formation of vortex. We show that these probes have higher lateral resolution than the standard, commercially available MFM probes.