Improvement of magnetic force microscope resolution and application to high-density recording media

Effects of magnetic material, coating thickness, and tip radius on magnetic force microscope (MFM) resolution have been investigated. MFM resolutions better than 8 nm have been confirmed with tips coated by high-magnetic moment materials with optimized thicknesses. High-resolution tips are applied to the observations of recorded magnetization structures of perpendicular and bit-patterned media samples.