Browsing by Subject "magnetic domain imaging"
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Item A combined magnetooptic/magnetic force microscope study of Co/Pd multilayer films(Journal of Applied Physics (American Institute of Physics), 1997) Pokhil, Taras; Proksch, RogerWe have combined a magnetic force/atomic force microscope (MFM/AFM) with a magneto-optic (MO) microscope. This instrument combines the high spatial resolution of the MFM/AFM and its capability to correlate magnetic structure with the structure of the sample surface with the real-time imaging capabilities and large field of view of the MO microscope. Our MO/MFM setup is based on the Nanoscope III Multimode™ MFM/AFM (Digital Instruments, Santa Barbara, CA). Currently, the spatial resolution of the MO microscope is about 3 μm and polarization sensitivity is on the order of 0.5°. Using this instrument, we observed domain structures in Co/Pd multilayerfilms. We found that in a film with 20 Co/Pd layer pairs and 16 nm total thickness, nucleation of domains during sample remagnetizations occurs repeatedly in the same points, and that displacement of domain walls is unidirectional. The high topographic resolution of the AFM allowed us to show that domains nucleate at small defects on the sample surface. The depth of the defects is 1–2 nm, they are 20–30 nm wide and up to 500 nm long. The unidirectional displacement of the domain walls was found to correlate with the anisotropic structure of the sample surface.Item Domain wall displacements in amorphous films and multilayers studied with magnetic force microscope(Journal of Applied Physics (American Institute of Physics), 1997) Pokhil, TarasThe magnetic force microscope(MFM) was used to study the displacement of domain walls (DW) in amorphous TbFe alloy films and Co/Pd multilayerfilms with high spatial resolution. The reversible bending of domain wall segments pinned to defects and irreversible, jumplike displacement of domain wall segments were imaged with the MFM in an applied magnetic field. The maximum reversible displacement of domain walls was 50–100 nm and the length of the segments which reversibly curved in the field was about 150 nm. Measurement of the change in radius of curvature of a DW segment in response to an applied field allowed estimation of the DW energy density and self-demagnetizing field of the film acting on the DW. The DW energy density for the TbFe films was about 1 erg/cm2. It was shown that the self-demagnetizing field acting on a domain wall depends on the domain structure surrounding the studied DW segment. For instance, for a film with saturation magnetization 100 G and thickness 80 nm, which exhibited a mazelike domain structure, the demagnetizing field varied from 100 G in the center of a mazelike domain to 400 G near the edge of a domain. The irreversible displacement of a DW was not a continuous process. The 200–400 nm long DW segments exhibited jumplike motion over distances of 100–150 nm.Item Magnetic fine structure of domain walls in iron films observed with a magnetic force microscope(Journal of Applied Physics (American Institute of Physics), 1994) Proksch, Roger; Foss, Sherry; Dahlberg, E.D.; Prinz, G.The submicron magnetic structure of domain walls in a single‐crystal ironfilm has been studied using a magnetic force microscope(MFM). The MFM tip was sensitized to the component of the field perpendicular to the film plane. The sample examined was a 500‐nm‐thick single‐crystal film of iron,grown by molecular‐beam epitaxy(MBE). Before it was imaged, the film was magnetized along its (in‐plane) easy axis in a 2000‐Oe field. Studies of the domain structure at numerous locations on the filmsurface revealed a rich variety of micromagnetic phenomena. Parallel domain walls, determined to be Bloch walls with a width of 70–100 nm, were seen along the easy axis, spaced roughly 30 μm apart. These appeared to be Bloch walls. Bloch lines were also observed in the walls with an average periodicity of 1.5 μm. This is a value smaller than that predicted for Bloch wall‐line structures. In addition, a pronounced zig–zag structure was observed, as expected from previous Fe whisker observations.