Showing papers by "Andrzej Maziewski published in 2000"

The improvement of atomic force microscope suitable for magnetic domain structure measurements

Abstract: At the end of eighties, the atomic force microscopy (AFM) was for the fIrst tIme applied for investigation of a magnetic stray field. At that moment a novel, very powerful experimental technique predestined for magnetisation spatial distribution study, named magnetic force microscopy (MFM), was born and has been up to now intensively developed. Magnetic domain structures could be also studied using many other techniques, such as for example: magneto-optical Kerr and Faraday microscopy, Bitter pattern technique, ferrofluid decoration, cryogenic condensation, Lorentz microscopy, electron holography, and scanning electron microscopy with polarisation analysis (SEMPfl). A short overlook of these techniques and their advantage and disadvantage in respect of MFM can be found in Ref. [1]. Although there is a wide offer of commercial MFM today, a significant number of nowadays working MFMs was home-built. Improvement of a \"low-cost\" AFM microscope for MFM investigation is the main purpose of our work. We have focused our efforts on commercial Burleigh METRISTM-2000 Atomic Force Microscope. MFM allows to obtain magnetic structure images with resolution greater than that one achieved by optical methods. The principal scheme of MFM is the further development of AFM. In comparison with the forces typically used for AFM work, magnetic forces are significantly smaller in value and their registration requires notable efforts. Due to the low gradient of magnetic field over the sample surface, it is impossible to use its action for feedback control and, consequently, during magnetic field ineasurements the feedback loop must be broken. In the case of our AFM, a standard working algorithm, which allows magnetic measurements, is discussed in Ref. [2]. It could be briefly described as follows: At the beginning magnetic probe is far away from the surface of the sample, feedback is on; then the probe approaches to the sample. Further feedback is