ALTERNATING CURRENT MAGNETIC MICROSCOPE SYSTEM

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the resolution of a magnetic microscope system by swinging a cantilever in an opposite direction by the interaction between a magnetic field from a magnetic sample and an alternating magnetic field in a probe tip. SOLUTION: An XYZ scanning device maintains the surfaces of a probe tip 20 and a sample 60 at a constant interval at a distance approximately 10-50 nm from the probe tip 20 to a z-direction. Then at the time when the XYZ scanning device moves the sample 60 along a line, a modulator 70 switches current to change the magnetization of the prove tip 20 at a frequency W0 in an opposite direction via a conductive coil 11 and to generate an alternating magnetic filed. The probe tip 20 is vertically swung by the interaction between the alternating magnetic field and the magnetic field of the sample 60. The displacement of the cantilever 50 is detected by a quadrant detector 76, and a lock-in amplifier 78 detects the phase and the peak-to-peak amplitude of the input signal. By this, a magnetic sample is not affected by the stray magnetic field of the conductive coil 11, and the resolution of a magnetic microscope system is improved.