MAGNETIC FORCE MICROSCOPY ANALYSIS OF SOFT THIN-FILM ELEMENTS

Several different soft magnetic materials have been investigated by me ans of Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) using a commercial Atomic Force Microscope (Nanoscope III) with slope detection. The observed contras t of basically solenoidal magnetization distributions in nanocrystalli ne Fe-Permalloy multilayer and single-layer Permalloy thin film elemen ts not only reveals wall locations, and thus the subdivision of the ma gnetic volume into domains, but also a decomposition into subdomains h itherto undocumented. A strong influence of the magnetic fine structur e is also demonstrated Additional observations of the classical lancet s of a Goss texture in bulk Iron confirm the fact that the symmetries of the observed contrast are consistent with those of the perpendicula r component of magnetization within a volume close to the sample surfa ce.