Rd. Gomez et al., Quantification of magnetic force microscopy images using combined electrostatic and magnetostatic imaging, J APPL PHYS, 83(11), 1998, pp. 6226-6228
A method for calibrating the force gradients and probe magnetic moment in p
hase-contrast magnetic force microscopy (MFM) is introduced. It is based up
on the combined electrostatic force microscopy EFM and MFM images of a cond
ucting non magnetic metal strip. The behavior of the phase contrast in EFM
is analyzed and modeled as a finite area capacitor. This model is used in c
onjunction with the imaging data to derive the proportionality constant bet
ween the phase and the force gradient. This calibration is further used to
relate the measured MFM images with the field gradient from the same conduc
ting strip to derive the effective magnetic moment of the probe. The knowle
dge of the phase-force gradient proportionality constant and the probe's ef
fective moment is essential to directly quantify field derivatives in MFM i
mages. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(98)27711-5].