Near field magneto-optical images of magnetic domains in ferromagnetic soft
garnet films have been obtained with a scanning tunneling optical microsco
pe working in total reflection geometry with shear-force control of the tip
-to-sample distance. In this geometry a magneto-optical contrast is observe
d for the first time between domains of opposite magnetization without usin
g modulation techniques. When applying a static or alternating external mag
netic field, the magneto-optical images provide the location of domain wall
pinning points. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.