MAGNETIC NANOSTRUCTURES STUDIED BY SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY AND SPECTROSCOPY

Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS) were applied to study the nanostructural and nanoelectronic properties of ultrathin magnetic films, from individual adatoms and clusters (zero-dimensiona l systems) to three-dimensional bulklike islands. Complementary invest igations of the nanomagnetic structure of ultrathin films were perform ed by magnetic force microscopy (MFM). Quantum magnetic structures wer e prepared by electron-beam lithography and nanosphere lithography and analyzed by STM/STS as well as by MFM. Magnetization switching of sin gle-domain Co dots induced by the MFM tip is demonstrated, and its pot ential application for quantum magnetic storage is shown. Finally, tun neling spectroscopy performed with magnetic probe tips yields new info rmation about the spin-resolved nanoelectronic properties of magnetic nanostructures. (C) 1997 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-211X(97)05704 -1].