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Imaging Magnetic Charges with Magnetic Force Microscopy
Author(s) -
Hubert A.,
Rave W.,
Tomlinson S. L.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/1521-3951(199712)204:2<817::aid-pssb817>3.0.co;2-d
Subject(s) - magnetic force microscope , magnetic field , physics , chemistry , condensed matter physics , quantum mechanics , magnetization
Abstract An alternative interpretation of the contrast in magnetic force microscopy images is proposed. The new approach is based on rewriting the interaction energy between tip and sample as a convolution of the scalar potential of the tip field with the magnetic “charges” of the sample. The second derivative of the scalar potential with respect to the tip–sample distance has to be inserted to obtain the MFM image in the force gradient mode. By demonstrating the potential of conventional tip geometries to be sharply localized in particular for the mentioned derivative we show that magnetic force microscopy is in the weak interaction limit effectively a method for the high resolution observation of magnetic charges. The virtual identity of a simulated MFM image derived from the numerically calculated stray field, and the corresponding charge image demonstrates the validity of the new approach.