Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Optimizing Magnetic Force Microscopy Resolution and Sensitivity to Visualize Nanoscale Magnetic Domains
Published on: July 20, 2022
Remanence due to wall magnetization and counterintuitive magnetometry data in 200-nm films of Ni
M A Marioni1, N Pilet, T V Ashworth
1EMPA Materials Science and Technology, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. Miguel.Marioni@empa.ch
Abstract:
200-nm-thick Ni films in an epitaxial Cu/Ni/Cu/Si(001) structure are expected to have an in-plane effective magnetic anisotropy. However, the in-plane remanence is only 42%, and magnetic force microscopy domain images suggest perpendicular magnetization. Quantitative magnetic force microscopy analysis can resolve the inconsistencies and show that (i) the films have perpendicular domains capped by closure domains with magnetization canted at 51 degrees from the film normal, (ii) the magnetization in the Bloch domain walls between the perpendicular domains accounts for the low in-plane remanence, and (iii) the perpendicular magnetization process requires a short-range domain wall motion prior to wall-magnetization rotation and is nonhysteretic, whereas the in-plane magnetization requires long-range motion before domain-magnetization rotation and is hysteretic.
Related Concept Videos
Diamagnetism
Diamagnetism was discovered by Anton Brugmans in 1778 when he observed that bismuth gets repelled by magnetic fields, thus theorizing that diamagnets get repelled by magnets.
Ferromagnetism
Paramagnetism
Atomic Nuclei: Magnetic Resonance
Magnetic Susceptibility and Permeability
When diamagnetic materials are placed under an external magnetic field, the moments opposite to the field are induced. Hence, the susceptibility for diamagnets has a minimal negative value of 10-5–10-6. Since...
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes

