Determination of tip transfer function for quantitative MFM using frequency domain filtering and least squares...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Physics

Background:

• Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) offers advanced capabilities for analyzing magnetic nanoscale and microscale samples and devices.
• Quantitative analysis in MFM remains a significant challenge due to complexity and a lack of systematic understanding of uncertainties and best practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To numerically investigate key aspects of Tip Transfer Function (TTF) reconstruction for quantitative MFM analysis.
• To provide recommendations and best practices for robust TTF estimation in MFM measurements.

Main Methods:

• Numerical study of TTF reconstruction using multilayer samples with perpendicular magnetization.
• Investigation of numerical approaches, non-periodicity, windowing, data normalization, regularization parameter selection, and experimental effects.
• Development of a synthetic MFM data generation method for large-scale numerical experiments.

Main Results:

• A simple regularization parameter selection method based on TTF width was developed and verified.
• TTF estimation examples were demonstrated on both 2D and 3D experimental datasets.
• Recommendations for best practices in TTF estimation, including windowing, measurement strategy, and error handling, were formulated.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a systematic approach to improving the quantitative accuracy of MFM measurements through robust TTF reconstruction.
• The proposed methods and recommendations aim to make quantitative MFM analysis more accessible and reliable for researchers.