Switching Field and Resolution of MFM Tips Prepared by Coating Fe/Co50Pt50 Magnetic Films

Magnetic force microscope (MFM) tips are prepared by coating Fe(10 nm)/Co50Pt50(x nm)/Ru(5 nm) (at. %) films at 300 degrees C on Si-base tips of 4 nm radius. The thickness of CoPt layer, x, is varied in a range of 10 - 200 nm. The effects of coating thickness on spatial resolution and switching field of MFM tip are investigated. With increasing the thickness, the resolution deteriorates from 9.4 to 12.1 nm. The switching field increases from 0.675 to 2.025 kOe with increasing the coating thickness from 10 to 200 nm. A tip prepared by coating 100 nm thick Co50Pt50 film which has high resolution and high switching field property is successfully applied to the observation of magnetization structure of high-K-u magnetic thin film with L1(0)-ordered structure.