Template-directed self-assembled magnetic nanostructures for probe recording

We employ a template-directed self-assembly process to arrange nanospheres as small as 20 nm in a polymer resist template with regular hole arrays with periods down to 42 nm produced using extreme ultraviolet interference lithography. To demonstrate magnetic probe recording employing magnetic tips, an array of magnetic caps with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy was then created by depositing Co/Pt multilayer films on 60 nm nanospheres, arranged on a square lattice with 100 nm period. The magnetic nanocaps can be switched individually in a controlled fashion, with recognition of a successful switching event realized by measurement of a force-distance curve.