Room temperature magnetometry of an individual iron filled carbon nanotube acting as nanocantilever

The influence of external magnetic fields on the bending vibration of a one-side clamped iron filled carbon nanotube (CNT) has been analyzed theoretically and experimentally, with particular consideration given to the changes in the resonance frequency. The model involves the application of a modified Euler-Bernoulli-beam to analyze the zero field oscillatory behavior, as well as a magnetostatic approach used to determine the influence of any external field distributions. The experiments were conducted in situ in a scanning electron microscope. The measured magnetic moment of the nanowire at room temperature was mu = 2.1 x 10(-14) Am(2). Due to the favorable geometry of the CNT oscillator, the raw signal obtained using this approach is significantly more favorable than that with state of the art cantilever magnetometry. The obtained good agreement between model and experiment provides a valuable basis for the development of nanoelectromechanical systems in which magnetic interactions are relevant. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3651392]