Probing the pinning strength of magnetic vortex cores with sub-nanometer resolution

Understanding interactions of magnetic textures with defects is crucial for applications such as racetrack memories or microwave generators. Such interactions appear on the few nanometer scale, where imaging has not yet been achieved with controlled external forces. Here, we establish a method determining such interactions via spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy in three-dimensional magnetic fields. We track a magnetic vortex core, pushed by the forces of the in-plane fields, and discover that the core (similar to 10(4) Fe-atoms) gets successively pinned close to single atomic-scale defects. Reproducing the core path along several defects via parameter fit, we deduce the pinning potential as a mexican hat with short-range repulsive and long-range attractive part. The approach to deduce defect induced pinning potentials on the sub-nanometer scale is transferable to other non-collinear spin textures, eventually enabling an atomic scale design of defect configurations for guiding and reliable read-out in race-track type devices.