Quantitative analysis of the magnetic properties of a carbon nanotube probe in magnetic force microscopy

Abstract

The magnetic properties of a carbon nanotube synthesized by chemical vapour deposition have been demonstrated in magnetic force microscopy using a metal current ring, which produces a well-defined magnetic field. The effective dipole and monopole moments of the metal particle at the end of the nanotubes are 1.8×10-4 emu and 16 emu/cm, respectively. These values are very close to that of the conventional tip. This result suggests that the capped nanotube tip is useful for a magnetic force microscopy tip in spite of the minimal size of the particle.

Improving the lateral resolution of the MFM technique to the range

“…In order to improve the spatial resolution of the MFM technique, a further development of the magnetic probes is required. To achieve this goal, several approaches are described in literature [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. For the imaging of soft magnetic samples, it is very important that the sample-tip interaction does not lead to a modification or even destruction of the magnetic structures.…”

Resolution of Magnetic Force Microscope with Metal-Capped Carbon Nanotube Tips

“…[8][9][10] The result shows that the Fe 3 C-capped nanotube has the dipole and monopole moments of 1.9 10 -12 emu and 2.6 10 -8 emu/cm, respectively. 2) These values are four and eight times larger than those of the Ni 3 C-capped one, respectively when they have the same volume.…”

Scanning Probe Microscopy

“…Another approach to improving resolution was to use carbon nanotubes as a MFM probe. The probe consisted of a metal-capped carbon nanotube attached to the tip of a standard Si probe (89,90). The authors speculated that carbon nanotube probes could achieve spatial resolution of ∼10 nm.…”

“…The magnitude of magnetic forces have been estimated by a finite element model and numerical simulations (91). Magnetic force magnitudes have been quantified by imaging a calibration sample (92) and using a current ring located in the proximity of the tip (90). Other advances in MFM include inducing a magnetic field at the MFM tip by a microfabricated single turn conductive coil (93) and using the higher flexural modes of the oscillating cantilever for increased sensitivity (94).…”