Magnetic Resonance Force Microscope Development

Our objectives were to develop the Magnetic Resonance Force Microscope (MRFM) into an instrument capable of scientific studies of buried structures in technologically and scientifically important electronic materials such as magnetic multilayer materials. This work resulted in the successful demonstration of MRFM-detected ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) as a microscopic characterization tool for thin magnetic films. Strong FMR spectra obtained from microscopic Co thin films (500 and 1000 angstroms thick and 40 x 200 microns in lateral extent) allowed us to observe variations in sample inhomogeneity and magnetic anisotropy field. We demonstrated lateral imaging in microscopic FMR for the first time using a novel approach employing a spatially selective local field generated by a small magnetically polarized spherical crystallite of yttrium iron garnet. These successful applications of the MRFM in materials studies provided the basis for our successful proposal to DOE/BES to employ the MRF M in studies of buried interfaces in magnetic materials.