Studies of magnetic garnet using magnetic force microscope

Abstract Magnetic domains in (YGdBi) 3 (GaFe) 5 O 12 magnetic garnet in an external field have been studied using magnetic force microscopy (MFM). A sequence of variations of the magnetic domain configuration in the garnet is clearly identified. In addition, we have demonstrated that the undisturbed magnetic domain structure could be obtained with a soft magnetic tip. It is further observed that the stray field emanating from a hard tip could magnetize the low-coercivity garnet and alter the widths of the domain region. The discussions on the effect of the external field on magnetic tips of MFM will also be presented.