High resolution imaging of thin-film recording heads by superparamagnetic magnetic force microscopy tips

Authors

• Sy_Hwang Liou, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• S.S. Malhotra, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
• John Moreland, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado
• P.F. Hopkins, Quantum Peripherals of Colorado, Louisville, Colorado

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

January 1997

Comments

Published by American Institute of Physics. Appl. Phys. Lett., 70, 135(1997). © 1997 American Institute of Physics. Permission to use. http://jap.aip.org/jap/.

Abstract

We have used superparamagnetic magnetic force microscopy (MFM) tips to obtain high spatial resolution MFM images of recording heads. Profiles of the magnetic field gradient above a thin-film recording head under 3 mA bias current to the head and various tip-head distance conditions are presented. At a low tip-head distance, the gap width, gap location, and gap-field structure can be well resolved in these MFM images. Superparamagnetic tips show promise for the magnetic imaging of recording heads with gap widths below 200 nm.