The Importance of Magnetic Force Microscopy Method in the Study of Magnetic Nanomaterials and its Comparison with Electron Microscopy Methods

Abstract

In recent years, magnetic nonmaterial’s have been utilized in the different fields due to their unique magnetic properties. There are various methods to investigate and study the properties of magnetic nonmaterial’s. Magnetic force microscope (MFM) belongs to a family of scanning probe microscope methods based on atomic force microscopy for the study of the magnetic properties of the sample surface and its topography at the nanoscale. In this paper, the importance of the MFM method in the study of magnetic materials, the operation principles, MFM modes and their applications was investigated. Also, the advantages and limitations of the MFM method compared to the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) methods were evaluated. The presented information in this paper reveals that the MFM method is a more appropriate technique for probing the properties of magnetic nonmaterial’s. Additionally, due to the higher sensitivity of the dynamic method of the magnetic force microscope than its static state, more favourable images of the surface of the magnetic sample can be obtained.