Magnetic Microstructures at Low Temperatures and in High Magnetic Fields

The Scanning Probe Microscopy Group  of the IFW Dresden focusses on the investigation of magnetic microstructures of varios samples my means of Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM). Examples are the domain pattern of hard magnetic thin films with large uniaxial anisotropy, structured magnetic elements and nanocrystalline bulk samples, but it also includes the observation of flux lines in high Tc superconductors (HTSC).

Standard AFM and MFM investigations are performed with di Dimension 3100 at room temperature and ambient atmosphere. For the study of domain structures at low temperatures or in applied fields, the groups' Low Temperature MFM/STM (Omicron CryoSFM) is utilized. This enables e.g. the observation of spin reorientation transitions in RE-TM permanent magnets or the in-situ magnetization study of various magnetic materials.

• MFM in high magnetic fields and at low temperatures (LT-MFM)
  
• Domain structure of permanent magnet films (Magnetic Domains)
  
• Switching processes in granular permanent magnets (Magnetization Processes)
  
• Vortex imaging in YBCO high Tc superconductor thin films (LT-MFM)
  
• Methodical developments (Quantitative MFM and Modelling)