3D scanning Hall probe microscopy with 700 nm resolution

Abstract

In this report, we present a three dimensional (3D) imaging of magnetic field vector B→(x,y,z) emanating from the magnetic material surfaces using a scanning Hall probe microscopy (3D-SHPM) down to a 700 nm spatial resolution. The Hall probe is used to measure Bz(x,y) on the specimen surface at different heights with the step size of Δz = 250 nm, as we move away from the surface in z direction, until the field decays to zero. These set of images are then used to get ∂Bz(x,y)/∂x and ∂Bz(x,y)/∂y at different z by numerical differentiation. Using the Maxwell's equations in the source free region, Bx(x,y) and By(x,y) can be calculated by integrating ∂Bz(x,y)/∂x and ∂Bz(x,y)/∂y in the z direction. Alternatively, the gradients can also be measured in the Hall gradiometer configuration directly. The operation of the 3D-SHPM is demonstrated by imaging Bx(x,y), By(x,y) and Bz(x,y) on a hard disk specimen at a 700 nm resolution, using both of these methods at 77 K. The system is capable of operating from 300 K down to 4 K range.