Fabricating nanoscale magnetic mounds using a scanning probe microscope

Nanometer-scale mounds were fabricated by applying voltage pulses between a substrate and an atomic force microscope cantilever coated with magnetic material. Mounds were formed on both insulator and conducting substrates. Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) observations of the fabricated mounds were performed, and the contrast was turned over by reversing the magnetization of the tip, which is convincing proof that the mounds are magnetic. The MFM images also suggest that the mounds are perpendicularly magnetized. These results demonstrate that scanning probe microscope based nanofabrication is a promising method to fabricate nanoscale magnetic dots on any kind of substrates.