Micromechanical torque magnetometer with sub-monolayer sensitivity

Published

October 29, 2004

Author(s)

Dong-Hoon Min, Andrew McCallum, Stephen E. Russek, John M. Moreland

Abstract

We have developed a micromechanical torque sensor with sub-monolayer sensitivity for in situ monitoring of the magnetic moment of thin films during deposition. The film is deposited onto a microcantilever. The torque on the film is determined by measuring the deflection of the cantilever due to a small AC magnetic field perpendicular to the surface of the film. The microcantilevers have a high mechanical quality factor, large surface area, low spring constant, and high resonance frequency to improve film sensitivity to thickness. A phase-locked loop minimizes the resonance frequency shift of the cantilever due to mass loading and temperature drift that would otherwise affect the measurement of magnetic torque. The demonstrated sensitivity for a Ni_0.8Fe_0.2 film and for a Ni_0.8Fe_0.2/Cu multilayer film is less than 0.1 nm.

Citation

Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials

Volume

286

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Cantilever, Fiber optic interferometer, Torque magnetometry, Ultra-high-vacuum

Citation

Min, D. , McCallum, A. , Russek, S. and Moreland, J. (2004), Micromechanical torque magnetometer with sub-monolayer sensitivity, Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=31680 (Accessed October 11, 2025)