Imaging magnetic microstructures with the use of electrons

The paper presents investigations of magnetic microstructures by techniques which make use of electrons. In this context, we refer to the examples of magnetic microstructure images of cobalt monocrystals, Nd–Fe–B permanent magnet and a thin permalloy film, while the methods used are the type-I magnetic contrast technique of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the colloid-SEM method and the Fresnel mode of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It is shown that the SEM type-I magnetic contrast and the colloid-SEM method have quite different probing depths and consequently provide useful complementary information on the magnetic microstructure at the surface of bulk materials which exhibit an out-of-plane component of magnetization. It is also demonstrated that TEM is a powerful tool for investigating the magnetic microstructure of thin magnetic films. Some improvements over previous results are presented. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)