Scanning magnetoresistance microscopy

We have developed a new scanning magnetic microscopy which uses commercial magnetoresistive (MR) record/playback heads as sense probes. Two-dimensional magnetic images are constructed by bringing the MR head into physical contact with the sample, and then acquiring MR voltage while the head is raster scanned using a high resolution (similar to 1 nm), linearized positioning stage. With currently available MR heads, an upper bound on the spatial resolution is 0.1X2.0 mu m. This technique has broad applications beyond the magnetic storage media for which these heads were designed. In addition to magnetic imaging, this instrument can also be used to evaluate contact record and playback processes. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.