title: Cleaning of contaminated MFM probes using a BOPP film and external magnetic field.
abstract: When magnetic samples are tested with a magnetic force microscope (MFM), the probe tip can inevitably be contaminated and magnetic particles are often adhered to the tip surface. The probe with magnetic contamination will seriously affect the quality of morphological and magnetic imaging. In the work, a method for the cleaning of contaminated magnetic probe tips was developed by the use of a biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film together with an external magnet field in an MFM system. In the experiments, an MFM system was used for manipulating the tip to push into the BOPP film with a depth of 50-100nm under a magnetic field and hold for 5s, and the relationships between loading forces and separating forces were studied. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images have shown that the use of the BOPP film together with an external magnet field is effective for the cleaning of contaminated MFM probes. This method can greatly improve the quality of magnetic imaging, prolong the service life of magnetic probes and reduce the experimental costs in many MFM applications.
authors.affiliation: JR3CN & CNM, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: JR3CN & CNM, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, China; JR3CN & IRAC, University of Bedfordshire, Luton LU1 3JU, UK.
authors.forename: Jinyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: JR3CN & CNM, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, China.
authors.forename: Qingling
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: JR3CN & CNM, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, China.
authors.forename: Wenxiao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: JR3CN & CNM, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: JR3CN & CNM, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, China; JR3CN & IRAC, University of Bedfordshire, Luton LU1 3JU, UK.
authors.forename: Dayou
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: JR3CN & CNM, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, China; JR3CN & IRAC, University of Bedfordshire, Luton LU1 3JU, UK. Electronic address: wangz@cust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zuobin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Biaxially-oriented polypropylene film; Magnetic contamination; Magnetic field; Magnetic force microscope; Magnetic probe cleaning