Possibility of measuring exchange force through force microscopy

This article describes the possibility of measuring exchange force through atomic force microscopy AFM., based on the results of first-principles calculations for the exchange force between two magnetic Fe 001.films. We observed strong variation of the exchange force relative to the surface site. The magnitude of the force variation was larger than the force sensitivity of conventional AFM. These results suggest that a surface magnetic image with atomic resolution can be achieved by measuring the exchange force. q1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.