1999 Volume 23 Issue 1_2 Pages 712-714
A polarization modulation technique has been applied to a scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM), in order to improve sensitivity and resolution of a magneto-optical (MO) imaging. Polarized light modulated by a photoelastic modulator (PEM) was introduced into a bent-type optical fiber probe operated as an AFM cantilever, and transmitted MO signals were detected using a lock-in amplifier. Ar ion laser (488 nm) was used as a light source. By using this technique. images of recorded marks on a Pt/Co disk were successfully obtained. which were written by a magnetic field modulation method with a length of 1μm and a track pitch of 1.6 μm on a multilayer of Pt (0.8 nm) / Co (0.3 nm) with thickness of 15 nm. A resolution of approximately 90 nm was obtained in the MO imaging.
