A combined magnetic force and spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy study of the closure domain pattern of Co(0001)

The complex fractal closure domain pattern of bulk Co(0001) is investigated using standard magnetic force microscopy in air and spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy in ultra high vacuum. The advantages as well as the limits of both methods based on the fundamentally different contrast mechanisms are illustrated. Using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy, further insight in the fine structure of the magnetic configuration of Co(0001) is gained. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.