Microstructure and Magnetic Domains of Iron Films on Liquid Surfaces

Iron (Fe) films with a thickness ranging from 1.0nm to 80.0nm are deposited on silicone oil surfaces by a vapor phase deposition method. The films with a thickness of d<2.0nm do not exhibit planar morphology but ramified aggregates instead. Magnetic force microscopy studies for the Fe films (10.0nm≤d ≤80.0nm) show that the domain wall structure is widespread and irregularly shaped and the oscillation phase shift &#8710; θ, which records as the magnetic force image, changes from 0.29° to 0.81°. Correspondingly, the magnetic force gradient varies from 1.4×10^-3 to 4.0×10^-3 N/m, respectively. In our measurement, the characteristic domain walls, such as Bloch walls, Néel walls and cross-tie walls, are not observed in the film system clearly.