Advanced characterization of multiferroic materials by scanning probe methods and scanning electron microscopy

The scanning probe techniques (SPM) are the most important research tool for nanoscience and nanostructured materials. Among the various methods developed in the literature, scanning force microscopy (SFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) are the most representative. The SPM techniques measure in parallel the topography and the physical quantity, as the topography may interact with the desired information. An example of such a technique is magnetic force microscopy (MFM), where in two subsequent scans a topographic signal and a magnetic signal are detected. This principle is employed also in similar techniques like electric field microscopy (EFM) or piezoforce microscopy (PFM). AFM/MFM techniques offer a resolution in the range 1-40 nm, which is therefore an ideal combination with the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique. This type of combined measurement can even be further enhanced by a detailed knowledge about the sample properties like crystallographic orientation, texture, grain boundaries and misorientation angles.