Uniform magnetic dot fabrication by nanoindentation lithography

A dot array of Co/Pt multilayer was fabricated by combining nanoindentation lithography using an atomic force microscope and an inorganic/ organic bilayer resist system in accordance with the work by Hu et al. [J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 16 (1998) 1983] By elaborate optimization of all processes in the nanoindentation lithography, such as resist materials and indentation depth of a probe tip, extremely uniform Co/Pt multilayer dots with a diameter of 40nm and very small size dispersion of less than 10% have been successfully fabricated with excellent reproducibility. Magnetic measurements have revealed that the Co/Pt multilayer dots are purely single-domained and exhibit large coercivity with small switching field distribution.