Eur. Phys. J. B (2015) 88: 224
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2015-60380-2

Regular Article

An all-electrical torque differential magnetometer operating under ambient conditions

¹ Walther-Meißner-Institut, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Walther-Meißner-Str. 8, 85748 Garching, Germany
² Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands
³ Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM), Schellingstr. 4, 80799 Munich, Germany
⁴ Physik-Department, Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany

^a e-mail: huebl@wmi.badw.de

Received: 14 May 2015
Published online: 9 September 2015

Abstract

An all-electrical torque differential magnetometry (also known as cantilever magnetometry) setup employing piezoelectric quartz tuning forks is demonstrated. The magnetometer can be operated under ambient conditions as well as low temperatures and pressures. It extends the allowed specimen mass range up to several 10 μg without any significant reduction in the sensitivity. Operation under ambient conditions and a simple all-electrical design of the magnetometer should allow for an easy integration with other experimental setups. The uniaxial magnetic anisotropy of a 25 μm diameter iron wire, measured under ambient conditions with a high signal to noise ratio, was found to be in good agreement with its literature value. Further applications of the technique are discussed.