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Nanostructured magnetic materials play an important role in increasing miniaturized devices. For the studies of their magnetic properties and behaviors, nanoscale imaging of magnetic field is indispensible. Here, using electron holography, the magnetization distribution of a TMR spin valve head of commercial design is investigated without and with a magnetic field applied. Characterized is the magnetic flux distribution in complex hetero-nanostructures by averaging the phase images and separating their component magnetic vectors and electric potentials. The magnetic flux densities of the NiFe (shield and 5 nm-free layers) and the CoPt (20 nm-bias layer) are estimated to be 1.0 T and 0.9 T, respectively. The changes in the magnetization distribution of the shield, bias, and free layers are visualized in situ for an applied field of 14 kOe. This study demonstrates the promise of electron holography for characterizing the magnetic properties of hetero-interfaces, nanostructures, and catalysts., (Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The magnetic domain structure of the writer poles of perpendicular magnetic recording heads was studied using electron holography. Although the domain structure of a 100-nm-thick writer pole could be observed with a 300 kV transmission electron microscope, that of the 250-nm-thick writer pole could not be analyzed due to the limited transmission capability of the instrument. On the other hand, the detailed domain structure of the 250-nm-thick writer pole was successfully analyzed by a 1 MV electron microscope using its high transmission capability. The thickness and material dependency of the domain structure of a writer pole were discussed.

The Aharonov-Bohm effect was conclusively established by a series of our electron interference experiments, with the help of some advanced techniques, such as coherent field-emission electron beams and microlithography. Using this fundamental principle behind the interaction of an electron wave with electromagnetic fields, new observation techniques were developed to directly observe microscopic objects and quantum phenomena previously unobservable.

Fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics, which were discussed only theoretically as "thought experiments" in the 1920s and 1930s, have begun to frequently show up in nanoscopic regions owing to recent rapid progress in advanced technologies. Quantum phenomena were once regarded as the ultimate factors limiting further miniaturization trends of microstructured electronic devices, but now they have begun to be actively used as the principles for new devices such as quantum computers. To directly observe what had been unobservable quantum phenomena, we have tried to develop bright and monochromatic electron beams for the last 35 years. Every time the brightness of an electron beam improved, fundamental experiments in quantum mechanics became possible, and quantum phenomena became observable by using the wave nature of electrons.

Using Lorentz microscopy to directly image vortices, we investigate vortex motion control and rectification in a niobium superconductor. We directly observe a net motion of vortices along microfabricated channels with a spatially asymmetric potential, even though the vortices were driven by an oscillatory field. By observing the individual motion of vortices, we clarify elementary processes involved in this rectification. To further demonstrate the ability to control the motion of vortices, we created a tiny vortex "racetrack" to monitor the motion of vortices in a closed circuit channel.