Magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM) is a technology capable of detecting the magnetic resonance of a small number of spins and, potentially, a single spin of an electron or nucleus. Most methods use soft cantilevers with microscopic dimensions (microns) which have been developed for atomic force microscopy. Cantilevers have been both a solution and problem of high sensitivity force detection. They are difficult to fabricate and it is difficult to achieve the right sensitivity and stiffness with them. The proposed invention eliminates the cantilever and replaces it with small, magnetically sensitive objects called birdies, which are manipulated above a sample using electromagnetic field control. The basic principles of the cantilever-free MRFM are the same as those of traditional, cantilever-based systems. Motion of the birdie induced by magnetic resonance is monitored using optical interferometry. The magnetic resonance force microscope should have application in both material and biological research at the nanoscale level.