We have investigated the influence of the nano-oxide layer positions on giant magnetoresistance(GMR) of the NiFe(9nm)/Cu(4nm)/Co(5nm) pseudo spin valves. Nano-oxide layer positions had a several effects on the multilayer structure that changes its magnetotransport behavior. GMR ratio varied between 2.8% and 0.15% depending on the nano-oxide layer positions within the stack. The increase of the GMR ratio was accompanied by increase in resistance change, decrease in sheet resistance, and decrease in surface roughness. These significant variations of GMR ratio was explained by the changes on the spin dependent scattering or current shunting effect. Our results showed that appropriate placement of a nano-oxide layer was essential fo optimize magnetoresistance and properties of spin valves.

Vertically-aligned Mn (10%)-doped Fe3O4 (Fe2.7Mn0.3O4) nanowire arrays were produced by the reduction/substitution of pre-grown Fe2O3 nanowires. These nanowires were ferromagnetic with a Verwey temperature of 129 K. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements revealed that the Mn2+ ions preferentially occupy the tetrahedral sites, substituting for the Fe3+ ions. We observed that the Mn substitution decreases the magnetization, but increases the electrical conductivity. We developed highly sensitive gas sensors using these nanowire arrays, operating at room temperature, whose sensitivity showed a correlation with their bond strength of diatomic/triatomic molecules. Based on the fact that the sensitivity was highest toward water vapor, an excellent-performance humidity sensor was fabricated.

A high-quality (100)-oriented epitaxial Fe3Si films were grown on (100) MgO substrates by RF-magnetron sputtering. The full width at half maximum of the Fe3Si 400 rocking curve was 0.18°, when the film was grown at 750°C. The epitaxial films of 100 nm thicknesses had a smooth continuous surface. The coercive field (Hc) was approximately 10 Oe, and the saturation magnetization (Ms) was 900 emu/cm3, which are almost the same as those of bulk Fe3Si. The anisotropy constant (K1) of magnetization indicated that the epitaxial Fe3Si films grown at 750°C mainly consisted of long range ordering phase (DO3 phase) and that the epitaxial films post-annealed at 900°C was constituted with ordering phase.

Cerium-doped hematite particles of the type xCeO2-(1-x)α-Fe2O3 (x=0.1, 0.5) were synthesized using mechanochemical activation and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Mössbauer spectroscopy. XRD patterns yielded the dependence of lattice parameters and particle size as a function of ball milling time for each value of the molar concentration x. For x=0.1, the Mössbauer spectra were fitted with one or alternatively, two sextets, corresponding to Ce ions substituting Fe ions in the hematite structure. For x=0.5, Mössbauer spectra fitting required the addition of a quadrupole-split doublet, representing Fe substituting Ce in the CeO2 lattice. We evidenced this transition using our recently developed method for precise determination of the recoilless fraction in a single room-temperature transmission Mössbauer measurement of a two-absorber sample. We observed the occurrence of a minimum in the values of the recoilless fraction for t=4 hours of milling, followed by a further decrease of the f factor due to the appearance of nanoparticles in the system.

We have demonstrated the use of highly sensitive spin valve sensors for the detection of micron magnetic beads. By using a ring type, cross type, and meander line type sensors, we were able to detect the presence of 2.8 μm size magnetic beads in real time by direct measurement of magnetic dipole fields from magnetic beads. The sensitivity of the ring, cross and meander line sensors were obtained about 50 μV/Oe, 7 μV/Oe, 30 μV/Oe and sensor output signals of 50 μV , 30 μV, 90 μV were obtained in an external applied field of 10 Oe and 1 mA sense current. Our results shows that ring, cross, and meander line shape spin valve sensors are very promising candidates for the detection of biomolecules with magnetic labels.

Self-assembled FePt nanoparticle arrays are candidate structures for ultrahigh density magnetic storage media. One of the factors limiting their application to this technology is particle-to-particle compositional variation. In the present study, an analysis is provided for the formation mechanism of FePt nanoparticles synthesized from the thermal decomposition of Fe(CO)5 and the reduction of FeCl2 by superhydride. In both processes, Pt rich seeds initially form from the reduction of Pt acetylacetonate. The particle formation mechanism has been studied by extracting particles at different stages of the synthesis and individually determining particle-to-particle composition by STEM-XEDS. In the case Fe(CO)5, the Fe is gradually incorporated into the Pt seeds and produces a wide variation in compositional distribution about the mean value. In contrast, the FeCl2 has a nearly instantaneous shift in composition to the average value with the introduction of the superhydride reducing agent. The discrepancies in compositional uniformity between the two processes will be discussed in terms of the intrinsic differences between the different precursors.

Relaxation of the remanent magnetization produced by samples with magnetized ferromagnetic micro-particles dispersed in a liquid non-ferromagnetic material was measured. The intracellular environment was simulated by liquid with two various viscosities. Using the SQUID gradiometric system the time-dependences of the relaxation on the intensity of the magnetizing field and the viscosity of non-magnetic carrier liquid have been investigated. Since the relaxation is always present after the magnetizing process, the time-dependences of the relaxation has to be measured for the correction of resulting data in the realistic evaluation of the ferromagnetic contamination of retained dust in the lungs (magnetopneumography), in the magnetic measurement of human iron stores in the liver and it can be also successfully applied in a magnetopneumographic investigation of alveolar clearance.

A new microporous polyborate, NaCuB7O12.nH2O, is synthesized using boric acid as a flux. It contains a 14-membered ring framework built up by CuO6 octahedra, BO4 tetrahedra and BO3 triangles. The spin-1/2 dimers of Cu2+ ions are connected by BO3 to form an infinite ladder along the b-axis. Magnetic susceptibility data between 2 and 330 K are presented, and the data are accurately fitted by theoretical predictions of Bleaney-Bowers for the spin-1/2 dimer, with J/kB = -153.8 K, and g = 1.98, where J is the intradimer exchange interaction constant and g is the Landé g factor.

Recently, oxide-based dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) have attracted an immense research interest to the scientists due to the possibility of inducing room temperature ferromagnetism and potential uses in novel spintronic devices. In2O3, a transparent opto-electronic material, is an interesting prospect for spintronics due to its unique combination of magnetic, electrical, and optical properties. High quality thin films of Co-doped In2O3 DMS were grown on quartz substrates using pulsed laser deposition technique. All the films have been characterized using different techniques such as x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, optical transmission spectroscopy, electrical resistivity, and Hall Effect measurement. The effect of growth temperature and oxygen pressure on the electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of these films have been studied in detail. The optical transparency in all the films is high. It has been observed that the optical transparency depends on growth temperature and oxygen pressure. The electrical parameters such as resistivity, carrier concentration, and mobility strongly depend on both oxygen pressure and growth temperature. The films grown at low temperature are semiconducting in nature while the films grown at high temperature are metallic. Detailed temperature and magnetic field dependent resistivity, magnetoresistance, and Hall effect data will be presented. This work is supported by Research Corporation (award number CC6166).

The characteristic of combining liquid behavior with and magnetic properties makes ferrofluids unique and it provides them a variety of applications, in particular in the medial field. For medical application ferrofluids are required to be stable at neutral pH and against high salt concentration. Here we present a new approach to stabilize water-based ferrofluids by using genetically engineered peptides for inorganics (GEPI's). Such GEPI's selected for specific and strong binding to the surface of nanoparticles not only increase colloidal stability by acting as a thin surfactant, but they also enable an efficient route for rendering the ferrofluid bio-functional and bio-compatible. The stability of a ferrofluid was characterized by the ac-susceptibility and by using it in a ferro-microfluidic device. This chip actuates the ferrofluid directly via magnetic fields alone, and the pumping spectrum as a function of frequency reveals information about the size of the magnetic nanoparticles. An ideal ferrofluid with monodisperse particles displays a single and clear pumping peak. Agglomeration can directly be observed as a broadening of the pumping spectrum.

Recent theoretical limits of the minimal switching field and current for uniaxial magnetic nano-structures are reviewed. The results include also the optimal field and current pulses for the fastest magnetization reversal. Contrary to the general belief, the precessional magnetization reversal is not the fastest one, and its critical switching field is neither the lowest one.

A series of atom probe and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies have been performed to quantify minute compositional fluctuations in Fe55Pt45 thin films during the A1 to L10 phase transformation. The atom probe specimens were analyzed in an Imago Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP®) at a target evaporation of 0.5%, a pulse fraction of 20% and a temperature of 120K. We noted a propensity of fracture failures in the LEAP with this material at lower temperatures. The atom probe reconstruction showed small levels of Pt segregation at grain boundaries in the as-deposited films. Fresnel-contrast TEM imaging confirmed high density fluctuations in these boundaries. Upon annealing at 600°C for 10 minutes, the film transformed from A1 to L10 and the grain boundaries become Fe enriched as compared to the as-deposited film.

In this paper, we report the synthesis and characterization of the PMMA-coated magnetite nanocomposite obtained from the emulsion polymerization method. In this approach, the magnetite particles were prepared separately with oleic acid as the capping ligands in nonaqueous solution and disperse in non-polar solvent. The micells structure consisting water, oil phase and surfactant will contain the oleic acid stabilized magnetite particles inside and the polymerization process will only occur on the surface of the emulsion system. This method allows the individual magnetic particles encapsulated in the polymer matrix. The resulting nanocomposites were characterized by TGA, XRD and SQUID

Discrete track media (DTM) with patterned servo-areas and recording tracks were fabricated on disk substrates in a two-step RIE process, creating a fine pattern transfer from an imprinted resist mask to a substrate surface without variations in groove depth. The fabricated DTM with perpendicular magnetic recording layers flew stably during read out signal detection.

The epitaxially grown magnetic nanostructures including nanodots, nanowires and nanorings have been attracting much scientific and engineering interests because of their expected unique physical characteristics due to quantum effects. These epitaxial nanomagnets and their array are undoubtedly thought to make major contribution to the development of future SPINTRONICS devices, ultra-high density magnetic random access memory (MRAM) and magnetic switching devices for examples, and other quantum devices. In this case, epitaxial growth of the nanomagnets and the resulting anisotropic properties are one of the largest interest as well as fine-nanostructuring. There have been some concerns such as throughput rate with conventional nanoprocessing techniques involving FIB lithography and e-beam lithography, and/or minimization-limit with photolithography due to the wavelength. On the other hand, self-assembly or self-organized methods could also be used for construction of nanopatterns, in which such nanostructures are directly built up from separate atoms. Here we report about formation and characterization of self-organized nanomagnet arrays made of metals and oxides. We have epitaxially grown ferrimagnetic Fe3O4 (111), (Mn0.55Zn0.35Fe0.10)Fe2O4 (111), ferromagnetic Ni (111) and antiferromagnetic NiO (111) nanodots, nanowires and nanogroove arrays on the atomically stepped ultra-smooth sapphire (0001) substrate by LaserMBE. The sapphire (a-Al2O3 single crystal) substrates have atomic steps of 0.2 nm in height and atomically flat terraces of 50-100 nm in width so that self-assembly processes of nanomagnet arrays were strongly induced by the energetic instability at the straight and periodic step-edges. In this study, NiO worked as a antiferromagnetic exchange bias layer. On the other hand, NiO was also reduced into ferromagnetic Ni metal by annealing in hydrogen atmosphere in some situations for further applications. Crystallographic and morphology analyses of the nanomagnets were made by in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), ex-situ X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM). and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Magnetic properties were characterized by superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer and magnetic force microscopy (MFM). Further experimentals are conducted for magneto-optical characterizations for above mentioned metal and/or oxide nanomagnet arrays.

We report on growth, morphology and magnetic behavior of the pseudo spin-valve (PSV) Si/Co(15 nm)/Sn(50 nm)/Co(15 nm). Thermal evaporation was chosen as experimental deposition technique for its versatility and cost effectiveness. Magnetisation and magnetotransport measurements performed at low temperature showed that the sample has a complex behaviour related to the different morphology and thickness of the outer Co layers. Combining magnetic and magnetotransport data, a model based on three magnetic phases has been developed, associating them to the Co underlayer, to the Co cap layer and to possible nanometre-sized Co islands embedded in the Sn layer, respectively. A three-phase model coherently explains both magnetisation and magnetoresistance datasets.

Dilute Magnetic Semiconductors (DMS) are a rare group of promising materials that utilize both the electronic charge - a characteristic of semiconductor materials - and the electronic spin - a characteristic of magnetic materials. Oxide based DMS show promise of ferromagnetism (FM) at room temperature. It has been found that doping metal oxides such as ZnO, TiO2, and In2O3 with magnetic ions such as Fe, Co, Mn, and Cr produces DMS, which exhibit FM above room temperature. In2O3, a transparent opto-electronic material, is an interesting prospect for spintronics due to a unique combination of magnetic, electrical, and optical properties. High quality thin films of rare earth magnetic gadolinium (Gd) doped oxide-based DMS materials have been grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique on various substrates such as single crystal of sapphire (001) and quartz under suitable growth conditions of substrate temperature and oxygen pressure in the PLD chamber. The effect of rare earth magnetic doping on the structural and electro - magnetic properties of these films has been studied using Raman Spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Magneto - Transport. An X- ray diffraction study reveals that these films are single phase and highly oriented. Characteristic Raman peaks typical of indium oxide are observed at 496 and 627 cm−1. We have observed high magnetoresistance (∼18 %) at a relatively small field of 1.3 Tesla for the films with 10 % gadolinium. A detailed study of temperature and magnetic field dependent resistivity, magnetoresistance, and Hall Effect will be presented.

We describe the factors which control the measured value of exchange bias (HEX) in bilayers consisting of sputtered metallic thin films of an antiferromagnet (AF) in contact with a ferromagnetic (F) layer. Experimental measurements show that the value of HEX is determined by the grain volume distribution which limits the exchange bias via small grains which are thermally unstable, and large grains which cannot be set when the system is field annealed to set the AF at temperatures below TN. All the results are interpreted in terms of a granular model where the energy barrier to reversal within the AF is grain volume dependent. We show how this affects setting in metallic AFs at T<TN. We have also found that exchange bias is moderated by disordered spins at the F/AF interface. These spins can be ordered at low temperatures and by field annealing. Ordering of interfacial spins leads to an increase in HEX of up to 30%.

Bit patterned media, including media fabricated with a gradient in composition, is being developed as a potential path to higher information storage density. The formation of metal nanopillars with 20-30 nm repeat spacing and precisely controlled magnetic properties presents a significant challenge to current fabrication methods. We have been developing cylinder forming block copolymer phases as a method to generate the desired patterns coupled with the processing steps necessary to transfer the pattern into magnetic material. This involves spin coating of the polymer on an appropriate orienting layer, annealing to allow the pattern to form by self-organization of the block copolymer, solvent processing to remove the minority domain, electrodeposition to form a hard mask, followed by ion-milling to transfer the pattern to the magnetic material. We have demonstrated each step in this process and report on the quality of the pattern achieved.

In using the fully relativistic versions of the Screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method and of the Kubo-Greenwod equation domain wall resistivities at the equilibrium domain wall width are calculated for NicFe1-c. It is found that in comparison to the corresponding "bulk" case only between about 0.6¡Ü c<1 the anisotropic magnetoresistance is reduced in the presence of a domain wall sufficiently enough in order to be of practical use for potential race track memories. Around 80% Ni this reduction amount to remarkable 16%!