Micromagnetic study of effect of tip-coating microstructure on the resolution of magnetic force microscopy

The properties of a magnetic force microscopy (MFM) tip are very important for high-resolution magnetic imaging. In this work, micromagnetic models of tips are set up to study the effect of tip-coating microstructure, especially the randomness of anisotropy on tip edge and tip end, on the resolution of MFM. The effective coating height and the resolution potential of tips with various microstructures and magnetic properties have been characterized by investigating the obtained signals from high-density continuous granular thin film disk media with a bit size of 8×16 nm² and bit-patterned media with a pattern period p of 50 nm. The magnetic moment distribution at the tip end should be perpendicular to the sample to realize a ‘magnetically sharp’ tip, which explains further the improved resolution in the recent experimental reports. Tips with well-controlled grain structure and magnetic anisotropy of coating materials can be applied to both high-density thin film disk media and bit-patterned media.     

\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*} chemiluminescence study at low and elevated pressures

Chemiluminescence experiments have been performed to assess the state of current $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ kinetics modeling. The difficulty with modeling $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ lies in its broad emission spectrum, making it a challenge to isolate it from background emission of species such as CH^? and CH₂O^?. Experiments were performed in a mixture of 0.0005H₂+0.01N₂O+0.03CO+0.9595Ar in an attempt to isolate $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ emission. Temperatures ranged from 1654 K to 2221 K at two average pressures, 1.4 and 10.4 atm. The unique time histories of the various chemiluminescence species in the unconventional mixture employed at these conditions allow for easy identification of the $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ concentration. Two different wavelengths to capture $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ were used; one optical filter was centered at 415 nm and the other at 458 nm. The use of these two different wavelengths was done to verify that broadband $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ was in fact being captured, and not emission from other species such as CH^? and CH₂O^?. As a baseline for time history and peak magnitude comparison, OH^? emission was captured at 307 nm simultaneously with the two $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ filters. The results from the two $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ filters were consistent with each other, implying that indeed the same species (i.e., $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ ) was being measured at both wavelengths. A first-generation kinetics model for $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ and CH₂O^? was developed, since no comprehensively validated one exists to date. CH₂O^? and CH^? were ruled out as being present in the experiments at any measurable level, based on calculations and comparisons with the data. Agreement with the $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ model was only fair, which necessitates future improvements for a better understanding of $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ chemiluminescence as well as the kinetics of the ground state species.     

Characterization of high‐density bit‐patterned media using ultra‐high resolution magnetic force microscopy

Bit‐patterned media at one terabit‐per‐square‐inch (Tb/in²) recording density require a feature size of about 12 nm. The fabrication and characterization of such magnetic nanostructures is still a challenge. In this Letter, we show that magnetic dots can be resolved at 10 nm spacing using magnetic force microscopy (MFM) tips coated with a magnetic film possessing a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). Compared to MFM tips with no special magnetic anisotropy, MFM tips with PMA can resolve the bits clearly, because of a smaller magnetic interaction volume, enabling a simple technique for characterizing fine magnetic nanostructures. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Experimental and numerical study of chemiluminescent species in low-pressure flames

Chemiluminescence has been observed since the beginning of spectroscopy, nevertheless, important facts still remain unknown. Especially, reaction pathways leading to chemiluminescent species such as OH^?, CH^?, $\mathrm{C}_{2}^{*}$ , and $\mathrm{CO}_{2}^{*}$ are still under debate and cannot be modeled with standard codes for flame simulation. In several cases, even the source species of spectral features observed in flames are unknown. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in chemiluminescence, since it has been shown that this radiation can be used to determine flame parameters such as stoichiometry and heat release under some conditions. In this work, we present a reaction mechanism which predicts the OH^?, CH^? (in A- and B-state), and $\mathrm{C}_{2}^{*}$ emission strength in lean to fuel-rich stoichiometries. Measurements have been performed in a set of low-pressure flames which have already been well characterized by other methods. The flame front is resolved in these measurements, which allows a comparison of shape and position of the observed chemiluminescence with the respective simulated concentrations. To study the effects of varying fuels, methane flame diluted in hydrogen are measured as well. The 14 investigated premixed methane–oxygen–argon and methane–hydrogen–oxygen–argon flames span a wide parameter field of fuel stoichiometry (?=0.5 to 1.6) and hydrogen content (H₂ vol%=0 to 50). The relative comparison of measured and simulated excited species concentrations shows good agreement. The detailed and reliable modeling for several chemiluminescent species permits correlating heat release with all of these emissions under a large set of flame conditions. It appears from the present study that the normally used product of formaldehyde and OH concentration may be less well suited for such a prediction in the flames under investigation.     

Femtosecond relaxation kinetics of highly excited \mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}}^{**} states in CaF2 at 3.2 eV and 4.7 eV

Femtosecond (fs) laser pulses at variable delay times allowed us to track the fast non-radiative transitions between the manifold of highly excited $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}}^{**}$ states to the lower lying fluorescent $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}}^{*}$ state in CaF₂. Two distinct $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}}^{**}$ states of the manifold at 3.16?eV ( $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}2}^{**}$ ) and 4.73?eV ( $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}3}^{**}$ ) were populated using the second (SH) and third harmonics (TH) of fs laser light at 785?nm. The population kinetics of the fluorescent $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}}^{*}$ state in the 2?eV excitation energy range was revealed by depleting its fluorescence centered at 740?nm using fundamental near infrared (NIR) fs laser pulses. The related time constants for $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}2,3}^{**}{\sim}{>} \mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}}^{*}$ relaxation amounted to 1.0±0.14?ps and 3.0±0.3?ps upon SH and TH excitation, respectively.     

Z 0 boson decays to B^{(*)}_{c} meson and its uncertainties

The planned new e ⁺ e ^? collider with high luminosity shall provide another useful platform to study the properties of the doubly heavy B _c meson in addition to the hadronic colliders as LHC and TEVATRON. In the ‘New Trace Amplitude Approach’, we calculate the production of the spin-singlet B _c and the spin-triplet $B^{*}_{c}$ mesons through the Z ⁰ boson decays, where uncertainties for the production are also discussed. Our results show $\varGamma_{(^{1}S_{0})}=81.4^{+102.1}_{-40.5}$  KeV and $\varGamma_{(^{3}S_{1})}=116.4^{+163.9}_{-62.8}$  KeV, where the errors are caused by varying m _b and m _c within their reasonable regions.     

Coherent magnetic vortex motion in optically formed channels for easy flow in YBa2Cu3O7−x superconducting thin films

We report our results of investigation of electric and magnetic properties of partially oxygen-depleted channels for easy vortex motion in YBa₂Cu₃O_7?x (YBCO) superconducting, 50-μm-wide, and 100-μm-long microbridges at temperatures below the onset of the superconducting state critical temperature T _c ^on . The channels were produced by means of a laser-writing technique. The writing was performed using a 0.1–0.3 W power, continuous-wave laser radiation focused down to a ~ 5 μm spot on the surface of a superconducting film in a nitrogen gas atmosphere, and resulted in perpendicular stripes (channels) with partial (x ~ 0.2) reduction of the oxygen content in the YBCO stripe. The oxygen-depleted channels exhibit a depressed T _c and lower both the critical current density and the first critical magnetic field, as compared with the laser-untreated areas. The bias current applied to the bridge self-produced a magnetic flux that penetrated the channels in a form of Abrikosov magnetic vortices that, subsequently, moved coherently (a quasi-Josephson effect) along the channels in the narrow temperature range of 0.943 T _c ^on –0.98 T _c ^on and manifested themselves as steps on the current–voltage characteristics of our microbridges. Our results demonstrate that laser-induced formation of artificial channels of the flux flow can be used for a precise control of vortex nucleation and their coherent motion in pre-assigned regions of thin-film YBCO devices.     

Z c (4025) as the hadronic molecule with hidden charm

We have studied the loosely bound $D^{*}\bar{D}^{*}$ system. Our results indicate that the recently observed charged charmonium-like structure Z _c (4025) can be an ideal $D^{*}\bar{D}^{*}$ molecular state. We have also investigated its pionic, dipionic, and radiative decays. We stress that both the scalar isovector molecular partner Z _c0 and three isoscalar partners ${\tilde{Z}}_{c0,c1,c2}$ should also exist if Z _c (4025) is a $D^{*}\bar{D}^{*}$ molecular state in the framework of the one-pion-exchange model. Z _c0 can be searched for in the channel e ⁺ e ^?→Y→Z _c0(4025)(ππ)_P-wave where Y can be Y(4260) or any other excited 1^?? charmonium or charmonium-like states such as Y(4360), Y(4660), etc. The isoscalar $D^{*}\bar{D}^{*}$ molecular states ${\tilde{Z}}_{c0,c2}$ with 0⁺(0⁺⁺) and 0⁺(2⁺⁺) can be searched for in the three pion decay channel $e^{+}e^{-}\to Y \to {\tilde{Z}}_{c0,c2} (3\pi)^{I=0}_{\text{P-wave}}$ . The isoscalar molecular state ${\tilde{Z}}_{c1}$ with 0^?(1^+?) can be searched for in the channel ${\tilde{Z}}_{c1}\eta$ . Experimental discovery of these partner states will firmly establish the molecular picture.     

Beam spin asymmetries of charged and neutral pion production in semi-inclusive DIS

We present a study on the beam single spin asymmetries $A_{LU}^{\sin\phi_{h}}$ of π ⁺, π ^? and π ⁰ production in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering process, by considering Collins effect and the g ^⊥ D ₁ term simultaneously. We calculate the twist-3 distributions $e(x, \boldsymbol{k}_{T}^{2})$ and $g^{\perp}(x, \boldsymbol{k}_{T}^{2})$ for the valence quarks inside the proton in a spectator model. We consider two different options for the form of diquark propagator, as well as two different choices for the model parameters in the calculation. Using the model results, we estimate the beam spin asymmetries $A_{LU}^{\sin\phi_{h}}$ for the charged and neutral pions and compare the results with the measurement from the HERMES Collaboration. We also make predictions on the asymmetries at CLAS with a 5.5 GeV beam using the same model results. It is found that different choices for the diquark propagator will not only lead to different expressions for the distribution functions, but also result in different sizes of the asymmetries. Our study also shows that, although the spectator model calculation can describe the asymmetries for certain pion production in some kinematic regions, it seems difficult to explain the asymmetries of pion production for all three pions in a consistent way from the current versions.     

Nonlinear beam clean-up using resonantly enhanced sum-frequency mixing

We investigate the possibility of improving the beam quality and obtaining high conversion efficiency in nonlinear sum-frequency generation. A 765 nm beam from an external cavity tapered diode laser is single-passed through a nonlinear crystal situated in the high intracavity field of a 1342 nm Nd:YVO₄ laser, generating a SFG beam at 488 nm. The ECDL have M _H ² =1.9 and M _V ² =2.4 and the solid-state laser has M ²<1.05. Varying the focusing of the 765 nm beam, the conversion efficiency and the beam quality of the generated 488 nm beam change correspondingly. We show that it is possible to improve the M ² of the 488 nm beam to less than 1.3 while preserving a high conversion efficiency of the SFG process.     

90° pulsed magnetization of ferrite-garnet films with easy-plane anisotropy

The process of pulsed 90° magnetization of ferrite-garnet films was studied. These films, in addition to easy-plane anisotropy, have biaxial anisotropy in the film plane with an effective field H _K2 ? 40–55 Oe. the pulsed magnetization curve contains two portions separated by a kink observed at a field pulse amplitude H _p=H _p ^* ? 16–18 Oe. An analysis of the magnetization signals showed that the restoring torque, which is mainly caused by biaxial-anisotropy forces, is overcome in fields H _p ≥ H _p ^* and that magnetization rotation occurs. In fields H _p < H _p ^* , the magnetization vector rotates at the initial stage only and the angle of rotation ?_in is less than 25°–26°. The field H _p ^* and angle ?_in are calculated. The results of the calculations are confirmed by experimental data. In fields H _p > H _p ^* , the process of magnetization is accompanied by oscillations of the magnetization vector. In contrast to free magnetization oscillations, these oscillations are nonlinear and the frequency of the first harmonic (≈5 × 10⁸ Hz) is much lower than that for free oscillations, (7–12) × 10⁸ Hz. Oscillations are excited at a pulse rise time of ≈6 ns.     

Recent Results on Hadron Spectroscopy at Belle

Recent activities of the Belle experiment in Hadron spectroscopy are presented. The discovery of two charged bottomonium-like particles, ${Z_b^{\pm}(10610)}$ and ${Z_b^{\pm}(10650)}$ in the ${\Upsilon (nS)\pi^{\pm}}$ (n = 1, 2, 3) and h _b (m P)π ^± (m = 1, 2) final states is followed by the observation of the corresponding peaks in the ${B^*\bar{B}^{(*)}}$ final states that favors the molecular interpretation of Z _b . In addition, a neutral partner candidate is explored at 10,610 MeV in the ${\Upsilon (2S)\pi^0}$ mass spectrum projection. We have got no evidence of an X(3872) partner in J/ψ π ^± π ⁰, J/ψ η and ${\chi_{c1,2}\gamma}$ final states while an evidence of the narrow peak at 3,823 MeV/c ² in ${\chi_{c1}\gamma}$ is thought to be ³ D ₂ charmonium (ψ ₂) candidate. The feasibilities of the search for X(3872) partner in the B → J/ψ π ⁰ π ⁰ K decays, the measurement of light flavored baryons production cross section, and the study of K–p interaction in ${\phi p}$ final state are also discussed.     

Quantum control of 88Sr+ in a miniature linear Paul trap

We report on the construction and characterization of an apparatus for quantum information experiments using ⁸⁸Sr⁺ ions. A miniature linear radio-frequency (rf) Paul trap was designed and built. Trap frequencies above 1 MHz in all directions are obtained with 50 V on the trap end-caps and less than 1 W of rf power. We encode a quantum bit (qubit) in the two spin states of the S _1/2 electronic ground-state of the ion. We constructed all the necessary laser sources for laser cooling and full coherent manipulation of the ions’ external and internal states. Oscillating magnetic fields are used for coherent spin rotations. High-fidelity readout as well as a coherence time of 2.5 ms are demonstrated. Following resolved sideband cooling the average axial vibrational quanta of a single trapped ion is $\bar{n}=0.05$ and a heating rate of $\dot{\bar{n}}=0.016~\mathrm{ms}^{-1}$ is measured.     

Alteration of the Axial Met Ligand to Electron Acceptor A0 in Photosystem I: Effect on the Generation of P 700 ·+ A 1 ·− Radical Pairs as Studied by W-band Transient EPR

Photosystem I (PS I) mutants from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 bearing point mutations to the axial ligands of A_0A (M688N_PsaA) and A_0B (M668N_PsaB) were studied by high-field W-band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. It was found that the EPR observables of PS I from the M668N_PsaB mutant were virtual identical to that of the wild type (WT), and are clearly distinct from the M688N_PsaA mutant. In particular, the P ₇₀₀ ^·+ decay kinetics in the M688N_PsaA mutant is significantly slower than in the WT or the M668N_PsaB mutant. The analysis of the out-of-phase electron–electron dipolar electron spin echo envelope modulation shows that in the M668N_PsaB mutant, the estimated distance of 26.0 ± 0.3 Å agrees well with the 25.8 Å distance for the P ₇₀₀ ^·+ A _1A ^·? radical pair measured in the X-ray crystal structure. In the M688N_PsaA mutant, two populations are found with estimated distances of 26.0 ± 0.3 and 25.0 ± 0.3 Å in a ratio of 0.7–0.3, which agree well with the 25.8 Å distance for the P ₇₀₀ ^·+ A _1A ^·? radical pair and the 24.6 Å distance for the P ₇₀₀ ^·+ A _1B ^·? radical pair measured in the X-ray crystal structure. The data confirm that under the experimental conditions employed in this work, which involve dark-adapted samples without the pre-reduction of the iron–sulfur clusters, electron transport in cyanobacterial PS I is asymmetrical at 100 K, with the majority of electron transfer taking place through the A-branch of cofactors.     

On Endomorphisms of Quantum Tensor Space

We give a presentation of the endomorphism algebra ${\rm End}_{\mathcal {U}_{q}(\mathfrak {sl}_{2})}(V^{\otimes r})$ , where V is the three-dimensional irreducible module for quantum ${\mathfrak {sl}_2}$ over the function field ${\mathbb {C}(q^{\frac{1}{2}})}$ . This will be as a quotient of the Birman–Wenzl–Murakami algebra BMW _r (q) : =  BMW _r (q ^?4, q ² ? q ^?2) by an ideal generated by a single idempotent Φ _q . Our presentation is in analogy with the case where V is replaced by the two-dimensional irreducible ${\mathcal {U}_q(\mathfrak {sl}_{2})}$ -module, the BMW algebra is replaced by the Hecke algebra H _r (q) of type A _r-1, Φ _q is replaced by the quantum alternator in H ₃(q), and the endomorphism algebra is the classical realisation of the Temperley–Lieb algebra on tensor space. In particular, we show that all relations among the endomorphisms defined by the R-matrices on ${V^{\otimes r}}$ are consequences of relations among the three R-matrices acting on ${V^{\otimes 4}}$ . The proof makes extensive use of the theory of cellular algebras. Potential applications include the decomposition of tensor powers when q is a root of unity.     

Spectroscopic evidence of positive clusters in Ag colloids obtained by laser ablation in aqueous solutions

We have found evidence of positive cluster formation during the laser ablation process of a silver target in aqueous solutions. In particular, by employing in situ shot-by-shot UV–vis spectroscopy in the early stages of the ablation, we observed a weak and unstable absorption band around 266 nm and a more stable one around 290 nm, which could be assigned to charged clusters like Ag ₃ ²⁺ and Ag ₄ ²⁺ , respectively. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering experiments performed with a test molecule adsorbed on a silver colloid obtained in pure water were compatible with the presence of Ag ₄ ²⁺ active sites on the surface of the Ag nanoparticles.     

FePt-C granular thin film for heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) media

We studied a FePt-C granular film for ultra-high density perpendicular recording media towards 1 Tbits/in.² because of strong magnetocrystalline anisotropy at its L1₀-phase. We deposit a Fe₅₂Pt₄₈-C50 % (6.7 nm) film on oxidized silicon substrates at 400 °C and 0.50 Pa Ar pressure. The perpendicular anisotropy of the film is 20 kOe, with a perfect squareness of 1. Bright-field transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images display that the FePt granular film has small and uniform grains of 6.4 ± 1.5 nm. Further work on high-resolution TEM imaging demonstrates excellent L1₀ ordering for this FePt granular film, which is consistent with the texture measurement by X-ray diffraction. Thus, we prove that FePt granular film is a promising candidate for high-density heat-assisted magnetic recording media.     

Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and thermal stability in Co2FeAl0.5Si0.5/Pt multilayers

Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and thermal stability of Co₂FeAl_0.5Si_0.5 (CFAS)/Pt multilayer structure prepared by dc magnetron sputtering have been studied. It is found that the strength of PMA depends on the thickness of CFAS layer, and the maximum effective thickness of CFAS with PMA is demonstrated to be about 1.5 nm. The interfacial anisotropy energy K _s is estimated to be 0.45 erg/cm², which is larger than those of Co/Pd and Co/Ni multilayers and responsible for the strong PMA of the CFAS/Pt multilayer. The annealing treatments will give rise to the loss of PMA of CFAS/Pt multilayer and has the relatively less influence with large period number N. With the increasing of the period number N, the CFAS/Pt multilayers tend to have wasp-waist-shaped easy-axis hysteresis loops and multidomain structures.     

A frequency-stabilized Yb:KYW femtosecond laser frequency comb and its application to low-phase-noise microwave generation

We present an optically stabilized Yb:KYW fs-laser frequency comb. We use an f–2f nonlinear interferometer to measure the carrier envelope offset frequency (f ₀) and the heterodyne beatnote between the comb and a stable CW laser at 1068 nm to detect fluctuations in the comb repetition rate ( $f_{\mathrm{rep}}$ f rep ). Both of these degrees of freedom of the comb are then controlled using phase-locked loops. As a demonstration of the frequency-stabilized comb, we generate low-phase-noise 10 GHz microwaves through detection of the pulse train on a high bandwidth photodiode. The phase noise of the resulting 10 GHz microwaves was ?99 dBc/Hz at 1 Hz and the corresponding Allen deviation was <2.6 × 10^?15 at 1 s, measured by comparison to an independently stabilized Ti:sapphire frequency comb. This room-temperature, optically based source of microwaves has close-to-carrier phase noise comparable to the very best cryogenic microwave oscillators.     

Mössbauer study of magnetism in FeII − III (oxy-)hydroxycarbonate green rusts; ferrimagnetism of FeII − III hydroxycarbonate

Fe^II???III hydroxycarbonate Fe $^{\rm II}_{4}$ Fe $^{\rm III}_{2}$ (OH)₁₂CO₃, green rust GR(CO $_{3}^{2-})$ , reveals a ferrimagnetic behaviour. Moments that lie within two-dimensional cation layers are parallel for same species and antiparallel between Fe^II and Fe^III. Respective ordering temperatures are 5.2 and 7 K. A sextet with distribution from 350 to 580 kOe for Fe^III and an octet reflecting a mixture of states with field of 130 kOe and quadrupole splitting of ?3.0 mm s^???1 for Fe^II are observed at 1.4 K. Ferric oxyhydroxycarbonate Fe $^{\rm III}_{6}$ O₁₂H₈CO₃ is ferromagnetic and displays at 4 K a sextet with field between 400 and 500 kOe (maximum at 480 kOe) and transition at 80 K. GR(CO $_{3}^{2-})$ deprotonation gives magnetic domains with compositions at x?=?1/3, 2/3 and 1 due to long range order.