Large magnetoresistance at room-temperature in small-molecular-weight organic semiconductor sandwich devices

We present an extensive study of a large, room temperature magnetoresistance (MR) effect in tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum sandwich devices. The effect is similar to that previously discovered in π-conjugated polymer devices. We characterize this effect and discuss its dependence on magnetic field direction, voltage, temperature, film thickness, and electrode materials. The MR effect reaches almost 10% at fields of 10 mT at room temperature. The effect shows only a weak temperature dependence and is independent of the sign and direction of the magnetic field. Measuring the devices' current-voltage characteristics, we find that the current depends on the voltage through a power-law. We find that the magnetic field changes the prefactor of the power-law. We also studied the effect of the magnetic field on the electroluminescence (MEL) of the devices and analyze the relationship between MR and MEL.     

Weak anisotropy and disorder dependence of the in-plane magnetoresistance in high-mobility (100) Si-inversion layers

We report studies of the magnetoresistance (MR) in a two-dimensional electron system in (100) Si-inversion layers, for perpendicular and parallel orientations of the current with respect to the magnetic field in the 2D plane. The magnetoresistance is almost isotropic; this result does not support the suggestion of its orbital origin. In the hopping regime, however, the MR contains a weak anisotropic component that is nonmonotonic in the magnetic field. We found that the field, at which the MR saturates, varies for different samples by a factor of 2 at a given carrier density. Therefore, the saturation of the MR cannot be identified with the complete spin polarization of free carriers.     

紫外光辐照对TiO2纳米线电输运性能的影响及磁阻效应研究

采用溶胶凝胶法以及静电纺丝法, 利用热处理工艺, 成功制备出了多晶锐钛矿型TiO₂纳米线, 通过两线法在室温下测试单根TiO₂纳米线的V-I曲线来研究其电输运性能及磁阻效应. 结果表明: 在无光照环境下其V-I曲线为不过零点的直线, 零场电阻较大, 在磁场作用下电阻下降, 表现出负磁阻效应; 紫外光辐照环境下TiO₂纳米线载流子浓度增加使得电阻变小, 然而在磁场作用下电阻增大, 表现为正磁阻效应. 紫外光辐照导致的载流子浓度变化, 使得负磁阻转变为正磁阻, 我们将磁阻变化归结为d电子局域导致的负磁阻与能带劈裂导致的正磁阻两种机理相互竞争的结果.     

Magnetorheological characteristics of nanoparticle-added carbonyl iron system

Magnetorheological (MR) fluid, suspension of magnetic carbonyl iron (CI) and magnetic additives in mineral oil, were prepared. The novel core–shell structured additives, comprising monodisperse polystyrene (PS) spheres as cores and magnetite as shells, were fabricated by surfactant-free emulsion polymerization. This MR fluid with bimodal particles was suspended in mineral oil and their MR characteristics were examined via a rotational rheometer in a parallel plate geometry equipped with a magnetic field supplier. MR properties of the bimodal MR fluid with magnetic additive exhibit similar magnetic and MR properties compared to MR fluid consisting of pristine CI, but with much improved dispersion stability.     

MR measurement technique of rapidly switched gradient magnetic fields in MR tomography

Gradient eddy currents, induced in the surrounding conductive structures in a magnetic resonance (MR) magnet, are a major problem in MR imaging, in localized MR spectroscopy and in many other MR experiments. We present a comparison of three methods of measuring the gradient time characteristics and the time changes of basic magnetic fieldB ₀ after the gradient is switched off. The methods are based on the selective excitation of a thin layer of the sample and on acquiring the MR signal obtained after the end of the gradient pulse and on the computation of the instantaneous frequency of the signal. At this point, the time gradient characteristic is proportional to the instantaneous frequency of the MR signal, which has a small signal-to-noise ratio. We use the characteristics measured to set the pre-emphasis parameters in a 200 MHz/200 mm MR scanner. From the results obtained by measurement it follows that all methods are convenient for simple and quick characterization of magnetic field gradient in MR tomographic magnets.     

Experimental study and CFD simulation of rotational eccentric cylinder in a magnetorheological fluid

In this study, a magnetorheological (MR) fluid is prepared using carbonyl iron filings and low viscosity lubricating oil. The effects of magnetic field and weight percentage of particles on the viscosity of the MR fluid have been measured using a rotational viscometer. The yield stress under an applied magnetic field was also obtained experimentally. In the absence of an applied magnetic field, the MR fluid behaves as a Newtonian fluid. When the magnetic field is applied, the MR fluid behaves like Bingham plastics with a magnetic field dependent yield stress. Afterward, the results compared with those of CFD simulation of two eccentric cylinders in the MR fluid. Results show that the influences of MR effects, caused by the applied magnetic field, on the model characteristics are significant and not negligible. The viscosity is enhanced by increasing of the magnetic field, eccentricity ratio and weight percentage of suspensions. The MR effects and increasing of weight percentage and eccentricity ratio also provide an enhancement in the yield stresses and required total torque for rotation of inner cylinder. Also the simulation results indicate a good representation of the experiment by the model.     

Mechanism of chain formation in nanofluid based MR fluids

Mechanism of structure formation in bidispersed colloids is important for its physical and optical properties. It is microscopically observed that the mechanism of chain formation in magnetic nanofluid based magnetorheological (MR) fluid is quite different from that in the conventional MR fluid. Under the application of magnetic field the magnetic nanoparticles are filled inside the structural microcavities formed due to the association of large magnetic particles, and some of the magnetic nanoparticles are attached at the end of the chains formed by the large particles. The dipolar energy of the large particles in a magnetic nanofluid matrix becomes effective magnetic permeability (μ_eff) times smaller than that of the neutral medium. Inclusion of magnetic nanoparticles (∼10 nm) with large magnetic particles (∼3-5 μm) restricts the aggregation of large particles, which causes the field induced phase separation in MR fluids. Hence, nanofluid based MR fluids are more stable than conventional MR fluids, which subsequently increase their application potentiality.     

Ballistic transport through a sharp domain wall in a semiconducting ferromagnetic nanoconstriction and in the presence of the Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling

We study the effect of the Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction on the magnetoresistance (MR) of a quasi-one-dimensional ferromagnetic semiconductor containing a sharp domain wall. The MR is calculated in the ballistic regime, within the Landauer-Büttiker formalism. The results show that the Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling which induces an effective magnetic field along the wire, reduces the domain wall MR.     

Origin of the anomalous low temperature upturn in the resistivity of the electron-doped cuprate superconductors

The temperature, doping, and field dependences of the magnetoresistance (MR) in Pr2-xCexCuO4-delta films are reported. We distinguish between orbital MR, found when the magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the ab planes, and the nearly isotropic spin MR. The latter, the major MR effect in the superconducting samples, appears in the region of the doping-temperature phase diagram where drho/dT<0, or an upturn in the resistivity appears. We conclude that the upturn originates from spin scattering processes.     

Energy scales and magnetoresistance at a quantum critical point

The magnetoresistance (MR) of CeCoIn₅ is notably different from that in many conventional metals. We show that a pronounced crossover from negative to positive MR at elevated temperatures and fixed magnetic fields is determined by the scaling behavior of quasiparticle effective mass. At a quantum critical point (QCP) this dependence generates kinks (crossover points from fast to slow growth) in thermodynamic characteristics (like specific heat, magnetization, etc.) at some temperatures when a strongly correlated electron system transits from the magnetic field induced Landau-Fermi liquid (LFL) regime to the non-Fermi liquid (NFL) one taking place at rising temperatures. We show that the above kink-like peculiarity separates two distinct energy scales in QCP vicinity - low temperature LFL scale and high temperature one related to NFL regime. Our comprehensive theoretical analysis of experimental data permits to reveal for the first time new MR and kinks scaling behavior as well as to identify the physical reasons for above energy scales.     

Spin-polarized tunneling in nanostructured La2/3Sr1/3MnO3

We present magnetic and transport properties of nanocrystalline La_2/3Sr_1/3MnO₃ powders prepared by a gel-combustion method using citric acid as the fuel. The coercive magnetic field H_c is significantly different to the field H_c^* for which the magnetoresistance (MR) is maximum. The MR at low fields (LFMR) exhibits a power-law dependence with magnetization, MR∝Mⁿ, with n=2.5–3.3 for temperatures ranging from 5 to 200 K. The results are discussed in terms of a distribution of particle size in our sample.     

Positive linear magnetoresistance in Fex–C1−x composites

A large positive magnetoresistance (MR) has been found in micro-sized Fe_x–C_1−x composites. At a magnetic field of 5 T, the Fe_0.2–C_0.8 composite has the largest MR, 53.8% and 190% at room temperature and at 5 K, respectively. The magnetic field dependence of the MR can be described approximately as MR∝Bⁿ, and the value of exponent n is determined by the Fe weight concentration and temperature, ranging from 1/4 to 6/4. It appears that Fe_x–C_1−x has a linear field dependence of the positive MR at different temperatures. The possible mechanism for the positive MR is discussed.     

Enhancement of magnetoresistance sensitivity in Co/Cu/NiFe trilayers by softening the Co hard layer

Co/Cu/NiFe trilayers were prepared by sputtering without magnetic field applied. We have found that the Co(2 nm)Cu(1 nm)NiFe(2 nm) trilayer using Ta as buffer layer exhibits an enhanced magnetoresistance (MR) sensitivity by a factor of more than 6 and a low saturation field of 9.3 Oe. Experimental results have demonstrated that the low saturation field is attributed to the softening of the Co layer by depositing the Co(2 nm)Cu(1 nm)NiFe(2 nm) sandwich on Ta layer. The decrease of the coercivity of the Co layer also plays an important role in the enhancement of MR sensitivity by reducing the effective coercivity of the NiFe layer, which is discussed in terms of the change in interlayer coupling.     

The magnetoresistance of sub-micron Fe wires

A novel combination of electron- and ion-beam lithography has been used to prepare Fe gratings with wire widths of 0.5 μm and wire separations in the range 0.5–4 μm from an Fe/GaAs (001) film of thickness 25 nm. With an in-plane magnetic field applied perpendicular to the length of the wires, a harder magnetisation loop is observed using the magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE), compared with that observed in the unprocessed film. We observe a strong effect in the magnetoresistance (MR) when the magnetic field is applied transverse to the wires. It is believed that this effect originates from the highly non-uniform demagnetising field in each wire of the grating. These results demonstrate that the combination of MOKE and MR measurements can provide important information about the magnetisation reversal processes in magnetic gratings and can be used to understand the effect of shape anisotropy on magnetic properties.     

Dynamic multi-coil shimming of the human brain at 7 T

High quality magnetic field homogenization of the human brain (i.e. shimming) for MR imaging and spectroscopy is a demanding task. The susceptibility differences between air and tissue are a longstanding problem as they induce complex field distortions in the prefrontal cortex and the temporal lobes. To date, the theoretical gains of high field MR have only been realized partially in the human brain due to limited magnetic field homogeneity.A novel shimming technique for the human brain is presented that is based on the combination of non-orthogonal basis fields from 48 individual, circular coils. Custom-built amplifier electronics enabled the dynamic application of the multi-coil shim fields in a slice-specific fashion. Dynamic multi-coil (DMC) shimming is shown to eliminate most of the magnetic field inhomogeneity apparent in the human brain at 7 T and provided improved performance compared to state-of-the-art dynamic shim updating with zero through third order spherical harmonic functions. The novel technique paves the way for high field MR applications of the human brain for which excellent magnetic field homogeneity is a prerequisite.     

Magnetoresistance anisotropy in a hexagonal lattice of Co antidots obtained by thermal evaporation

Patterned soft magnetic materials are eligible for use in magnetic random access memories. A hexagonal-lattice pattern of circular antidots was produced by optical lithography in a Co film. In order to test the effect of geometry on the local magnetisation configuration of such a structure, we performed room-temperature angle-resolved magnetisation measurements aimed to check the pinning of domain walls by the pattern's lattice. Magnetoresistance (MR) room-temperature measurements were performed at various angles between the magnetic field direction and the macroscopic electrical current vector, to clarify whether and how the local current density configuration affects the MR response. We found that the magnetoresistance is of anisotropic type (AMR) and has a local origin. Furthermore, the largely unsaturating behaviour of MR at high fields may be explained only by considering that tiny portions of the pattern constitute highly frustrated regions and align their magnetisation at rather high fields. A simplified model based on a local anisotropy term is shown to account for the experimental results for both M and MR.     

The influence of magnetic field swept rate on the ultrasonic propagation velocity of magnetorheological fluids

Structure of magnetorheological (MR) fluids depends on the strength of the magnetic field applied and on the mode of its application. The ultrasonic wave propagation velocity changes under the effect of an external magnetic field as a result of formation of clusters arranged along the direction of the field in the MR fluids. Therefore, we propose a qualitative analysis of these clustering structures by measuring properties of ultrasonic propagation. Since the MR fluids are opaque, the non-contact inspection using this ultrasonic technique can be very useful. In this study, we measured ultrasonic propagation velocity in MR fluid influenced by an external magnetic field for different swept rate precisely. With increasing magnetic field intensity, the changes of the ultrasonic wave velocity are more pronounced. Sedimentation effect takes place in certain time for different swept rate due to magnetic particle size and it follows linear relationship in log scale. Significant differences of the ultrasonic wave velocity are established between the case when the field is swept at a constant rate and the case when it is stepped up.     

Studies of magnetization reversals about two kinds of MR curves observed in the spin valve using the (110) magnetite pinning layer

In the spin valves composed of Co/Cu/Co on the epitaxial (110) Fe₃O₄ as the pinning layer, we found out that shapes of magnetoresistance (MR) curves depended on thickness of the cobalt pinned layer (PL) with the field applied in the 〈110〉 direction of Fe₃O₄: (1) the flat-shaped MR curve showed low MR ratio under 2 nm thickness of cobalt pinned layer (PL): (2) the unusually shaped MR curve showed high MR ratio over 5 nm thickness of PL in spite of the hard direction of Co layers. We assumed that the synchronous magnetization reversal (SR) of PL and Fe₃O₄ would occur at the MR switching field due to 90° coupling between PL and Fe₃O₄ layers. Then, only occurrence of SR of PL cause the drastic change of the magnetization relative angle between FL and PL, indicating the observation of the unusually shaped MR curve having high MR ratio. On the other hand, the SR of cobalt free layer (FL) together with the PL flip also occur due to the large contribution of Néel-type ferromagnetic coupling between FL and PL, which lead to less changing the relative angle of FL and PL during magnetization processes, indicating the observation of a flat-shaped MR curve having low MR ratio. This dependence of PL thickness on MR curves might come from the balance of Néel (ferromagnetic) and stray field (antiferromagnetic) coupling due to magnetic free pole at edge of PL.     

The effect of isoelectronic substitution on the magneto-resistance of Sr2−xBaxFeMoO6

We report results from structural, transport and magnetic measurements on polycrystalline Sr_2−xBa_xFeMoO₆ (x=0, 1 and 2) half-metallic double perovskites. We find a large low field magneto-resistance (MR) of −25% at 0.8 T and 77 K for samples that have high resistivities. We show that the low field tunneling MR can be modeled by assuming that there is a disordered region near the insulating grain boundaries as proposed by Serrate et al. It is the magnetization from this region rather than the bulk magnetization that determines the MR in polycrystalline samples.     

Enhancing low-field magnetoresistance of La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 films deposited on anodized aluminium-oxide membranes

In this paper we report a new method to fabricate nanostructured films, La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 （LCMO） nanostructured films have been fabricated by using pulsed electron beam deposition （PED） on anodized aluminium oxide （AAO） membranes, The magnetic and electronic transport properties are investigated by using the Quantum Design physics properties measurement system （PPMS） and magnetic properties measurement system （MPMS）. The resistance peak temperature （Tp） is about 85 K and the Curie temperature （To） is about 250 K for the LCMO film on an AAO membrane with a pore diameter of 20nm. Large magnetoresistance ratio （MR） is observed near Tp. The MR is as high as 85% under 1 T magnetic field. The great enhancement of MR at low magnetic fields could be attributed to the lattice distortion and the grain boundary that are induced by the nanopores on the AAO membrane.