Property changes of electroplated Cu/Co alloys and multilayers by organic additives

We investigated the change of magnetic properties of the electroplated Cu/Co alloys and multilayers caused by organic additives and high temperature annealing. When plated with a pure Cu/Co electrolyte, the alloy contained ∼25% of Cu and ∼75% of Co. The alloy was made of hcp-Co, fcc-Co and Cu(1 1 1) and was super-paramagnetic at room temperature. As we add a few organic additives in the plating electrolyte, the hcp-Co of the films disappeared. The organic additives contained in the electrolytes changed paramagnetic Cu/Co multilayers to ferromagnets. High-temperature thermal annealing increased coercivity due to the growth of the Co grains.     

The effect of surface crystalline layers on asymmetric off-diagonal magnetoimpedance in field-annealed CoFeSiB amorphous ribbons

The off-diagonal magnetoimpedance in field-annealed CoFeSiB amorphous ribbons was measured using a pick-up coil wound around the sample. One side of a ribbon was etched in hydrofluoric acid solution during various times in order to change the thickness of the surface crystalline layer appearing after annealing. The asymmetric two-peak field dependence of the off-diagonal impedance was observed for all samples. The evolution of the off-diagonal magnetoimpedance with the change in the ribbon thickness is analyzed.     

Modulation of Spin Distribution and Spin Transport by a Magnetic Field in a Quasi-One-Dimensional System with Spin--Orbit Coupling

The distributions of spin and currents modulated by magnetic field in a transverse parabolic confined two-dimensional electronic system with a Rashba spin--orbit coupling have been studied numerically. It is shown that the spin accumulation and the spin related current are generated by magnetic field if the spin--orbit coupling is presented. The distributions of charge and spin currents are antisymmetrical along the cross-section of confined system. A transversely applied electric field does not influence the characteristic behaviour of charge- and spin-dependent properties.     

Dependence of the driving current on the harmonic behavior of giant magneto-impedance voltage of Co-based amorphous wires

The frequency and the amplitude of the driving AC current dependence on the harmonic behavior of the giant magneto-impedance (GMI) voltage of Co-rich amorphous wire have been studied. Single-peak, two-peak and three-peak behavior in the GMI characteristics was studied with the change of amplitude and frequency of the AC current. GMI ratio was calculated from the first harmonic signals which were initially increased and then decreased monotonically with the increase of frequency (f) and the amplitude (I_AC) of the driving current. The response of the GMI voltage was found non-linear with the generation of higher harmonics at higher amplitude of the driving current. The second and third harmonic signals were also evaluated and their dependence on the driving current amplitude and frequency were presented in the paper. The experimental results were analyzed using single domain rotational model. The voltage harmonics were calculated through Fourier transform of the time derivative of the estimated circular magnetization of the sample.     

Electronic structures and ferroelectric properties of ABi2Ta2O9 (A=Ca, Sr, and Ba)

The electronic structures of ABi₂Ta₂O₉ (A=Ca, Sr, and Ba) were calculated by using first-principles under optimized structure. As the size of A-site cation decreases from that of Ba²⁺ to Ca²⁺, the band-gap between O 2p and Ta 5d increases from 2.0 to 2.9 eV, which responses to the stronger orbital hybridizations between Ta 5d and O 2p orbits favoring improvement of the ferroelectric property, decrease in leakage current, and increase in both spontaneous polarization and Curie temperature by the structural distortion. In contrast to CaBi₂Ta₂O₉ and SrBi₂Ta₂O₉, the hybridization between Ba 5p orbits and O 2p orbits in BaBi₂Ta₂O₉ has better structural stability.     

The role of OH ions in the stabilization of F colour centres in LiF

Thermally Stimulated Depolarisation Current (TSDC) and optical methods are applied to a range of alkali-fluoride crystals in order to establish a model for the stable F ₂ ⁺ - like colour centres in LiF:OH^-. The experimental results for LiF:OH^- suggest that the OH^- defects are partially destroyed under ionising irradiation or during crystal growth. The low-temperature dielectric relaxation signals in LiF:OH^- and LiF:Mg²⁺,OH^- are attributed to highly interacting hydroxide ions and products of their destruction located in extended lattice defects. In LiF:OH^-, in contrast to other alkali halides, the results advocate for a defect-structure model, which considers a neutral defect (ND, probably O₂ or H₂) sited at the anion vacancy of the O^2--V _a ⁺ dipole and which possibly is the “nucleus” for the F ₂ ⁺ centre. The proposed F ₂ ⁺ (ND, O^-) model seems to better explain the dielectric results, compared to the older F ₂ ⁺ (O^2-) and F ₂ ⁺ (O^-) models. The estimate for the electric dipole moment derived from the experimental TSDC bands, gives a value for the F ₂ ⁺ - like centre in LiF:OH^- between those of the F ₂ ⁺ (O^-) and F ₂ ⁺ (O^2-) defects, in good agreement with the proposed F ₂ ⁺ (ND,O^-) model. The reduction of the activation energy barrier of the (re)orientation process of the Mg²⁺V _c ^- (OH^-) complexes in LiF:Mg²⁺,OH^-, and the low-temperature shift of their TSDC band, compared to the single Mg ₂ ⁺ V _c ^- peak in LiF:Mg²⁺, are tentatively ascribed to an increase in the crystal-lattice parameters owing to the presence of OH^- and/or products of its destruction. Received 31 August 2001 / Received in final form 30 March 2002 Published online 9 July 2002     

The influence of glass coating on the single domain wall potential in amorphous glass-coated Fe-based microwires

The effect of the glass coating on the single domain wall potential in amorphous glass-coated Fe-based microwire has been studied by the switching field distribution technique. The thermoactivated mechanism model is used to describe the thermally activated switching through the complex energy barrier in amorphous FeSiB microwires. Glass removal leads to the increase of the probability of the thermally activated switching pointing to the decrease of the energy barrier.     

A three-phase single sheet tester with digital control of flux loci based on the contraction mapping principle

Tight control of flux loci in 2D testing of soft magnetic laminations is realized by a method based on the principle of contraction mapping. It is implemented through digital control of the currents supplying a three-phase yoke magnetizer and the use of circular samples. Faithful realization of the prescribed loci and good measuring accuracy are demonstrated in grain-oriented and non-oriented Fe–Si laminations.     

Charge and orbital ordering in Na0.5CoO2

The ground state of Na_0.5CoO₂ has been calculated using the full potential local orbital method and local density approximation plus Hubbard U (); the results demonstrate that charge and orbital ordering evidently exist in the present system in association with the antiferromagnetic state. Notable structural features observed between 300 and 30 K have been carefully examined using in situ TEM investigations, a superstructure with a wave vector of Q1=a^∗/2, becoming commonly visible below , can be interpreted as the charge/orbital ordering on the Co1 and Co2 sites. Moreover, we have also observed another notable superstructure with Q2=a^∗/4 below the phase transition of , which suggests a more complicated orbital ordered state existing at lower temperatures.     

Role of polarization and alignment in photoactuation of nematic elastomers

Changing the orientational order in liquid-crystal elastomers leads to internal stresses and changes of the sample shape. When this effect is induced by light, due to photoisomerization of constituent molecular moieties, the photomechanical actuation results. We investigate quantitatively how the intensity and the polarization of light affect photoactuation. By studying dissolved, as well as covalently bonded azo-dyes, we determine the changes in absorption and the response kinetics. For the first time we compare the response of aligned monodomain, and randomly disordered polydomain nematic elastomers, and demonstrate that both have a comparable photoresponse, strongly dependent on the polarization of light. Polarization-dependent photoactuation in polydomain elastomers gives an unambiguous proof of its mechanism since it is the only experiment that distinguishes from the associated thermal effects.