Multi-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging in a stray magnetic field

Stray field imaging has been extensively utilized in the last 10 years to perform very high resolution imaging of samples in a single dimension using the massive field gradient present in the fringe of a superconducting magnet. By spinning the sample around the magic-angle, the stray field gradient is successively reoriented along three orthogonal directions in the sample reference frame, allowing the acquisition of a full three-dimensional Fourier image, thereby providing the possibility to perform multi-dimensional very high-resolution imaging with standard nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy equipment. Here, we show multi-dimensional images demonstrating the feasibility of this technique.     

Soliton-magnon scattering in a two-dimensional isotropic magnetic material

We use the generalized σ-model to analytically study the solution of the problem of magnon scattering in two-dimensional isotropic ferromagnets and antiferromagnets in the presence of a Belavin-Polyakov soliton. We obtain the exact analytical solution to this problem for the partial mode with the azimuthal quantum number m=1. The scattering amplitude for other values of m (i.e., values not equal to unity) are studied analytically in the long-and short-wavelength approximations and also numerically for an arbitrary value of the wave number. We establish the general laws governing the soliton-magnon interaction. For a magnetic material of finite dimensions we calculate the frequencies of the magnon modes. We also use the data on local modes to derive the equations of motion of the soliton. Finally, we calculate the low-temperature (long-wavelength) asymptotic behavior of the magnon density of states due to the soliton-magnon interaction. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 116, 1091–1114 (September 1999)     

Sub-wavelength imaging with a left-handed material flat lens

We study numerically, by means of the pseudospectral time-domain method, the unique features of imaging by a flat lens made of a left-handed metamaterial that possesses the property of negative refraction. We confirm the earlier finding that a left-handed flat lens can provide near-perfect imaging of a point source and a pair of point sources with clear evidence of sub-wavelength resolution. We illustrate the limitation of the resolution in the time-integrated image due to the presence of surface waves.     

Strain imaging of a perpendicular recording head in a Hard Disk Drive

Imaging of magnetic-field-induced strains using scanning probe microscopy enables us to observe magnetic domain structures and magnetic force distributions. This method has an ability of observing magnetic structures in deep portions along with surface structures. We observed an air-bearing surface of a perpendicular recording head in a hard disk drive in large areas including the whole yokes, and investigated characteristics of the magnetic poles and layers subjected to magnetic fields produced by writing coil currents. Attractive forces independent of the field directions acted between the upper and lower yokes made by soft material, which generated surface displacements in the ABS. The signals were second-harmonic oscillations for alternating currents without a dc bias, and the amplitude images represented the field distribution. Meanwhile, fixed magnetic charges in both ends of the read sensor, which were produced by the hard-bias film, were subjected to the fields. The fixed charges, which hardly changed by the fields, lead to strains depending on the field directions, and generated specific contrasts of one pair of bright-dark spots in the strain images. In the absence of surface underlayer, the fields by the writing coil broke into the read sensor sandwiched by the shield layers.     

Influence of magnetic powders on the tribological performance of a novel magnetic brake material

By adding magnetic powders into matrix material, it has been proved to be a creative approach to improve tribological properties of brake materials. In this paper, a novel magnetic brake material with Nd–Fe–B and nano-Fe₃O₄ was developed, and the influential mechanism of these two magnetic powders and their content on the friction and wear performance was deeply discussed. Firstly, some experiments were carried out to investigate the tribological performance and influential mechanisms of four groups of brake pad samples with different magnetic powders. Furthermore, based on these results, further experiments for investigating the influence that Nd–Fe–B contents have on the tribological properties were conducted. According to the theoretical analysis about experiments, it was concluded that nano-Fe₃O₄ is beneficial to promote the formation of friction film and has certain lubricant effects. However, Nd–Fe–B has double effects on the formation of friction film. It will have positive effects when its content is less than a certain value. Otherwise, it will destroy the structure of friction film. Conclusively, it is believed that this study will be significantly valuable and meaningful for developing new brake materials and improving safety reliability of mechanical brakes.     

Characteristics of film type inductors using a FeZrBAg magnetic material

Two types of double rectangular spiral thin-film inductors with a multi-layer structure of magnetic film/conduction film/magnetic film were fabricated using a Fe_86.7Zr_3.3B₄Ag₆ thin film with high permeability and resistance, in which easy axis of magnetization of the thin-film was perpendicular or parallel to the current direction. The dependence of inductance and resonance frequency on the inductor type indicated that the perpendicular geometry inductor has higher inductance than the parallel geometry one, because spins of magnetic film align more easily along the field direction due to higher field intensity in the perpendicular geometry. However, the increase of the inductance, resulted in the decrease of resonance frequency. Then the effects of permeability of the magnetic film on inductance and resistance of the perpendicular geometry inductor were investigated. The permeability was controlled by annealing the film at different temperatures. With increasing the permeability, the inductance increased, but the resistance also increased due to the increase in magnetic core loss. As the resonance frequency was higher in air-core inductor than in magnetic thin-film core inductor, it is suggested to increase the resonance frequency which is characteristic of the air-core inductor rather than magnetic properties of the magnetic thin-film should be enhanced.     

一种测量微量有机材料磁化率各向异性的光学方法

提出了一种测量有机材料的磁化率各向异性的方法。原理是利用掺杂对丝状液晶磁场扭曲费雷德里克兹转变影响的现象,将待测有机材料作为掺杂物,采用光学相位延迟法测量掺杂丝状液晶磁场扭曲费雷德里克兹转变阈值和过程,从而获得待测有机材料的磁化率各向异性。通过实验测量,从原理和方法上验证了测量方法的可行性。测得有机材料磁化率各向异性的同时也为有机材料的表征提供了一种方法。测量方法适用于无固有磁矩的有机材料。     

Strain imaging of a Cu2S switching device

Strain imaging of electrochemical behavior of a solid electrolyte Cu₂S in switching devices for nonvolatile memories is presented. The precipitation and dissolution of Cu, and the nonstoichiometry changes cause changes in volume. Strain imaging we have proposed detects the volume changes through the surface displacements using scanning probe microscopy and provides high resolution images. We observed the distributions of the electrochemical reactions in Cu₂S and located the Cu bridges causing switching.     

Functional magnetic resonance imaging in a stereotactic setup

The localization of critical structures within the brain is important for the planning of therapeutic strategies. Functional MRI is capable to assess functional response of cortical structures to certain stimuli. The authors present two techniques for functional MRI (fMRI) in a stereotactic set-up. The skull of the patients has been immobilized for stereotactic treatment planning either with a self developed stereotactic ceramic frame and bony fixation or with an individual precision mask system made of light cast. It has been shown that this frame does not produce any image distortion. fMRI was performed using a modified FLASH sequence on a conventional 1.5 T MRI scanner with a specially developed linear polarized head coil. The imaging technique used was an optimized conventional 2D and 3D, first order flow rephased, gradient echo sequence (FLASH) with fat-suppression and reduce bandwidth (16–28 Hz/pixel) and TR = 80–120 ms, TE = 60 ms, flip angle = 40°, matrix = 128 × 128, FOV = 150–250 mm, slice-thickness = 2–5 mm, NEX = 1, and a total single scan time for one image of about 7 sec. The motor cortex stimulation was achieved by touching each finger to thumb in a sequential, self-paced, and repetitive manner. Statistical parametric maps based on student's test were calculated. Pixels with a highly significant signal increase (p < 0.001) are overlaid on T1w SE images. The primary motor and sensory cortex could be visualized with this method in all 10 patients that were imaged in this study. Due to tight fixation of the patient's skull there have been no motion artifacts. These results show that functional MRI is feasible in an stereotactic set-up with an standard 1.5 T scanner. This is a prerequisite for the exact pre therapeutic assessment of the function of cortical centers.     

线电流与楔形铁磁质所形成的磁场

利用复数坐标系z上的保角变换,计算长直线电流与无限大楔形铁磁质所形成的磁场,给出其磁矢势的分布,并利用数学软件MATLAB绘制出磁感线分布图.     

Strain versus stress in a model granular material: A Devil's staircase

The series of equilibrium states reached by disordered packings of rigid, frictionless disks in two dimensions, under gradually varying stress, are studied by numerical simulations. Statistical properties of trajectories in configuration space are found to be independent of specific assumptions ruling granular dynamics, and determined by geometry only. A monotonic increase in some macroscopic loading parameter causes a discrete sequence of rearrangements. For a biaxial compression, we show that, due to the statistical importance of such events of large magnitude, the dependence of the resulting strain on stress direction is a Levy flight in the thermodynamic limit.     

Three dimensional magnetic resonance imaging by magnetic resonance force microscopy with a sharp magnetic needle

An electropolished magnetic needle made of Nd(2)Fe(14)B permanent magnet was used for obtaining better spatial resolution than that achieved in our previous work. We observed the magnetic field gradient |G(Z)|=80.0G/microm and the field strength B=1250G at Z approximately 8.8 microm from the top of the needle. The use of this needle for three dimensional magnetic resonance force microscopy at room temperature allowed us to achieve the voxel resolution to be 0.6 microm x 0.6 microm x 0.7 microm in the reconstructed image of DPPH phantom. The acquisition time spent for the whole data collection over 64 x 64 x 16 points, including an iterative signal average by six times per point, was about 10 days.     

利用RL交流电桥测量磁性材料的居里温度

利用RL交流电桥测量了磁性材料的居里温度,并讨论了工作频率和工作电压的变化对测量结果的影响.     

Dark-state imaging for two-dimensional mapping of a magnetic field

By imaging the dark states that are due to coherent population trapping in Na atomic vapor, we have succeeded in depicting a spatially inhomogeneous magnetic field. Highly resolved dark lines represent cross sections of the surfaces of constant magnetic fields, and they agree well with the predicted hyperfine Zeeman splitting and the two-photon selection rules of the Na atom. Mapping was made two dimensionally in real time, but extension to three dimensions is straightforward. Furthermore, unlike the previous techniques based on optical pumping, this method can be used for any magnetic-field directions.     

Characteristics of soft magnetic composite material under rotating magnetic fluxes

This paper reports the measurement of magnetic properties of the soft magnetic composite material SOMALOY^TM 500 in a square sample under different patterns of flux density with 2D magnetic excitations. The test system, principle of measurement, magnetic power loss calculation, and methods of correction for misalignment of H surface sensing coils are presented. The experimental results show that although nominally isotropic, the SOMALOY^TM 500 sample exhibits some anisotropy. The results are useful in the design and performance analysis of rotating electrical machines.     

Autonomous magnetic resonance imaging

Access to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) across developing countries ranges from being prohibitive to scarcely available. For example, eleven countries in Africa have no scanners. One critical limitation is the absence of skilled manpower required for MRI usage. Some of these challenges can be mitigated using autonomous MRI (AMRI) operation. In this work, we demonstrate AMRI to simplify MRI workflow by separating the required intelligence and user interaction from the acquisition hardware. AMRI consists of three components: user node, cloud and scanner. The user node voice interacts with the user and presents the image reconstructions at the end of the AMRI exam. The cloud generates pulse sequences and performs image reconstructions while the scanner acquires the raw data. An AMRI exam is a custom brain screen protocol comprising of one T₁-, T₂- and T₂*-weighted exams. A neural network is trained to incorporate Intelligent Slice Planning (ISP) at the start of the AMRI exam. A Look Up Table was designed to perform intelligent protocolling by optimizing for contrast value while satisfying signal to noise ratio and acquisition time constraints. Data were acquired from four healthy volunteers for three experiments with different acquisition time constraints to demonstrate standard and self-administered AMRI. The source code is available online. AMRI achieved an average SNR of 22.86 ± 0.89 dB across all experiments with similar contrast. Experiment #3 (33.66% shorter table time than experiment #1) yielded a SNR of 21.84 ± 6.36 dB compared to 23.48 ± 7.95 dB for experiment #1. AMRI can potentially enable multiple scenarios to facilitate rapid prototyping and research and streamline radiological workflow. We believe we have demonstrated the first Autonomous MRI of the brain.     

Effective magnetic properties of a composite material with circular conductive elements

Effective magnetic properties of a composite meta-material consisting of periodically arranged circular conductive elements are studied theoretically. A general expression for the effective bulk permeability is obtained with mutual effects and lattice ordering being taken into account. The resonance frequency of the permeability is found to be strongly dependent on the size and shape of the unit cell. Frequency dispersion of the permeability is studied with special attention paid to the frequency range, where negative values of the permeability are possible. Corresponding recommendations for optimisation of the meta-materials with negative permeability are made. The results are confirmed by numerical simulations of the finite structure behaviour in an external magnetic field. Received 19 April 2002 Published online 31 July 2002     

YCo2: intrinsic magnetic surface of a paramagnetic bulk material

Here we report on results of a spin-resolved photoelectron spectroscopic (SRPES) study of YCo2 thin films (150 A-thick) grown on a W(110) substrate. The films were prepared by co-deposition of stoichiometric amounts of Y and Co onto a clean W surface followed by thermal annealing leading to (2x2) overstructure with respect to W(110) in the low-energy electron diffraction pattern indicated formation of a structurally ordered YCo2(111) surface. While no clear spin asymmetry was observed for bulk-sensitive SRPES data taken at hnu=1253.6 eV, the more surface-sensitive SRPES data obtained at hnu=21.2 eV photon energy revealed a clear spin-asymmetry probing the validity of the recent theoretical prediction.