Macroscale alignment of CdSe/CdS nanorods by porous anodic alumina templates

Centimeter‐scale assemblies of highly ordered CdSe/CdS core‐shell nanorods have been successfully fabricated by infiltration of the nanorods into the pores of a transparent porous anodic alumina membrane. The high degree of the nanorod ordering is proved by the demonstration of both highly polarized PL and absorption of the aligned nanorods. The measured PL linear polarization degree is 53%. We have found that both the elongated CdS shell and the nearly spherical CdSe core exhibit a strong dependence of absorption on polarization angle with respect to the nanorod axis. We conclude that both CdS shell and CdSe core absorb more efficiently light with polarization along the axis of the nanorod. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Influence of Interface Structure of Co/Cu （100） Superlattices on Electronic Structure and Giant Magnetoresistance

Electronic structures and magnetoresistance （MR） of Co3 Cu5 and Co3 Cur models as well as their interface atom exchange models Co2 CuCoCu4 and Co2 CuCoCu6 are investigated by the tlrst-principles pseudopotential planewave method based on density functional theory. Charge transfer, magnetic moment, density of states, spin asymmetry factor, and MR ratio are discussed. The results show that the values of charge transfer and spin asymmetry factor at the Fermi level of Co layers are closely related to the neighbouring background of the Co layer. The Co layer with two sides adjacent to the Cu layer would transfer more charge to the Cu layer than other neighbouring background and have the largest spin asymmetry factor at the Fermi level. The Co layer with two neighbouring Co layers （interior Co） would gain a little charge and have the smallest spin asymmetry factor at the Fermi level. Two-current model is used to evaluate the MR ratio of Co2CuCoCu4 （Co2CuCoCu6） to be larger than that of Co3 Cu5 （Co3 CUT）, which can be explained by the charge transfer and spin asymmetry factor.     

Fabrication and Characterization of SmCo5/Fe65Co35 and SmCo5/Fe Composite Spring Exchange Magnets

SmCo5/Fe65Co35 and SmCo5/Fe spring exchange magnets are fabricated by dc magnetron sputtering on MgO substrates and 100-nm-thick Si3N4 membranes, respectively. The base pressure of sputtering chamber is kept below 10^-7 Tort, and Ar pressure is 3 to 8mTorr. The samples are characterized by an x-ray diffractometer, a superconducting quantum interference magnetometer, and high resolution magnetic soft x-ray microscopy. We obtain the complete exchange coupling and single phase behaviour of composite magnets. The （BH）max value achieved is 28.8 MGOe.     

Structural and Magnetic Properties of Fe-Doped Anatase TiO2 Films Annealed in Vacuum

Structural and magnetic properties of Fe-doped anatase TiO2 films fabricated by sol-gel spin coating are investigated. X-ray diffraction measurements reveal that Fe^3＋ ions are incorporated into the TiO2 lattice. No ferromagnetism-related secondary phases and magnetic nanopaxticles are observed in the films. The presence of electron paramagnetic resonance signals at 9- 2.0 supports oxygen vacancies and/or defects generated in the films after annealing in vacuum. Magnetic measurements indicate that Fe-doped anatase TiO2 films are ferromagnetic at room temperature. These observations suggest that oxygen vacancies and/or defects axe energetically favorable for the long range Fe^3＋-Fe^3＋ ferromagnetic coupling in Fe-doped anatase TiO2 films.     

Magnetic Behaviour of Sm2Co7/Fe/Sm2 Co7, Nanocomposite Trilayers with Cr and Ti Additions

Trilayered Sm2Co7/Fe/Sm2Co7 spring exchange magnets are fabricated by dc magnetron sputtering on MgO substrates. Very thin layers （0.3-0.7 nm） of Cr and Ti are added at the interfaces of the two magnetic phases. The thickness of StucCo7 is kept at 20nm and Fe at 6nm while the thickness of Cr and Ti are varied as 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7nm. The base pressure of sputtering chamber is kept below 10^-7 Torr and Ar pressure at 3-8m Torr. The samples are characterized by x-ray diffraction （XRD） and SQUID magnetometer. We report improvement in exchange coupling of nonacomposite magnets by addition of thin layers of Cr at interfaces.     

Structural and Magnetic Properties of [Fe/Ni]N Multilayers

[Fe/Ni]N multilayered structure grows epitaxially on the single crystalline MgO substrate. Due to the different directions of magnetic easy axes of Fe and Ni and the strong strain, large anisotropy dispersion is assumed. According to the layer model, the magnetization of Fe and Ni layers cannot follow each easy axis because of exchange coupling, and then the anisotropies are averaged out. The reduction of the effective anisotropy enhances with the decrease of periodic thickness. Thus, the coercivity of [Fe/Ni]N multilayers reduces with decreasing periodic thickness.     

Resonant Tunnelling and Storage of Electrons in Si Nanocrystals within a-SiNx/nc-Si/a-SiNx Structures

The a-SiNx/nanocrystalline silicon （nc-Si）/a-SiNx sandwiched structures with asymmetric double-barrier are fabricated in a plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition （PECVD） system on p-type Si substrates. The nc-Si layer in thickness 5nm is fabricated from a hydrogen-diluted silane gas by the layer-by-layer deposition technique. The thicknesses of tunnel and control SiNx layers are 3nm and 20nm, respectively. Frequency-dependent capacitance spectroscopy is used to study the electron tunnelling and the storage in the sandwiched structures. Distinct frequency-dependent capacitance peaks due to electrons tunnelling into the nc-Si dots and capacitance-voltage （C - V） hysteresis characteristic due to electrons storage in the nc-Si dots are observed with the same sample. Moreover, conductance peaks have also been observed at the same voltage region by conductance-voltage （G - V） measurements. The experimental results demonstrate that electrons can be loaded onto nc-Si dots via resonant tunnelling and can be stored in our a-SiNx/nc-Si/a-SiNx structures.     

Magnetic Properties and Antiferromagnetic Coupling in Inhomogeneous Zn1-xFexO Magnetic Semiconductor

Zn1-xFexO inhomogeneous oxide magnetic semiconductor films with high Fe concentration are prepared by sputtering, and fast annealing is carried out at different temperatures. It is found that magnetic properties are greatly modulated by controlling the composition inhomogeneity and subsequently fast annealing. Both ferromagnetic and paramagnetie components are found to coexist in the as-deposited Zn1-xFexO magnetic semiconductor. In particular, the antiferromagnetic coupling between the neighbouring local ferromagnetic regions is found in the as-deposited Zn0.23Fe0.77O film, and the antiferromagnetic coupling strength increases with increasing temperature from 110K to 300 K. We believe that this unusual antiferromagnetic coupling is mediated by thermally activated hopping carriers.     

Amorphization Induced High Magneto-Caloric Effect of Gd55Al20Ni25 Ternary Alloy

We report the amorphization induced high magneto-caloric effect （MCE） of recently developed Gd55Al15Ni30 bulk metallic glass （BMG）. The magnetic properties of the Gd55Al15Ni30 BMG are investigated in comparison with that of its crystalline counterpart. It is found that amorphization can increase the saturation magnetization and decrease the hysteresis of Gd55Al15Ni30 alloys, which indicate the possible enhancement of MCE. The magnetic entropy changes and the refrigerant capacity of the BMG as well as the crystalline samples is calculated directly from isothermal magnetic measurements. The results show the amorphization induced high MCE of the alloy and the excellent refrigerant efficiency of Gd55Al15Ni30 bulk metallic glass.     

Magnetic Properties and Spin State Transition of Gallium Doped Perovskite Cobaltite Oxide

A series of Ga doping perovskite cobaltite La2/3Sr1/3 （Co1-y Gay）03 （y = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4） are prepared by the standard solid-state reaction method. Their magnetic properties and Co ions spin state transitions are studied. Upon doping, no appreciable structure changes can be found. However, the corresponding Curie temperature sharply decreases and the magnetization is greatly reduced, indicating that Ga doping destroys the ferromagnetic interaction in the system. In addition, the high temperature magnetization data follow the Curie-Weiss law. At least one kind of Co ions （Co^3＋ or Co^4＋） favours the mixed spin state, and most Co ions are at the lower spin state （low and intermediate state）. With increasing Ga content, more Co ions transit to the higher spin state.     

Pulsed laser deposition of perovskite La0.5Sr0.5MnO3/La0.7Sr0.3CoO3 multilayers and their magnetotransport properties

The perovskite La_0.5Sr_0.5MnO_3-'/La_0.7Sr_0.3CoO_3-' (LSMO/LSCO) bilayers and LSMO/LSCO/LSMO trilayers are fabricated by pulsed laser deposition and their magnetic and magnetoresistive properties are investigated. The "waist"-like magnetic hysteresis for both the bilayer and trilayer is explained in terms of the inter-layer exchange coupling model based on the large difference in coercivity between LSCO and LSMO layers. The shrink of hysteresis with temperature is attributed to the temperature dependence of the magnetic crystalline anisotropy and conduction band width W. We observe smoothed remnant resistance of the multilayers over a rather wide temperature range (>100 K), while the magnetoresistance (MR) is not seriously damaged.     

Structural and Magnetic Properties of Codoped ZnO based Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors

Zn1-xCoxO （x = 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20） diluted magnetic semiconductors are prepared by the sol-gel method. The structural and magnetic properties of the samples are studied using x-ray diffraction （XRD）, extended x-ray absorption fine structure （EXAFS） and superconducting quantum interference device （SQUID）. The XRD patterns does not show any signal of precipitates that are different from wurtzite type ZnO when Co content is lower than x = 0.10. An EXAFS technique for the Co K-edge has been employed to probe the local structures around Co atoms doped in ZnO powders by fluorescence mode. The simulation results for the first shell EXAFS signals indicate that Zn sites can be substituted by Co atoms when Co content is lower than x = 0.05. The SQUID results show that the samples （x 〈 0.05） exhibit clear hysteresis loops at 300K, and magnetization versus temperature from 5 K to 350K at H = 100 Oe for the sample x = 0.02 shows that the samples have ferromagnetism above room temperature. A double-exchange mechanism is proposed to explain the ferromagnetic properties of the samples.     

Magnetic and magneto-optical properties of Co/Nb-codoped TiO2 films deposited by gas flow sputtering

Titanium dioxide thin films codoped with Co and Nb (Co/Nb-codoped TiO₂ films) were fabricated by a low-energy deposition process, gas flow sputtering. No metallic Co or Nb phase was detected by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, suggesting that the Co and Nb ions have the oxidation states 2+ and 5+, respectively. The films show a relatively large Faraday rotation and magnetic circular dichroism on the order of 10³ deg/cm.     

Microwave Magnetic Permeability of Fe3O4 Nanoparticles

Well-dispersed Fe3O4 nanoparticles are synthesized via an oxidization method with NANO2 as oxidant. The microwave magnetic properties of the composites are studied with different volume fractions of fe3O4 nanoparticles. It is found that a lower volume fraction corresponds to a higher magnetic resonance frequency. This could be ascribed to the enhancement of exchange interaction with a weakened dipolar interaction when the volume fraction decreases.     

Dependence of Interlayer AF Coupling on Ferromagnetic Layer Thickness in [Pt/Co]5/Ru/[Co/Pt]5 Multilayers

We study magnetization reversal in the interlayer coupled [Pt/Co]5/Ru/[Co/Pt]5 multilayers （MLs） by means of the measurement of extraordinary Hall effect （EHE）. Fitting experimental data to a simple model, we determine the interlayer coupling strength for various thicknesses of the ferromagnetic layers at a fixed Ru spacer thickness. It is found that the dependence of interlayer coupling strength on the Pt layer thickness is much stronger than the previous report in the ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic/ferromagnetic multilayers.     

Optical Properties of Co-BaTiO3/Mg（100） Nano-Composite Films Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition Method

Co nanoparticles embedded in a BaTiO3 matrix, namely Co-BaTiO3 nano-composite films are grown on Mg（100） single crystal substrates by the pulsed laser deposition （PLD） method at 650℃. Optical properties of the CoBaTiO3 nano-composite films are examined by absorption spectra （AS） and photoluminescence （PL） spectra. The results indicate that the concentration of Co nano-particles strongly influences the electron transition of the Co BaTiO3 nano-composite films. The PL emission band ranging from 1.9 to 2.2eV is reported. The AS and PL spectra suggest that the band gap is in the range of 3.28-3.7eV.     

Magnetoresistance Probe of Ultrathin Mn5Ge3 Films with Anderson Weak Localization

We present the magnetoresistance measurements of ultrathin Mn5Ge3 films with different thicknesses at low temperatures. Owing to the lattice mismatch between MnsGe3 and Ge （111）, the thickness of MnsGe3 films has a significant effect on the magnetoresistance. When the thickness of Mn is more than 72 monolayers （MLs）, the magnetoresistance of the Mn5 Ge3 films appears a peak at about 6 kOe, which shows that the magnetoresistance results from the Anderson weak localization effect and the variable range hopping in the presence of a magnetic field. The magnetic and semiconducting properties indicate that the Mn5 Ge3 film is a potential material for spin injection.     

Large Storage Window in a-SiNx/nc-Si/a-SiNx Sandwiched Structure for Nanocrystalline Silicon Floating Gate Memory Application

An a-SiNx/nanocrystalline silicon [（nc-Si）/a-SiNx] sandwiched structure is fabricated in a plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition （PECVD） system at low temperature （250℃）. The nc-Si layer is fabricated from a hydrogen-diluted silane mixture gas by using a layer-by-layer deposition technique. Atom force microscopy measurement shows that the density of nc-Si is about 2 ×10^11 cm^-2. By the pretreatment of plasma nitridation, low density of interface states and high-quality interface between the Si substrate and a-SiNs insulator layer are obtained. The density of interface state at the midgap is calculated to be 1 ×10^10 cm^-2eV^-1 from the quasistatic and high frequency C - V data. The charging and discharging property of nc-Si quantum dots is studied by capacitance-voltage （C- V） measurement at room temperature. An ultra-large hysteresis is observed in the C - V characteristics, which is attributed to storage of the electrons and holes into the nc-Si dots. The long-term charge-loss process is studied and ascribed to low density of interface states at SiNx/Si substrate.     

Phase-Transition and Magnetic Moment of the Gd3+ Ion in the Gd2Fe17 Compound

The structure and magnetic phase transitions of the Gd2Fe17 compound are investigated by using a differential thermal/thermogravimetric analyzer, x-ray diffraction, and magnetization measurements. The result shows that there are two phase structures for the Gd2Fe17 compound： the hexagonal Th2Nilr-type structure at high temperatures （above 1243℃）, and the rhombohedral Th2Zn17-type structure, respectively. A method to measure the magnetic moments of the Gd-sublattice and the Fe-sublattice in the Gd2Fe17 compound is presented. The moments of the Gd-sublattice and the Fe-sublattice in the Gd2Fe17 compound from 77 to 500 K are measured in this way with a vibrating sample magnetometer. A detailed discussion is presented.     

Preparation and Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity for Photocatalyst of Permeable Glass Membrane/TiO2 Doped with Co

The photocatalyst of permeable glass membrane/TiO2 doped with Co （permeable glass membrane/TiO2 doped with Co） is prepared by the sol-gel method. The morphology and phase of the samples are determined by the field emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM） and x-ray diffraction experiment, respectively. The photo- catalytic results show that the photocatalyst is sensitive to the visible light and exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity of photodegradation methylene blue. The photocatalytic mechanism is also discussed.