Fabrication,properties, and applications of flexible magnetic films

Flexible magnetic devices, i.e., magnetic devices fabricated on flexible substrates, are very attractive in applications such as detection of magnetic field in an arbitrary surface, non-contact actuators, and microwave devices, due to their stretchable, biocompatible, light-weight, portable, and low cost properties. Flexible magnetic films are essential for the realization of various functionalities of flexible magnetic devices. To give a comprehensive understanding for flexible magnetic films and related devices, recent advances in the study of flexible magnetic films are reviewed, including fabrication methods, magnetic and transport properties of flexible magnetic films, and their applications in magnetic sensors, actuators, and microwave devices. Our aim is to foster a comprehensive understanding of these films and devices. Three typical methods have been introduced to prepare the flexible magnetic films, by deposition of magnetic films on flexible substrates, by a transfer and bonding approach or by including and then removing sacrificial layers. Stretching or bending the magnetic films is a good way to apply mechanical strain to them, so that magnetic anisotropy, exchange bias, coercivity, and magnetoresistance can be effectively manipulated. Finally, a series of examples is shown to demonstrate the great potential of flexible magnetic films for future applications.     

Magnetic nanostructures

Magnetic materials have become controllable on the nanometre scale. Such fine structures exhibit a wide range of fascinating phenomena, such as lowdimensional magnetism, induced magnetization in noble metals, electron interference patterns, oscillatory magnetic coupling and 'giant' magnetoresistance. Magnetic multilayers with nanometre spacings are among the first metallic quantum structures to become incorporated into electronic devices, such as reading heads for hard discs. This article is intended to familiarize the reader with the physics and technology of magnetic nanostructures. It starts out with recent progress in nanofabrication, gives a tutorial on the connection between electronic states and magnetic properties, surveys the state of the art in characterization techniques, explains unique phenomena in two-, one- and zero-dimensional structures, points out applications in magnetic storage technology and considers fundamental limits to storage density. Particular emphasis is placed on the connection between magnetism and the underlying electronic states, such as the spin-split energy bands, s, p versus d states, surface states, and quantum well states.     

磁电子学器件应用原理

本文介绍几种重要的磁电子器件的基本结构和工作原理,包括巨磁电阻与隧穿磁电阻传感器、巨磁电阻隔离器、巨磁电阻与隧穿磁电阻硬盘读出磁头、磁电阻随机存取存储器、自旋转移磁化反转与微波振荡器。自旋晶体管作为未来磁电子学或自旋电子学时代的基本元素,目前大都还处在概念型阶段,本文也将对几种自旋晶体管的大致原理作简要介绍。     

Nanodiamonds in magnetic recording system technologies

Features of the codeposition process of Ni, Ni-Fe, Co-P, Co-Fe-P, Ni-P, Ni, and Cu matrices with ultradispersed diamond particles from a sulfate, chloride, acetate, glycine, citrate, and sulfamate baths were investigated in view of applications in magnetic recording systems. The cation and anion surfactants were used to study the liophobic colloid systems and the behavior of ultrafine particles, to prevent agglomeration and sedimentation, and to control particle incorporation into the metal matrix. The mechanical properties of composite films were described from the point of view of applications in high-tech devices. It was determined that wear resistance increased by 2–2.5 times, the microhardness increased by 2 times, and the coefficient of friction and corrosion current decreased by a factor 1.5 and 1.6, respectively. The application of nanodiamond particles in the technology of composite functional layers of hard disks, magnetic heads, micromotors, and micromechanical components makes it possible to considerably increase the reliability of storage information systems.     

磁电子学讲座 第六讲 巨磁电阻效应在信息存储等领域中的应用

用巨磁电阻材料构成磁电子学新器件，已开始在信息存储领域成功地获得了应用．文章介绍了用于计算机硬磁盘驱动器的巨磁电阻磁头和巨磁电阻随机存储器，描述了它的工作原理、性能特点及发展趋势．指出巨磁电阻材料在传感器方面的应用也令人瞩目，有着广阔的市场前景．     

理论研究过渡金属原子修饰石墨炔材料的功能性

采用基于密度泛函理论中第一性原理方法分别对石墨炔负载过渡金属原子(M-gra)体系的稳定构型以及对多种气体小分子的灵敏度和选择性进行理论研究.计算结果表明金属原子吸附在孔洞结构的H2位具有高稳定性,不同种类的金属原子能够有效调控石墨炔体系的电子特性和具有不同的磁矩.比较气体分子的吸附能大小,M-gra衬底对O和OH表现出高的灵敏度,单个NO、NO₂和O₂的稳定性高于CO分子.此外,小分子吸附的M-gra体系具有金属、半金属和半导体特性,在电子和气敏器件领域具有潜在应用.     

Spin kinetic Monte Carlo method for nanoferromagnetism and magnetization dynamics of nanomagnets with large magnetic anisotropy

The Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method based on the transition-state theory, powerful and famous for simulating atomic epitaxial growth of thin films and nanostructures, was used recently to simulate the nanoferromagnetism and magnetization dynamics of nanomagnets with giant magnetic anisotropy. We present a brief introduction to the KMC method and show how to reformulate it for nanoscale spin systems. Large enough magnetic anisotropy, observed experimentally and shown theoretically in terms of first-principle calculation, is not only essential to stabilize spin orientation but also necessary in making the transition-state barriers during spin reversals for spin KMC simulation. We show two applications of the spin KMC method to monatomic spin chains and spin-polarized-current controlled composite nanomagnets with giant magnetic anisotropy. This spin KMC method can be applied to other anisotropic nanomagnets and composite nanomagnets as long as their magnetic anisotropy energies are large enough.      

Hollow Nanostructured Polyaniline: Preparation,Properties and Applications

In the last decade, hollow polyaniline nanostructures such as nanocapsules and nanotubes have attracted increasing attention due to their potential applications in electrical and optoelectronic nanodevices, sensors, supercapacitors, energy storage devices, and else where. Many strategies have been developed for their preparation, such as hard template methods with physical templates, soft template methods with chemical templates, and template-free methods. The present status and future directions of hollow Polyaniline nanostructures using these pathways are described in this review. Their properties and applications are also addressed. Finally, the review examines developing perspectives for the future application of nanostructures.     

Magnetoresistance and spin-transfer torque in magnetic tunnel junctions

We comment on both recent progress and lingering puzzles related to research on magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). MTJs are already being used in applications such as magnetic-field sensors in the read heads of disk drives, and they may also be the first device geometry in which spin-torque effects are applied to manipulate magnetic dynamics, in order to make non-volatile magnetic random access memory. However, there remain many unanswered questions about such basic properties as the magnetoresistance of MTJs, how their properties change as a function of tunnel-barrier thickness and applied bias, and what are the magnitude and direction of the spin-transfer-torque vector induced by a tunnel current.     

过渡金属掺杂的扶手椅型氮化硼纳米带的磁电子学特性及力-磁耦合效应

基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算方法,研究了多种过渡金属(TM)掺杂扶手椅型氮化硼纳米带(ABNNR-TM)的结构特点、磁电子特性及力-磁耦合效应.计算的结合能及分子动力学模拟表明ABNNRTM的几何结构是较稳定的,同时发现对于不同的TM掺杂,ABNNRs能表现出丰富的磁电子学特性,可以是双极化磁性半导体、一般磁性半导体、无磁半导体或无磁金属.双极化磁性半导体是一种重要的稀磁半导体材料,它在巨磁阻器件和自旋整流器件上有重要的应用.此外,力-磁偶合效应研究表明:ABNNR-TM的磁电子学特性对应力作用十分敏感,能实现无磁金属、无磁半导体、磁金属、磁半导体、双极化磁性半导体、半金属等之间的相变.特别是呈现的宽带隙半金属对于发展自旋电子器件有重要意义.这些结果表明:可以通过力学方法来调控ABNNR-TM的磁电子学特性.     

Planar Hall effect and magnetoresistance in Ni81Fe19 and Co square shaped thin films

Ni₈₁Fe₁₉ and Co thin films have been fabricated and their transport properties have been investigated for potential applications in ultra sensitive magnetic field sensors. The Ni₈₁Fe₁₉ films exhibit an anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) of 2.5% with a coercivity 2.5 Oe and the Co films exhibit an AMR of 0.7% with coercivity 11 Oe. Large planar Hall effect magnetoresistance values at room temperature are reported for both cases. An unbalanced Wheatstone bridge model is proposed to describe quantitatively the observed experimental Planar Hall Effect data.     

It's the coupling that creates resistance: Spin electronics in layered magnetic structures

Fast‐paced technological advancement is squeezing the data on computer hard disks ever closer together. For some ten years now, continuously shrinking and increasingly sensitive read/write heads are making use of the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect discovered in 1988. This term was coined for the effect that electric resistance of a magnetic layer system changes dramatically when the magnetization of the individual layers is reversed from antiparallel to parallel orientation. Very small external magnetic fields suffice to change the orientation and thus give GMR read/write heads their high sensitivity.     

磁性薄膜研究的现状和未来

概括介绍了近十几年来磁性薄膜研究的主要成果、应用和可能的发展情况,主要内容有：钙钛矿结构氧化物薄膜的磁性和庞磁电阻效应,磁性金属多层 膜的层间耦合和巨磁电阻效应及磁电阻磁头应用情况,光存储技术纳米点阵存储技术,磁电子学。     

Neutron spectroscopy of molecular nanomagnets

This short overview gives an account on the use of neutron spectroscopy for the examination of molecular nanomagnets, systems constructed by crystalline arrangement of finite size clusters (usually with regular form) of interacting moment carrying atoms ?C magnetic molecules. Opposed to extended magnetic systems with bands of collective excitations such as spin-waves the molecular nanomagnets are entities with local properties, each magnetic molecule possessing a finite number of energy levels that can be solved exactly for small enough systems. In essence, the number of states remains finite despite growing rapidly with increasing number of magnetic centers and the value of the spin quantum number. Increasingly large numbers of states and more complex exchange networks lead to the need for approximative treatments, the validity of which can be checked with neutron spectroscopy. Molecular nanomagnets provide interesting examples of physics and magnetochemistry, illustrated here with a few examples that highlight the power of neutron spectroscopy for precise investigation of the energy level structure and spatial configuration of the magnetic exchange parameters.     

非对称条形纳磁体的铁磁共振频率和自旋波模式

通过建立微波激励下的非对称条形多铁纳磁体的微磁模型,研究了倾斜角和缺陷角对该形纳磁体的铁磁共振谱和自旋波模式的影响.通过对微磁仿真得到的动态磁化数据进行分析发现,非对称条形纳磁体倾斜角度增加,铁磁共振频率随之增加,而这一现象与纳磁体的缺陷角度无关.倾斜角不变,非对称条形纳磁体的铁磁共振频率与缺陷角度呈单调递增关系,并且不同缺陷角度纳磁体的自旋波模式显示出极大的差异.非对称条形纳磁体与矩形纳磁体相比,它的自旋波模式局部化,具体为非对称条形纳磁体的自旋波模式不对称且高进动区域存在于边缘,表现为非对称边缘模式.倾斜角改变导致纳磁体内部退磁场变化,引起纳磁体边缘模式的移动,而中心模式对倾斜角的变化并不敏感.最后,对建立的模型在高频微波磁场激励下的磁损耗进行了分析,验证了模型的可靠性.这些结论说明缺陷角和倾斜角可用于纳磁体自旋波模式和铁磁共振频率的调谐,所得结果为可调纳磁微波器件的设计提供了重要的理论依据和思路.     

Homogeneous and inhomogeneous magnetic oxide semiconductors

Magnetic oxide semiconductors are significant spintronics materials.In this article, we review recent advances for homogeneous and inhomogeneous magnetic oxide semiconductors.In the homogeneous magnetic oxide semiconductors,we focus on the various doping techniques including choosing different transition metals, codoping, non-magnetic doping,and even un-doping to realize homogeneous substitution and the clear magnetic origin.And the enhancement of the ferromagnetism is achieved by nanodot arrays engineering, which is accompanied by the tunable optical properties.In the inhomogeneous magnetic oxide semiconductors, we review some heterostructures and their magnetic and transport properties, especially magnetoresistance, which are dramatically modulated by electric field in the constructed devices.And the related mechanisms are discussed in details.Finally, we provide an overview and possible potential applications of magnetic oxide semiconductors.     

磁性材料新近进展

磁性材料是应用广泛、品种繁多的一类重要的功能材料，20世纪90年代以后发展十分迅速．稀土-3d过渡族磁性合金材料，如稀土水磁、巨磁致收缩材料、巨磁热效应材料，磁光效应材料等，以及非晶，纳米微晶磁性材料相继问世．1988年巨磁电阻效应的发现已获广泛应用，如读出磁头、传感器以及磁随机存储器等，并发展成为自旋电子学的新学科．文章简要介绍了近年来磁性材料的一些新进展。     

Extraordinary magnetoresistance: sensing the future

Simulations utilising the finite element method (FEM) have been produced in order to investigate aspects of circular extraordinary magnetoresistance (EMR) devices. The effect of three specific features on the resultant magnetoresistance were investigated: the ratio of the metallic to semiconducting conductivities (σ _M /σ _S ); the semiconductor mobility; and the introduction of an intermediate region at the semiconductormetal interface in order to simulate a contact resistance. In order to obtain a large EMR effect the conductivity ratio (σ _M /σ _S ) is required to be larger than two orders of magnitude; below this critical value the resultant magnetoresistance effect is dramatically reduced. Large mobility semiconductors exhibit larger EMR values for a given field (below saturation) and reduce the magnetic field required to produce saturation of the magnetoresistance. This is due to a larger Hall angle produced at a given magnetic field and is consistent with the mechanism of the EMR effect. Since practical magnetic field sensors are required to operate at low magnetic fields, high mobility semiconductors are required in the production of more sensitive EMR sensors. The formation of a Schottky barrier at the semiconductor-metal interface has been modelled with the introduction of a contact resistance at the semiconductor-metal interface. Increasing values of contact resistance are found to reduce the EMR effect with it disappearing altogether for large values. This has been shown explicitly by looking at the current flow in the system and is consistent with the mechanism of the EMR effect. The interface resistance was used to fit the simulated model to existing experimental data. The best fit occurred with an interface with resistivity of 1.55×10⁻⁴ m (overestimate). The EMR effect holds great potential with regard to its future application to magnetic field sensors. The design of any such devices should incorporate high mobility materials (such as graphene) along with the specific features presented in this paper in order to produce effective magnetic field sensors.     

Oxides,Oxides, and More Oxides: High-κ Oxides,Ferroelectrics, Ferromagnetics,and Multiferroics

We review and critique the recent developments on multifunctional oxide materials, which are gaining a good deal of interest. Recongnizing that this is a vast area, the focus of this treatment is mainly on high-κ dielectric, ferroelectric, magnetic, and multiferroic materials. Also, we consider ferrimagnetic oxides in the context of the new, rapidly developing field of negative-index metamaterials. This review is motivated by the recent resurgence of interest in complex oxides owing to their coupling of electrical, magnetic, thermal, mechanical, and optical properties, which make them suitable for a wide variety of applications, including heat, motion, electric, and magnetic sensors; tunable and compact microwave passive components; surface acoustic wave devices; nonlinear optics; and nonvolatile memory, and pave the way for designing multifunctional devices and unique applications in spintronics and negative refraction-index media. For most of the materials treated here, structural and physical properties, preparation methods accompanied by particulars of synthesis of thin films, devices based on them, and some projections into their future applications are discussed.     

Present and future applications of magnetic nanostructures grown by FEBID

Currently, magnetic nanostructures are routinely grown by focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID). In the present article, we review the milestones produced in the topic in the past as well as the future applications of this technology. Regarding past milestones, we highlight the achievement of high-purity cobalt and iron deposits, the high lateral resolution obtained, the growth of 3D magnetic deposits, the exploration of magnetic alloys and the application of magnetic deposits for Hall sensing and in domain-wall conduit and magnetologic devices. With respect to future perspectives of the topic, we emphasize the potential role of magnetic nanostructures grown by FEBID for applications related to highly integrated 2D arrays, 3D nanowires devices, fabrication of advanced scanning-probe systems, basic studies of magnetic structures and their dynamics, small sensors (including biosensors) and new applications brought by magnetic alloys and even exchange biased systems.