Modification of magnetic anisotropy in metallic glasses using high-energy ion beam irradiation

Heavy ion irradiation in the electronic stopping power region induces macroscopic dimensional change in metallic glasses and introduces magnetic anisotropy in some magnetic materials. The present work is on the irradiation study of ferromagnetic metallic glasses, where both dimensional change and modification of magnetic anisotropy are expected. Magnetic anisotropy was measured using Mössbauer spectroscopy of virgin and irradiated Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ and Fe₄₀Ni₃₈Mo₄B₁₈ metallic glass ribbons. 90 MeV ¹²⁷I beam was used for the irradiations. Irradiation doses were 5×10¹³ and 7.5×10¹³ ions/cm². The relative intensity ratios D ₂₃ of the second and third lines of the Mössbauer spectra were measured to determine the magnetic anisotropy. The virgin samples of both the materials display in-plane magnetic anisotropy, i.e., the spins are oriented parallel to the ribbon plane. Irradiation is found to cause reduction in magnetic anisotropy. Near-complete randomization of magnetic moments is observed at high irradiation doses. Correlation is found between the residual stresses introduced by ion irradiation and the change in magnetic anisotropy.     

Kinematic analysis of Bricard’s mechanism

We show how the tools of computational algebra can be used to analyze the configuration space of multibody systems. One advantage of this approach is that the mobility can be computed without using the Jacobian of the system. As an example, we treat thoroughly the well-known Bricard’s mechanism, but the same methods can be applied to a wide class of rigid multibody systems. It turns out that the configuration space of Bricard’s system is a smooth closed curve, which can be explicitly parametrized. Our computations also yield a new formulation of constraints which is better than the original one from the point of view of numerical simulations.     

Synthetic magnetic opals

We present studies of novel nanocomposites of BiNi impregnated into the structure of opals as well as inverse opals. Atomic force microscopy and high resolution elemental analyses show a highly ordered structure and uniform distribution of the BiNi filler in the matrix. These BiNi-based nanocomposites are found to exhibit distinct ferromagnetic-like ordering with transition temperature of about 675 K. As far as we know there exists no report in literature on any BiNi compound which is magnetic.     

Magnetization curves for general cylindrical samples in a transverse field

Using the recent results for the surface current density on cylindrical surfaces of arbitrary cross-section producing uniform interior magnetic field we propose a method for obtaining solutions of Bean’s critical state model for general cylindrical samples. The method uses the technique of conformal mapping to express the sample surface and the flux-fronts in terms of a set of coefficients that depend on a parameter. The flux-fronts are to be determined by solving a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations for the coefficients. Retaining only a certain finite number of leading coefficients we get an approximate solution. The procedure is illustrated by considering two cyclindrical samples — one with an elliptical cross-section and the other with a non-elliptical cross-section. The virgin curve and small and large magnetization hysteresis loops for the two samples are obtained.     

Low-field vortex dynamics in various high-T c thin films

We present a novel ac susceptibility technique for the study of vortex creep in superconducting thin films. With this technique we study the dynamics of dilute vortices in c-axis oriented Y-123, Hg-1212, and Tl-1212 thin films, as well as a axis oriented Hg-1212 thin films. Results on the Hg-1212 and Tl-1212 thin films indicate that dislocation-mediated plastic flux creep of single vortices dominates at low temperatures and fields. As the temperature (or the field) is increased, the increasing vortex-vortex interactions promote a collective behavior, which can be characterized by elastic creep with a non-zero μ exponent. Also, in some of these samples effects of thermally assisted quantum creep are visible up to 45 K in some of these samples. In Y-123 thin films, creep is found to be collective down to the lowest temperatures and fields investigated, while the quantum creep persists only up to 10–11 K.     

A biosignal instrumentation system using capacitive coupling for power and signal isolation

Requirements for patient safety and a high interference rejection ratio in medical equipment create a demand for effective isolation devices. A system scale approach that uses capacitive coupling for power and signal isolation is presented. In addition, we describe the development of an instrumentation system prototype that applies microwaves for power exchange and bidirectional data transfer across the isolation barrier. The system consists of an isolated transducer unit, a central unit, and a single coaxial cable between the units. The isolation capacitance is as low as 1.6 pF, inclusive of the digital data transfer and power exchange up to 600 mW of isolated direct current (dc) power. The system is suitable for line-powered biopotential measurements and it is shown that reducing the isolation capacitance from 180 to 1.6 pF improves the power line rejection by 30 dB in a typical electrocardiogram (ECG) measurement setup.     

Multi-radio coexistence and collaboration on an SDR platform

In order to support the simultaneous use of both legacy and new radios in a multi-radio handset, a Software Defined Radio (SDR) platform needs to offer coexistence mechanisms and services for radios. This paper proposes an SDR control framework to provide the coexistence services and common interfaces for them. The multi-radio control in proposed platform is divided into two parts, the light-weight dynamic scheduling with tight real-time constraints to solve the temporal interoperability issues between radios, and the semi-dynamic admission control to perform the resource allocation when a radio changes its behavioral pattern. The control framework was implemented on a SDR technology demonstrator, to show how multiple simultaneously active radios are controlled, and how the coexistence mechanism can be used to provide tangible benefits to the SDR modem user, like the ability to utilize fine-grained spectral holes.     

Kinematical analysis of overconstrained and underconstrained mechanisms by means of computational algebraic geometry

We investigate and explain several exceptional phenomena appearing in mechanism kinematics. The starting point for the kinematical analysis of a mechanism is the formation of the relevant constraint map defining the constraint equations for the coordinates of the particular system. The constraint equations define the configuration space of the mechanism, which reveals the essential kineamtic characteristics. But in some cases the properties of the map, and not the configuration space itself, are important. This is true for example for so called under- and overconstrained mechanisms for which the standard formulation of constraints gives usually not enough or too many constraints when considering the dimension of their configuration space. These concepts also naturally lead to the concept of kinematotropic mechanisms which posses motion modes of different dimension. In this context the concept of a kinematotropy as a motion between such modes is introduced in this paper. We present a general approach to the kinematic analysis of mechanisms using the theory of algebraic geometry and tools of computational algebraic geometry. The configuration space is considered as a real algebraic variety defined by the constraints. The phenomena and needed theory are explained and several illustrative examples are given. In particular the underconstrained phenomenon is explained by considering the real and complex dimension of the configuration space variety.     

Magnetization curves for non-elliptic cylindrical samples in a transverse field

Using recent results for the surface current density on cylindrical surfaces of arbitrary cross-section producing uniform interior magnetic field and an assumed set of flux-fronts, solutions of Bean’s critical state model for cylindrical samples with non-elliptic cross-section are presented. Magnetization hysteresis loops for two cross-sections with different aspect ratios are obtained. A comparison with some exact results shows the limitations of this approach.