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Significance We introduce a soft-matter system with fluidity coexisting with long-range biaxial and ferromagnetic ordering of anisotropic molecular and magnetic colloidal building blocks. The facile polar switching of this complex fluid promises technological applications and rich physical behavior arising from the properties of solid magnetic nanoparticles and their long-range ordering prompted by interactions with the host medium.
The stability of structures with nontrivial topology is a subject of great interest, both from fundamental and technological perspectives. The topology of a magnetic vortex, for example, results in high stability of the vortex core polarity, which is attractive for applications. This high stability, however, greatly impedes the required deterministic polarity switching, which is typically only achieved with large magnetic fields or strong dynamic driving. Here, we show that the interaction between the vortex core and manufactured nanoscale defects in the magnetic material lowers the required driving strength for core polarity reversal by more than an order of magnitude. We excite vortex dynamics in thin permalloy disks, and map the twodimensional (2D) vortex core trajectory using 3D time-resolved Kerr microscopy. In pristine samples, we observe normal gyrotropic motion of the vortex core. After laser-induced generation of defects, however, we observe repeated vortex core reversal at much-reduced driving strength. Micromagnetic simulations reveal how local reduction of exchange coupling and saturation magnetization can create vortex core reversal sites for deterministic vortex core switching.
A structure consisting of two concentric asymmetric nanorings, each displaying vortex remanent states, is studied with micromagnetic calculations. By orienting in suitable directions, both the asymmetry of the rings and a uniform magnetic field, the vortices chiralities can be switched from parallel to antiparallel, obtaining in this way the analogue of the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic configurations found in bar magnets pairs. Conditions on the thickness of single rings to obtain vortex states, as well as formulas for their remanent magnetization are given. The concentric ring structure enables the creation of magnetoresistive systems comprising the qualities of magnetic nanorings, such as low stray fields and high stability. A possible application is as contacts in spin injection in semiconductors, and estimations obtained here of magnetoresistance change for a cylindrical spin injection based device show significant variations comparable to linear geometries.
Planar magnetics design has been widely used in power electronics field because of the low profile, ease of manufacturability, and high power density. This paper first proposes a 3-level four-switch buck-boost (3L-FSBB) converter for the dc-dc applications where the zero common-mode (CM) voltage emissions, step-up and step-down are all required. With the consideration of power density, efficiency, and cost, a 15oz heavy copper coupled inductor for 3-level FSBB converter was designed and optimized with the low-cost commercial core and planar windings. According to the soft-switching quadrangle modulation for 3-L FSBB, the turns number and stacked core number are optimized first. And then, a two-board design is proposed to reduce the fringing effect and improve the thermal performance. Finally, a 75 kVA two-stage ac-dc-dc converter including a 3-level FSBB converter was built to verify the electrical design.
Electrical switching of Néel order in an antiferromagnetic insulator is desirable as a basis for memory applications. Unlike electrically driven switching of ferromagnetic order via spin-orbit torques, electrical switching of antiferromagnetic order remains poorly understood. Here we investigate the low-field magnetic properties of 30-nm-thick, c-axis-oriented α-Fe 2 O 3 Hall devices using a diamond nitrogen-vacancy center scanning microscope. Using the canted moment of α-Fe 2 O 3 as a magnetic handle on its Néel vector, we apply a saturating in-plane magnetic field to create a known initial state before letting the state relax in low field for magnetic imaging. Here, we repeat this procedure for different in-plane orientations of the initialization field. We find that the magnetic field images are characterized by stronger magnetic textures for fields along [$\overline{11}$20] and 11$\overline{2}$0, suggesting that despite the expected 3-fold magnetocrystalline anisotropy, our α-Fe 2 O 3 thin films have an overall in-plane uniaxial anisotropy. We also study current-induced switching of the magnetic order in α-Fe 2 O 3 . We find that the fraction of the device that switches depends on the current pulse duration, amplitude, and direction relative to the initialization field.
In this paper, we describe the operation of a two-stage wire array z-pinch driven by the 1.4 MA, 240 ns rise-time Magpie pulsed-power device at Imperial College London. In this setup, an inverse wire array acts as a fast current switch, delivering a current pre-pulse into a cylindrical load wire array, before rapidly switching the majority of the generator current into the load after a 100–150 ns dwell time. A detailed analysis of the evolution of the load array during the pre-pulse is presented. Measurements of the load resistivity and energy deposition suggest significant bulk heating of the array mass occurs. The ∼5 kA pre-pulse delivers ∼0.8 J of energy to the load, leaving it in a mixed, predominantly liquid-vapour state. The main current switch occurs as the inverse array begins to explode and plasma expands into the load region. Electrical and imaging diagnostics indicate that the main current switch may evolve in part as a plasma flow switch, driven by the expansion of a magnetic cavity and plasma bubble along the length of the load array. Analysis of implosion trajectories suggests that approximately 1 MA switches into the load in 100 ns, corresponding to a doubling of the generator dI/dt. Potential scaling of the device to higher current machines is discussed.
Nickel-platinum-based synthetic ferrimagnets (SFi's) are highly tunable and rare-earth-free materials that allow ultrafast all optical control of magnetism to be explored. This study considers a SFi composed of a ferromagnetic [Ni/Pt] multilayer and a ferromagnetic Co layer, separated by an Ir layer that mediates an antiferromagnetic coupling. Helicity-independent all optical switching (HI-AOS) between two antiparallel magnetization states is observed. AOS may be realized at increased temperature through reduction of the thickness of the Pt layers. Switching is unidirectional and has a strong dependence on the applied magnetic field history, which suggests the possible presence of a nanoscale magnetic texture that may be important in controlling AOS in SFi systems. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
We have investigated the magnetic properties of the silicene doped with Fe and Cr metal atoms under external electric field by the first-principles calculations. We find that the doped systems show a variety of interesting magnetoelectric (ME) behaviors: (1) The magnetic moment of Fe doped silicene show a sharp jump at a threshold electric field, which indicates a good switching effect; (2) For the low concentrations of Fe or Cr doped silicene, there are two structures in which the changes of magnetism are significantly different under external electric field; (3) The magnetic moment of the doped systems has a nearly linear region with the electric field. We find that the changes of magnetic moment strongly depend on the direction of the electric field. In particular, one structure of Fe doped silicene shows an interesting ME response which can be considered as a magnetoelectric diode. With the electric field, the good controllability and sharp switching of the magnetism may offer a potential applications in the ME devices.
An axial stabilizer for the rotor of a magnetic bearing provides external control of stiffness through switching in external inductances. External control also allows the stabilizer to become a part of a passive/active magnetic bearing system that requires no external source of power and no position sensor. Stabilizers for displacements transverse to the axis of rotation are provided that require only a single cylindrical Halbach array in its operation, and thus are especially suited for use in high rotation speed applications, such as flywheel energy storage systems. The elimination of the need of an inner cylindrical array solves the difficult mechanical problem of supplying support against centrifugal forces for the magnets of that array. Compensation is provided for the temperature variation of the strength of the magnetic fields of the permanent magnets in the levitating magnet arrays.
The recent demonstration of the superconducting diode effect (SDE) has generated renewed interest in superconducting electronics, in which devices such as compact superconducting diodes that can perform signal rectification with low-energy operations are needed. In this article, we present our results of robust and symmetric-in-magnetic-field SDE in asymmetric superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) realized in high-quality Dirac semimetal Cd 3 As 2 thin film grown by the molecular beam epitaxy technique. Consistent with previous work, a zero magnetic field SDE is observed. Furthermore, the difference in switching current is independent of the strength and polarity of an out-plane magnetic field in the range of −10 and 10 mT. We speculate that this robust symmetric-in-field SDE in our Dirac semimetal SQUIDs is due to the formation of helical spin texture, theoretically predicted in Dirac semimetals.
Oxide heterointerface is a platform to create unprecedented two-dimensional electron gas, superconductivity and ferromagnetism, arising from a polar discontinuity at the interface. In particular, the ability to tune these intriguing effects paves a way to elucidate their fundamental physics and to develop novel electronic/magnetic devices. Here, we report for the first time that a ferroelectric polarization screening at SrTiO 3 /PbTiO 3 interface is able to drive an electronic construction of Ti atom, giving rise to room-temperature ferromagnetism. Surprisingly, such ferromagnetism can be switched to antiferromagnetism by applying a magnetic field, which is reversible. A coupling of itinerant electrons with local moments at interfacial Ti 3d orbital was proposed to explain the magnetism. The localization of the itinerant electrons under a magnetic field is responsible for the suppression of magnetism. These findings provide new insights into interfacial magnetism and their control by magnetic field relevant interfacial electrons promising for device applications.
Under suitable conditions, some twisted graphene multilayers and transition-metal dichalcogenides become Chern insulators, exhibiting the anomalous quantum Hall effect and orbital magnetization due to spontaneous valley polarization. We study the interaction of a Chern insulator with circularly polarized light. Here, the interaction energy contains an antisymmetric term that couples to the helicity of incident light. For a two-band Chern insulator, this term is expressed as an integral involving the Berry curvature of the system. Taking advantage of this interaction, we propose an experimental protocol for switching topological memory based on orbital magnetization by circularly polarized light. Moreover, two laser beams of opposite circular polarization can nucleate domains of opposite magnetization and thus produce an optically configurable domain wall carrying topologically protected chiral edge modes.
In topological materials, the edge states are readily distinguished from the bulk states. The situation where a topological semimetal becomes superconducting so that Cooper pairs occupy both the bulk and the edge states is not well understood. In particular, we do not know if we can force their pairing symmetries to be different. Here we show that, when supercurrent is injected into the superconducting Weyl semimetal MoTe 2 from Nb contacts, the invasive s-wave pairing potential from Nb is incompatible with the intrinsic Cooper pair condensate in MoTe 2 . This incompatibility leads to strong stochasticity in the switching current and an unusual anti-hysteretic behaviour in the current–voltage loops. There is also an asymmetry in the edge oscillations where, as the magnetic field crosses zero, the phase noise switches from one with a noisy spectrum to one that is noise free. Furthermore, using the noise spectrum as a guide, we track the anomalous features to field-induced switching of the device gap function between s-wave symmetry and the unconventional symmetry intrinsic to MoTe 2 . We infer that the behaviour of the gap function along the edges is different from that in the bulk.
The ability to control the morphology of heterointerfaces with coupled functionalities is fascinating from both fundamental and technological perspectives. Here, using BiFeO 3 :CoFe 2 O 4 vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) films as a model system, we demonstrate a simple and effective method to modulate the heterointerface and its morphology in nanocomposite films with pulsed laser deposition. By tuning the deposition frequency through thickness during film growth, both vertically straight and gradient heterointerfaces have been achieved. The modulated heterointerface is strongly correlated with strain tuning and interface coupling, and thus modifies the magnetic anisotropy, coercive fields, and ferroelectric switching behavior. Furthermore, this study provides a viable approach for tailoring the interface strain and coupling in VAN and achieving tunable physical properties.
Magneto-optical (MO) coupling incorporates photon-induced change of magnetic polarization that can be adopted in ultrafast switching, optical isolators, mode convertors, and optical data storage components for advanced optical integrated circuits. However, integrating plasmonic, magnetic, and dielectric properties in one single material system poses challenges since one natural material can hardly possess all these functionalities. Here, co-deposition of a three-phase heterostructure composed of a durable conductive nitride matrix with embedded core–shell vertically aligned nanopillars, is demonstrated. Additionally, the unique coupling between ferromagnetic NiO core and atomically sharp plasmonic Au shell enables strong MO activity out-of-plane at room temperature. Further, a template growth process is applied, which significantly enhances the ordering of the nanopillar array. The ordered nanostructure offers two schemes of spin polarization which result in stronger antisymmetry of Kerr rotation. The presented complex hybrid metamaterial platform with strong magnetic and optical anisotropies is promising for tunable and modulated all-optical-based nanodevices.
High-speed video filming is applied to investigate low-pressure (argon 0.053–0.133 Pa) pulsed gas discharge dynamics in a planar magnetron built-in the explosive emission cathode of a high-current electron gun. It has been found that, in the beginning, the discharge starts at the side surface of the cathode and then spreads to its face. The stability of the discharge ignition instant at the cathode face as a function of the working pressure of the gas and the cathode design has been studied. It has been found that the pulsed longitudinal magnetic field results in the discharge switching over in the axial direction onto the electron gun collector. A qualitative explanation of the observed discharge behavior has been given.
The integration of magnetic material with semiconductors has been fertile ground for fundamental science as well as of great practical interest toward the seamless integration of information processing and storage. We create van der Waals heterostructures formed by an ultrathin ferromagnetic semiconductor CrI 3 and a monolayer of WSe 2 . We observe unprecedented control of the spin and valley pseudospin in WSe 2 , where we detect a large magnetic exchange field of nearly 13 T and rapid switching of the WSe 2 valley splitting and polarization via flipping of the CrI 3 magnetization. The WSe2 photoluminescence intensity strongly depends on the relative alignment between photoexcited spins in WSe 2 and the CrI 3 magnetization, because of ultrafast spin-dependent charge hopping across the heterostructure interface. The photoluminescence detection of valley pseudospin provides a simple and sensitive method to probe the intriguing domain dynamics in the ultrathin magnet, as well as the rich spin interactions within the heterostructure.
The spin torque switching rate of an in-plane magnetized system in the presence of an applied field is derived by solving the Fokker-Planck equation. It is found that three scaling currents are necessary to describe the current dependence of the switching rate in the low-current limit. The dependences of these scaling currents on the applied field strength are also studied.