Highly spin-polarized materials and devices for spintronics?

The performance of spintronics depends on the spin polarization of the current. In this study half-metallic Co-based full-Heusler alloys and a spin filtering device (SFD) using a ferromagnetic barrier have been investigated as highly spin-polarized current sources. The multilayers were prepared by magnetron sputtering in an ultrahigh vacuum and microfabricated using photolithography and Ar ion etching. We investigated two systems of Co-based full-Heusler alloys, Co₂Cr_{1 − x}Fe_xAl (CCFA(x)) and Co₂FeSi_{1 − x}Al_x (CFSA(x)) and revealed the structure and magnetic and transport properties. We demonstrated giant tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of up to 220% at room temperature and 390% at 5 K for the magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) using Co₂FeSi_0.5Al_0.5 (CFSA(0.5)) Heusler alloy electrodes. The 390% TMR corresponds to 0.81 spin polarization for CFSA(0.5) at 5 K. We also investigated the crystalline structure and local structure around Co atoms by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses, respectively, for CFSA films sputtered on a Cr-buffered MgO (001) substrate followed by post-annealing at various temperatures in an ultrahigh vacuum. The disordered structures in CFSA films were clarified by NMR measurements and the relationship between TMR and the disordered structure was discussed. We clarified that the TMR of the MTJs with CFSA(0.5) electrodes depends on the structure, and is significantly higher for L2₁ than B2 in the crystalline structure. The second part of this paper is devoted to a SFD using a ferromagnetic barrier. The Co ferrite is investigated as a ferromagnetic barrier because of its high Curie temperature and high resistivity. We demonstrate the strong spin filtering effect through an ultrathin insulating ferrimagnetic Co-ferrite barrier at a low temperature. The barrier was prepared by the surface plasma oxidization of a CoFe₂ film deposited on a MgO (001) single crystal substrate, wherein the spinel structure of CoFe₂O₄ (CFO) and an epitaxial relationship of MgO(001)[100]/CoFe₂ (001)]110]/CFO(001)[100] were induced. A SFD consisting of CoFe₂ /CFO/Ta on a MgO (001) substrate exhibits the inverse TMR of - 124% at 10 K when the configuration of the magnetizations of CFO and CoFe₂ changes from parallel to antiparallel. The inverse TMR suggests the negative spin polarization of CFO, which is consistent with the band structure of CFO obtained by first principle calculation. The - 124% TMR corresponds to the spin filtering efficiency of 77% by the CFO barrier.     

The Role of Crystallographic Texture and Basal Plane Slip on Microstructurally Short Fatigue Crack Initiation and Propagation in Forged Billet and Rolled Bar Ti-6Al-4V Alloy

Tension-compression fatigue tests were conducted on forged (F-950) and rolled (R-950) Ti-6Al-4V alloys. The role of basal texture, produced by forging, was compared with prismatic texture, produced by rolling, on microstructurally short fatigue crack growth initiation and growth resistance. The fatigue life of R-950 alloy proved to be higher than that of F-950 alloy. Major differences in fatigue crack growth rate were detected in the short fatigue crack region at crack lengths of below 100 µm (F-950 alloy showing low resistance). To quantify the effect of texture alone, the opening/closure behaviour of a microstructurally small crack was analysed from the data obtained by combining an automatic in situ observation system with a digital image correlation technique. This analysis showed the crack opening stress of both alloys to be close to identical in the short fatigue crack growth region, nullifying the effect of crack closure. To study the effect of texture, cross-sectional electron backscatter diffraction analysis was performed at crack initiation sites. The results revealed that in F-950 alloy, short fatigue crack growth proceeded along basal planes that had similarly-oriented grains, whereas in R-950 alloy, short fatigue crack growth did not follow prismatic planes: the orientation varied.

     

Experimental Study on Seismic Behavior of Roof Joint

International Journal of Steel Structures - Experimental study was conducted to investigate the seismic behavior of roof joint. Eight full-scale specimens were tested considering the effects of...     

Message encoding and decoding using an asynchronous chaotic laser diode transmitter-receiver array

We have numerically investigated a chaotic laser diode transmitter-receiver array scheme (CLDTRAS), which is a secure digital communication scheme using a difference between two types of transmitter-receiver array consisting of two self-pulsating laser diodes (LDs), i.e., a receiver LD and a transmitter LD. By analyzing the bit error rate, particularly its dependence on the parameter mismatches of the hardware and channel noise and on the correlation coefficient between a transmitter LD and receiver LD, we examined the problems of sensitivity to parameter mismatches and channel noise and a dependence on chaos synchronization between a transmitter LD and a receiver LD. The former makes communication difficult, and the latter makes it possible for an eavesdropper to estimate the receiver LD using chaos synchronization and to forge the hardware. Then we studied the effects of the bit error rate for various values of the threshold, which determines a binary message, and for various numbers of transmitters-receivers making up a LD transmitter-receiver array. It has been shown that a highly noise-tolerant and hardware-dependent communication scheme can be achieved with the LD transmitter-receiver array, whose transmitter and receiver LDs are asynchronous with respect to each other, by choosing the proper threshold and increasing the number of LD transmitters-receivers. Since it is possible to communicate without chaos synchronization, it becomes difficult to forge hardware and to eavesdrop with the forged hardware even if the key is stolen.     

The experimental humanoid robot H7: a research platform for autonomous behaviour

This paper gives an overview of the humanoid robot 'H7', which was developed over several years as an experimental platform for walking, autonomous behaviour and human interaction research at the University of Tokyo. H7 was designed to be a human-sized robot capable of operating autonomously in indoor environments designed for humans. The hardware is relatively simple to operate and conduct research on, particularly with respect to the hierarchical design of its control architecture. We describe the overall design goals and methodology, along with a summary of its online walking capabilities, autonomous vision-based behaviours and automatic motion planning. We show experimental results obtained by implementations running within a simulation environment as well as on the actual robot hardware.     

Lattice dynamics of the Zn-Mg-Sc icosahedral quasicrystal and its Zn-Sc periodic 1/1 approximant

Quasicrystals are long-range-ordered materials that lack translational invariance, so the study of their physical properties remains a challenging problem. Here, we have carried out inelastic-X-ray- and neutron-scattering experiments on single-grain samples of the Zn-Mg-Sc icosahedral quasicrystal and of the Zn-Sc periodic cubic 1/1 approximant, with the aim of studying the respective influence of the local order and of the long-range order (periodic or quasiperiodic) on lattice dynamics. Besides the overall similarities and the existence of a pseudo-gap in the transverse dispersion relation, marked differences are observed, the pseudo-gap being larger and better defined in the approximant than in the quasicrystal. This can be qualitatively explained using the concept of a pseudo-Brillouin-zone in the quasicrystal. These results are compared with simulations on atomic models and using oscillating pair potentials, and the simulations reproduce in detail the experimental results. This paves the way for a detailed understanding of the physics of quasicrystals.     

Micro-patterned nanofibrous biomaterials

Nanofibrous materials made from bioabsorbable and biocompatible polymers have promising applications as tissue-engineered scaffolds. Genetic analysis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) that attached to Poly(glycolide) (PGA) nanofibrous materials prepared via electrospinning methods demonstrated high expression of Integrin v and VEGF receptor genes, which are known angiogenesis markers. In order to improve the function of the PGA nanofibrous materials for tissue engineering applications, we used a micro-patterned template instead of a flat collector in the electrospinning process. "Micro-patterned nanofibrous material" demonstrated uniformly sized dents with diameters of 200 micrometers and depths of 36 micrometers. The dents were regularly spaced, with a 250 micrometer space between two dents. These sizes are similar to that of the template. We will discuss further applications of this designable micro-patterned nanofibrous biomaterial.     

亚纳米精度长度溯源计量型动态模式原子力显微镜

通过与长度溯源三轴激光干涉仪测量系统结合,设计开发计量型动态模式原子力显微镜(AFM).此AFM系统中,三轴激光干涉仪系统用于实时测量AFM测头与试样的相对位移.激光干涉仪系统的x,y,z测量轴正交于AFM探针顶端附近的一点,基本可以避免系统的阿贝误差,使AFM具有极高的测量精度.除此之外,扫描过程中三轴激光干涉仪系统还用于工作台x,y方向位移的反馈控制,完全克服AFM中压电器件的缺陷对水平尺寸测量的影响.分析表明,在对纳米标准栅的平均栅距测量中,AFM系统达到亚纳米的测量精度.     

The relationship between AE and dissipation energy for fretting wear

This paper describes the behavior of acoustic emission (AE), especially the correlation between the AE output and the dissipation energy under the fretting conditions. Fretting tests are conducted with a ball contacting with a flat disc in air. The specimens used are a bearing steel for a ball, and a bearing steel or an aluminum alloy for a flat disc. The results show that the behavior of the AE output and the dissipation energy during each fretting cycle is not so similar to each other throughout the test, but the total AE root-mean-square and the total dissipated energy during the test have a good correlation between them.     

Near-field magneto-optical analysis in reflection mode SNOM

Observation of magnetic domains with in-plane magnetisations is demonstrated by scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) in reflection mode. The longitudinal and transverse magneto-optical Kerr effects are employed as the contrast mechanisms; these are observed as either a change in the polarisation of the reflected light or reflectance, depending on magnetisation direction. SNOM images of Co and Ni thin films show magneto-optical contrast depending on polarisation of the incident and detected light. For the smooth cobalt thin films, the orientation for magnetic domains is estimated, based on the correlation between the contrasts in SNOM images obtained in different polarisation configurations and the directions of the magnetic vectors of the incident and reflected light. For the nickel films with pronounced topographic structures, the resulting near-field polarisation dependencies are more complicated, suggesting that the magneto-optical contrast in SNOM images are affected by the topographic cross-talk due to the depolarisation effects on surface topographic features.