Hanle Magnetoresistance in Thin Metal Films with Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling

We report measurements of a new type of magnetoresistance in Pt and Ta thin films. The spin accumulation created at the surfaces of the film by the spin Hall effect decreases in a magnetic field because of the Hanle effect, resulting in an increase of the electrical resistance as predicted by Dyakonov [PRL 99, 126601 (2007)]. The angular dependence of this magnetoresistance resembles the recently discovered spin Hall magnetoresistance in Pt/Y3Fe5O12 bilayers, although the presence of a ferromagnetic insulator is not required. We show that this Hanle magnetoresistance is an alternative, simple way to quantitatively study the coupling between charge and spin currents in metals with strong spin-orbit coupling.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

One-step nucleic acid amplification (Osna) of sentinel lymph node in early-stage endometrial cancer: Spanish multicenter study (endo-osna)

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) for the detection of sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis compared to standard pathological ultrastaging in patients with early-stage endometrial cancer (EC). A total of 526 SLNs from 191 patients with EC were included in the study, and 379 SLNs (147 patients) were evaluated by both methods, OSNA and standard pathological ultrastaging. The central 1 mm portion of each lymph node was subjected to semi-serial sectioning at 200 µm intervals and examined by hematoxylin–eosin and immunohistochemistry with CK19; the remaining tissue was analyzed by OSNA for CK19 mRNA. The OSNA assay detected metastases in 19.7% of patients (14.9% micrometastasis and 4.8% macrometastasis), whereas pathological ultrastaging detected metastasis in 8.8% of patients (3.4% micrometastasis and 5.4% macrometastasis). Using the established cut-off value for detecting SLN metastasis by OSNA in EC (250 copies/µL), the sensitivity of the OSNA assay was 92%, specificity was 82%, diagnostic accuracy was 83%, and the negative predictive value was 99%. Discordant results between both methods were recorded in 20 patients (13.6%). OSNA resulted in an upstaging in 12 patients (8.2%). OSNA could aid in the identification of patients requiring adjuvant treatment at the time of diagnosis. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Structural, Vibrational, and Electronic Study of α‑As2Te3 under Compression

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Journal of Physical Chemistry C, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b06049We report a study of the structural, vibrational, and electronic properties of layered monoclinic arsenic telluride (α-As2Te3) at high pressures. Powder X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering measurements up to 17 GPa have been complemented with ab initio total-energy, lattice dynamics, and electronic band structure calculations. Our measurements, which include previously unreported Raman scattering measurements for crystalline α-As2Te3, show that this compound undergoes a reversible phase transition above 14 GPa at room temperature. The monoclinic crystalline structure of α-As2Te3 and its behavior under compression are analyzed by means of the compressibility tensor. Major structural and vibrational changes are observed in the range between 2 and 4 GPa and can be ascribed to the strengthening of interlayer bonds. No evidence of any isostructural phase transition has been observed in α-As2Te3. A comparison with other group 15 sesquichalcogenides allows understanding the structure of α-As2Te3 and its behavior under compression based on the activity of the cation lone electron pair in these compounds. Finally, our electronic band structure calculations show that α-As2Te3 is a semiconductor at 1 atm, which undergoes a trivial semiconducting−metal transition above 4 GPa. The absence of a pressure-induced electronic topological transition in α-As2Te3 is discussed.This work has been performed under financial support from Projects MAT2013-46649-C4-2-P, MAT2013-46649-C4-3-P, MAT2015-71070-REDC, FIS2013-48286-C2-1-P, and FIS2013-48286-C2-2-P of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), and the Department of Education, Universities and Research of the Basque Government and UPV/EHU (Grant No. IT756-13). This publication is also fruit of "Programa de Valoracion y Recursos Conjuntos de I+D+i VLC/CAMPUS" and has been financed by the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte as part of "Programa Campus de Excelencia Internacional" through Projects SP20140701 and SP20140871. Finally, authors thank ALBA Light Source for beam allocation at beamline MSPD.Cuenca Gotor, VP.; Sans-Tresserras, JÁ.; Ibáñez, J.; Popescu, C.; Gomis, O.; Vilaplana Cerda, RI.; Manjón Herrera, FJ.... (2016). Structural, Vibrational, and Electronic Study of α‑As2Te3 under Compression. Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 120(34):19340-19352. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b06049S19340193521203

Supplemental material for Emergence of large spin-charge interconversion at an oxidized Cu/W interface

The Supplemental Material contains the following sections: -RESISTIVITIES OF THE DIFFERENT ELECTRODES IN THE Py/Cu/W LSV -STEM CHARACTERIZATION OF THE Cu/W INTERFACE -STOICHIOMETRIC COMPOSITION OF THE WOx LAYER -3D FEM SIMULATION FOR THE WOx RESISTIVITY -DERIVATION OF THE SPIN SIGNAL AND THE SPIN ABSORPTION IN A LSV -SPIN PROPERTIES OF THE Py AND Cu -SPIN DIFFUSION LENGTH FOR BULK SPIN ABSORPTION -DERIVATION OF THE SPIN-CHARGE SIGNAL IN A LSV -SHUNTING FACTOR IN THE Cu/WOx/W HETEROSTRUCTURE USING A 3D FEM SIMULATION -REPRODUCIBLE SPIN-TO-CHARGE INTERCONVERSION IN DIFFERENT DEVICES -CONTROL SPIN-CHARGE INTERCONVERSION EXPERIMENT IN Cu/SiO2Peer reviewe

Emergence of large spin-charge interconversion at an oxidized Cu/W interface

Spin-orbitronic devices can integrate memory and logic by exploiting spin-charge interconversion (SCI), which is optimized by design and materials selection. In these devices, interfaces are crucial elements as they can prohibit or promote spin flow in a device as well as possess spin-orbit coupling resulting in interfacial SCI. Therefore, investigation of interfaces in spin-orbitronic devices is important. Here, we study the origin of SCI in a Py/Cu/W lateral spin valve and quantify its efficiency. An exhaustive characterization of the interface between Cu and W electrodes uncovers the presence of an oxidized layer (WOx). We determine that the SCI occurs at the Cu/WOx interface with a temperature-independent interfacial spin-loss conductance of G∥≈20×1013Ω−1m−2 and an interfacial spin-charge conductivity σSC=−1600Ω−1cm−1 at 10 K (−800Ω−1cm−1 at 300 K). This corresponds to an efficiency given by the inverse Edelstein length λIEE=− 0.8nm at 10 K (−0.4nm at 300 K), which is remarkably larger than in metal/metal and metal/oxide interfaces and bulk heavy metals. The large SCI efficiency at such an oxidized interface makes it a promising candidate for the magnetic readout in MESO logic devices.This work was supported by Intel Corporation through the Semiconductor Research Corporation under MSR-INTEL TASK 2017-IN-2744 and the “FEINMAN” Intel Science Technology Center, and by the Spanish MICINN under the Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Programme (Grants No. MDM-2016-0618 and No. CEX2020-001038-M) and under Projects No. RTI2018-094861-BI00, No. PID2020-117671GB-I00, No. PID2020-112811GBI00, No. PID2021-122511OB-I00, PID2020-114252GB-I00 (SPIRIT), and TED2021-130292B-C42. W.Y.C. acknowledges a postdoctoral fellowship support from the “Juan de la Cierva Formación” program by the Spanish MICINN (Grant No. FJC 2018-038580-I). E.S. thanks the Spanish MECD for a Ph.D. fellowship (Grant No. FPU14/03102). D.C.V. acknowledges support from the European Commission for a Maria Sklodowska-Curie individual fellowship (Grant No. 892983-SPECTER). N.O. thanks the Spanish MICINN for a Ph.D. fellowship (Grant No. BES-2017-07963). The work of S.I. and F.S.B. was supported by European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme under Grant No. 800923 (SUPERTED). I.V.T. and F.S.B. acknowledges support by Grupos Consolidados UPV/EHU del Gobierno Vasco (Eusko Jaularitza) (Grants No. IT1249-19 and No. IT1591-22). F.S.B. acknowledges financial support by the A. v. Humboldt Foundation.With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2020-001038-M).Peer reviewe

Discrimination of Acoustic Emission Signals for Damage Assessment in a Reinforced Concrete Slab Subjected to Seismic Simulations

The purpose of this work is to distinguish between Acoustic Emission (AE) signals coming from mechanical friction and AE signals coming from concrete cracking, recorded during fourteen seismic simulations conducted with the shaking table of the University of Granada on a reinforced concrete slab supported on four steel columns. To this end, a particular criterion is established based on the Root Mean Square of the AE waveforms calculated in two different temporal windows. This criterion includes a parameter calculated by optimizing the correlation between the mechanical energy dissipated by the specimen (calculated by means of measurements with accelerometers and displacement transducers) and the energy obtained from the AE signals recorded by low-frequency piezoelectric sensors located on the specimen. The final goal of this project, initiated four years ago, is to provide a reliable evaluation of the level of damage of Reinforced Concrete specimens by means of AE signals to be used in future Structural Health Monitoring strategies involving RC structures