407 research outputs found
Third type of domain wall in soft magnetic nanostrips
Magnetic domain walls (DWs) in nanostructures are low-dimensional objects
that separate regions with uniform magnetisation. Since they can have different
shapes and widths, DWs are an exciting playground for fundamental research, and
became in the past years the subject of intense works, mainly focused on
controlling, manipulating, and moving their internal magnetic configuration. In
nanostrips with in-plane magnetisation, two DWs have been identified: in thin
and narrow strips, transverse walls are energetically favored, while in thicker
and wider strips vortex walls have lower energy. The associated phase diagram
is now well established and often used to predict the low-energy magnetic
configuration in a given magnetic nanostructure. However, besides the
transverse and vortex walls, we find numerically that another type of wall
exists in permalloy nanostrips. This third type of DW is characterised by a
three-dimensional, flux closure micromagnetic structure with an unusual length
and three internal degrees of freedom. Magnetic imaging on
lithographically-patterned permalloy nanostrips confirms these predictions and
shows that these DWs can be moved with an external magnetic field of about 1mT.
An extended phase diagram describing the regions of stability of all known
types of DWs in permalloy nanostrips is provided.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure
Phase diagram of magnetic domain walls in spin valve nano-stripes
We investigate numerically the transverse versus vortex phase diagram of
head-to-head domain walls in Co/Cu/Py spin valve nano-stripes (Py: Permalloy),
in which the Co layer is mostly single domain while the Py layer hosts the
domain wall. The range of stability of the transverse wall is shifted towards
larger thickness compared to single Py layers, due to a magnetostatic screening
effect between the two layers. An approached analytical scaling law is derived,
which reproduces faithfully the phase diagram.Comment: 4 page
Ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)N epilayers versus antiferromagnetic GaMnN clusters
Mn-doped wurtzite GaN epilayers have been grown by nitrogen plasma-assisted
molecular beam epitaxy. Correlated SIMS, structural and magnetic measurements
show that the incorporation of Mn strongly depends on the conditions of the
growth. Hysteresis loops which persist at high temperature do not appear to be
correlated to the presence of Mn. Samples with up to 2% Mn are purely
substitutional GaMnN epilayers, and exhibit paramagnetic
properties. At higher Mn contents, precipitates are formed which are identified
as GaMnN clusters by x-ray diffraction and absorption: this induces a
decrease of the paramagnetic magnetisation. Samples co-doped with enough Mg
exhibit a new feature: a ferromagnetic component is observed up to
K, which cannot be related to superparamagnetism of unresolved magnetic
precipitates.Comment: Revised versio
Magnetotransport and the upper critical magnetic field in MgB2
Magnetotransport measurements are presented on polycrystalline MgB2 samples.
The resistive upper critical magnetic field reveals a temperature dependence
with a positive curvature from Tc = 39.3 K down to about 20 K, then changes to
a slightly negative curvature reaching 25 T at 1.5 K. The 25- Tesla upper
critical field is much higher than what is known so far on polycrystals of MgB2
but it is in agreement with recent data obtained on epitaxial MgB2 films. The
deviation of Bc2(T) from standard BCS might be due to the proposed two-gap
superconductivity in this compound. The observed quadratic normal-state
magnetoresistance with validity of Kohler's rule can be ascribed to classical
trajectory effects in the low-field limit.Comment: 6 pages, incl. 3 figure
Two Gap State Density in MgB: A True Bulk Property or A Proximity Effect?
We report on the temperature dependence of the quasiparticle density of
states (DOS) in the simple binary compound MgB2 directly measured using
scanning tunneling microscope (STM). To achieve high quality tunneling
conditions, a small crystal of MgB2 is used as a tip in the STM experiment. The
``sample'' is chosen to be a 2H-NbSe2 single crystal presenting an atomically
flat surface. At low temperature the tunneling conductance spectra show a gap
at the Fermi energy followed by two well-pronounced conductance peaks on each
side. They appear at voltages V mV and V mV. With rising temperature both peaks disappear at the Tc of the bulk
MgB2, a behavior consistent with the model of two-gap superconductivity. The
explanation of the double-peak structure in terms of a particular proximity
effect is also discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonists decrease lipoprotein lipase secretion and glycated LDL uptake by human macrophages
AbstractLipoprotein lipase (LPL) acts independently of its function as triglyceride hydrolase by stimulating macrophage binding and uptake of native, oxidized and glycated LDL. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are nuclear receptors expressed in monocyte/macrophages, where they control cholesterol homeostasis. Here we study the role of PPARs in the regulation of LPL expression and activity in human monocytes and macrophages. Incubation of human monocytes or macrophages with PPARα or PPARγ ligands increases LPL mRNA and intracellular protein levels. By contrast, PPAR activators decrease secreted LPL mass and enzyme activity in differentiated macrophages. These actions of PPAR activators are associated with a reduced uptake of glycated LDL and could influence atherosclerosis development associated with diabetes
Quantitative analysis of shadow X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism Photo-Emission Electron Microscopy
Shadow X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism Photo-Emission Electron Microscopy
(XMCD-PEEM) is a recent technique, in which the photon intensity in the shadow
of an object lying on a surface, may be used to gather information about the
three-dimensional magnetization texture inside the object. Our purpose here is
to lay the basis of a quantitative analysis of this technique. We first discuss
the principle and implementation of a method to simulate the contrast expected
from an arbitrary micromagnetic state. Text book examples and successful
comparison with experiments are then given. Instrumental settings are finally
discussed, having an impact on the contrast and spatial resolution : photon
energy, microscope extraction voltage and plane of focus, microscope background
level, electric-field related distortion of three-dimensional objects, Fresnel
diffraction or photon scattering
Three-dimensional magnetic flux-closure patterns in mesoscopic Fe islands
We have investigated three-dimensional magnetization structures in numerous
mesoscopic Fe/Mo(110) islands by means of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism
combined with photoemission electron microscopy (XMCD-PEEM). The particles are
epitaxial islands with an elongated hexagonal shape with length of up to 2.5
micrometer and thickness of up to 250 nm. The XMCD-PEEM studies reveal
asymmetric magnetization distributions at the surface of these particles.
Micromagnetic simulations are in excellent agreement with the observed magnetic
structures and provide information on the internal structure of the
magnetization which is not accessible in the experiment. It is shown that the
magnetization is influenced mostly by the particle size and thickness rather
than by the details of its shape. Hence, these hexagonal samples can be
regarded as model systems for the study of the magnetization in thick,
mesoscopic ferromagnets.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure
Artificial Kagome Arrays of Nanomagnets: A Frozen Dipolar Spin Ice
Magnetic frustration effects in artificial kagome arrays of nanomagnets are
investigated using x-ray photoemission electron microscopy and Monte Carlo
simulations. Spin configurations of demagnetized networks reveal unambiguous
signatures of long range, dipolar interaction between the nanomagnets. As soon
as the system enters the spin ice manifold, the kagome dipolar spin ice model
captures the observed physics, while the short range kagome spin ice model
fails.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Controlled switching of N\'eel caps in flux-closure magnetic dots
While magnetic hysteresis usually considers magnetic domains, the switching
of the core of magnetic vortices has recently become an active topic. We
considered Bloch domain walls, which are known to display at the surface of
thin films flux-closure features called N\'eel caps. We demonstrated the
controlled switching of these caps under a magnetic field, occurring via the
propagation of a surface vortex. For this we considered flux-closure states in
elongated micron-sized dots, so that only the central domain wall can be
addressed, while domains remain unaffected.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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