Thermoelectric performance of spin Seebeck effect in Fe3O4/Pt-based thin film heterostructures

All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.-- et al.We report a systematic study on the thermoelectric performance of spin Seebeck devices based on Fe3O4/Pt junction systems. We explore two types of device geometries: a spin Hall thermopile and spin Seebeck multilayer structures. The spin Hall thermopile increases the sensitivity of the spin Seebeck effect, while the increase in the sample internal resistance has a detrimental effect on the output power. We found that the spin Seebeck multilayers can overcome this limitation since the multilayers exhibit the enhancement of the thermoelectric voltage and the reduction of the internal resistance simultaneously, therefore resulting in significant power enhancement. This result demonstrates that the multilayer structures are useful for improving the thermoelectric performance of the spin Seebeck effect.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science (through Project Nos. PRI-PIBJP-2011-0794 and MAT2011-27553-C02, including FEDER funding), the Aragón Regional Government (Project No. E26), Thermo-spintronic Marie-Curie CIG (Grant Agreement No. 304043), JST-PRESTO “Phase Interfaces for Highly Ecient Energy Utilization” from JST, Japan, Grant in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas “Nano-Spin Conversion Science” (Grant No. 26103005), Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research (Grant No. 26600067), Grant-inAid for Scientific Research (A) (Grant No. 15H02012) from MEXT, Japan, NEC Corporation, and The Noguchi Institute.Peer Reviewe

Comparación de los patrones de huellas de mordedura según forma del cráneo, mediante el análisis morfológico y morfométrico de semiarcadas dentarias de perro doméstico (Canis familiaris)

Forensic science involves the participation of professionals from diverse areas. One of which is forensic odontology; often used to establish the identity of a crime victim or perpetrator, estimate chronological age, and identify bite-marks, among others. In Chile, a professional human odontologist must determine if a bite is human or not. In the case it is caused by dogs, normally, experts are not involved in a search for the perpetrator due to the lack of a database and studies that could lead to the identification of the culprit. Due to the increasing incidence of dog bites resulting in litigation proceedings, the aim of this review is to provide background to support the study and development of forensic veterinary odontology which could provide the scientific evidence valid in the indentification of the agresor by means of studying the bite mark.    Las ciencias forenses involucran la participación de diversas de áreas profesionales. Una de ellas es la odontología forense que se utiliza para establecer la identidad de una víctima o victimario, estimación de edad cronológica, huellas de mordida, entre otros. En Chile, son profesionales odontólogos humanos quienes deben definir si una mordedura es humana o no. En caso de ser provocada por perros, normalmente no se realizan peritajes en busca del agresor debido a la inexistencia de una base de datos y estudios que conduzcan a la identificación del ejemplar involucrado. Dado que cada vez y con mayor frecuencia las mordeduras de perros derivan en procesos de litigación, el objetivo de esta revisión es entregar antecedentes que sirvan de soporte para el estudio y desarrollo de la odontología forense veterinaria, permitiendo entregar evidencia científicamente válida para la identificación y posible individualización del agresor mediante el estudio de huellas de mordeduras.  

On the nature of the (de)coupling of the magnetostructural transition in Er5_5Si4_4

In this report, a successful thermodynamical model was employed to understand the structural transition in Er$_5$Si$_4$, able to explain the decoupling of the magnetic and structural transition. This was achieved by the DFT calculations which were used to determine the energy differences at 0 K, using a LSDA+U approximation. It was found that the M structure as the stable phase at low temperatures as verified experimentally with a $\Delta F_0 = -$0.262 eV. Finally, it was achieved a variation of Seebeck coefficient ($\sim$ 6 $\mu$V) at the structural transition which allow to conclude that the electronic entropy variation is negligible in the transition.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Characteristic length scale of the magnon accumulation in Fe3O4/Pt bilayer structures by incoherent thermal excitation

The dependence of Spin Seebeck effect (SSE) with the thickness of the magnetic materials is studied by means of incoherent thermal excitation. The SSE voltage signal in Fe3O4/Pt bilayer structure increases with the magnetic material thickness up to 100 nm, approximately, showing signs of saturation for larger thickness. This dependence is well described in terms of a spin current pumped in the platinum film by the magnon accumulation in the magnetic material. The spin current is generated by a gradient of temperature in the system and detected by the Pt top contact by means of inverse spin Hall effect. Calculations in the frame of the linear response theory adjust with a high degree of accuracy the experimental data, giving a thermal length scale of the magnon accumulation (Λ) of 17 ± 3 nm at 300 K and Λ = 40 ± 10 nm at 70 K.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science (through Project No. MAT2014-51982-C2-R, including European social fund), the Aragon Regional government (Project No. E26), and Thermo-Spintronic Marie Curie CIG Project (Grant Agreement No. 304043).Peer Reviewe

Role of the surface states in the magnetotransport properties of ultrathin bismuth films

We have investigated the magnetotransport properties of ultrathin films of Bi grown on thermally oxidized Si(001) substrates with thickness ranging from 10 to 100 nm at temperatures down to 2 K and in magnetic fields up to 90 kOe. Remarkable differences both in temperature and field dependence of the Hall resistivity are found for the films with thickness above and below 20 nm. These observations can be explained due to the presence of surface states, which play an important role in determining the electronic transport properties of the thinnest films. The estimated surface carrier density 4 x 10^(13) cm^(-2) at room temperature correlates well with that recently reported from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on ultrathin Bi(001) films

Electron scattering processes in Ho5(SixGe1−x)4 compounds: Electrical resistivity studies

8 páginas, 7 figuras, 1 tabla.-- PACS number(s): 75.30.Sg, 71.70.Ch, 75.30.Kz, 75.10.DgWe present a detailed study of the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity [ρ(T)] in the range 13–300 K for the Ho5(SixGe1-x)4 system. Three distinct ρ(T) behaviors are observed, associated with different magnetic and crystallographic structures along the series. In the samples with an antiferromagnetic phase (AFM) one observes a shoulder near the Néel temperature (TN) attributed to the formation of a gap on the Fermi surface. This gap is analyzed using a phenomenological two-band model for an AFM with distinct atomic and magnetic periodicities, and its effect seems to extend well above TN. We also found the presence of short-range magnetic clusters in the paramagnetic (PM) phase. On the ferromagnetic (FM) materials, the distinct ρ(T) scattering contributions (phonon, magnetic, and residual terms) are extracted from the measurements, with ρ(T) mainly dominated by electron spin scattering. An additional contribution is also observed, arising from the strong crystal field effect in these materials. The effect is mainly observed in the PM phase, leading to a curvature on ρ(T) in this phase. Using a two-level crystal field model the corresponding gap was estimated for the different Si/Ge ratio samples, revealing that the crystal field splitting increases linearly with Si content.Work partially supported by the projects POCI/CTM/61284/2004, PTDC/CTM/NAN/115125/2009, and FEDER/POCTI n0155/94 from Fundaçâo para a Ciência ex Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal. A.M.P. thanks FCT for Grant No. SFRH/BPD/63150/2009. C.M. acknowledges the support of the Fundación ARAID. The financial support of the Spanish MEC (MAT2008-06567-C02) and DGA (Grant No. E26) is acknowledged.Peer reviewe

Biosensors to diagnose Chagas disease: A review

International audienceChagas disease (CD), which mostly affects underprivileged people, has turned into one 9 of Latin America's main public health problems. Prevention of the disease requires early diagnosis, 10 initiation of therapy, and regular blood monitoring of the infected individual. However, the majority 11 of the infections go undiagnosed because of general mild symptoms and lack of access to medical 12 care. Therefore, more affordable and accessible detection technologies capable of providing early 13 diagnosis and parasite load measurements in settings where CD is prevalent are needed to enable 14 enhanced intervention strategies. This review discusses currently available detection technologies 15 and emerging biosensing technologies for a future application to CD. Even if biosensing 16 technologies still require further research efforts to develop portable systems, we arrive to the 17 conclusion that biosensors could improve diagnosis and the patients' treatment follow-up, in terms 18 of rapidity, small sample volume, high integration, ease of use, real-time and low cost detection 19 compared to current conventional technologies. 2

Spin glass state in strained La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 thinfilms

Epitaxial strain modifies the physical properties of thin films deposited on single-crystal substrates. In a previous work, we demonstrated that in the case of La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 thin films the strain induced by the substrate can produce the segregation of a non-ferromagnetic layer (NFL) at the top surface of ferromagnetic epitaxial La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 for a critical value of the tetragonality τ, defined as τ = |c − a|a, of τC ≈ 0.024. Although preliminary analysis suggested its antiferromagnetic nature, to date a complete characterization of the magnetic state of such an NFL has not been performed. Here, we present a comprehensive magnetic characterization of the strain-induced segregated NFL. The field-cooled magnetic hysteresis loops exhibit an exchange bias mechanism below T ≈ 80 K, which is well below the Curie temperature of the ferromagnetic La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 layer. The exchange bias and coercive fields decay exponentially with temperature, which is commonly accepted to describe spin-glass (SG) behavior. The signatures of slow dynamics were confirmed by slow spin relaxation over a wide temperature regime. Low-energy muon spectroscopy experiments directly evidence the slowing down of the magnetic moments below ~100 K in the NFL. The experimental results indicate the SG nature of the NFL. This SG state can be understood within the context of the competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions of similar energies

Nature of antiferromagnetic order in epitaxially strained multiferroic SrMnO3 thin films

et al.Epitaxial films of SrMnO3 and bilayers of SrMnO3/La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 have been deposited by pulsed laser deposition on different substrates, namely, LaAlO3 (001), (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2AlTaO6)0.7 (001), and SrTiO3 (001), allowing us to perform an exhaustive study of the dependence of antiferromagnetic order and exchange bias field on epitaxial strain. The Néel temperatures (TN) of the SrMnO3 films have been determined by low-energy muon spin spectroscopy. In agreement with theoretical predictions, TN is reduced as the epitaxial strain increases. From the comparison with first-principles calculations, a crossover from G-type to C-type antiferromagnetic orders is proposed at a critical tensile strain of around 1.6±0.1%. The exchange bias (coercive) field, obtained for the bilayers, increases (decreases) by increasing the epitaxial strain in the SrMnO3 layer, following an exponential dependence with temperature. Our experimental results can be explained by the existence of a spin-glass (SG) state at the interface between the SrMnO3 and La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 films. This SG state is due to the competition between the different exchange interactions present in the bilayer and favored by increasing the strain in the SrMnO3 layer.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad through Project Nos. MAT2011-28532-C03-02, MAT2011-27553-C02, MAT2012- 38213-C02-01, and MAT2014-51982-C2 including FEDER funding, by the Aragon Regional Government through projects E26 and CTPP4/11 and by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme under a contract for an Integrated Infrastructure Initiative Reference 312483-ESTEEM2. N. Marcano acknowledges the support of the Centro Universitario de la Defensa en Zaragoza (through Project 2013-03).Peer Reviewe

Raúl Adolfo Ringuelet (1914 1982): Una síntesis de su trayectoria con énfasis en sus contribuciones a la Ictiología y Limnología.

Historia de la Ciencia fue una materia ofrecida en 2003, por el curso de Posgrado en Ciencias Ambientales (PEA) de la Universidad Estadual de Maringá, PR, Brasil, dictada por la profesora Luiza Marta Bellini. Durante el curso de la misma, se discutía sobre la historia y filosofía de vida de los científicos que brillaron o, por el contrario, pasaron desapercibidos por la historia del pensamiento humano. Al final del término de la materia, se logró compilar un libro llamado Ecólogos e suas histórias: Um olhar sobre a construção das ideas ecológicas (Pelicice et al., 2010). El capitulo diez del libro, es un comentario sobre algunos pioneros que contribuyeron para el desarrollo de la Limnología fluvial en Sudamérica. Dos fueron tratados en ese capítulo, Harald Sioli y Juan José Neiff (ver Arenas‐Ibarra et al., 2010). Sin embargo, la idea principal del capítulo era incluir también a los doctores Argentino Aurelio Bonetto y Raúl Adolfo Ringuelet, pero cuestiones relativas al formato y espacio de cada capítulo, impidieron mantener la integridad original de éste y el mayor conocimiento de las contribuciones de estos dos destacados investigadores argentinos en tierras brasileras. Si bien esta omisión fue compensada en parte por el artículo de Arenas‐Ibarra & Souza‐Filho (2010) en el que se resaltan las figuras de Bonetto y Rzóska como precursores de la Limnología fluvial, quedó aún pendiente este reconocimiento por parte de los autores de este documento a Raúl Ringuelet. Con motivo de que en el transcurso de este año se cumplieron treinta años del fallecimiento del Dr. Raúl Adolfo Ringuelet, decidimos, por invitación de Hugo Luis López, publicar el material recopilado durante la materia cursada en la Universidad Estadual de Maringá (UEM, Brasil), actualizándola con nuevos datos proporcionados por Hugo López y Juan José Neiff. Este trabajo es una síntesis de las ideas de Raúl Adolfo Ringuelet, quien sin duda se encuentra entre los pioneros de la ictio‐limnología local y sudamericana