Antiferromagnetically coupled CoFeB/Ru/CoFeB trilayers

This work reports on the magnetic interlayer coupling between two amorphous CoFeB layers, separated by a thin Ru spacer. We observe an antiferromagnetic coupling which oscillates as a function of the Ru thickness x, with the second antiferromagnetic maximum found for x=1.0 to 1.1 nm. We have studied the switching of a CoFeB/Ru/CoFeB trilayer for a Ru thickness of 1.1 nm and found that the coercivity depends on the net magnetic moment, i.e. the thickness difference of the two CoFeB layers. The antiferromagnetic coupling is almost independent on the annealing temperatures up to 300 degree C while an annealing at 350 degree C reduces the coupling and increases the coercivity, indicating the onset of crystallization. Used as a soft electrode in a magnetic tunnel junction, a high tunneling magnetoresistance of about 50%, a well defined plateau and a rectangular switching behavior is achieved.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Hierarchically Porous Gd3+-Doped CeO2 Nanostructures for the Remarkable Enhancement of Optical and Magnetic Properties

Rare earth ion-doped CeO2 has attracted more and more attention because of its special electrical, optical, magnetic, or catalytic properties. In this paper, a facile electrochemical deposition route was reported for the direct growth of the porous Gd-doped CeO2. The formation process of Gd-doped CeO2 composites was investigated. The obtained deposits were characterized by SEM, EDS, XRD, and XPS. The porous Gd3+- doped CeO2 (10 at% Gd) displays a typical type I adsorption isotherm and yields a large specific surface area of 135 m2/g. As Gd3+ ions were doped into CeO2 lattice, the absorption spectrum of Gd3+-doped CeO2 nanocrystals exhibited a red shift compared with porous CeO2 nanocrystals and bulk CeO2, and the luminescence of Gd3+-doped CeO2 deposits was remarkably enhanced due to the presence of more oxygen vacancies. In addition, the strong magnetic properties of Gd-doped CeO2 (10 at% Gd) were observed, which may be caused by Gd3+ ions or more oxygen defects in deposits. In addition, the catalytic activity of porous Gd-doped CeO2 toward CO oxidation was studied

Variation of strong correlation effects in A-site ordered perovskites CaCu3Ti4-xRuxO12: Photoemission and inverse photoemission studies

We have systematically studied the strong correlation effects in A-site ordered perovskites CaCu3Ti4-xRuxO12 (x = 0, 1, 3.5, 4) by using photoemission and inverse photoemission spectroscopies. In x = 0, 1, 3.5, the peak positions of the strongly correlated Cu 3d states around -3.8 eV and Ti 3d states around 3.6 eV little change. On the other hand, in x = 4, the Cu 3d states is observed around -2.5 eV. These indicate that Ti plays an important role to retain the strong correlation effects. In addition, the multiplet structures of Cu 3d final states from -8 to -15 eV become weak as Ru increases, indicating the reduction of the localized characters of Cu 3d states. At the Fermi level, we observe the absence of spectral weight in x = 0, 1 and the development of Ru 4d in-gap states between the Cu 3d and Ti 3d peaks in x = 3.5, 4, which give rise to the metal-insulator transition between x = 1 and x = 3.5.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Technique for bulk Fermiology by photoemission applied to layered ruthenates

We report the Fermi surfaces of the superconductor Sr2RuO4 and the non-superconductor Sr1.8Ca0.2RuO4 probed by bulk-sensitive high-energy angle-resolved photoemission. It is found that there is one square-shaped hole-like, one square-shaped electron-like and one circle-shaped electron-like Fermi surface in both compounds. These results provide direct evidence for nesting instability giving rise to magnetic fluctuations. Our study clarifies that the electron correlation effects are changed with composition depending on the individual band.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures including 2 color figure

High-energy photoemission on Fe3O4: Small polaron physics and the Verwey transition

We have studied the electronic structure and charge ordering (Verwey) transition of magnetite (Fe3O4) by soft x-ray photoemission. Due to the enhanced probing depth and the use of different surface preparations we are able to distinguish surface and volume effects in the spectra. The pseudogap behavior of the intrinsic spectra and its temperature dependence give evidence for the existence of strongly bound small polarons consistent with both dc and optical conductivity. Together with other recent structural and theoretical results our findings support a picture in which the Verwey transition contains elements of a cooperative Jahn-Teller effect, stabilized by local Coulomb interaction