488 research outputs found
Josephson Junctions with a synthetic antiferromagnetic interlayer
We report measurements of the critical current vs. Co thickness in
Nb/Cu/Co/Ru/Co/Cu/Nb Josephson junctions, where the inner Co/Ru/Co trilayer is
a "synthetic antiferromagnet" with the magnetizations of the two Co layers
coupled antiparallel to each other via the 0.6 nm-thick Ru layer. Due to the
antiparallel magnetization alignment, the net intrinsic magnetic flux in the
junction is nearly zero, and such junctions exhibit excellent Fraunhofer
patterns in the critical current vs. applied magnetic field, even with total Co
thicknesses as large as 23 nm. There are no apparent oscillations in the
critical current vs. Co thickness, consistent with theoretical expectations for
this situation. The critical current of the junctions decays over 4 orders of
magnitude as the total Co thickness increases from 3 to 23 nm. These junctions
may serve as useful templates for future explorations of spin-triplet
superconducting correlations, which are predicted to occur in supercon-
ducting/ferromagnetic hybrid systems in the presence of certain types of
magnetic inhomogeneity.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Proximity-induced density-of-states oscillations in a superconductor/strong-ferromagnet system
We have measured the evolution of the tunneling density of states (DOS) in
superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) bilayers with increasing F-layer thickness,
where F in our experiment is the strong ferromagnet Ni. As a function of
increasing Ni thickness, we detect multiple oscillations in the DOS at the
Fermi energy from differential conductance measurements. The features in the
DOS associated with the proximity effect change from normal to inverted twice
as the Ni thickness increases from 1 to 5 nm.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Switching Current vs. Magnetoresistance in Magnetic Multilayer Nanopillars
We study current-driven magnetization switching in nanofabricated magnetic
trilayers, varying the magnetoresistance in three different ways. First, we
insert a strongly spin-scattering layer between the magnetic trilayer and one
of the electrodes, giving increased magnetoresistance. Second, we insert a
spacer with a short spin-diffusion length between the magnetic layers,
decreasing the magnetoresistance. Third, we vary the angle between layer
magnetizations. In all cases, we find an approximately linear dependence
between magnetoresistance and inverse switching current. We give a qualitative
explanation for the observed behaviors, and suggest some ways in which the
switching currents may be reduced.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure
Measurement of spin memory lengths in PdNi and PdFe ferromagnetic alloys
Weakly ferromagnetic alloys are being used by several groups in the study of
superconducting/ferromagnetic hybrid systems. Because spin-flip and spin-orbit
scattering in such alloys disrupt the penetration of pair correlations into the
ferromagnetic material, it is desirable to have a direct measurement of the
spin memory length in such alloys. We have measured the spin memory length at
4.2 K in sputtered Pd0.88Ni0.12 and Pd0.987Fe0.013 alloys using methods based
on current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance. The alloys are
incorporated into hybrid spin valves of various types, and the spin memory
length is determined by fits of the Valet-Fert spin-transport equations to data
of magnetoresistance vs. alloy thickness. For the case of PdNi alloy, the
resulting values of the spin memory length are lsf(PdNi) = 2.8 +/- 0.5 nm and
5.4 +/- 0.6 nm, depending on whether or not the PdNi is exchange biased by an
adjacent Permalloy layer. For PdFe, the spin memory length is somewhat longer,
lsf(PdFe) = 9.6 +/- 2 nm, consistent with earlier measurements indicating lower
spin-orbit scattering in that material. Unfortunately, even the longer spin
memory length in PdFe may not be long enough to facilitate observation of
spin-triplet superconducting correlations predicted to occur in
superconducting/ferromagnetic hybrid systems in the presence of magnetic
inhomogeneity.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
Manipulating Current-Induced Magnetization Switching
We summarize our recent findings on how current-driven magnetization
switching and magnetoresistance in nanofabricated magnetic multilayers are
affected by varying the spin-scattering properties of the non-magnetic spacers,
the relative orientations of the magnetic layers, and spin-dependent scattering
properties of the interfaces and the bulk of the magnetic layers. We show how
our data are explained in terms of current-dependent effective magnetic
temperature.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to MMM'04 proceeding
Significance of chromosome 9p status in renal cell carcinoma:a systematic review and quality of the reported studies
Defining the prognosis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) using genetic tests is an evolving area. The prognostic significance of 9p status in RCC, although described in the literature, remains underutilised in clinical practice. The study explored the causes of this translational gap. A systematic review on the significance of 9p status in RCC was performed to assess its clinical applicability and impact on clinical decision-making. Medline, Embase, and other electronic searches were made for studies reporting on 9p status in RCC. We collected data on: genetic techniques, pathological parameters, clinical outcomes, and completeness of follow-up assessment. Eleven studies reporting on 1,431 patients using different genetic techniques were included. The most commonly used genetic technique for the assessment of 9p status in RCC was fluorescence in situ hybridization. Combined genomic hybridisation (CGH), microsatellite analysis, karyotyping, and sequencing were other reported techniques. Various thresholds and cut-off values were used for the diagnosis of 9p deletion in different studies. Standardization, interobserver agreement, and consensus on the interpretation of test remained poor. The studies lacked validation and had high risk of bias and poor clinical applicability as assessed by two independent reviewers using a modified quality assessment tool. Further protocol driven studies with standardised methodology including use of appropriate positive and negative controls, assessment of interobserver variations, and evidenced based follow-up protocols are needed to clarify the role of 9p status in predicting oncological outcomes in renal cell cancer
Current-Driven Magnetic Excitations in Permalloy-Based Multilayer Nanopillars
We study current-driven magnetization switching in nanofabricated
Ni84Fe16/Cu/Ni84Fe16 trilayers at 295 K and 4.2 K. The shape of the hysteretic
switching diagram at low magnetic field changes from 295 K to 4.2 K. The
reversible behavior at higher field involves two phenomena, a threshold current
for magnetic excitations closely correlated with the switching current, and a
peak in differential resistance characterized by telegraph noise, with average
period that decreases exponentially with current and shifts with temperature.
We interpret both static and dynamic results at 295 K and 4.2 K in terms of
thermal activation over a potential barrier, with a current dependent effective
magnetic temperature.Comment: 4 pages, 4 Figure
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