Magnetic characterization and switching of Co nano-rings in current-perpendicular-to-plane configuration

We fabricated Co nano-rings incorporated in the vertical pseudo-spin-valve nanopillar structures with deep submicron lateral sizes. It is shown that the current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance can be used to characterize a very small magnetic nano-ring effectively. Both the onion state and the flux-closure vortex state are observed. The Co nano-rings can be switched between the onion states as well as between onion and vortex states not only by the external field but also by the perpendicularly injected dc current

Room Temperature Reversible Spin Hall Effect

Reversible spin Hall effect comprising the "direct" and "inverse" spin Hall effects was successfully detected at room temperature. This experimental demonstration proves the fundamental relations called Onsager reciprocal relations between spin and charge currents. A platinum wire with a strong spin-orbit interaction is used not only as a spin current absorber but also as a spin current source in the present lateral structure specially designed for clear detection of both charge and spin accumulations via the spin-orbit interaction. The obtained spin Hall conductivity is much larger than the reported value of Aluminum wire because of the larger spin-orbit interaction.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

ASCA Observations of the Seyfert 2 Galaxy NGC 7582: An Obscured and Scattered View of the Hidden Nucleus

ASCA observations of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 7582 revealed it was highly variable on the timescale of $\sim2\times10^4$ s in the hard X-ray (2-10 keV) band, while the soft X-ray (0.5-2 keV) flux remained constant during the observations. The spectral analysis suggests that this object is seen through an obscuring torus with the thickness of N$_{\rm H}\sim1.0\times 10^{23}\rm cm^{-2}$. The hard X-ray is an absorbed direct continuum from a hidden Seyfert 1 nucleus; the soft X-ray is dominated by the scattered central continuum from an extended spatial region. Thus we have an obscured/absorbed and a scattered view of this source as expected from the unification model for Seyfert galaxies. More interestingly, the inferred X-ray column was observed to increase by $\sim4\times10^{22} \rm cm^{-2}$ from 1994 to 1996, suggesting a ``patchy'' torus structure, namely the torus might be composed of many individual clouds. The observed iron line feature near 6.4 keV with the equivalent width of 170 eV is also consistent with the picture of the transmission of nuclear X-ray continuum through a non-uniform torus.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. To be appear in PASJ 50 No.5 (1998 Oct.25 issue

Orbital Characteristics of the Subdwarf-B and F V Star Binary EC~20117-4014(=V4640 Sgr)

Among the competing evolution theories for subdwarf-B (sdB) stars is the binary evolution scenario. EC~20117-4014 (=V4640~Sgr) is a spectroscopic binary system consisting of a pulsating sdB star and a late F main-sequence companion (O'Donoghue et al. 1997), however the period and the orbit semi-major axes have not been precisely determined. This paper presents orbital characteristics of the EC 20117-4014 binary system using 20 years of photometric data. Periodic Observed minus Calculated (O-C) variations were detected in the two highest amplitude pulsations identified in the EC 20117-4014 power spectrum, indicating the binary system's precise orbital period (P = 792.3 days) and the light-travel time amplitude (A = 468.9 s). This binary shows no significant orbital eccentricity and the upper limit of the eccentricity is 0.025 (using 3 $\sigma$ as an upper limit). This upper limit of the eccentricity is the lowest among all wide sdB binaries with known orbital parameters. This analysis indicated that the sdB is likely to have lost its hydrogen envelope through stable Roche lobe overflow, thus supporting hypotheses for the origin of sdB stars. In addition to those results, the underlying pulsation period change obtained from the photometric data was $\dot{P}$ = 5.4 ($\pm$0.7) $\times$ $10^{-14}$ d d$^{-1}$, which shows that the sdB is just before the end of the core helium-burning phase