Electrostatically Controlled Magnetization Rotation in Ferromagnet-Topological Insulator Planar Structures

An approach to the electrostatic control of $90^{\circ}$ magnetization rotation in the hybrid structures composed of topological insulators (TIs) and adjacent ferromagnetic insulators (FMI) is proposed and studied. The concept is based on TI electron energy variation with in-plane to put-of plane FMI magnetization turn. The calculations explicitly expose the effect of free energy variability in the form of the electrically controlled uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, which depends on proximate exchange interaction and TI surface electron density. Combining with inherent anisotropy, the magnetization rotation from in-plane to out-of-plane direction is shown to be realizable for 1.7~2.7 ns under the electrical variation of TI chemical potential in the range $\pm$ 100 meV around Dirac point. When bias is withdrawn a small signal current can target the out-of-plane magnetization instable state to the desirable direction of in-plane easy axis, thus the structure can lay the foundation for low energy nonvolatile memory prototype

Voltage Control of Electromagnetic Properties in Antiferromagnetic Materials

Dynamic modulation of electromagnetic responses is theoretically examined in dielectric antiferromagnets. While both magneto-electric and magneto-elastic coupling can achieve robust electrical control of magnetic anisotropy, the latter is considered in a bilayer structure with a piezoelectric material. Numerical calculations based on the frequency-dependent permeability tensor clearly illustrate that the anisotropy profile in the typical uniaxial or biaxial antiferromagnets such as NiO and Cr2O3 can be modified sufficiently to induce a shift in the resonance frequency by as much as tens of percent in the sub-mm wavelength range (thus, an electrically tunable bandwidth over 10's of GHz). The polarization of the electromagnetic response is also affected due to the anisotropic nature of the effect, offering a possibility to encode the signal. The intrinsic delay in switching may be minimized to the ns level by using a sufficiently thin antiferromagnets. Application to specific devices such as a band-pass filter further illustrates the validity of the concept

The cometary composition of a protoplanetary disk as revealed by complex cyanides

Observations of comets and asteroids show that the Solar Nebula that spawned our planetary system was rich in water and organic molecules. Bombardment brought these organics to the young Earth's surface, seeding its early chemistry. Unlike asteroids, comets preserve a nearly pristine record of the Solar Nebula composition. The presence of cyanides in comets, including 0.01% of methyl cyanide (CH3CN) with respect to water, is of special interest because of the importance of C-N bonds for abiotic amino acid synthesis. Comet-like compositions of simple and complex volatiles are found in protostars, and can be readily explained by a combination of gas-phase chemistry to form e.g. HCN and an active ice-phase chemistry on grain surfaces that advances complexity[3]. Simple volatiles, including water and HCN, have been detected previously in Solar Nebula analogues - protoplanetary disks around young stars - indicating that they survive disk formation or are reformed in situ. It has been hitherto unclear whether the same holds for more complex organic molecules outside of the Solar Nebula, since recent observations show a dramatic change in the chemistry at the boundary between nascent envelopes and young disks due to accretion shocks[8]. Here we report the detection of CH3CN (and HCN and HC3N) in the protoplanetary disk around the young star MWC 480. We find abundance ratios of these N-bearing organics in the gas-phase similar to comets, which suggests an even higher relative abundance of complex cyanides in the disk ice. This implies that complex organics accompany simpler volatiles in protoplanetary disks, and that the rich organic chemistry of the Solar Nebula was not unique.Comment: Definitive version of the manuscript is published in Nature, 520, 7546, 198, 2015. This is the author's versio

A Triple Protostar System Formed via Fragmentation of a Gravitationally Unstable Disk

Binary and multiple star systems are a frequent outcome of the star formation process, and as a result, almost half of all sun-like stars have at least one companion star. Theoretical studies indicate that there are two main pathways that can operate concurrently to form binary/multiple star systems: large scale fragmentation of turbulent gas cores and filaments or smaller scale fragmentation of a massive protostellar disk due to gravitational instability. Observational evidence for turbulent fragmentation on scales of $>$1000~AU has recently emerged. Previous evidence for disk fragmentation was limited to inferences based on the separations of more-evolved pre-main sequence and protostellar multiple systems. The triple protostar system L1448 IRS3B is an ideal candidate to search for evidence of disk fragmentation. L1448 IRS3B is in an early phase of the star formation process, likely less than 150,000 years in age, and all protostars in the system are separated by $<$200~AU. Here we report observations of dust and molecular gas emission that reveal a disk with spiral structure surrounding the three protostars. Two protostars near the center of the disk are separated by 61 AU, and a tertiary protostar is coincident with a spiral arm in the outer disk at a 183 AU separation. The inferred mass of the central pair of protostellar objects is $\sim$1 M$_{sun}$, while the disk surrounding the three protostars has a total mass of $\sim$0.30 M_{\sun}. The tertiary protostar itself has a minimum mass of $\sim$0.085 M$_{sun}$. We demonstrate that the disk around L1448 IRS3B appears susceptible to disk fragmentation at radii between 150~AU and 320~AU, overlapping with the location of the tertiary protostar. This is consistent with models for a protostellar disk that has recently undergone gravitational instability, spawning one or two companion stars.Comment: Published in Nature on Oct. 27th. 24 pages, 8 figure