Saturated Ferromagnetism and Magnetization Deficit in Optimally Annealed (Ga,Mn)As Epilayers

We examine the Mn concentration dependence of the electronic and magnetic properties of optimally annealed Ga1-xMnxAs epilayers for 1.35% < x < 8.3%. The Curie temperature (Tc), conductivity, and exchange energy increase with Mn concentration up to x ~ 0.05, but are almost constant for larger x, with Tc ~ 110 K. The ferromagnetic moment per Mn ion decreases monotonically with increasing x, implying that an increasing fraction of the Mn spins do not participate in the ferromagnetism. By contrast, the derived domain wall thickness, an important parameter for device design, remains surprisingly constant.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted for Rapid Communication in Phys Rev

Imaging Oxygen Defects and their Motion at a Manganite Surface

Manganites are technologically important materials, used widely as solid oxide fuel cell cathodes: they have also been shown to exhibit electroresistance. Oxygen bulk diffusion and surface exchange processes are critical for catalytic action, and numerous studies of manganites have linked electroresistance to electrochemical oxygen migration. Direct imaging of individual oxygen defects is needed to underpin understanding of these important processes. It is not currently possible to collect the required images in the bulk, but scanning tunnelling microscopy could provide such data for surfaces. Here we show the first atomic resolution images of oxygen defects at a manganite surface. Our experiments also reveal defect dynamics, including oxygen adatom migration, vacancy-adatom recombination and adatom bistability. Beyond providing an experimental basis for testing models describing the microscopics of oxygen migration at transition metal oxide interfaces, our work resolves the long-standing puzzle of why scanning tunnelling microscopy is more challenging for layered manganites than for cuprates.Comment: 7 figure

Embryonic exposure to the fungicide vinclozolin causes virilization of females and alteration of progesterone receptor expression in vivo: an experimental study in mice

BACKGROUND: Vinclozolin is a fungicide that has been reported to have anti-androgenic effects in rats. We have found that in utero exposure to natural or synthetic progesterones can induce hypospadias in mice, and that the synthetic progesterone medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) feminizes male and virilizes female genital tubercles. In the current work, we selected a relatively low dose of vinclozolin to examine its in utero effects on the development of the genital tubercle, both at the morphological and molecular levels. METHODS: We gave pregnant dams vinclozolin by oral gavage from gestational days 13 through 17. We assessed the fetal genital tubercles from exposed fetuses at E19 to determine location of the urethral opening. After determination of gonadal sex, either genital tubercles were harvested for mRNA quantitation, or urethras were injected with a plastic resin for casting. We analyzed quantified mRNA levels between treated and untreated animals for mRNA levels of estrogen receptors α and β, progesterone receptor, and androgen receptor using nonparametric tests or ANOVA. To determine effects on urethral length (males have long urethras compared to females), we measured the lengths of the casts and performed ANOVA analysis on these data. RESULTS: Our morphological results indicated that vinclozolin has morphological effects similar to those of MPA, feminizing males (hypospadias) and masculinizing females (longer urethras). Because these results reflected our MPA results, we investigated the effects of in utero vinclozolin exposure on the mRNA expression levels of androgen, estrogen α and β, and progesterone receptors. At the molecular level, vinclozolin down-regulated estrogen receptor α mRNA in females and up-regulated progesterone receptor mRNA. Vinclozolin-exposed males exhibited up-regulated estrogen receptor α and progesterone receptor mRNA, effects we have also seen with exposure to the synthetic estrogen, ethinyl estradiol. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that vinclozolin virilizes females and directly or indirectly affects progesterone receptor expression. It also affects estrogen receptor expression in a sex-based manner. We found no in vivo effect of vinclozolin on androgen receptor expression. We propose that vinclozolin, which has been designated an anti-androgen, may also exert its effects by involving additional steroid-signaling pathways

Magnetization relaxation in (Ga,Mn)As ferromagnetic semiconductors

We describe a theory of Mn local-moment magnetization relaxation due to p-d kinetic-exchange coupling with the itinerant-spin subsystem in the ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As alloy. The theoretical Gilbert damping coefficient implied by this mechanism is calculated as a function of Mn moment density, hole concentration, and quasiparticle lifetime. Comparison with experimental ferromagnetic resonance data suggests that in annealed strongly metallic samples, p-d coupling contributes significantly to the damping rate of the magnetization precession at low temperatures. By combining the theoretical Gilbert coefficient with the values of the magnetic anisotropy energy, we estimate that the typical critical current for spin-transfer magnetization switching in all-semiconductor trilayer devices can be as low as $\sim 10^{5} {\rm A cm}^{-2}$.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Rapid Communication

Measurements for the JASPER program Axial Shield Experiment

The Axial Shield Experiment was conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) during 1990--1991 as part of the continuing series of eight experiments planned for the Japanese-American Shielding Program for Experimental Research (JASPER) program starting in 1986. The program is intended to provide support for the development of current designs proposed for advanced liquid metal reactor (LMR) system both in Japan and the United States. As in the previous two experiments, the same spectrum modifier was used to alter the Tower Shielding Reactor source spectrum to one representing the LMR neutron spectra directly above the core in the area of the fission-gas plenum. In one of the measurements the spectrum was further modified by the fission gas plenum. In all cases the modified spectrum was followed by combinations of seven hexagon assemblies that represented different coolant flow and shielding patterns within the assemblies. The varied configuration permitted not only a study of the different designs, but also allowed a comparison to be made of the relative neutron attenuation effectiveness of boron carbide and stainless steel in such designs. This experiment was the third in a series of eight experiments to be performed as part of a cooperative effort between the United States Department of Energy (US DOE) and the Japan Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC). This experiment, as was the previous Radial Shield Attenuation and Fission Gas Plenum Experiments, intended to provide support for the development of advanced sodium-cooled reactors. 5 refs

Ultrafast spin dynamics and critical behavior in half-metallic ferromagnet : Sr_2FeMoO_6

Ultrafast spin dynamics in ferromagnetic half-metallic compound Sr_2FeMoO_6 is investigated by pump-probe measurements of magneto-optical Kerr effect. Half-metallic nature of this material gives rise to anomalous thermal insulation between spins and electrons, and allows us to pursue the spin dynamics from a few to several hundred picoseconds after the optical excitation. The optically detected magnetization dynamics clearly shows the crossover from microscopic photoinduced demagnetization to macroscopic critical behavior with universal power law divergence of relaxation time for wide dynamical critical region.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. Abstract and Figures 1 & 3 are correcte

Measurements for the JASPER Program Flux Monitor Experiment

The Flux Monitor Experiment was conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Tower Shielding Facility (TSF) during the months of May and June 1992, as part of the continuing series of eight experiments planned for the Japanese-American Shielding Program for Experimental Research (JASPER) program that was started in 1986. This series of experiments was designed to examine shielding concerns and radiation transport effects pertaining to in-vessel flux monitoring systems (FMS) in current reactor shield designs proposed for both the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor (ALMR) design and the Japanese loop-type design. The program is a cooperative effort between the United States Department of Energy (US DOE) and the Japanese Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC). The Tower Shielding Reactor H (TSR-II) neutron source was altered by the spectrum modifier (SM) used previously in the Axial Shield Experiment, and part of the Japanese Removable Radial Shield (RRS) before reaching the axial shield. In the axial shield were placed six homogeneous boron carbide (B{sub 4}C) hexagons around a center hexagon of aluminum used to represent sodium. Shield designs to be studied were placed beyond the axial shield, each design forming a void directly behind the axial shield. Measurements were made in the void and behind each slab as successive slabs were added

Measurements for the JASPER Program Special Materials Experiment

The Special Materials Experiment was conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) during 1992 as the final experiment in a series of eight experiments conducted for the Japanese-American Shielding Program for Experimental Research (JASPER) program that started in 1986. This experiment completes the experimental program providing support for the development of current designs proposed for advanced liquid metal reactor (LMR) systems both in Japan and the United States. The Tower Shielding Reactor II (TSR-II) source was modified to provide a neutron spectrum that would be typical of that to be found both radially and axially surrounding the LMR core. The experimental program plan was divided into two phases. In phase I, the mockups consisted of stainless steel followed by slabs of polyethylene and zirconium. For phase II, the stainless steel and zirconium were eliminated, leaving only the different thicknesses of polyethylene. Integral neutron flux measurements were obtained behind each of the mockups accompanied by spectral measurements for each configuration except one