Void-mediated formation of Sn quantum dots in a Si matrix

Atomic scale analysis of Sn quantum dots (QDs) formed during the molecular beam-epitaxy (MBE) growth of Sn_xSi_(1−x) (0.05 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.1) multilayers in a Si matrix revealed a void-mediated formation mechanism. Voids below the Si surface are induced by the lattice mismatch strain between Sn_xSi_(1−x) layers and Si, taking on their equilibrium tetrakaidecahedron shape. The diffusion of Sn atoms into these voids leads to an initial rapid coarsening of quantum dots during annealing. Since this formation process is not restricted to Sn, a method to grow QDs may be developed by controlling the formation of voids and the diffusion of materials into these voids during MBE growth

Heusler-based synthetic antiferrimagnets

Antiferromagnet spintronic devices eliminate or mitigate long-range dipolar fields, thereby promising ultrafast operation. For spin transport electronics, one of the most successful strategies is the creation of metallic synthetic antiferromagnets, which, to date, have largely been formed from transition metals and their alloys. Here, we show that synthetic antiferrimagnetic sandwiches can be formed using exchange coupling spacer layers composed of atomically ordered RuAl layers and ultrathin, perpendicularly magnetized, tetragonal ferrimagnetic Heusler layers. Chemically ordered RuAl layers can both be grown on top of a Heusler layer and allow for the growth of ordered Heusler layers deposited on top of it that are as thin as one unit cell. The RuAl spacer layer gives rise to a thickness-dependent oscillatory interlayer coupling with an oscillation period of ~1.1 nm. The observation of ultrathin ordered synthetic antiferrimagnets substantially expands the family of synthetic antiferromagnets and magnetic compounds for spintronic technologies

Ferrimagnetic Heusler tunnel junctions with fast spin-transfer torque switching enabled by low magnetization

Magnetic random access memory that uses magnetic tunnel junction memory cells is a high performance, non-volatile memory technology that goes beyond traditional charge-based memories. Today its speed is limited by the high magnetization of the memory storage layer. Here we show that fast and highly reliable switching is possible using a very low magnetization ferrimagnetic Heusler alloy, Mn3Ge. Moreover, the tunneling magnetoresistance is the highest yet achieved for a ferrimagnetic material at ambient temperature. Furthermore, the devices were prepared on technologically relevant amorphous substrates using a novel combination of a nitride seed layer and a chemical templating layer. These results show a clear path to the lowering of switching currents using ferrimagnetic Heusler materials and, therefore, to the scaling of high performance magnetic random access memories beyond those nodes possible with ferromagnetic devices.Comment: main manuscript 14 pages, 4 main figures and supplementary information. Submitted to Nature naotechnolog

Fundamental Mechanisms Driving the Amorphous to Crystalline Phase Transformation

Phase transformations are ubiquitous, fundamental phenomena that lie at the heart of many structural, optical and electronic properties in condensed matter physics and materials science. Many transformations, especially those occurring under extreme conditions such as rapid changes in the thermodynamic state, are controlled by poorly understood processes involving the nucleation and quenching of metastable phases. Typically these processes occur on time and length scales invisible to most experimental techniques ({micro}s and faster, nm and smaller), so our understanding of the dynamics tends to be very limited and indirect, often relying on simulations combined with experimental study of the ''time infinity'' end state. Experimental techniques that can directly probe phase transformations on their proper time and length scales are therefore key to providing fundamental insights into the whole area of transformation physics and materials science. LLNL possesses a unique dynamic transmission electron microscope (DTEM) capable of taking images and diffraction patterns of laser-driven material processes with resolution measured in nanometers and nanoseconds. The DTEM has previously used time-resolved diffraction patterns to quantitatively study phase transformations that are orders of magnitude too fast for conventional in situ TEM. More recently the microscope has demonstrated the ability to directly image a reaction front moving at {approx}13 nm/ns and the nucleation of a new phase behind that front. Certain compound semiconductor phase change materials, such as Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} (GST), Sb{sub 2}Te and GeSb, exhibit a technologically important series of transformations on scales that fall neatly into the performance specifications of the DTEM. If a small portion of such material is heated above its melting point and then rapidly cooled, it quenches into an amorphous state. Heating again with a less intense pulse leads to recrystallization into a vacancy-stabilized metastable rock salt structure. Each transformation takes {approx}10-100 ns, and the cycle can be driven repeatedly a very large number of times with a nanosecond laser such as the DTEM's sample drive laser. These materials are widely used in optical storage devices such as rewritable CDs and DVDs, and they are also applied in a novel solid state memory technology - phase change memory (PCM). PCM has the potential to produce nonvolatile memory systems with high speed, extreme density, and very low power requirements. For PCM applications several materials properties are of great importance: the resistivities of both phases, the crystallization temperature, the melting point, the crystallization speed, reversibility (number of phase-transformation cycles without degradation) and stability against crystallization at elevated temperature. For a viable technology, all these properties need to have good scaling behavior, as dimensions of the memory cells will shrink with every generation. In this LDRD project, we used the unique single-shot nanosecond in situ experimentation capabilities of the DTEM to watch these transformations in GST on the time and length scales most relevant for device applications. Interpretation of the results was performed in conjunction with atomistic and finite-element computations. Samples were provided by collaborators at IBM and Stanford University. We observed, and measured the kinetics of, the amorphous-crystalline and melting-solidification transitions in uniform thin-film samples. Above a certain threshold, the crystal nucleation rate was found to be enormously high (with many nuclei appearing per cubic {micro}m even after nanosecond-scale incubation times), in agreement with atomistic simulation and consistent with an extremely low nucleation barrier. We developed data reduction techniques based on principal component analysis (PCA), revealing the complex, multi-dimensional evolution of the material while suppressing noise and irrelevant information. Using a novel specimen geometry, we also achieved repeated switching between the amorphous and crystalline phases enabling in situ study of structural change after phase cycling, which is relevant to device performance. We also observed the coupling between the phase transformations and the evolution of morphology on the nanometer scale, revealing the gradual development of striations in uniform films and preferential melting at sharp edges in laser-heated nanopatterned GST. This nonuniform melting, interpreted through simulation as being a direct result of geometrical laser absorption effects, appears to be responsible for a marked loss in morphological stability even at moderate laser intensities and may be an important factor in the longevity of nanostructured phase change materials in memory applications

Observation of narrow baryon resonance decaying into pKs0pK^0_s in pA-interactions at 70GeV/c70 GeV/c with SVD-2 setup

SVD-2 experiment data have been analyzed to search for an exotic baryon state, the $\Theta^+$-baryon, in a $pK^0_s$ decay mode at $70 GeV/c$ on IHEP accelerator. The reaction $pA \to pK^0_s+X$ with a limited multiplicity was used in the analysis. The $pK^0_s$ invariant mass spectrum shows a resonant structure with $M=1526\pm3(stat.)\pm 3(syst.) MeV/c^2$ and $\Gamma < 24 MeV/c^2$. The statistical significance of this peak was estimated to be of $5.6 \sigma$. The mass and width of the resonance is compatible with the recently reported $\Theta^+$- baryon with positive strangeness which was predicted as an exotic pentaquark ($uudd\bar{s}$) baryon state. The total cross section for $\Theta^+$ production in pN-interactions for $X_F\ge 0$ was estimated to be $(30\div120) \mu b$ and no essential deviation from A-dependence for inelastic events $(\sim A^{0.7})$ was found.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, To be submitted to Yadernaya Fizika. v3-v5 - Some references added, minor typos correcte