Bipolar Electric-Field Switching of Perpendicular Magnetic Tunnel Junctions through Voltage-Controlled Exchange Coupling.

Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (p-MTJs) switched utilizing bipolar electric fields have extensive applications in energy-efficient memory and logic devices. Voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy linearly lowers the energy barrier of the ferromagnetic layer via the electric field effect and efficiently switches p-MTJs only with a unipolar behavior. Here, we demonstrate a bipolar electric field effect switching of 100 nm p-MTJs with a synthetic antiferromagnetic free layer through voltage-controlled exchange coupling (VCEC).

Tracking the Verwey Transition in Single Magnetite Nanocrystals by Variable-Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy.

Variable-temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy revealed a sharp Verwey transition in individual ∼10 nm magnetite nanocrystals prepared by the coprecipitation technique and embedded in the surface of a gold film. The transition was observed as a significant change in the electronic structure around the Fermi level, with an apparent band gap of ∼140-250 meV appearing below the transition temperature and a pseudogap of ∼75 ± 10 meV appearing above it. The transition temperature was invariably observed around 101 ± 2 K for different nanocrystals, as opposed to 123 K typically reported for stoichiometric bulk crystals.

Patterning of sub-50 nm perpendicular CoFeB/MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions.

Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (p-MTJs) were patterned into nanopillars using electron-beam lithography to study their scaling and switching behaviour. Magnetoresistance measurements of annealed and unannealed p-MTJ films using scanning probe microscopy showed good agreement with Monte Carlo modeling. p-MTJ pillars demonstrated clear parallel magnetic states, both 'up' or both 'down' following AC-demagnetization.

Ultrafast light induced unusually broad transient absorption in the sub-bandgap region of GeSe2 thin film.

In this paper, we show for the first time that ultrafast light illumination can induce an unusually broad transient optical absorption (TA), spanning of ≈ 200 nm in the sub-bandgap region of chalcogenide GeSe2 thin films, which we interpret as being a manifestation of creation and annihilation of light induced defects. Further, TA in ultrashort time scales show a maximum at longer wavelength, however blue shifts as time evolves, which provides the first direct evidence of the multiple decay mechanisms of these defects. Detailed global analysis of the kinetic data clearly demonstrates that two and three decay constants are required to quantitatively model the experimental data at ps and ns respectively.

Crossover from photodarkening to photobleaching in a-Ge(x)Se(100-x) thin films.

In this Letter, we present the interesting results of photodarkening (PD), transition toward photostability, and a slow crossover from PD to photobleaching when composition of the chalcogenide glassy thin film changes from Ge-deficient to rich. A subsequent Raman analysis on these as-prepared and irradiated samples provide the direct evidence of photoinduced structural rearrangement, i.e.

Airborne black carbon concentrations over an urban region in western India-temporal variability, effects of meteorology, and source regions.

This study characterizes over 5 years of high time resolution (5 min), airborne black carbon (BC) concentrations (July 2003 to December 2008) measured over Ahmedabad, an urban region in western India. The data were used to obtain different time averages of BC concentrations, and these averages were then used to assess the diurnal, seasonal, and annual variability of BC over the study region. Assessment of diurnal variations revealed a strong association between BC concentrations and vehicular traffic.