Table of contents

In this topical review, we will discuss recent advances in the field of skyrmionics (fundamental and applied aspects) mainly focusing on skyrmions that can be realized in thin film structures where an ultrathin ferromagnetic layer (<1 nm) is coupled to materials with large spin–orbit coupling. We review the basic topological nature of the skyrmion spin structure that can entail a stabilization due to the chiral exchange interaction present in many multilayer systems with structural inversion asymmetry. The static spin structures and the dynamics of the skyrmions are also discussed. In particular, we show that skyrmions can be displaced with high reliability and efficiency as needed for the use in devices. We discuss major possible applications, such as memory, microwave oscillators and logic, and combinations of these, making skyrmions very promising candidates for future low power IT devices.

Magnetisation reversal of micron-sized Nd₂Fe₁₄B single crystals with magnetisation as weak as 10⁻⁹ emu (1 µm size) was studied. Single-crystal specimens (cylinders with diameter and height of 1 to 6 µm) were prepared by focused-ion beam so that both the magnetic easy and hard axes were included in the basal plane. Their magnetic hysteresis loops were measured when they were rotated with respect to the cylindrical axis by using microbeam hard-x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) under transmission geometry. It was found that coercivity is inversely proportional to the cosine of the angle between the magnetocrystalline easy axis and magnetic-field direction and that the magnetisation reversal is dominated by domain-wall pinning in two different modes. One is related to penetration of the reversed domain nucleated in a subsurface soft layer into the bulk hard phase, of which the hysteresis loops exhibit a single-stage abrupt jump in magnetization. The other mode is pinning of the walls within the bulk grain, of which the hysteresis loops exhibit a plateau. The multi-domain structure associated with the pinning was confirmed by XMCD mapping. The proposed method fills the gap between conventional bulk magnetic measurement and submicron-scale electrical-transport measurement for nanofabricated thin films and/or fine particles. It is expected to provide new insights into elemental magnetisation processes in micron-scale regions.

Multilayers of [Co/Ni(t)/Co/Pt]_×8 with varying Ni thickness were investigated for possible use as a free layer in magnetic tunnel junctions and spintronics devices. The thickness t of the Ni sub-layer was varied from 0.3 nm to 0.9 nm and the resulting magnetic properties were compared with (Co/Ni) and (Co/Pt) multilayers. As determined from magnetic force microscopy, magnetometry and ferromagnetic resonance measurements, all multilayers exhibited perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Compared with (Co/Pt) multilayers, the sample with t of 0.9 nm showed almost the same anisotropy field of μ₀H_k  =  1.15 T but the damping constant was 40% lower. These characteristics make these multilayers attractive for spin torque based magnetoresistive devices with perpendicular anisotropy.

The resistance switching behavior induced by in-plane read current in SrRuO₃/Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃–PbTiO₃ heterostructures is investigated at different temperatures. With decreasing in-plane read current from 10 mA to 0.01 mA, the symmetrical butterfly-like shape of resistance is gradually converted to an antisymmetrical shape at different temperatures, which is resulted from the enhancement of polarization current effect. Specifically, non-volatile resistance behaviors induced by asymmetric bipolar sweeping of electric field and pulsed electric field are achieved at different temperatures. Our results suggests resistance switching behavior dependence of in-plane read current, which is crucial for further application of complex oxide magnetoelectric and spintronic devices.

We present a combined theoretical and experimental study of the energetic stability and accessibility of different domain wall spin configurations in mesoscopic magnetic iron rings. The evolution is investigated as a function of the width and thickness in a regime of relevance to devices, while Fe is chosen as a material due to its simple growth in combination with attractive magnetic properties including high saturation magnetization and low intrinsic anisotropy. Micromagnetic simulations are performed to predict the lowest energy states of the domain walls, which can be either the transverse or vortex wall spin structure, in good agreement with analytical models, with further simulations revealing the expected low temperature configurations observable on relaxation of the magnetic structure from saturation in an external field. In the latter case, following the domain wall nucleation process, transverse domain walls are found at larger widths and thicknesses than would be expected by just comparing the competing energy terms demonstrating the importance of metastability of the states. The simulations are compared to high spatial resolution experimental images of the magnetization using scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis to provide a phase diagram of the various spin configurations. In addition to the vortex and simple symmetric transverse domain wall, a significant range of geometries are found to exhibit highly asymmetric transverse domain walls with properties distinct from the symmetric transverse wall. Simulations of the asymmetric walls reveal an evolution of the domain wall tilting angle with ring thickness which can be understood from the thickness dependencies of the contributing energy terms. Analysis of all the data reveals that in addition to the geometry, the influence of materials properties, defects and thermal activation all need to be taken into account in order to understand and reliably control the experimentally accessible states, as needed for devices.

A bulk sample of pressed graphene sheets was prepared under hydraulic pressure (~150 MPa). The cross-section of the sample demonstrates a layered structure, which leads to 3D electrical transport properties with anisotropic mobility. The electrical transport properties of the sample were measured over a wide temperature (2–400 K) and magnetic field ($-140 ~\text{kOe}\leqslant H\leqslant 140 ~\text{kOe}$) range. The magnetoresistance measured at a fixed temperature can be described by $R\left(H,\theta \right)=R\left({{\varepsilon}_{\theta}}H,0\right)$ with ${{\varepsilon}_{\theta}}={{\left({{\cos}^{2}}\theta +{{\gamma}^{-2}}{{\sin}^{2}}\theta \right)}^{1/2}}$, where $\gamma$ is the mobility anisotropy constant and θ is the angle between the normal of the sample plane and the magnetic field. The large linear magnetoresistance (up to 36.9% at 400 K and 140 kOe) observed at high fields is ascribed to a classical magnetoresistance caused by mobility fluctuation ($\Delta \mu$). The magnetoresistance value at 140 kOe was related to the average mobility $\left(\langle \mu \rangle \right)$ because of the condition $\Delta \mu <\langle \mu \rangle$. The carrier concentration remained constant and the temperature-dependent resistivity was proportional to the average mobility, as verified by Kohler's rule. Anisotropic dephasing length was deduced from weak localization observed at low temperatures.

We report on the photoresponse of a graphene-metal contact device under terahertz (THz) illumination. The device has an extremely simple structure consisting of a large-area monolayer graphene stripe contacted with two gold electrodes. A significant position-dependent photovoltage is observed across the device by THz excitation, exhibiting a linear relationship with the incident beam power. Experimental results show that the graphene channel length and the substrate thermal conductivity have obvious influence on the photovoltage amplitude and response time, which is consistent with the photothermoelectric mechanism. This compact and powerless device is expected to have a promising application in THz detection. Our work provides theoretical and experimental evidence for the development of high-performance graphene-based THz photodetectors.

The design, fabrication, and measurement of a metamaterial with broadband microwave absorption properties in the low frequency range are presented in this paper. The metamaterial has a layered structure with a thickness of 2.2 mm, and consists of a conventional printed circuit board (PCB) process fabricated cross array on the surface of a flake-shaped carbonyl iron (CI) powder-filled silicon rubber composite magnetic substrate backed by a metal plane. The measurement results indicate that the absorption bandwidth (defined as the frequency range with reflection coefficient below  −10 dB) of the proposed structure is 2.55 GHz–5.68 GHz. The power loss mechanism was outlined according to the current distribution on and off the resonance frequency. Moreover, the absorption performance of the proposed structure for incident angles ranging from 0° to 60° for both transverse electric (TE) wave and transverse magnetic (TM) waves were exhibited.

The most common method of mobility extraction for graphene field-effect transistors is proposed by Kim. Kim's method assumes a constant mobility independent of carrier density and gets the mobility by fitting the transfer curves. However, carrier mobility changes with the carrier density, leading to the inaccuracy of Kim's method. In our paper, a new and more accurate method is proposed to extract mobility by fitting the output curves at a constant gate voltage. The output curves are fitted using several kinds of current–voltage models. Besides the models in the literature, we present a modified model, which takes into account not only the quantum capacitance, contact resistance, but also a modified drift velocity-field relationship. Comparing with the other models, this new model can fit better with our experimental data. The dependence of carrier intrinsic mobility on carrier density is obtained based on this model.

The measurement of the spin diffusion length and/or lifetime in semiconductors is a key issue for the realisation of spintronic devices, exploiting the spin degree of freedom of carriers for storing and manipulating information. In this paper, we address such parameters in germanium (0 0 1) at room temperature (RT) by three different measurement methods. Exploiting optical spin orientation in the semiconductor and spin filtering across an insulating MgO barrier, the dependence of the resistivity on the spin of photo-excited carriers in Fe/MgO/Ge spin photodiodes (spin-PDs) was electrically detected. A spin diffusion length of 0.9  ±  0.2 µm was obtained by fitting the photon energy dependence of the spin signal by a mathematical model. Electrical techniques, comprising non-local four-terminal and Hanle measurements performed on CoFeB/MgO/Ge lateral devices, led to spin diffusion lengths of 1.3  ±  0.2 µm and 1.3  ±  0.08 µm, respectively. Despite minor differences due to experimental details, the order of magnitude of the spin diffusion length is the same for the three techniques. Although standard electrical methods are the most employed in semiconductor spintronics for spin diffusion length measurements, here we demonstrate optical spin orientation as a viable alternative for the determination of the spin diffusion length in semiconductors allowing for optical spin orientation.

We investigated a high-performance deep ultraviolet photodetector based on a β-gallium oxide (β-Ga₂O₃) nanowire network. β-Ga₂O₃ nanowires were grown at different temperatures by a chemical vapor deposition method. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrum analysis were utilized to characterize the structure and morphology. With increasing the temperature, the nanowires became thicker and their surface appeared more rough with many kinks and branch-like shapes. It is proposed that the growth mechanism is dominated by a combination of vapor–liquid–solid and vapor–solid growth. A photodetector based on the best quality β-Ga₂O₃ nanowire network was fabricated by a simple and cheap mask method, which exhibited excellent photoelectric performance. The responsive spectrum presented a peak response located at 231 nm with a sharp cutoff at 270 nm. The response rejection ratio of I_{231 nm}/I_{290 nm} is more than three orders of magnitude, demonstrating an intrinsic solar-blindness. The full width at half maximum of the response curve is only 1.2 ns under pulsed laser irradiation. The high sensitivity, superior selectivity, ultrafast response speed and simple fabrication technology show that the β-Ga₂O₃ nanowire network has promising application in solar-blind photodetectors.

In this work, near-infrared (NIR) perfect absorbers with a silicon dioxide (SiO₂)/gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO)/silver (Ag) multi-layer structure were designed and experimentally demonstrated. The results show that a broadband perfect absorption (PA) from 1.24 µm to 1.49 µm was achieved by adopting bi-layer GZO thin films with different carrier concentrations. This absorption remained higher than 97% for incident angles up to 60°. The perfect NIR absorber reported here has a simple structure as well as broadband and wide-angle absorption features, which is promising for practical applications.

Optical emission and absorption spectroscopy has been utilized to investigate the instability of acetylene-containing dusty plasmas induced by growing nano-particles. The density of Ar(1s₅) metastable atoms was derived by two methods: tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy and with the help of the branching ratio method of emitted spectral lines. Results of the two techniques agree well with each other. The density of Ar(1s₃) metastable atoms was also measured by means of optical emission spectroscopy. The observed growth instability leads to pronounced temporal variations of the metastable and other excited state densities. An analysis of optical line ratios provides evidence for a depletion of free electrons during the growth cycle but no indication for electron temperature variations.

The influence of the gas flow rate on the N₂ arc behavior was investigated based on a previously established nonchemical equilibrium (non-CE) model. This numerical non-CE model was adopted in the N₂ nozzle arc in a model circuit breaker. The arc behaviors of both the arc burning and arc decay phases were obtained at different gas flow rates in both the non-CE and local thermal equilibrium (LTE) model. To better understand the influence of the gas flow rate, in this work we devised the concept of the nonequilibrium parameter. Additionally, the influences of convection, diffusion, and chemical reactions were examined separately to determine which one contributed most to the non-CE behavior. Finally, laser Thomson scattering (LTS) measurements at different gas flow rates were adopted to further demonstrate the validity of the non-CE model. The results of the macroscopic behaviors indicate that the deviations between the non-CE and LTE models during the arc burning phase are much fewer than those during the arc decay phase. By the nonequilibrium parameters, it clearly indicates that with an increase in the gas flow rate, the non-CE effect will be greatly enhanced. During the arc burning phase, this non-CE effect is mainly caused by radial diffusion of the particles. During the arc decay phase, for the charged particles, the chemical reactions had the greatest effect on the time variations of the particle number densities; however, for the neutral particles the time variations of the number densities were mutually influenced by convections, diffusions, and chemical reactions. Finally, the LTS results further demonstrate the validity of the non-CE model at different gas flow rates.

The pilot system development in metre-scale negative laboratory discharges is studied with ns-fast photography. The systems appear as bipolar structures in the vicinity of the negative high-voltage electrode. They appear as a result of a single negative streamer propagation and determine further discharge development. Such systems possess features like glowing beads, bipolarity, different brightness of the top and bottom parts, and mutual reconnection. A 1D model of the ionization evolution in the spark gap is proposed. In the process of the nonlinear development of ionization growth, the model shows features similar to those observed. The visual similarities between high-altitude sprites and laboratory pilots are striking and may indicate that they are two manifestations of the same natural phenomenon.

Atmospheric pressure plasmas have shown great promise for the treatment of wounds and cancerous tumors. In these applications, the sample is usually covered by a thin layer of a biological liquid. The reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) generated by the plasma activate and are processed by the liquid before the plasma produced activation reaches the tissue. The synergy between the plasma and the liquid, including evaporation and the solvation of ions and neutrals, is critical to understanding the outcome of plasma treatment. The atmospheric pressure plasma sources used in these procedures are typically repetitively pulsed. The processes activated by the plasma sources have multiple timescales—from a few ns during the discharge pulse to many minutes for reactions in the liquid. In this paper we discuss results from a computational investigation of plasma–liquid interactions and liquid phase chemistry using a global model with the goal of addressing this large dynamic range in timescales. In modeling air plasmas produced by a dielectric barrier discharge over liquid covered tissue, 5000 voltage pulses were simulated, followed by 5 min of afterglow. Due to the accumulation of long-lived species such as ozone and N_xO_y, the gas phase dynamics of the 5000th discharge pulse are different from those of the first pulse, particularly with regards to the negative ions. The consequences of applied voltage, gas flow, pulse repetition frequency, and the presence of organic molecules in the liquid on the gas and liquid reactive species are discussed.

Surface plasmons confining strong electromagnetic fields near metal surfaces, well-known as hot spots, provide an extremely efficient platform for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). In this work, SERS spectra of probing molecules in a silver particle–wire 1D nanostructure on a thin gold film are investigated. The Raman features of SERS spectra collected at the particle–wire joints exhibit an obvious wavelength dependence phenomenon. This result is confirmed electromagnetic field simulation, revealing that hot spot distribution is sensitively influenced by the wavelength of incident light at the joints. Further studies indicate this wavelength dependence of hot spot distribution is immune to influence from the geometric shape of the particle or the angle between wire and particle, which improves fabrication tolerance. This technology may have promising applications in surface plasmon related fields, such as ultrasensors, solar energy and selective surface catalysis.

We present results on a study of the interplay between microstructure and the magnetic properties of ultrathin Ru/Co/Ru films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). To induce PMA in the Co layer, we experimentally determined thicknesses of the buffer and capping layers of Ru. The maximum value of PMA was observed for the Co thickness of 0.9 nm with the 3 nm thick capping layer. The effective anisotropy field (H_eff) and coercive force (H_c) of the Co layer are very sensitive to the Ru buffer layer thickness (t_b). The values of H_eff and H_c increase approximately by two and ten times, correspondingly, when t_b changes from 6 to 20 nm, owing to an increase in volume fraction of the crystalline phase as a result of the grains' growth. PMA is found to be mainly enhanced by elastic strains induced by the lattice mismatch on the Ru/Co and Co/Ru interfaces, leading to the deformation of the Co lattice. The surface impact is determined to be less than 10% of the magneto-elastic contribution to the effective anisotropy. Observation of the magnetic domain structure by means of polar Kerr microscopy reveals that out-of-plane magnetization reversal occurs through the nucleation, growth, and annihilation of domains, where the average size drastically rises with the increasing t_b.

Sedimentation of colloids is a common phenomenon in various industrial processes. Aggregation of nanoparticles is expected to occur during the processes. However, previous studies often ignore the important features of aggregates, e.g. porosity and possible seepage, leading to a mathematical description of the sedimentation processes of low reliability. In this study, we successfully elaborated the partial differential equation of the dynamic concentration distribution of regimented colloids based on the Stokes approximation and diffusion along the negative gradient of concentration. The permeability of aggregates was obtained by the finite volume method and the ratios of the velocities of flowing around (u_f) to seepage through (u_s) aggregates over various primary particle sizes and aggregation structures were obtained based on the Darcy equations. After validation of the model, the effects of size and density of the particles and aggregates on the concentration profiles were investigated. Our results indicate that both an increase in size and density of particles and aggregates can accelerate the sedimentation process, and lead to more 'thorough' sedimentation. We mathematically explain why suspensions with high particle concentration are more unstable. What is more, replacing gravity with other volume forces, e.g. centrifugal force and magnetic forces, our model is expected to be applicable to centrifugation or magnetic sedimentation processes.

We report measurements of splay and bend Frank elastic constants in a composite comprising a nematic liquid crystal doped with a small concentration of sterically stabilized gold nanorods. The composite exhibits not only a large reduction in the magnitude of the threshold voltage for switching (V_th, 20%), as well as of the splay (K₁₁, 40%) and bend (K₃₃, 40%) elastic constants, but also presents an unprecedented feature: a substantial diminution in the temperature dependence of these parameters, almost to the point of becoming thermally invariant. This observation is significant because the electro-optic switching of liquid-crystal devices is largely controlled by the K₁₁ and K₃₃ elastic constants. Electrical conductivity measurements also show interesting behavior upon the inclusion of nanorods. Whereas the intrinsic Arrhenius behavior governing the temperature dependence is enhanced, the frequency dependence shows qualitative features of Jonscher's universal model, albeit with a higher exponent. Further, photoisomerization of an azobenzene guest component provides an additional influence on the elastic constants. The results are discussed in terms of (a) the effect of the order parameter dependence seen from the viewpoint of an extended mean-field model, and (b) local order. The advantage of incorporating nanorods with photofunctionality is also pointed out.

In this paper, we propose a polarization beam splitter utilizing an ultra-thin anisotropic metasurface. The proposed anisotropic element is composed of triple-layered rectangular patches spaced with double-layered dielectric isolators. By tailoring the metallic patches, the cell is capable of transmitting x-polarized waves efficiently and reflecting y-polarized beams with almost 100% efficiency at 15 GHz. In addition to this, the reflected phases can be modulated by adjusting the size of the element, which contributes to beam steering in reflection mode. By assigning gradient phases on the metasurface, the constructed sample has the ability to refract x-polarized waves normally and reflect y-polarized beams anomalously. For verification, a sample with a size of 240 $\times$ 240 mm² is fabricated and measured. Consistent numerical and experimental results have both validated the efficiently anomalous reflection for y-polarized waves and normal refraction for x-polarized beams operating from 14.6–15.4 GHz. Furthermore, the proposed sample has a thickness of 0.1λ at 15 GHz, which provides a promising approach for steering and splitting beams in a compact size.

Plasma-treated water (PTW), i.e. distilled water (DW) exposed to low-temperature atmospheric pressure helium plasma, exhibited strong bactericidal activity against Escherichia coli in suspension even within a few minutes of preparation. This effect was enhanced under acidic conditions. The bactericidal activity of PTW was attenuated according to first-order kinetics and the half-life was highly temperature dependent. The electron spin resonance (ESR) signal of an adduct of the superoxide anion radical ($\text{O}_{2}^{-\bullet}$) was detected in an aqueous solution using a spin-trapping reagent mixed with PTW, and adding superoxide dismutase to the PTW resulted in a loss of the bactericidal activity and weakening of the ESR adduct signal of $\text{O}_{2}^{-\bullet}$ in the spin-trapping. These results suggest that $\text{O}_{2}^{-\bullet}$ plays an important role in imparting bactericidal activity to PTW. Moreover, molecular nitrogen was required both in the ambient gas and in the DW used to prepare the PTW. We, therefore, suggest that the reactive molecule in PTW with bactericidal effects is not a free reactive oxygen species but nitrogen atom(s)-containing molecules that release $\text{O}_{2}^{-\bullet}$, such as peroxynitrous acid (ONOOH) or peroxynitric acid (O₂NOOH). Considering the activation energy for degradation of these species, we conclude that peroxynitric acid stored in PTW induces the bactericidal effect.

In the present work, we report the experimental thermopower (α) data for ZnV₂O₄ in the high temperature range 300–600 K. The values of α are found to be  ∼184 and  ∼126 μV K⁻¹ at  ∼300 and  ∼600 K, respectively. The temperature dependent behavior of α is almost linear in the measured temperature range. In order to understand the large and positive α values observed in this compound, we have also investigated the electronic and thermoelectric properties by combining the ab initio electronic structure calculations with Boltzmann transport theory. Within the local spin density approximation plus Hubbard U, the anti-ferromagnetic ground state calculation gives an energy gap  ∼0.33 eV for U  =  3.7 eV, which is in accordance with the experimental results. The effective mass for holes in the valence band is found nearly four times that of electrons in the conduction band. The large effective mass of holes are mainly responsible for the observed positive and large α value in this compound. There is reasonably good matching between calculated and experimental α value in the temperature range 300–410 K. The power factor calculation shows that thermoelectric properties in the high temperature region can be enhanced by tuning the sample synthesis conditions and suitable doping. The estimated value of figure-of-merit, ZT, for p-type doped ZnV₂O₄ is  ∼0.3 in the temperature range 900–1400 K. It suggests that by an appropriate amount of p-type doping, this compound can be a good thermoelectric material in the high temperature region.