This paper reports ballistic magnetoresistance ͑BMR͒ measurements in Ni nanocontacts made by electrodeposition. BMR in excess of 3000% is observed at room temperature and the observed large values of BMR are obtained in switching fields of only a few hundred oersteds. The results are attributed to spindependent electron transport across nanometer sharp domain walls within the nanocontacts.

Bubble-based actuation in microfluidic applications is attractive owing to elementary microfabrication requirements. In the present study, the mechanical and chemical characteristics of electrochemically generated bubble valves were studied. By generating electrochemical bubbles as valves directly inside the channel, valves could be closed and opened in milliseconds. Whereas bubble inflation (or valve closing) rate increases with applied voltage, small microfluidic dimensions accelerate bubble deflation rates. It is found that bubbles need not collapse fully to restore full flow, and the channel opens when its hydraulic resistance equals that between the bubble and the wall--a process requiring only milliseconds. Since only picomoles of salt are needed to generate bubbles, pH gradients that are invariably associated with electrochemical reactions were readily suppressed by using a small amount of buffer, as visualized by a pH-sensitive fluorescent dye. A range of common laboratory reagents and electrolytes in varying concentrations, including weak to strong acids and bases, as well as nonaqueous/aqueous mixtures were successfully tested. Using such bubble valves, an eight-way multiplexer was fabricated and tested.

All magnets elongate and contract anisotropically when placed in a magnetic field, an effect referred to as Joule magnetostriction. The hallmark of Joulian magnetostriction is volume conservation, which is a broader definition applicable to self-accommodation of ferromagnetic, ferroelectric or ferroelastic domains in all functional materials. Here we report the discovery of 'giant' non-volume-conserving or non-Joulian magnetostriction (NJM). Whereas Joulian strain is caused by magnetization rotation, NJM is caused by facile (low-field) reorientation of magnetoelastically and magnetostatically autarkic (self-sufficient) rigid micro-'cells', which define the adaptive structure, the origin of which is proposed to be elastic gradients ultimately caused by charge/spin density waves. The equilibrium adaptive cellular structure is responsible for long-sought non-dissipative (hysteresis-free), linearly reversible and isotropic magnetization curves along all directions within a single crystal. Recently discovered Fe-based high magnetostriction alloys with special thermal history are identified as the first members of this newly discovered magnetic class. The NJM paradigm provides consistent interpretations of seemingly confounding properties of Fe-based alloys, offers recipes to develop new highly magnetostrictive materials, and permits simultaneously large actuation in longitudinal and transverse directions without the need for stacked composites.

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