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We have fabricated micron-sized NiFe ring-shaped sensors that show localized detection of the radial component of the dipolar fringing field from a single, partially magnetized, micron-sized NiFe sphere. Specifically, the anisotropic magnetoresistance response to this fringing field is strongly peaked when the sphere is directly above the center of the ring and rapidly decreases to zero when the sphere is outside the ring. Such a device is a model system for a proposed biosensor array architecture that could operate similarly to high-density random access computer memory.

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An extended x-ray absorption fine structure was collected for a soft magnetic material comprising very fine nanoscale crystallites of nickel within coarser iron matrix grains. Using a simple spherical model and the spectra of bulk standards, the nickel crystallite size was estimated. Comparison with transmission electron microscopy images confirms that this technique yields a size weighted toward smaller crystallites, whereas Scherrer analysis yields sizes weighted toward larger crystallites. The iron crystallite size was also estimated by this technique in order to ascertain the effect of a nonspherical morphology. This technique shows promise for in situ analyses of materials containing nanoscale crystallites and as a complement to Scherrer analyses.

This Letter describes a novel concept that can lead to new quantum interference effects with potential applications in switching devices. The interference occurs between currents flowing in two parallel channels formed by contiguous GaAs quantum wells. Preliminary experiments with a simple structure show oscillations in the conductance as a function of the magnetic field with a period close to /?/vindicating an Aharonov-Bohm effect.

We have measured the current-voltage (I-V} characteristics of several high-temperaturesuperconducting materials with widely difkrent morphologies {bulk Ag/Pb-Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-0 tapes, thin films of Y-Ba-Cu-O, and melt-textured, bulk Y-Ba-Cu-0 samples). The I-V curves were taken at several magnetic fields ranging from 0 to 8 T. The measurements were carried out at three temperatures (4.2, 27, and 77 K) where the samples were immersed in liquid cryogens to ensure good thermal equilibrium. We compared our experimental results to the predictions of dissipation in superconductors made by the following physical models: modified Ambegaokar-Halperin, flux creep, vortex glass, collective flux creep, and a power law. The fits were extremely good for the first model and were not nearly as good for the others. Using the modified Ambegaokar-Halperin model, the critical current I"the normal-state resistance R",and y, which is proportional to the pinning potential U(H, T), were obtained for each material. Since the Ambegaokar-Halperin model is the only one which uniquely defines I"we conclude that its use puts this parameter on a solid physical basis.

Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) experiments have been conducted near 9.5 GHz on permalloy (Py) thin films which are components of spin valves and related structures. These so-called giant magnetoresistance structures often use antiferromagnetic NiO to achieve pinning of one magnetic layer. Magnetic anisotropies acting on these pinned layers were deduced by observing their resonances for fields perpendicular to and in the sample plane. We used data taken from 4 to 600 K to identify potential mechanisms of pinning, anisotropy, and linewidth. The anisotropic exchange pinning and an isotropic downward FMR shift vanish at a blocking temperature well below the bulk Neél temperature of NiO. The strong temperature dependencies of the isotropic shift and linewidth may reflect the presence of different spin pinning subsystems and the different time scales of the FMR and low frequency or static measurements.