Domain wall movement assisted transport of particles: exchange-biased samples with designed stripe-domains show strong stray fields and an asymmetric magnetization reversal. Using these characteristics superparamagnetic particles can be trapped and transported directly on the sample over large-scale areas. High particle velocities, small external fields, and automatically reduced particle clustering allow broad applicability of this transport method.

Grain-boundary-limited transport in semiconducting SnO 2 thin films: Model and experimentsA recently developed model that unifies the ballistic and diffusive transport mechanisms is applied to the carrier transport across potential barriers at grain boundaries in microcrystalline semiconducting materials. In the unified model, the conductance depends on the detailed structure of the band edge profile and in a nonlinear way on the carrier mean free path. Equilibrium band edge profiles are calculated within the trapping model for samples made up of a linear chain of identical grains. Quantum corrections allowing for tunneling are included in the calculation of electron mobilities. The dependence of the mobilities on carrier mean free path, grain length, number of grains, and temperature is examined, and appreciable departures from the results of the thermionic-field-emission model are found. Specifically, the unified model is applied in an analysis of Hall mobility data for n-type c-Si thin films in the range of thermally activated transport. Owing mainly to the effect of tunneling, potential barrier heights derived from the data are substantially larger than the activation energies of the Hall mobilities. The specific features of the unified model, however, cannot be resolved within the rather large uncertainties of the analysis.

We have investigated the magnetization arrangement in an in-plane stripe pattern with alternating exchangebias domains. The stripe pattern was produced by ion bombardment induced magnetic patterning, which changed locally the exchange-bias direction at the ferromagnet/antiferromagnet interface, but not the magnetic or antiferromagnetic properties of the Co 70 Fe 30 and Mn 83 Ir 17 layers, respectively. For the analysis of the magnetic domain structure evolution along the hysteresis loop we used a combination of experimental techniques: magneto-optical Kerr effect, Kerr microscopy, polarized neutron reflectometry, and off-specular scattering of polarized neutrons with polarization analysis. Instead of a perfect antiparallel alignment we found that the magnetization in neighboring stripes is periodically canted with respect to the stripe axis so that the net magnetization of the ferromagnetic film turns almost perpendicular to the stripes. At the same time the projection of the magnetization vector onto the stripe axis has a periodically alternating sign. The experimental observations are explained and quantitatively described within the frame of a phenomenological model, taking into account interfacial exchange bias, intralayer exchange energy, and uniaxial anisotropy. The model defines conditions which can be used for tailoring nano-and micro-patterned exchange-bias systems with different types of magnetic order.

In the present paper we investigate whether the ion bombardment induced magnetic modifications in exchange biased bilayers are stable in time, whether the direction of the exchange bias can be set to any arbitrary (in-plane) direction by the ion bombardment and whether the exchange bias field can be changed in successive bombardment steps. These three fundamental characteristics are prerequisites for ion bombardment used for an efficient, practical, and stable magnetic patterning of exchange biased layer systems.

For electron transport in parallel-plane semiconducting structures, a model is developed that unifies ballistic and diffusive transport and thus generalizes the Drude model. The unified model is valid for arbitrary magnitude of the mean free path and arbitrary shape of the conduction band edge profile. Universal formulas are obtained for the current-voltage characteristic in the nondegenerate case and for the zero-bias conductance in the degenerate case, which describe in a transparent manner the interplay of ballistic and diffusive transport. The semiclassical approach is adopted, but quantum corrections allowing for tunneling are included. Examples are considered, in particular the case of chains of grains in polycrystalline or microcrystalline semiconductors with grain size comparable to, or smaller than, the mean free path. Substantial deviations of the results of the unified model from those of the ballistic thermionic-emission model and of the drift-diffusion model are found. The formulation of the model is one-dimensional, but it is argued that its results should not differ substantially from those of a fully three-dimensional treatment. PACS number(s): 05.60.Cd,

Exchange-biased IrMn/CoFe full films are magnetically structured with He-ion bombardment into stripes with antiparallel-aligned loop shift. The patterning results in a two-step magnetization loop corresponding to two regions of oppositely aligned exchange bias. The longitudinal magnetization reversal through head-on domain-wall motion and partial penetration of magnetization from neighboring strips is highly asymmetric involving ripplelike domain structures and incoherent rotation of magnetization. In addition, Néel-wall-like structures with a preferred sense of rotation are formed at the edges of the strips. Along the transverse direction the reversal is dominated by the switching of the magnetic border structures between the strips. Complicated domain patterns are generated under other external field angles.

The thermal exchange bias field drift of sputter deposited Mn83Ir17(15 nm)/Co70Fe30(10 nm)/Ta thin films at room temperature after 10 keV He+ ion bombardment in an externally applied in-plane magnetic field for different ion fluences was studied. Although field cooling of the layer system resulted in a temporally stable exchange bias field at room temperature the exchange bias field starts to drift after ion bombardment like in non-annealed samples. Between 1 and 648 h after ion bombardment a logarithmic increase in the absolute magnitude of the exchange bias field is observed. A tentative model is presented for its description based on noninteracting domains in the antiferromagnet. A comparison between experimental data and the model reveals the delicate interplay between the ion bombardment modified average antiferromagnetic anisotropy constants, exchange coupling constants, and relaxation time distributions in the polycrystalline layer system influencing the thermal drift velocities.

We report on a specific magnetostatic coupling in sputter deposited (Ni80Fe20∕Au∕Co∕Au)10 multilayers of alternating in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic anisotropies. We demonstrate on the basis of complementary studies (magnetoresistance, conventional magnetometry, and element specific soft x-ray resonant magnetic scattering hysteresis measurements) that the magnetization reversal of the Ni–Fe layers is strongly influenced by a magnetostatic coupling originating from the out-of-plane stripe domain stray fields of the Co layers.