Wurtzite (Ga,Mn)N films showing ferromagnetic behaviour at room temperature were successfully grown on sapphire(0001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy using ammonia as nitrogen source. Magnetization measurements were carried out by a superconducting quantum interference device at the temperatures between 1.8K and 300K with magnetic field applied parallel to the film plane up to 7T. The magnetic-field dependence of magnetization of a (Ga,Mn)N film at 300K were ferromagnetic, while a GaN film showed Pauli paramagnetism like behaviour. The Curie temperatures of a (Ga,Mn)N film was estimated as 940K.

Au nanoparticles exhibit ferromagnetic spin polarization and show diameter dependence in magnetization. The magnetic moment per Au atom in the particle attains its maximum value at a diameter of about 3 nanometer (nm) in the Magnetization-Diameter curve. Because Au metal is a typical diamagnetic material, its ferromagnetic polarization mechanism is thought to be quite different from the ferromagnetism observed in transition metals. The size effect strongly suggests the existence of some spin correlation effect at the nanoscale. The so-called "Fermi hole effect" is the most probable one given in the free electron gas system. Ferromagnetism in Au nanoparticles is discussed using this model.

Mn-doped GaN films on sapphire (0001) substrates were grown by molecular beam epitaxy system using ammonia as nitrogen source. The result of magnetization measurement gives Curie temperature as high as 940 K. The field and temperature dependencies of the magnetization show coexistence of ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases. In addition, the temperature dependencies of electrical resistance and carrier concentration were measured to investigate the relation between the ferromagnetism and transport property. Below about 10 K, a similar anomalous increase of magnetization and resistance is observed.

We report the first direct observation of ferromagnetic spin polarization of Au nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 1.9 nm using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). Owing to the element selectivity of XMCD, only the gold magnetization is explored. Magnetization of gold atoms as estimated by XMCD shows a good agreement with results obtained by conventional magnetometry. This evidences intrinsic spin polarization in nanosized gold.

Both electrical conductivity σ and Seebeck coefficient S are functions of carrier concentration being correlated with each other, and the value of power factor S2σ is generally limited to less than 0.01 W m−1 K−2. Here we report that, under the temperature gradient applied simultaneously to both parallel and perpendicular directions of measurement, a metallic copper selenide, Cu2Se, shows two sign reversals and colossal values of S exceeding ±2 mV K−1 in a narrow temperature range, 340 K < T < 400 K, where a structure phase transition takes place. The metallic behavior of σ possessing larger magnitude exceeding 600 S cm−1 leads to a colossal value of S2σ = 2.3 W m–1 K–2. The small thermal conductivity less than 2 W m−1 K−1 results in a huge dimensionless figure of merit exceeding 400. This unusual behavior is brought about by the self-tuning carrier concentration effect in the low-temperature phase assisted by the high-temperature phase.