Au@Ag Core-shell Nanorods Self-assembled on Polyelectrolyte Multilayers for Ultra-High Sensitivity SERS Fiber Probes

We demonstrated a chemical process in the fabrication of a SERS fiber probe with an ultrahigh sensitivity.The synthesis was carried out by preparing Au@Ag core-shell nanorods (Au@Ag-NRs) selfassembled on polyelectrolyte (PE) multilayers,for which Au@Ag-NRs were controlled by adjusting the silver layer thickness.The effect of silver layer thickness of Au@Ag-NRs on the SERS performance of the fiber probe was investigated.The SERS fiber probe shows the best performance when the silver layer thickness is controlled at 8.57 nm.Under the condition of optimizing silver layer thickness,the fiber probe exhibits ultra-high sensitivity (i e,10^(-10) M crystalline violet,CV),good reproducibility (i e,RSD of 3.5%) and stability.Besides,electromagnetic field distribution of the SERS fiber probe was also investigated.The strongest enhancement is found within the core of fiber,whereas a weakened electromagnetic field exists in the fiber cladding layer.The SERS fiber probe can be a good candidate in ultra-trace detection for biomedical and environmental areas.

High repetition granular Co/Pt multilayers with improved perpendicular remanent magnetization for high-density magnetic recording

Thanks to the strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy(PMA), excellent processing compatibility as well as novel spintronic phenomenon, Co/Pt multilayers have been attracting massive attention and widely used in magnetic storage.However, reversed magnetic domains come into being with the increasing layer repetition ‘N’ to reduce magneto-static energy, resulting in the remarkable diminishment of the remanent magnetization(Mr). As a result, the product of Mrand thickness(i.e., the remanent moment-thickness product, Mrt), a key parameter in magnetic recording for reliable data storing and reading, also decreases dramatically. To overcome this issue, we deposit an ultra-thick granular [Co/Pt]80multilayer with a total thickness of 68 nm on granular SiNxbuffer layer. The Mrt value, Mrto saturation magnetization(Ms) ratio as well as out of plane(OOP) coercivity(Hcoop) are high up to 2.97 memu/cm^(2), 67%, and 1940 Oe(1 Oe = 79.5775 A·m^(-1)),respectively, which is remarkably improved compared with that of continuous [Co/Pt]80multilayers. That is because large amounts of grain boundaries in the granular multilayers can efficiently impede the propagation and expansion of reversed magnetic domains, which is verified by experimental investigations and micromagnetic simulation results. The simulation results also indicate that the value of Mrt, Mr/Msratio, and Hcoopcan be further improved through optimizing the granule size, which can be experimentally realized by manipulating the process parameter of SiNxbuffer layer. This work provides an alternative solution for achieving high Mrt value in ultra-thick Co/Pt multilayers, which is of unneglectable potential in applications of high-density magnetic recording.

Room-temperature creation and manipulation of skyrmions in MgO/FeNiB/Mo multilayers

Magnetic skyrmions in multilayer structures are considered as a new direction for the next generation of storage due to their small size,strong anti-interference ability,high current-driven mobility,and compatibility with existing spintronic technology.In this work,we present a tunable room temperature skyrmion platform based on multilayer stacks of MgO/FeNiB/Mo.We systematically studied the creation of magnetic skyrmions in MgO/FeNiB/Mo multilayer structures with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy(PMA).In these structures,the magnetic anisotropy changes from PMA to in-plane magnetic anisotropy(IMA)as the thickness of FeNiB layer increases.By adjusting the applied magnetic field and electric current,stable and high-density skyrmions can be obtained in the material system.The discovery of this material broadens the exploration of new materials for skyrmion and promotes the development of spintronic devices based on skyrmions.

STRUCTURE, MAGNETISM AND MAGNETORESISTANCE OF ANNEALED Co/Cu DISCONTINUOUS MULTILAYERS

Co/Cu discontinuous multilayers were prepared by rf-sputtering method under high sputtering power and then annealed at various temperatures in a high vacuum. The structural, magnetic and transport properties were strongly influenced by the annealing temperature. The annealed samples obviously became discontinuous multilayers. A maximum magnetoresistance ratio of 5.6% was obtained under a relatively low saturation field of about 400 (10/4π) A/m at the optimum annealing temperature of 450°C. When the annealing temperature was increased, the resistivity decreased, and the coercive force and the saturation field increased. The magnetoresistance ratio also depended on the thickness of Co and Cu layers. The magnetic and transport properties were explained on the basis of the discontinuous multilayered structure.

Structural transition and magnetic properties of evaporated Fe/Gd multilayers

Fe/Gd multilayers were prepared by alternate vapor deposition of pure Fe and Gd at a rate of 0.01-0.03 nm/s in an ultra-high-vacuum elec- tron-gun evaporation system. The effects of the constituent metal layer thickness on the microstructures and magnetic properties of the films were investigated by low angle X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer. The experimental results show that a transition from the polycrystalline to amorphous state in the Fe layers occurs with the decrease of Fe layer thickness in the Fe/Gd multilayers. The saturation magnetization of the multilayers reduces significantly with decreasing Fe layer thickness and increasing Gd layer thickness. A superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature is observed for the [Fe（0.6 nm）/Gd（4.0 nm）]15 multilayer due to the formation of discontinuous Fe layers.

Nickel multilayers and their effects on bend fatigue strength of leads

Nickel is commonly coated on the outer leads for T8 metal package. The leadselectrodeposited by conventional dull or bright nickel over 5μm at direct current from Watt bathare hard to pass the bend fatigue test for three times. Nickel electrodeposited at multi waveformcurrent including direct current, single and double pulse from sulfamate bath can improve the bendfatigue strength of leads. Such nickel plating has a multilayer structure, its morphology ofsublayers can be clearly seen in its cross section with SEM. The electrochemical study shows thatthese sublayers have different corrosion potentials. The bend fatigue test of leads with suchplating for T8 metal package shows that the number of bend increases with the decrease of averagecurrent density of multi waveform, which can be attributed to the reduction of every sublayerthickness and the increase of layer numbers under the same condition of total thickness.

Probing surface interactions of underwater oleophobic polyelectrolyte multilayers

In the present work,the interaction mechanism of specific polyelectrolyte multilayers(PEMs),fabricated by layer-by-layer deposition of polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride(PDDA)and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate)(PSS),is studied using atomic force microscopy.The underwater oil-repellency of PS S-capped PEMs was further explored by measuring the interaction forces between tetradecane droplets and PEMs-coated silica substrates under various salinities.The force curves were analyzed following the Stokes-Reynolds-Young-Laplace theoretical model.Desirable consistency was achieved between the experimental and theoretical calculations at low NaCl concentrations(0.1 mM and 1 mM);however,underestimation of the attractive force was found as the NaCl concentration increases to moderate(10 mM)and high(100 mM)levels.Discrepancy analyses and incorporated features toward a reduced surface charge density were considered based on the previous findings of the orientation of anionic benzenesulfonate moieties(Liu et al.in Angew Chem Int Ed 54(16):4851-4856,2015.https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201411992).Short-range steric hindrance interactions were further introduced to simulate"brush"effect stemming from nanoscale surface roughness.It is demonstrated in our work that the PSS-capped PEMs remains a stable underwater lipophobicity against high salinity,which renders it potential application in surface wetting modification and anti-fouling.

Giant Magnetoresistance Effect of [bcc-Fe(M)/Cu](M=Co,Ni) Multilayers

GMR effect of multilayers of bcc-Fe(M)(M=Co, Ni) alloy and Cu layers has been investigated. The maximum MR ratio is found at 1.1 nm Fe(Co) and 1.3～1.4 nm Cu layer thickness in [Fe(Co)/CuJ, and at 1.6 nm Fe(Ni) and 1.4 nm Cu layer thickness in [Fe(Ni)/Cu]. Under the optimum annealing condition, the MR ratio increases up to 50% and 38% for Fe(Co) and Fe(Ni) systems, respectively. The origin of the increase of GMR is discussed, taking the progress of preferred orientation of Fe(Co)[100] or Fe(Ni)[100] by anneahng into account.

Effects of MgO Thickness and Roughness on Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy in MgO/CoFeB/Ta Multilayers

The dependence of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy （PMA） on the barrier layer MgO thickness in MgO/CoFeB /Ta multilayers is investigated. The results show that the strongest PMA occurs in a small window of about 2 4nm with the increase of MgO thickness from 1-1Onto. The crystalline degree of MgO and the change of interatomic distance along the out-of-plane direction may be the main reasons for the change of PMA in these multilayers. Moreover, the roughnesses of 2- and 4-nm-thick MgO samples are 3.163 and 1.8 nm, respectively, and both the samples show PMA. These results could be used to tune the magnetic characteristic of the ultra thin CoFeB film for future applications in perpendicular magnetic devices.

Molecular dynamics study of plastic deformation mechanism in Cu/Ag multilayers

The plastic deformation mechanism of Cu/Ag multilayers is investigated by molecular dynamics （MD） simulation in a nanoindentation process. The result shows that due to the interface barrier, the dislocations pile-up at the interface and then the plastic deformation of the Ag matrix occurs due to the nucleation and emission of dislocations from the interface and the dislocation propagation through the interface. In addition, it is found that the incipient plastic deformation of Cu/Ag multilayers is postponed, compared with that of bulk single-crystal Cu. The plastic deformation of Cu/Ag multilayers is affected by the lattice mismatch more than by the difference in stacking fault energy （SFE） between Cu and Ag. The dislocation pile-up at the interface is determined by the obstruction of the mismatch dislocation network and the attraction of the image force. Furthermore, this work provides a basis for further understanding and tailoring metal multilayers with good mechanical properties, which may facilitate the design and development of multilayer materials with low cost production strategies.

Influence of patterned TiO_2/SiO_2 dielectric multilayers for back and front mirror facets on GaN-based laser diodes

Ridge InGaN multi-quantum-well-structure （MQW） edge-emitting laser diodes （LDs） were grown on （0001） sapphire substrates by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapour deposition （MOCVD）. The dielectric TiO2/SiO2 front and back facet coatings as cavity mirror facets of the LDs have been deposited with electron-beam evaporation method. The reflectivity of the designed front coating is about 50% and that of the back high reflective coating is as high as 99.9%. Under pulsed current injection at room temperature, the influences of the dielectric facets were discussed. The threshold current of the ridge GaN-based LDs was decreased after the deposition of the back high reflective dielectric mirrors and decreased again after the front facets were deposited. Above the threshold, the slope efficiency of the LDs with both reflective facets was larger than those with only back facets and without any reflective facets. It is important to design the reflectivity of the front facets for improving the performance of GaN-based LDs.

Three-and two-dimensional calculations for the interface anisotropy dependence of magnetic properties of exchange-spring Nd2Fe(14)B/α-Fe multilayers with out-of-plane easy axes

Hysteresis loops,energy products and magnetic moment distributions of perpendicularly oriented Nd2Fe(14)B/α-Fe exchange-spring multilayers are studied systematically based on both three-dimensional(3D)and one-dimensional(1D)micromagnetic methods,focused on the influence of the interface anisotropy.The calculated results are carefully compared with each other.The interface anisotropy effect is very palpable on the nucleation,pinning and coercive fields when the soft layer is very thin.However,as the soft layer thickness increases,the pinning and coercive fields are almost unchanged with the increment of interface anisotropy though the nucleation field still monotonically rises.Negative interface anisotropy decreases the maximum energy products and increases slightly the angles between the magnetization and applied field.The magnetic moment distributions in the thickness direction at various applied fields demonstrate a progress of three-step magnetic reversal,i.e.,nucleation,evolution and irreversible motion of the domain wall.The above results calculated by two models are in good agreement with each other.Moreover,the in-plane magnetic moment orientations based on two models are different.The 3D calculation shows a progress of generation and disappearance of vortex state,however,the magnetization orientations within the film plane calculated by the 1D model are coherent.Simulation results suggest that negative interface anisotropy is necessarily avoided experimentally.

Mechanical Properties of Polycrystalline TiN/TaN Multilayers

Polycrystalline TiN/TaN multilayers were grown by reactive magnetron sputtering on WC-Co sintered hard alloy Substrates. Multilayer structure and composition modulation amplitudes were studied using X-ray diffraction method. Hardness and elastic modulus were measured by nanoindentation tester. For A>8.0 nm, hardness is lower than rule-of mixtures value of individual single layer, and increased rapidly with decreasing A, peaking at hardness values≈33% higher than that at A=4.3 nm. As a result of analysing the inclination of applied load for indenter displacement on P-h curve (△P/△h), this paper exhibits that the enhancement of the resistance to dislocation motion and elastic anomaly due to coherency strains are responsibie for the hardness change

Microstructural Characteristics of La_(0.7)Ca_(0.3)MnO_3 Films and Multilayers

La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) films and La0.7Ca0.3MnO3/Gd0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO/GCMO) multilayers have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition. The microstructures of both systems were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The main structure of the films and the multilayers was monoclinic with a unit cell of size 2ap x-2ap. x -2ap, where ap is the lattice constant of single perovskite crystal. The LCMO films were composed of three-dimension multitwinning domains, while the LCMO/GCMO multilayers showed two-domain structure. In LCMO/GCMO multilayers, LCMO layers were coherent with GCMO layers and the interfaces between LCMO and GCMO layers were free from mismatch dislocation, which resulted in highly strained multilayerd structures.

Strengthening and softening in gradient nanotwinned FCC metallic multilayers

Plastic-deformation behaviors of gradient nanotwinned(GNT)metallic multilayers are investigated in nanoscale via molecular dynamics simulation.The evolution law of deformation behaviors of GNT metallic multilayers with different stacking fault energies(SFEs)during nanoindentation is revealed.The deformation behavior transforms from the dislocation dynamics to the twinning/detwinning in the GNT Ag,Cu,to Al with SFE increasing.In addition,it is found that the GNT Ag and GNT Cu strengthen in the case of a larger twin gradient based on more significant twin boundary(TB)strengthening and dislocation strengthening,while the GNT Al softens due to more TB migration and dislocation nucleation from TB at a larger twin gradient.The softening mechanism is further analyzed theoretically.These results not only provide an atomic insight into the plastic-deformation behaviors of certain GNT metallic multilayers with different SFEs,but also give a guideline to design the GNT metallic multilayers with required mechanical properties.

Growth and Microstructure of r.f. Sputtered Fe/Ti Multilayers

Fe/Ti multilayers with different modulation wavelengths (A) prepared by r.f. sputtering has been investigated by using cross sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM). It was observed that the columnar structure, interface morphology, and metastable phase presented at the interface of the multilayer system strongly depend on the bilayer thickness (A) For high period multilayers, the waviness wavelength of interfaces is about two times broader than the column diameter. For a sample with A=30 nm, its column width and waviness wavelength was about 80, and 190 nm, respectively. Both of them decreased with the reduction of A, so as to nearly equal values of column diameter and waviness wavelength were obtained. The Fe and Ti grains of both 30 nm and 6 nm multilayers are polycrystalline, and have a textured structure. In short bilayer thickness (A=6 nm), the intermetallic compound Fe2Ti was presented at the interfaces due to solid state reaction; for A=2 nm, amorphous phase Ti-rich layer was formed at the interfaces, resulting in a sharp interface multilayer structure.

ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE PROPAGATION IN MAGNETIC MULTILAYERS-NON-RECIPROCAL REFLECTIONS'

A theory of EM wave propagation through magnetic multilayers and superlattices is presented based on the propagation matrix of a magnetic film. By using the P matrix, the transmission and reflection coefficients of layered magnetic media, including: (l)semi-infinite magnetic surfaces, (2) magnetic multilayers, (3) semi-infinite magnetic superlattices are obtained. The numerical results show that the EM modes of a magnetic layer system is excited and manifested as the sharp dips in the S-polarized reflection and the dispersion curves of the magnetic polaritons can be measured by a method similar to the attenuated total reflection (ATR) technique.

Ferromagnetic resonance in Co/Pt multilayers

Out-of-plane angular dependence of ferromagnetic resonance spectra was measured in sputtered Co/Pt multilayers and analyzed with the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation. The effective demagnetizing field 4πMeff is found to increase with decreasing tPt and decreasing 1/tco, which can be considered as a result of interplay between the interlayer coupling and a lowdimensional effect. The g factor increases with increasing tpt and decreasing tCo, indicating contribution of spin-polarization of Pt atoms and additional contribution of orbital moment of Co atoms. The in-plane resonance line-width increases with decreasing too and increases with increasing tPt.

Perpendicular exchange bias of (Pt/Co)_n/FeMn multilayers

（Pt/Co）n/FeMn multilayers with perpendicular anisotropy （PA） were prepared by magnetron sputtering with Pt as the buffer layer and the capping layer. The dependence of perpendicular exchange bias （PEB）, Hex, on the thickness of the FeMn anfiferromagnet （AFM） layer is similar to that of in-plane exchange bias. The value of Hex for the （Pt/Co）3/FeMn multilayer reaches 22.3 kA/m. A thin Pt spacer was inserted between the Co/FeMn interface to enhance PEB. The PEB reaches the largest at 39.8 kA/m when the thickness of the Pt spacer is 0.4 nm.

Structures and magnetic behaviours of TiO_2-Mn-TiO_2 multilayers

The TiO2-Mn-TiO2multilayers are successfully grown on glass and silicon substrates by alternately using radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering and direct current magnetron sputtering. The structures and the magnetic behaviours of these films are characterised with x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope （TEM）, vibrating sample magnetometer, and superconducting quantum interference device （SQUID）. It is shown that the multi-film consists of a mixture of anatase and rutile TiO2 with an embedded Mn nano-film. It is found that there are two turning points from ferromagnetic phase to antiferromagnetic phase. One is at 42 K attributed to interface coupling between ferromagnetic Mn3O4 and antiferromagnetic Mn2O3, and the other is at 97 K owing to the interface coupling between ferromagnetic Mn and antiferromagnetic MnO. The samples are shown to have ferromagnetic behaviours at room temperature from hysteresis in the M-H loops, and their ferromagnetism is found to vary with the thickness of Mn nano-film. Moreover, the Mn nano-film has a critical thickness of about 18.5 nm, which makes the coercivity of the multi-film reach a maximum of about 3.965 × 10^-2 T.