Promising doped zirconia

A new study discusses the electric and magnetic characteristics of a material which could be used in spintronics

2013-05-17

(Press-News.org) Materials belonging to the family of dilute magnetic oxides (DMOs) — an oxide-based variant of the dilute magnetic semiconductors — are good candidates for spintronics applications. This is the object of study for Davide Sangalli of the Microelectronics and Microsystems Institute (IMM) at the National Research Council (CNR), in Agrate Brianza, Italy, and colleagues. They recently explored the effect of iron (Fe) doping on thin films of a material called zirconia (ZrO2 oxide). For the first time, the authors bridged the gap between the theoretical predictions and the experimental measurements of this material, in a paper about to be published in EPJ B.

Spintronics exploit an intrinsic property of the electrons found in semi-conductors called spin, akin to the electrons' degree of freedom. This determines the magnetic characteristics, known as magnetic moment, of the material under study. The challenge is to create such material with the highest possible temperature, as this will ensure that its magnetic properties can be used in room-temperature applications.

To study iron-doped zirconia, they examined its magnetic properties and its electronic structure from both a theoretical and experimental perspective. They then compared theory and experiments to find the most stable configuration of the material. Theoretical work included first-principles simulations. In parallel, their experimental work relied on many different well-established analytical techniques, including X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and alternating gradient force magnetometer measurements.

Sangalli and colleagues therefore gained a better understanding of doped zirconia, which features oxygen vacancies, playing a crucial role in providing its unique electronic and magnetic characteristics. They have also predicted theoretically how the deviation from the standard structure influences this material's properties. They are currently investigating, experimentally, how the magnetism evolves with changing concentrations of iron and oxygen vacancies to confirm theoretical predictions.

### Reference D. Sangalli et al. (2013), Exploiting magnetic properties of Fe doping in zirconia, European Physical Journal B. DOI 10.1140/epjb/e2013-30669-3

For more information, please visit http://www.epj.org

The full-text article is available to journalists on request.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

SUMO wrestling cells reveal new protective mechanism target for stroke

2013-05-17

Scientists investigating the interaction of a group of proteins in the brain responsible for protecting nerve cells from damage have identified a new target that could increase cell survival. The discovery, made by researchers from the University's School of Biochemistry and published in the EMBO journal with additional comment in Nature Reviews, could eventually lead to new therapies for stroke and other brain diseases. The research builds on earlier work by the team which identified a protein, known as SUMO, responsible for controlling the chemical processes which ...

New study pinpoints biochemical mechanism underlying fibrosis following glaucoma surgery

2013-05-17

Philadelphia, PA, May 17, 2013 – The most common cause of failure after glaucoma surgery is scarring at the surgical site, so researchers are actively looking for ways to minimize or prevent scar formation. Previous work had suggested that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) activates fibrosis, whereas VEGF inhibition results in reduced scar formation and better surgical results. In a series of studies using a rabbit model of glaucoma surgery, investigators have determined that VEGF probably exerts its effects through induction of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, ...

Stroke patients respond similarly to after-stroke care, despite age difference

2013-05-17

Athens, Ga. – Age has little to do with how patients should be treated after suffering a stroke, according to new research from the University of Georgia. Historically, younger stroke victims receive different after-stroke intervention strategies than those over a certain age. However, Neale Chumbler, a UGA professor and head of the department of health policy and management in the College of Public Health, found patients responded equally to care efforts. Looking at 127 Veterans Affairs medical centers and a sample of 3,196 patients treated for ischemic strokes, ...

Study: Patient openness to research can depend on race and sex of study personnel

2013-05-17

CINCINNATI—Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that the race and sex of study personnel can influence a patient's decision on whether or not to participate in clinical research. The study, presented today at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine's annual meeting in Atlanta, that there is an interaction of the race and sex of the study assistant and the race of the patient. Lead author Kimberly Hart says that her team found that black patients, both male and female, were about 15 percent less likely to be willing to participate in research ...

Study: Peer-referral programs can increase HIV-testing in emergency departments

2013-05-17

CINCINNATI—Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that incorporating a peer-referral program for HIV testing into emergency departments can reach new groups of high-risk patients and brings more patients into the hospital for testing. Co-author and assistant professor of emergency medicine Michael Lyons, MD, says public health officials study multiple approaches to increasing early diagnosis of HIV. These approaches include a recent emphasis on expanding testing in health care centers, particularly emergency departments (EDs) that treat disadvantaged, ...

LDL cholesterol is a poor marker of heart health in patients with kidney disease

2013-05-17

Among patients with chronic kidney disease, those with very low kidney function had a higher risk of having a heart attack than those with higher kidney function over a four-year period. The link between higher LDL cholesterol and heart attack risk was weaker for patients with very low kidney function than for patients with higher kidney function. 60 million people globally have chronic kidney disease. Washington, DC (May 16, 2013) — LDL cholesterol is not a useful marker of heart disease risk in patients with kidney disease, according to a study appearing in an upcoming ...

Massachusetts' health care reform didn't raise hospital use, costs

2013-05-17

Massachusetts' healthcare reform didn't result in substantially more hospital use or higher costs, according to data presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2013. The findings were true even among safety-net hospitals, which often have an open-door policy to accept patients regardless of the ability to pay. These hospitals are most likely to care for people who need free services, use Medicaid or must pay their own hospital bills. "In light of the Affordable Healthcare Act, we wanted to validate concerns ...

Scientific insurgents say 'Journal Impact Factors' distort science

2013-05-17

MAY 16, 2013—An ad hoc coalition of unlikely insurgents—scientists, journal editors and publishers, scholarly societies, and research funders across many scientific disciplines—today posted an international declaration calling on the world scientific community to eliminate the role of the journal impact factor (JIF) in evaluating research for funding, hiring, promotion, or institutional effectiveness. The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, or DORA, was framed by a group of journal editors, publishers, and others convened by the American Society for Cell ...

Ethicists provide framework supporting new recommendations on reporting incidental findings in gene sequencing

2013-05-17

HOUSTON – (May 16, 2013) – In a paper published in Science Express, a group of experts led by bioethicists in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine provide a framework for the new American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) recommendations on reporting incidental findings in clinical exome and genome sequencing. In March 2013, the ACMG recommended that all laboratories conducting clinical sequencing seek and report pathogenic and expected pathogenic mutations for a short list of carefully chosen genes and conditions. ...

Asian lady beetles use biological weapons against their European relatives

2013-05-17

This news release is available in German. Once introduced for biological pest control, Asian lady beetle Harmonia axyridis populations have been increasing uncontrollably in the US and Europe since the turn of the millennium. The species has been proliferating rapidly in Germany; conservationists fear that the Asian lady beetle will out-compete native beetle species. Scientists from the University of Giessen and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, have now found the reason why this animal is so successful. Apart from a strongly antibiotic ...

Gelada monkeys understand complex "conversations" involving distress calls and prosocial comforting responses, exhibiting surprise when such vocal exchanges are manipulated to violate their expectatio

New poison dart frog discovered in the Amazon's Juruá River basin is blue with copper-colored legs, and represents one of just two novel Ranitomeya species in a decade

Promising doped zirconia

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: