(Press-News.org) Researchers from North Carolina State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated a less-expensive way to create textured nickel ferrite (NFO) ceramic thin films, which can easily be scaled up to address manufacturing needs. NFO is a magnetic material that holds promise for microwave technologies and next-generation memory devices.
Specifically, this is the first time researchers have used a chemical deposition process to create NFO thin films that are "textured" – meaning they have an aligned crystalline structure. Arraying the crystalline structure in an orderly fashion is important because it maximizes the magnetic properties of the material.
Using a chemical deposition process also makes it easier to modify, or "dope," the NFO by adding additional materials, such as zinc. By doping the NFO, researchers can optimize the material for various applications. For example, adding zinc allows the NFO to retain its magnetic properties at higher temperatures.
The technique used to create the NFO thin films begins by introducing nickel and iron compounds into an organic solvent to create an NFO solution. The solution is then injected onto a silicon wafer that has been coated with platinum. The wafer is then spun, spreading the solution uniformly across the wafer's surface. The wafer is heated to evaporate the solvent, then heated again to 750 degrees Celsius to crystallize the NFO.
"This approach can be used to deposit textured NFO thin films over areas at least as large as 10 centimeters by 10 centimeters," says Dr. Justin Schwartz, co-author of the paper, Kobe Steel Distinguished Professor and Department Head of the Materials Science and Engineering Department at NC State. Previous efforts to create textured NFO thin films have relied on techniques that can only deposit such thin films over a small area.
###The paper, "Growth of (111) oriented NiFe2O4 polycrystalline thin films on Pt (111) via sol-gel processing," was published online Sept. 19 in the Journal of Applied Physics. The paper's lead author is Safoura Seifikar, a Ph.D. student at NC State. The paper was co-authored by Edward Sachet, a Ph.D. student at NC State; Dr. Thomas Rawdanowicz, research professor at NC State; Ali Tabei, a Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech; and Dr. Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb of Georgia Tech. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.
Researchers demonstrate cheaper way to produce NFO thin films
2012-09-24
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
3-year, 676-child trial shows effectiveness of low-cost intervention to improve sun protection
2012-09-24
A blistering sunburn during childhood or adolescence more than doubles the adult risk of skin cancer. The accumulation of long-term sun exposure may be equally dangerous. A study from the Colorado School of Public Health and the University of Colorado Cancer Center recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine shows one way to reduce this exposure: a double-blind randomized clinical trial of mailed sun protection packets led to higher frequency of sun protective behaviors including the use of long clothing, hats, shade, sunscreen, and midday sun avoidance.
"This ...
EARTH: Bakken boom and the new Wild West
2012-09-24
Alexandria, VA – Diesel-soaked clothing, 90-hour work weeks, and the constant groaning of a multimillion-dollar oil rig towering overhead: Welcome to life in Williston, N.D., home of the United States' latest oil boom. In this month's issue of EARTH Magazine, R. Tyler Powers, a young geologist thrust into the middle of the new boomtown, offers his perspective on what life is like today in the new Wild West.
Thousands of oil rigs sit atop the Bakken Formation, a Late Devonian to Early Mississippian rock formation that underlies parts of Montana, North Dakota, Saskatchewan ...
Tissues tell the tale: Non-invasive optical technique detects cancer by looking under the skin
2012-09-24
VIDEO:
This is a 2x2x2mm extracted blood vessel structure of basal cell carcinoma in vivo exhibiting a chaotic vascular pattern (left). Virtually cut volume obtained with OCT displaying the embedded blood...
Click here for more information.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2012—The trained eye of a dermatologist can identify many types of skin lesions, but human sight only goes so far. Now an international team of researchers has developed an advanced optics system to noninvasively ...
Heritability of avoidant and dependent personality disorder traits
2012-09-24
A new twin study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows that the heritability of avoidant and dependent personality disorder traits might be higher than previously reported. People with avoidant personality disorder are often anxious in the company of others, while people with dependent personality disorder feel more secure.
Results from previous studies indicate that genetic factors explain about one third of the individual differences in these personality disorder traits, while the remaining variation is best explained by environmental influences. These ...
Newly discovered molecule could deliver drugs to treat diseases
2012-09-24
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Kansas State University researchers have discovered a molecule that may be capable of delivering drugs inside the body to treat diseases.
For the first time, researchers have designed and created a membrane-bounded vesicle formed entirely of peptides -- molecules made up of amino acids, the building blocks of protein. The membrane could serve as a new drug delivery system to safely treat cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
A study led by John Tomich, professor of biochemistry at Kansas State University, has been published in the journal PLOS ONE ...
A windshield wiper for Mars dust is developed
2012-09-24
This press release is available in Spanish.
VIDEO:
A team of researchers at Universidad Carlos III in Madrid has developed a device that works as a windshield wiper to eliminate Mars dust from the sensors on the NASA...
Click here for more information.
Leading energy scientists from the UK and China are joining forces to develop green technology that will revolutionise the way electricity ...
Gas outlets off Spitsbergen are no new phenomenon
2012-09-24
Frequent storms and sub-zero temperatures – nature drove the marine researchers that were assessing gas outlets on the sea bed off the coast of Spitsbergen for four and a half weeks to their limits. Nevertheless the participants were very pleased when they returned: "We were able to gather many samples and data in the affected area. With the submersible JAGO we even managed to form an impression of the sea bed and the gas vents" summarised the chief scientist Professor Dr. Christian Berndt from GEOMAR | Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.
The reason for the expedition ...
Therapeutic impact of cell transplantation aided by magnetic factor
2012-09-24
Putnam Valley, NY. (Sept. 24, 2012) – Two studies in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:6), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/, demonstrate how the use of magnetic particles are a factor that can positively impact on the targeted delivery of transplanted stem cells and to also provide better cell retention.
A research team from the University of British Columbia used focused magnetic stem cell targeting to improve the delivery and transport of mensenchymal stem cells to the retinas of test rats while researchers from ...
In birds' development, researchers find diversity by the peck
2012-09-24
Cambridge, Mass. - September 24, 2012 - It has long been known that diversity of form and function in birds' specialized beaks is abundant. Charles Darwin famously studied the finches on the Galapagos Islands, tying the morphology (shape) of various species' beaks to the types of seeds they ate. In 2010, a team of Harvard biologists and applied mathematicians showed that Darwin's finches all actually shared the same developmental pathways, using the same gene products, controlling just size and curvature, to create 14 very different beaks.
Now, expanding that work to ...
Scientists shed light on riddle of sun's explosive events
2012-09-24
DURHAM, N.H. – Four decades of active research and debate by the solar physics community have failed to bring consensus on what drives the sun's powerful coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that can have profound "space weather" effects on Earth-based power grids and satellites in near-Earth geospace.
In a paper just published in Nature Physics, an international team of space scientists, including a researcher from the University of New Hampshire's Space Science Center (SSC), explains the mysterious physical mechanisms underlying the origin of CMEs. Their findings, based on ...