Incorporation of cobalt into ZnO nanoclusters

The structural, optical and magnetic properties of nanostructured ZnO films co-doped with cobalt and aluminium have been studied. The nanocrystalline films, with cluster sizes in range 50 - 100 nm, were deposited by pulsed laser ablation in a mixed atmosphere of oxygen and helium. The nanocrystallites have the wurtzite structure and are highly oriented with the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. Both optical and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy results show the substitutional incorporation of Co$^{2+}$ ions on the Zn site inside the ZnO nanoclusters. The temperature dependence of the ESR spectra follows Curie law corresponding to a paramagnetic material

Effectiveness of life skills training on the total behaviour of six individuals in a job preparation program

In the first week of a Job preparation Program all twelve female members of the class were invited to be part of a study to determine the effect of Life Skills training on their behaviour over the twelve-week period of the program. Six females volunteered and each was interviewed four times during the Job preparation Program and once after the program ended. The interviews focused on three areas of skill deficiency addressed in Life Skills lessons: their knowledge about themselves and attitude towards themselves; their interpersonal relationships; and their problem-solving ability. The participants' comments over the sixteen-week period of the interviews were used to decide if the total behaviour of the participants, (i.e., what they did, thought, and felt) changed so that each became more effective in satisfying her needs. The study suggested that the total behaviour of three of the six women changed so that they became more effective in satisfying their needs. The fourth female's total behaviour changed in only two of the three areas focused on in the interviews, and the total behaviour of the fifth and sixth females showed no change

National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank: A standard based biospecimen and clinical data resource to enhance translational research

Background: Advances in translational research have led to the need for well characterized biospecimens for research. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank is an initiative which collects annotated datasets relevant to human mesothelioma to develop an enterprising biospecimen resource to fulfill researchers' need. Methods: The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank architecture is based on three major components: (a) common data elements (based on College of American Pathologists protocol and National North American Association of Central Cancer Registries standards), (b) clinical and epidemiologic data annotation, and (c) data query tools. These tools work interoperably to standardize the entire process of annotation. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank tool is based upon the caTISSUE Clinical Annotation Engine, developed by the University of Pittsburgh in cooperation with the Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid™ (caBIG™, see http://cabig.nci.nih.gov). This application provides a web-based system for annotating, importing and searching mesothelioma cases. The underlying information model is constructed utilizing Unified Modeling Language class diagrams, hierarchical relationships and Enterprise Architect software. Result: The database provides researchers real-time access to richly annotated specimens and integral information related to mesothelioma. The data disclosed is tightly regulated depending upon users' authorization and depending on the participating institute that is amenable to the local Institutional Review Board and regulation committee reviews. Conclusion: The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank currently has over 600 annotated cases available for researchers that include paraffin embedded tissues, tissue microarrays, serum and genomic DNA. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank is a virtual biospecimen registry with robust translational biomedical informatics support to facilitate basic science, clinical, and translational research. Furthermore, it protects patient privacy by disclosing only de-identified datasets to assure that biospecimens can be made accessible to researchers. © 2008 Amin et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Ferromagnetic semiconductors

The current status and prospects of research on ferromagnetism in semiconductors are reviewed. The question of the origin of ferromagnetism in europium chalcogenides, chromium spinels and, particularly, in diluted magnetic semiconductors is addressed. The nature of electronic states derived from 3d of magnetic impurities is discussed in some details. Results of a quantitative comparison between experimental and theoretical results, notably for Mn-based III-V and II-VI compounds, are presented. This comparison demonstrates that the current theory of the exchange interactions mediated by holes in the valence band describes correctly the values of Curie temperatures T_C magnetic anisotropy, domain structure, and magnetic circular dichroism. On this basis, chemical trends are examined and show to lead to the prediction of semiconductor systems with T_C that may exceed room temperature, an expectation that are being confirmed by recent findings. Results for materials containing magnetic ions other than Mn are also presented emphasizing that the double exchange involving hoping through d states may operate in those systems.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures; special issue of Semicon. Sci. Technol. on semiconductor spintronic

Broadband ferromagnetic resonance of ultrathin yttrium iron garnet films by pulsed laser deposition: Effects of deposition parameters

In this study, we investigate the growth and characteristics of ultrathin ferrimagnetic yttrium iron garnet (YIG, Y3Fe5O12) films on a Gallium Gadolinium Garnet (GGG) substrate using the pulsed laser deposition technique (PLD). We aim to improve the magnetic quality of the films by varying the deposition parameters, specifically the laser energy and oxygen pressure. We conduct broadband ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements to characterize the magnetic properties and Gilbert damping of the films. Our findings demonstrate that adjusting the deposition parameters systematically controls the saturation magnetization and Gilbert damping of YIG films. Our measurements show that in the absence of oxygen, the films exhibit higher-than-expected values of magnetization and Gilbert damping, suggesting that the films have a higher Fe concentration. Conversely, when introducing oxygen in the chamber, we observe a decrease in the magnetization and damping values, approaching those of bulk YIG films. Notably, we achieve a saturation magnetization of 0.185 T and an ultra-low Gilbert damping of 1.7 × 10−4 for films deposited under conditions of high laser energy and oxygen pressure. This is mainly due to a better Y:Fe ratio approaching the stoichiometric value of 0.6 as the oxygen pressure increased. Our findings provide valuable insights for preparing high-quality ferrimagnetic films suitable for various magnonics applications and spin Hall devices. © 2023 Elsevier B.V