R. A. Lukaszew

Plasmonics and Enhanced Magneto-Optics in Core−Shell Co−Ag Nanoparticles

We present theoretical and experimental studies that explain the observed strong enhancement of the magneto-optical (MO) Faraday rotation in all-metal core-shell Co-Ag nanoparticles (NPs) attributed to localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). We also explain why the optical absorption and MO spectra peaks appear blue-shifted with increased Co core size while keeping the NP size constant. Further, we demonstrate direct correlation between the strong LSPR induced electromagnetic fields and the enhanced MO activity of the NPs.

Hexagonal close-packed Ni nanostructures grown on the (001) surface of MgO

We report the in situ microscopy observation of an unnatural phase of Ni, a highly strained hexagonal close-packed (hcp) form which we believe is stabilized by heteroepitaxial growth on the (001) face of MgO. We find that the nanosized hcp nickel islands transform into the normal face-centered cubic structure when the size of the islands exceeds a critical value (about 2.5 nm thick with a lateral size of ∼5nm). The structural transition proceeds via a martensitic change in the stacking sequence of the close-packed planes. The formation of hcp Ni nanostructures with an unusually large crystallographic c∕a ratio (∼6% larger than ideal hcp) is very interesting for spintronic and recording applications where large uniaxial anisotropies are desirable.

Magnetic field modulation of intense surface plasmon polaritons

We present correlated experimental and theoretical studies on the magnetic field modulation of Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPPs) in Au/Co/Au trilayers. The trilayers were grown by sputter deposition on glass slides with the Co films placed at different distances from the surface and with different thickness. We show that it is possible to tailor Au/Co/Au trilayers with the critical thickness needed for optimum excitation of SPPs leading to large localized electromagnetic fields. The modification of the SPP wave vector by externally applied magnetic fields was investigated by measuring the magneto-optical activity in transverse configuration. In addition, using magneto-optics as a tool we determined the spatial distribution of the SPP generated electromagnetic fields within Au/Co/Au samples by analyzing the field-dependent optical response, demonstrating that it is possible to excite SPPs that exhibit large electromagnetic fields that are also magneto-optically active and therefore can be modulated by externally applied magnetic fields.

Magnetic-field modulation of surface plasmon polaritons on gratings

The propagation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on gratings can be experimentally modified when magneto-optically active materials are used. We have observed this effect in Au-Co thin-film bilayers where a polymer grating was patterned on the upper surface. In addition, Au-Co-Au trilayers were grown on polycarbonate gratings, and the Co layer thicknesses and placement from the upper interface were varied to further investigate this effect. We show that the Co layer must be tailored to balance optical absorption and magneto-optical activity, while the pitch of the grating can be adjusted to tune the angular dependence of the field-dependent SPP excitation.

CdS thin films formed on flexible plastic substrates by pulsed-laser deposition

The merger of a transparent plastic foil substrate with a semiconductor CdS film for a photonic application was realized using pulsed-laser deposition. Although plastic is not considered to be a favoured substrate material for semiconductor thin-film formation, the deposited CdS film possesses good adhesion, with a polycrystalline texture, flat surface (roughness/thickness = 0.003), and room-temperature photosensitivity with a blue-shifted peak at 2.54 eV. This work demonstrates the capability of pulsed-laser deposition to form novel heterostructures with appealing and useful technological properties such as plasticity and low weight.

Progress and Prospects of Spin Transfer Torque Random Access Memory

We report our progress on material improvement, device design, wafer processing, integration with CMOS, and testing of STT-RAM memory chips at 54 nm node with cell sizes of 14 and 28 F2 (F=54 nm). A dual tunnel barrier MTJ structure was found to have lower and more symmetric median spin transfer torque writing switching currents, and much tighter parallel to antiparallel switching current distribution. In-plane MTJ devices write endurance data, read and write soft error rates data and simulation fits, and solutions to the long write error rate tail at fast write speeds are discussed.

Use of magnetocrystalline anisotropy in spin-dependent tunneling

Epitaxial growth techniques are used to impose in-plane magnetocrystalline anisotropy on a spin-polarized tunneling configuration. A Cu(100) buffer layer grown on a Si(100) substrate stabilizes epitaxial face-centered-cubic cobalt as one of the ferromagnetic electrodes. The negative magnetocrystalline constant of this metastable phase favors easy axes along Co 〈110〉 and, due to the single crystal nature of this layer, the coercivity is more than an order of magnitude larger than in the polycrystalline layers which form the second electrode. Our approach provides a way to access the high degree of spin polarization characteristic of the 3d transition metals.

Effect of a substrate-induced microstructure on the optical properties of the insulator-metal transition temperature in VO2 thin films

Using both Raman spectroscopy and direct laser reflectivity measurements, we investigate the optical properties of vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin films deposited on different substrates as they undergo the thermally induced insulator to metal phase transition. Comparing similarly prepared VO2 films grown on quartz, sapphire, and rutile substrates, we observed a significant difference in the transition temperatures without hysteresis loop broadening after heating and cooling the samples. We attribute these different transition temperatures to differences in the VO2 microstructure, mainly the difference in average grain sizes. We also observed variations in the contrast of the detected Raman resonances using different wavelengths for the excitation laser, and found that in all cases a longer wavelength (in our case 785 nm) yielded the clearest VO2 Raman spectra.

Temperature dependence of the magnetization reversal in Co(fcc)–BN–Co(poly hcp) structures

The magnetic properties of multilayer structures with two magnetic layers of the same metal (Co) but with different crystallographic structures separated by an insulating BN layer have been studied. These structures were prepared on Si (001) substrates by a combination of molecular beam epitaxy (metallic layers) and electron cyclotron resonance-assisted sputtering (BN layer). An fcc Co single-crystal layer (60 A) was first stabilized by growing it on a copper fcc buffer layer and subsequently a polycrystalline Co layer (70 A) with hcp structure was grown on top of the insulating BN layer. A CoO antiferromagnetic layer, formed adjacent to this hcp Co layer, significantly influenced the magnetic behavior of the polycrystalline hcp Co layer. The magnetic hysteresis loops for these structures were measured at temperatures ranging from 5 to 350 K with the magnetic field applied along the easy (110) in-plane axis of the fcc Co. A very sharp flipping of the magnetization was found for the fcc Co layer with a nea...

Surface plasmon polaritons in VO 2 thin films for tunable low-loss plasmonic applications

We report on the first observation of optically excited surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in the conducting phase of vanadium dioxide (VO(2)) thin films. VO(2) is low-loss optical material that undergoes an insulator-metal transition (IMT) under suitable thermal, optical, or electrical stimulation, thus enabling tunable SPP excitation of the conducting phase. Here we applied IR light (1520 nm) to excite SPPs while thermally inducing the IMT by changing the VO(2) temperature, and observed a clear trend from nonabsorption in the insulator phase to high absorption in the conducting phase due to SPP excitation in the latter phase. Tunable SPPs in VO(2) enable a range of opportunities for low-loss optoplasmonic applications since the rate of the IMT excitation can also be tailored.