Phenomenological evidence for the phonon Hall effect.

In the electrical Hall effect, a magnetic field, applied perpendicular to an electrical current, induces through the Lorentz force a voltage perpendicular to the field and the current. It is generally assumed that an analogous effect cannot exist in the phonon thermal conductivity, as there is no charge transport associated with phonon propagation. In this Letter, we argue that such a magnetotransverse thermal effect should exist and experimentally demonstrate this "phonon Hall effect" in Tb3Ga5O12.

Magnetoelectric anisotropy in diffusive transport.

In this Letter we prove the existence of a new general diffusive transport phenomenon in crossed electric and magnetic fields: magnetoelectric anisotropy. For the specific case of diffusive electrical transport, we present a relativistic model to quantify this effect and present experimental evidence for its existence.

Fine structure of effective mass acceptors in gallium nitride.

Magnetoluminescence of the exciton bound to a neutral acceptor was measured to investigate the electronic structure of a shallow acceptor center in GaN. The application of magnetic fields along different directions with respect to the crystal c axis allowed us to determine the symmetry of the ground (Gamma(9)) and the first excited state (Gamma(7)) of the acceptor. The observed Zeeman splitting pattern has axial symmetry but can be explained well only by assuming a significant reduction of the spin-orbit interaction for this acceptor state. Because of this reduction, the energy structure of the neutral acceptor is found to be very sensitive to any local, axial perturbation.

Ring-shaped vortex domain in type-II superconductors.

We present results of experiments in superconducting niobium and numerical simulations showing the creation of a metastable ring-shaped vortex domain by heating. Such vortex rings, if pinned by structural defects, can exist forever.

Current-driven resonances in magnetic multilayers.

We describe complex variations in resistance of a Co/Cu multilayer, generated by injection of an adjustable dc current density ( approximately 10(9) A/cm(2)) via a point contact. We attribute these variations to coupling of current-induced spin waves to lattice vibrations, leading especially to current-driven resonant excitations of phonons. We propose a simple model to explain the observed structured behavior of the variations as a function of the applied current and magnetic field.

Observation of magnetoelectric directional anisotropy.

We report the first observation of a new optical phenomenon, magnetoelectric directional anisotropy (MEA). MEA is a polarization-independent anisotropy which occurs in crossed electric field E and magnetic field B perpendicular to the wave vector k of the light. It is described by a contribution to the refractive index of the form (delta)n=(gamma)k x E x B. Our experiment was performed on a Er(1.5)Y(1.5)Al(5)O(12) crystal, but MEA should exist in all media. The relation of this new effect with recently discovered magnetoelectric birefringence is discussed.

Slow oscillations of magnetoresistance in quasi-two-dimensional metals.

Slow oscillations of the interlayer magnetoresistance observed in the layered organic metal beta-(BEDT-TTF)(2)IBr(2) are shown to originate from the slight warping of its Fermi surface rather than from independent small cyclotron orbits. Unlike the usual Shubnikov-de Haas effect, these oscillations are not affected by the temperature smearing of the Fermi distribution and can therefore become dominant at high enough temperatures. We suggest that the slow oscillations are a general feature of clean quasi-two-dimensional metals and discuss possible applications of the phenomenon.

Electrical magnetochiral anisotropy.

Electrical conductors can be chiral, i.e., can exist in two forms where one is the other's mirror image. Thus far, no effect of chirality on magnetotransport has been observed. We argue that the electrical resistance of any chiral conductor should depend linearly both on the external magnetic field and the current through the conductor and on its handedness. We suggest two mechanisms to carry this effect and show experimentally on model systems that both are effective.

Magnetotransverse scattering of surface plasmon polaritons.

We show experimentally that the in-plane scattering of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) is influenced by a perpendicular magnetic field. The average SPP flux is deflected into the direction perpendicular to both its initial propagation direction and the magnetic field direction. From a phenomenological point of view, this is an analogy to the Hall effect for electrons and a 2D equivalent of the photonic Hall effect.

History effects and phase diagram near the lower critical point in YBa2Cu3O7 single crystals.

Using a sensitive torque magnetometer we have studied magnetization curves for untwinned overdoped YBa2Cu3O7 single crystals in fields of up to 28 T. We demonstrate the existence of history effects below the lower critical point and provide a full demarcation of the Bragg-glass phase. A pronounced symmetry is observed in the behavior of the phase lines, irreversible magnetization, and value of the magnetization jump near both critical points.

Generation and detection of phase-coherent current-driven magnons in magnetic multilayers

The magnetic state of a ferromagnet can affect the electrical transport properties of the material; for example, the relative orientation of the magnetic moments in magnetic multilayers underlies the phenomenon of giant magnetoresistance. The inverse effect--in which a large electrical current density can perturb the magnetic state of a multilayer--has been predicted and observed experimentally with point contacts and lithographically patterned samples. Some of these observations were taken as indirect evidence for current-induced excitation of spin waves, or 'magnons'. Here we probe directly the high-frequency behaviour and partial phase coherence of such current-induced excitations, by externally irradiating a point contact with microwaves. We determine the magnon spectrum and investigate how the magnon frequency and amplitude vary with the exciting current. Our observations support the feasibility of a spin-wave maser' or 'SWASER' (spin-wave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation).

Principles and performance of an electron spin echo spectrometer using far infrared lasers as excitation sources.

We have built an electron spin echo spectrometer operating at 604 GHz, extending the frequency limit of existing spectrometers by more than a factor of 4. In order to handle this high frequency we have used optical techniques, i.e., molecular gas lasers for the excitation pulses and far infrared techniques for the heterodyne detection system. The different components of the spectrometer are described in detail and first experimental results are given.