Interface-Generated Spin Currents.

Transport calculations based on ab initio band structures reveal large interface-generated spin currents at Co/Pt, Co/Cu, and Pt/Cu interfaces. These spin currents are driven by in-plane electric fields but flow out of plane and can have similar strengths to spin currents generated by the spin Hall effect in bulk Pt. Each interface generates spin currents with polarization along z[over ^]×E, where z[over ^] is the interface normal and E denotes the electric field. The Co/Cu and Co/Pt interfaces additionally generate spin currents with polarization along m[over ^]×(z[over ^]×E), where m[over ^] gives the magnetization direction of Co. The latter spin polarization is controlled by-but not aligned with-the magnetization, providing a novel mechanism for generating spin torques in magnetic trilayers.

Effect of lithographically-induced strain relaxation on the magnetic domain configuration in microfabricated epitaxially grown Fe81Ga19.

We investigate the role of lithographically-induced strain relaxation in a micron-scaled device fabricated from epitaxial thin films of the magnetostrictive alloy Fe81Ga19. The strain relaxation due to lithographic patterning induces a magnetic anisotropy that competes with the magnetocrystalline and shape induced anisotropies to play a crucial role in stabilising a flux-closing domain pattern. We use magnetic imaging, micromagnetic calculations and linear elastic modelling to investigate a region close to the edges of an etched structure. This highly-strained edge region has a significant influence on the magnetic domain configuration due to an induced magnetic anisotropy resulting from the inverse magnetostriction effect. We investigate the competition between the strain-induced and shape-induced anisotropy energies, and the resultant stable domain configurations, as the width of the bar is reduced to the nanoscale range. Understanding this behaviour will be important when designing hybrid magneto-electric spintronic devices based on highly magnetostrictive materials.

Relativistic Néel-order fields induced by electrical current in antiferromagnets.

We predict that a lateral electrical current in antiferromagnets can induce nonequilibrium Néel-order fields, i.e., fields whose sign alternates between the spin sublattices, which can trigger ultrafast spin-axis reorientation. Based on microscopic transport theory calculations we identify staggered current-induced fields analogous to the intraband and to the intrinsic interband spin-orbit fields previously reported in ferromagnets with a broken inversion-symmetry crystal. To illustrate their rich physics and utility, we consider bulk Mn(2)Au with the two spin sublattices forming inversion partners, and a 2D square-lattice antiferromagnet with broken structural inversion symmetry modeled by a Rashba spin-orbit coupling. We propose an antiferromagnetic memory device with electrical writing and reading.

Domain walls in the (Ga,Mn)as diluted magnetic semiconductor.

We report experimental and theoretical studies of magnetic domain walls in an in-plane magnetized (Ga,Mn)As dilute moment ferromagnetic semiconductor. Our high-resolution electron holography technique provides direct images of domain wall magnetization profiles. The experiments are interpreted based on microscopic calculations of the micromagnetic parameters and Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert simulations. We find that the competition of uniaxial and biaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropies in the film is directly reflected in orientation dependent wall widths, ranging from approximately 40 to 120 nm. The domain walls are of the Néel type and evolve from near-90 degrees walls at low temperatures to large angle [11[over ]0]-oriented walls and small angle [110]-oriented walls at higher temperatures.

Analysis of the beta-glucocerebrosidase gene in Czech and Slovak Gaucher patients: mutation profile and description of six novel mutant alleles.

The aim of this study was to characterize the spectrum of 13-glucocerebrosidase gene mutations in Czech and Slovak Gaucher patients and to study genotype/phenotype associations. We have analyzed fifty-eight chromosomes from twenty-six type I, two type 2, and one type 3 13-glucocerebrosidase deficient subjects by direct sequencing of PCR products. Fifty-eight mutant alleles were identified. Seventy-eight percent of mutant alleles carried common mutations (N370S 28/58, L444P 11/58, recNciI 5/58, and IVS2(+1)A 1/58), the remaining twenty-two percent carried rare and private mutations (1263del55, l326insT, S196P, rec(g4889-6506), 2O3delC, G202E, F216Y, R257X, R12OW, R359Q, S1O7L, L444P + V460V, and D409H + T369M). Six of these alleles have not been previously described (rec(g4889-6506), 1326insT, SI96P. G202E, D409H + T369M, and L444P + V460V). The most common genotypes were N370S/L444P (8/29). N370S/recNciI (5/29), and N370S/N370S (2/29). The spectrum of the mutations is characteristic for a Caucasian (non-Jewish) population, with N370S, L444P and recNciI being the most prevalent mutations. The absence of the mutation 84insG that is frequently associated with severe bone disease may have contributed to the low incidence of severe bone disease in Czech and Slovak Gaucher subjects.