Search

Considering the growing interest in magnetic materials for unconventional computing, data storage, and sensor applications, there is active research not only on material synthesis but also characterisation of their properties. In addition to structural and integral magnetic characterisations, imaging of magnetization patterns, current distributions and magnetic fields at nano- and microscale is of major importance to understand the material responses and qualify them for specific applications. In this roadmap, we aim to cover a broad portfolio of techniques to perform nano- and microscale magnetic imaging using SQUIDs, spin center and Hall effect magnetometries, scanning probe microscopies, x-ray- and electron-based methods as well as magnetooptics and nanoMRI. The roadmap is aimed as a single access point of information for experts in the field as well as the young generation of students outlining prospects of the development of magnetic imaging technologies for the upcoming decade with a focus on physics, materials science, and chemistry of planar, 3D and geometrically curved objects of different material classes including 2D materials, complex oxides, semi-metals, multiferroics, skyrmions, antiferromagnets, frustrated magnets, magnetic molecules/nanoparticles, ionic conductors, superconductors, spintronic and spinorbitronic materials.

Piezoelectrics are materials that linearly deform in response to an applied electric field. As a fundamental prerequisite, piezoelectric material must possess a non centrosymmetric crystal structure. For more than a century, this remains the major obstacle for finding new piezoelectric materials. We circumvent this limitation by breaking the crystallographic symmetry, and inducing large and sustainable piezoelectric effects in centrosymmetric materials by electric field induced rearrangement of oxygen vacancies Surprisingly, the results show the generation of extraordinarily large piezoelectric responses d33 ~200,000 pm/V), in cubic fluorite Gd-doped CeO2-x films, which is two orders of magnitude larger than in the presently best known lead based piezoelectric relaxor ferroelectric oxide. These findings open opportunities to design new piezoelectric materials from environmentally friendly centrosymmetric ones.

Modern computation based on the von Neumann architecture is today a mature cutting-edge science. In the Von Neumann architecture, processing and memory units are implemented as separate blocks interchanging data intensively and continuously. This data transfer is responsible for a large part of the power consumption. The next generation computer technology is expected to solve problems at the exascale with 1018 calculations each second. Even though these future computers will be incredibly powerful, if they are based on von Neumann type architectures, they will consume between 20 and 30 megawatts of power and will not have intrinsic physically built-in capabilities to learn or deal with complex data as our brain does. These needs can be addressed by neuromorphic computing systems which are inspired by the biological concepts of the human brain. This new generation of computers has the potential to be used for the storage and processing of large amounts of digital information with much lower power consumption than conventional processors. Among their potential future applications, an important niche is moving the control from data centers to edge devices. The aim of this Roadmap is to present a snapshot of the present state of neuromorphic technology and provide an opinion on the challenges and opportunities that the future holds in the major areas of neuromorphic technology, namely materials, devices, neuromorphic circuits, neuromorphic algorithms, applications, and ethics. The Roadmap is a collection of perspectives where leading researchers in the neuromorphic community provide their own view about the current state and the future challenges. We hope that this Roadmap will be a useful resource to readers outside this field, for those who are just entering the field, and for those who are well established in the neuromorphic community. https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4386/ac4a83

The magnetic and electronic nature of the gamma-Al2O3/SrTiO3 spinel/perovskite interface is explored by means of x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Polarized x-ray techniques combined with atomic multiplet calculations reveal localized magnetic moments assigned to Ti3+ at the interface with equivalent size for in- and out-of-plane magnetic field directions. Although magnetic fingerprints are revealed, the Ti3+ magnetism can be explained by a paramagnetic response at low temperature under applied magnetic fields. Modeling the x-ray linear dichroism results in a delta0 = 1.9 eV splitting between the t2g and eg states for the Ti4+ 3d0 orbitals. In addition these results indicate that the lowest energy states have the out-of-plane dxz/dyz symmetry. The isotropic magnetic moment behavior and the lowest energy dxz/dyz states are in contrast to the observations for the two-dimensional electron gas at the perovskite/perovskite interface of LaAlO3/SrTiO3, that exhibits an anisotropic magnetic dxy ground state., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures

Polar discontinuities and redox reactions provide alternative paths to create two-dimensional electron liquids (2DELs) at oxide interfaces. Herein, we report high mobility 2DELs at interfaces involving SrTiO3 (STO) achieved using polar La7/8Sr1/8MnO3 (LSMO) buffer layers to manipulate both polarities and redox reactions from disordered overlayers grown at room temperature. Using resonant x-ray reflectometry experiments, we quantify redox reactions from oxide overlayers on STO as well as polarity induced electronic reconstruction at epitaxial LSMO/STO interfaces. The analysis reveals how these effects can be combined in a STO/LSMO/disordered film trilayer system to yield high mobility modulation doped 2DELs, where the buffer layer undergoes a partial transformation from perovskite to brownmillerite structure. This uncovered interplay between polar discontinuities and redox reactions via buffer layers provides a new approach for the design of functional oxide interfaces., Comment: Nano Letters, 2017

The introduction of manganite buffer layers, La7/8Sr1/8MnO3 (LSMO) in particular, at the metallic interface between SrTiO3 (STO) and another band insulator suppresses the carrier density of the interfacial two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) and improves significantly the electron mobility. However, the mechanisms underlying the extreme mobility enhancement remain elusive. Herein, we used 18O isotope exchanged SrTi18O3 as substrates to create 2DEG at room temperature with and without the LSMO buffer layer. By mapping the oxygen profile across the interface between STO18 and disordered LaAlO3 or yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), we provide unambiguous evidence that redox reactions occur at oxide interfaces even grown at room temperature. Moreover, the manganite buffer layer not only suppresses the carrier density but also strongly suppresses the oxygen exchange dynamics of the STO substrate, which likely prevents the reduction of STO during the formation of the 2DEG. The underlying mechanism on the enhanced electron mobility at buffered oxide interfaces is also discussed., Comment: to be apprear in PRMater, 2017

Herein, we reported giant tunability of the physical properties of 2DEGs at the spinel/perovskite interface of {\gamma}-Al2O3/SrTiO3 (GAO/STO). By modulating the carrier density thus the band filling with ionic-liquid gating, the system experiences a Lifshitz transition at a critical carrier density of 3E13 cm-2, where a remarkably strong enhancement of Rashba spin-orbit interaction and an emergence of Kondo effect at low temperatures are observed. Moreover, as the carrier concentration depletes with decreasing gating voltage, the electron mobility is enhanced by more than 6 times in magnitude, leading to the observation of clear quantum oscillations. The great tunability of GAO/STO interface by EDLT gating not only shows promise for design of oxide devices with on-demand properties, but also sheds new light on the electronic structure of 2DEG at the non-isostructural spinel/perovskite interface., Comment: Nano Letters 2017

The spinel/perovskite heterointerface $\gamma$-Al$_2$O$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ hosts a two-dimensional electron system (2DES) with electron mobilities exceeding those in its all-perovskite counterpart LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ by more than an order of magnitude despite the abundance of oxygen vacancies which act as electron donors as well as scattering sites. By means of resonant soft x-ray photoemission spectroscopy and \textit{ab initio} calculations we reveal the presence of a sharply localized type of oxygen vacancies at the very interface due to the local breaking of the perovskite symmetry. We explain the extraordinarily high mobilities by reduced scattering resulting from the preferential formation of interfacial oxygen vacancies and spatial separation of the resulting 2DES in deeper SrTiO$_3$ layers. Our findings comply with transport studies and pave the way towards defect engineering at interfaces of oxides with different crystal structures., Comment: Accepted as Rapid Communications in Physical Review B

The two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the non-isostructural interface between spinel gamma-Al2O3 and perovskite SrTiO3 is featured by a record electron mobility among complex oxide interfaces in addition to a high carrier density up to the order of 1E15 cm-2. Herein, we report on the patterning of 2DEG at the gamma-Al2O3/SrTiO3 interface grown at 650 {\deg}C by pulsed laser deposition using a hard mask of LaMnO3. The patterned 2DEG exhibits a critical thickness of 2 unit cells of gamma-Al2O3 for the occurrence of interface conductivity, similar to the unpatterned sample. However, its maximum carrier density is found to be approximately 3E13 cm-2, much lower than that of the unpatterned sample (1E15 cm-2). Remarkably, a high electron mobility of approximately 3,600 cm2V-1s-1 was obtained at low temperatures for the patterned 2DEG at a carrier density of 7E12 cm-2, which exhibits clear Shubnikov-de Hass quantum oscillations. The patterned high-mobility 2DEG at the gamma-Al2O3/SrTiO3 interface paves the way for the design and application of spinel/perovskite interfaces for high-mobility all-oxide electronic devices., Comment: 4 figures

Metallic LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ (LAO/STO) interfaces attract enormous attention, but the relationship between the electron mobility and the sheet electron density, $n_s$, is poorly understood. Here we derive a simple expression for the three-dimensional electron density near the interface, $n_{3D}$, as a function of $n_s$ and find that the mobility for LAO/STO-based interfaces depends on $n_{3D}$ in the same way as it does for bulk doped STO. It is known that undoped bulk STO is strongly compensated with $N \simeq 5 \times 10^{18}~\rm{cm^{-3}}$ background donors and acceptors. In intentionally doped bulk STO with a concentration of electrons $n_{3D} < N$ background impurities determine the electron scattering. Thus, when $n_{3D} < N$ it is natural to see in LAO/STO the same mobility as in the bulk. On the other hand, in the bulk samples with $n_{3D} > N$ the mobility collapses because scattering happens on $n_{3D}$ intentionally introduced donors. For LAO/STO the polar catastrophe which provides electrons is not supposed to provide equal number of random donors and thus the mobility should be larger. The fact that the mobility is still the same implies that for the LAO/STO the polar catastrophe model should be revisited., Comment: 4 pages and 1 figure

Modulation-doped oxide two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed at the LaMnO3 (LMO) buffered disorderd-LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (d-LAO/LMO/STO) heterointerface, provides new opportunities for electronics as well as quantum physics. Herein, we studied the dependence of Sr-doping of La1-xSrxMnO3 (LSMO, x=0, 1/8, 1/3, 1/2, and 1) thus the filling of the Mn eg subbands as well as the LSMO polarity on the transport properties of d-LAO/LSMO/STO. Upon increasing the LSMO film thickness from 1 unit cell (uc) to 2 uc, a sharp metal to insulator transition of interface conduction was observed, independent of x. The resultant electron mobility is often higher than 1900 cm2V-1s-1 at 2 K, which increases upon decreasing x. The sheet carrier density, on the other hand, is in the range of 6.9E1012~1.8E1013 cm-2 (0.01~0.03 e/uc) and is largely independent on x for all the metallic d-LAO/LSMO (1 uc)/STO interfaces. These results are consistent with the charge transfer induced modulation doping scheme and clarify that the polarity of the buffer layer plays a trivial role on the modulation doping. The negligible tunability of the carrier density could result from the reduction of LSMO during the deposition of disordered LAO or that the energy levels of Mn 3d electrons at the interface of LSMO/STO are hardly varied even when changing the LSMO composition from LMO to SrMnO3., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, to be published in JAP, March 2017

An experimental realization of a heat exchanger with commercial thermoelectric generators (TEGs) is presented. The power producing capabilities as a function of flow rate and temperature span are characterized for two different commercial heat transfer fluids and for three different thermal interface materials. The device is shown to produce 2 W per TEG or 0.22 W cm$^{-2}$ at a fluid temperature difference of 175 $^\circ$C and a flow rate per fluid channel of 5 L min$^{-1}$. One experimentally realized design produced 200 W in total from 100 TEGs. For the design considered here, the power production is shown to depend more critically on the fluid temperature span than on the fluid flow rate. Finally, the temperature span across the TEG is shown to be 55% to 75% of the temperature span between the hot and cold fluids., Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures

A numerical model able to simulate solid-state constrained sintering is presented. The model couples an existing kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) model for free sintering with a finite element model (FEM) for calculating stresses on a microstructural level. The microstructural response to the local stress as well as the FEM calculation of the stress field from the microstructural evolution is discussed. The sintering behavior of a sample constrained by a rigid substrate is simulated. The constrained sintering results in a larger number of pores near the substrate, as well as anisotropic sintering shrinkage, with significantly enhanced strain in the central upper part of the sample surface, and minimal strain at the edges near the substrate. All these features have also previously been observed experimentally., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures

The discovery of two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) at the interface between two insulating complex oxides, such as LaAlO3 (LAO) or gamma-Al2O3 (GAO) epitaxially grown on SrTiO3 (STO) 1,2, provides an opportunity for developing all-oxide electronic devices3,4. These 2DEGs at complex oxide interfaces involve many-body interactions and give rise to a rich set of phenomena5, for example, superconductivity6, magnetism7,8, tunable metal-insulator transitions9, and phase separation10. However, large enhancement of the interfacial electron mobility remains a major and long-standing challenge for fundamental as well as applied research of complex oxides11-15. Here, we inserted a single unit cell insulating layer of polar La1-xSrxMnO3 (x=0, 1/8, and 1/3) at the interface between disordered LaAlO3 and crystalline SrTiO3 created at room temperature. We find that the electron mobility of the interfacial 2DEG is enhanced by more than two orders of magnitude. Our in-situ and resonant x-ray spectroscopic in addition to transmission electron microscopy results indicate that the manganite layer undergoes unambiguous electronic reconstruction and leads to modulation doping of such atomically engineered complex oxide heterointerfaces. At low temperatures, the modulation-doped 2DEG exhibits clear Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations and the initial manifestation of the quantum Hall effect, demonstrating an unprecedented high-mobility and low electron density oxide 2DEG system. These findings open new avenues for oxide electronics., Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Nature Materials

An expression is determined for the mass of the magnet and magnetocaloric material needed for a magnetic refrigerator and these are determined using numerical modeling for both parallel plate and packed sphere bed regenerators as function of temperature span and cooling power. As magnetocaloric material Gd or a model material with a constant adiabatic temperature change, representing a infinitely linearly graded refrigeration device, is used. For the magnet a maximum figure of merit magnet or a Halbach cylinder is used. For a cost of \$40 and \$20 per kg for the magnet and magnetocaloric material, respectively, the cheapest 100 W parallel plate refrigerator with a temperature span of 20 K using Gd and a Halbach magnet has 0.8 kg of magnet, 0.3 kg of Gd and a cost of \$35. Using the constant material reduces this cost to \$25. A packed sphere bed refrigerator with the constant material costs \$7. It is also shown that increasing the operation frequency reduces the cost. Finally, the lowest cost is also found as a function of the cost of the magnet and magnetocaloric material., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures

A general scheme for increasing the difference in magnetic flux density between a high and a low magnetic field region by removing unnecessary magnet material is presented. This is important in, e.g., magnetic refrigeration where magnet arrays has to deliver high field regions in close proximity to low field regions. Also, a general way to replace magnet material with a high permeability soft magnetic material where appropriate is discussed. As an example these schemes are applied to a two dimensional concentric Halbach cylinder design resulting in a reduction of the amount of magnet material used by 42% while increasing the difference in flux density between a high and a low field region by 45%., Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures

A permanent magnet assembly in which the flux density can be altered by a mechanical operation is often significantly smaller than comparable electromagnets and also requires no electrical power to operate. In this paper five permanent magnet designs in which the magnetic flux density can be altered are analyzed using numerical simulations, and compared based on the generated magnetic flux density in a sample volume and the amount of magnet material used. The designs are the concentric Halbach cylinder, the two half Halbach cylinders, the two linear Halbach arrays and the four and six rod mangle. The concentric Halbach cylinder design is found to be the best performing design, i.e. the design that provides the most magnetic flux density using the least amount of magnet material. A concentric Halbach cylinder has been constructed and the magnetic flux density, the homogeneity and the direction of the magnetic field are measured and compared with numerical simulation and a good agreement is found., Comment: 9 pages, 13 figures

A magnet designed for use in a magnetic refrigeration device is presented. The magnet is designed by applying two general schemes for improving a magnet design to a concentric Halbach cylinder magnet design and dimensioning and segmenting this design in an optimum way followed by the construction of the actual magnet. The final design generates a peak value of 1.24 T, an average flux density of 0.9 T in a volume of 2 L using only 7.3 L of magnet, and has an average low flux density of 0.08 T also in a 2 L volume. The working point of all the permanent magnet blocks in the design is very close to the maximum energy density. The final design is characterized in terms of a performance parameter, and it is shown that it is one of the best performing magnet designs published for magnetic refrigeration., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures

The sintering behavior of close packed spheres is investigated using a numerical model. The investigated systems are the body centered cubic (BCC), face centered cubic (FCC) and hexagonal closed packed spheres (HCP). The sintering behavior is found to be ideal with no grain growth until full density is reached for all systems. During sintering the grains change shape from spherical to tetrakaidecahedron, similar to the geometry analyzed by Coble (R. L. Coble, J. Appl. Phys. 32 (1961) 787)., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

One of the key issues in magnetic refrigeration is generating the magnetic field that the magnetocaloric material must be subjected to. The magnet constitutes a major part of the expense of a complete magnetic refrigeration system and a large effort should therefore be invested in improving the magnet design. A detailed analysis of the efficiency of different published permanent magnet designs used in magnetic refrigeration applications is presented in this paper. Each design is analyzed based on the generated magnetic flux density, the volume of the region where this flux is generated and the amount of magnet material used. This is done by characterizing each design by a figure of merit magnet design efficiency parameter, $\Lambda_\mathrm{cool}$. The designs are then compared and the best design found. Finally recommendations for designing the ideal magnet design are presented based on the analysis of the reviewed designs., Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures

Shrinkage strains measured from microstructural simulations using the mesoscale kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) model for solid state sintering are discussed. This model represents the microstructure using digitized discrete sites that are either grain or pore sites. The algorithm used to simulate densification by vacancy annihilation removes an isolated pore site at a grain boundary and collapses a column of sites extending from the vacancy to the surface of sintering compact, through the center of mass of the nearest grain. Using this algorithm, the existing published kMC models are shown to produce anisotropic strains for homogeneous powder compacts with aspect ratios different from unity. It is shown that the line direction biases shrinkage strains in proportion the compact dimension aspect ratios. A new algorithm that corrects this bias in strains is proposed; the direction for collapsing the column is determined by choosing a random sample face and subsequently a random point on that face as the end point for an annihilation path with equal probabilities. This algorithm is mathematically and experimentally shown to result in isotropic strains for all samples regardless of their dimensions. Finally, the microstructural evolution is shown to be similar for the new and old annihilation algorithms., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures

A 3D thermoelectric numerical model is used to investigate different internal heat loss mechanisms for a thermoelectric generator with bismuth telluride p- and n-legs. The model considers all thermoelectric effects, temperature dependent material parameters and simultaneous convective, conductive and radiative heat losses, including surface to surface radiation. For radiative heat losses it is shown that for the temperatures considered here, surface to ambient radiation is a good approximation of the heat loss. For conductive heat transfer the module efficiency is shown to be comparable to the case of radiative losses. Finally, heat losses due to internal natural convection in the module is shown to be negligible for the millimetre sized modules considered here. The combined case of radiative and conductive heat transfer resulted in the lowest efficiency. The optimized load resistance is found to decrease for increased heat loss. The leg dimensions are varied for all heat losses cases and it is shown that the ideal way to construct a TEG module with minimal heat losses and maximum efficiency is to either use a good insulating material between the legs or evacuate the module completely, and use small and wide legs closely spaced., Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures

In this paper we describe the results of a parameter survey of a 16 segmented Halbach cylinder in three dimensions in which the parameters internal radius, $r_{\mathrm{\scriptsize{in}}}$, external radius, $r_{\mathrm{\scriptsize{ex}}}$, and length, $L$, have been varied. Optimal values of $r_{\mathrm{\scriptsize{ex}}}$ and $L$ were found for a Halbach cylinder with the least possible volume of magnets with a given mean flux density in the cylinder bore. The volume of the cylinder bore could also be significantly increase by only slightly increasing the volume of the magnets, for a fixed mean flux density. Placing additional blocks of magnets on the end faces of the Halbach cylinder also improved the mean flux density in the cylinder bore, especially so for short Halbach cylinders with large $r_{\mathrm{\scriptsize{ex}}}$. Moreover magnetic cooling as an application for Halbach cylinders was considered. A magnetic cooling quality parameter, $\Lambda_{\mathrm{cool}}$, was introduced and results showed that this parameter was optimal for long Halbach cylinders with small $r_{\mathrm{\scriptsize{ex}}}$. Using the previously mentioned additional blocks of magnets can improve the parameter by as much as 15% as well as improve the homogeneity of the field in the cylinder bore., Comment: 10 pages, 15 figures

The densification, delamination and crack growth behavior in a Ce$_{0.9}$Gd$_{0.1}$O$_{1.95}$ (CGO) and (La$_{0.85}$Sr$_{0.15})_{0.9}$MnO$_{3}$ (LSM) multi-layer ceramic sample was studied using in situ X-ray tomographic microscopy (microtomography), to investigate the critical dynamics of crack propagation and delamination in a multilayered sample. Naturally occurring defects, caused by the sample preparation process, are shown not to be critical in sample degradation. Instead defects are nucleated during the debinding step. Crack growth is significantly faster along the material layers than perpendicular to them, and crack growth and delamination only accelerates when sintering occurs., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures

The Halbach cylinder is a construction of permanent magnets used in applications such as nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus, accelerator magnets and magnetic cooling devices. In this paper the analytical expression for the magnetic vector potential, magnetic flux density and magnetic field for a two dimensional Halbach cylinder are derived. The remanent flux density of a Halbach magnet is characterized by the integer $p$. For a number of applications the force and torque between two concentric Halbach cylinders are important. These quantities are calculated and the force is shown to be zero except for the case where $p$ for the inner magnet is one minus $p$ for the outer magnet. Also the force is shown never to be balancing. The torque is shown to be zero unless the inner magnet $p$ is equal to minus the outer magnet $p$. Thus there can never be a force and a torque in the same system.

Electrical field and light-illumination have been two most widely used stimuli in tuning the conductivity of semiconductor devices. Via capacitive effect electrical field modifies the carrier density of the devices, while light-illumination generates extra carriers by exciting trapped electrons into conduction band1. Here, we report on an unexpected light illumination enhanced field effect in a quasi-two-dimensional electron gas (q2DEG) confined at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO) interface which has been the focus of emergent phenomenon exploration2-14. We found that light illumination greatly accelerates and amplifies the field effect, driving the field-induced resistance growth which originally lasts for thousands of seconds into an abrupt resistance jump more than two orders of magnitude. Also, the field-induced change in carrier density is much larger than that expected from the capacitive effect, and can even be opposite to the conventional photoelectric effect. This work expands the space for novel effect exploration and multifunctional device design at complex oxide interfaces.

Well-controlled sub-unit-cell layer-by-layer epitaxial growth of spinel alumina is achieved at room temperature on the TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 single crystalline substrate. By tailoring the interface redox reaction, two-dimensional electron gases with mobilities exceeding 3000 cm2V-1s-1 are achieved at this novel oxide interface., Comment: Adv. Mater. published on-line

The discovery of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at well-defined interfaces between insulating complex oxides provides the opportunity for a new generation of all-oxide electronics. Particularly, the 2DEG at the interface between two perovskite insulators represented by the formula of ABO3, such as LaAlO3 and SrTiO3, has attracted significant attention. In recent years, progresses have been made to decipher the puzzle of the origin of interface conduction, to design new types of oxide interfaces, and to improve the interfacial carrier mobility significantly. These achievements open the door to explore fundamental as well as applied physics of complex oxides. Here, we review our recent experimental work on metallic and insulating interfaces controlled by interfacial redox reactions in SrTiO3-based heterostructures. Due to the presence of oxygen-vacancies at the SrTiO3 surface, metallic conduction can be created at room temperature in perovskite-type interfaces when the overlayer oxide ABO3 involves Al, Ti, Zr, or Hf elements at the B-sites. Furthermore, relying on interface-stabilized oxygen vacancies, we have created a new type of 2DEG at the heterointerface between SrTiO3 and a spinel {\gamma}-Al2O3 epitaxial film with compatible oxygen ions sublattices. The spinel/perovskite oxide 2DEG exhibits an electron mobility exceeding 100,000 cm2V-1s-1, more than one order of magnitude higher than those of hitherto investigated perovskite-type interfaces. Our findings pave the way for design of high-mobility all-oxide electronic devices and open a route towards studies of mesoscopic physics with complex oxides., Comment: 29 pages, 11 figures. Invited topical review for Chin. Phys. B.; To be published in Dec. 2013

The discovery of two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) at the heterointerface between two insulating perovskite-type oxides, such as LaAlO3 and SrTiO3, provides opportunities for a new generation of all-oxide electronic and photonic devices. However, significant improvement of the interfacial electron mobility beyond the current value of approximately 1,000 cm2V-1s-1 (at low temperatures), remains a key challenge for fundamental as well as applied research of complex oxides. Here, we present a new type of 2DEG created at the heterointerface between SrTiO3 and a spinel {\gamma}-Al2O3 epitaxial film with excellent quality and compatible oxygen ions sublattices. This spinel/perovskite oxide heterointerface exhibits electron mobilities more than one order of magnitude higher than those of perovskite/perovskite oxide interfaces, and demonstrates unambiguous two-dimensional conduction character as revealed by the observation of quantum magnetoresistance oscillations. Furthermore, we find that the spinel/perovskite 2DEG results from interface-stabilized oxygen vacancies and is confined within a layer of 0.9 nm in proximity to the heterointerface. Our findings pave the way for studies of mesoscopic physics with complex oxides and design of high-mobility all-oxide electronic devices., Comment: 25pages, 5 figures

Magnetic refrigeration at room temperature is of great interest due to a long-term goal of making refrigeration more energy-efficient, less noisy and free of any environmentally hostile materials. A refrigerator utilizing an active magnetic regenerator (AMR) is based on the magnetocaloric effect, which manifests itself as a temperature change in magnetic materials when subjected to a varying magnetic field. In this work we present the current state of magnetic refrigeration research at Risoe DTU with emphasis on the numerical modeling of an existing AMR test machine. A 2D numerical heat-transfer and fluid-flow model that represents the experimental setup is presented. Experimental data of both no-heat load and heat load situations are compared to the model. Moreover, results from the numerical modeling of the permanent magnet design used in the system are presented., Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, conference paper