Controllability and Observability of 2-DOF Permanent Magnet Maglev System with Linear Control

A new type of 2-DOF(degree of freedom) magnetic levitation system for multi-DOF levitation is proposed. In this system, the force of permanent magnets are used for levitation and controlled by adjusting the reluctance of the magnetic circuit. Using permanent magnets, the feature of this system is effective for saving energy and avoiding heat generation. First, the principle of the levitation system and typical reluctance control methods are described. Second, an experimental device based on the principle is introduced. Finally, the feasibility of this system is considered from linear control theory.     

Opportunities in magnetic materials

Recent discoveries of new magnetic materials may greatly improve the performance of devices containing such materials and may lead to entirely new applications. For example, boron-based temary compounds for permanent magnets make new compact motor designs practical; amorphous transformer materials show greatly reduced losses at high frequencies; and thin magnetic alloy films offer increased data storage densities. The major technical issues associated with the new magnetic materials are identified.     

Vortex core-driven magnetization dynamics

Time-resolved x-ray imaging shows that the magnetization dynamics of a micron-sized pattern containing a ferromagnetic vortex is determined by its handedness, or chirality. The out-of-plane magnetization in the nanometer-scale vortex core induces a three-dimensional handedness in the planar magnetic structure, leading to a precessional motion of the core parallel to a subnanosecond field pulse. The core velocity was an order of magnitude higher than expected from the static susceptibility. These results demonstrate that handedness, already well known to be important in biological systems, plays an important role in the dynamics of microscopic magnets.     

Large clusters of metal ions: the transition from molecular to bulk magnets

Clusters of metal ions are a class of compounds actively investigated for their magnetic properties, which should gradually change from those of simple paramagnets to those of bulk magnets. However, their interest lies in a number of different disciplines: chemistry, which seeks new synthetic strategies to make larger and larger clusters in a controlled manner; physics, which can test the validity of quantum mechanical approaches at the nanometer scale; and biology, which can use them as models of biomineralization of magnetic particles.     

Viking magnetic properties investigation: further results

The amounts of magnetic particles held on the reference test chart and backhoe magnets on lander 2 and lander 1 are comparable, indicating the presence of an estimated 3 to 7 percent by weight of relatively pure, strongly magnetic particles in the soil at the lander 2 sampling site. Preliminary spectrophotometric analysis of the material held on the backhoe magnets on lander 1 indicates that its reflectance characteristics are indistinguishable from material within a sampling trench with which it has been compared. The material on the RTC magnet shows a different spectrum, but it is suspected that the difference is the result of a reflectance contribution from the magnesium metal covering on the magnet. It is argued that the results indicate the presence, now or originally, of magnetite, which may be titaniferous.     

High-temperature molecular magnets based on cyanovanadate building blocks: spontaneous magnetization at 230 k

The molecular-based magnetic materials Cs(2)Mn(||)[V(||)(CN)(6)] (1) and (Et(4)N)(0.5)Mn(l.25)- [V(CN)(5)].2H(2)O (2) (where Et is ethyl) were prepared by the addition of manganese(II) triflate to aqueous solutions of the hexacyanovanadate(II) ion at 0 degrees C. Whereas 1 crystallizes in a face-centered cubic lattice, 2 crystallizes in a noncubic space group. The cesium salt (1) has features characteristic of a three-dimensional ferrimagnet with a Néel transition at 125 kelvin. The tetraethylammonium salt (2) also behaves as a three-dimensional ferrimagnet with a Néel temperature of 230 kelvin; only two other molecular magnets have higher magnetic ordering temperatures. Saturation magnetization measurements indicate that in both compounds the V(II) and high-spin Mn(II) centers are antiferromagnetically coupled. Both 1 and 2 exhibit hysteresis loops characteristic of soft magnets below their magnetic phase-transition temperatures. The high magnetic ordering temperatures of these cyano-bridged solids confirm that the incorporation of early transition elements into the lattice promotes stronger magnetic coupling by enhancing the backbonding into the cyanide pi* orbitals.     

Ex situ NMR in highly homogeneous fields: 1H spectroscopy

Portable single-sided nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) magnets used for nondestructive studies of large samples are believed to generate inherently inhomogeneous magnetic fields. We demonstrated experimentally that the field of an open magnet can be shimmed to high homogeneity in a large volume external to the sensor. This technique allowed us to measure localized high-resolution proton spectra outside a portable open magnet with a spectral resolution of 0.25 part per million. The generation of these experimental conditions also simplifies the implementation of such powerful methodologies as multidimensional NMR spectroscopy and imaging.     

Quantum coherence in an exchange-coupled dimer of single-molecule magnets

A multi- high-frequency electron paramagnetic resonance method is used to probe the magnetic excitations of a dimer of single-molecule magnets. The measured spectra display well-resolved quantum transitions involving coherent superposition states of both molecules. The behavior may be understood in terms of an isotropic superexchange coupling between pairs of single-molecule magnets, in analogy with several recently proposed quantum devices based on artificially fabricated quantum dots or clusters. These findings highlight the potential utility of supramolecular chemistry in the design of future quantum devices based on molecular nanomagnets.     

High-field, high-current superconductors

This article deals with superconducting materials which have zero electrical resistance while carrying high electrical current densities (around 10(6) amperes per square centimeter) in high magnetic fields (up to 50 teslas). The technological importance of these materials is due to their use in the windings of loss-free electromagnets which generate high magnetic fields. Such magnets are the foundation for superconducting electrotechnology, a rapidly growing field whose applications include advanced electrical machines and fusion reactors. The article focuses primarily on the materials aspects of this new techology. A brief overview is given of the physical principles which underlie this special type of superconducting behavior, and some of the important basic parameters are examined. The technology required to adapt the materials to electromagnets is also discussed. A few concluding remarks concern future possibilities for materials that can be used in generating very high magnetic fields.     

Direct observation of internal spin structure of magnetic vortex cores

Thin film nanoscale elements with a curling magnetic structure (vortex) are a promising candidate for future nonvolatile data storage devices. Their properties are strongly influenced by the spin structure in the vortex core. We have used spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy on nanoscale iron islands to probe for the first time the internal spin structure of magnetic vortex cores. Using tips coated with a layer of antiferromagnetic chromium, we obtained images of the curling in-plane magnetization around and of the out-of-plane magnetization inside the core region. The experimental data are compared with micromagnetic simulations. The results confirm theoretical predictions that the size and the shape of the vortex core as well as its magnetic field dependence are governed by only two material parameters, the exchange stiffness and the saturation magnetization that determines the stray field energy.     

Large magnetic anisotropy of a single atomic spin embedded in a surface molecular network

Magnetic anisotropy allows magnets to maintain their direction of magnetization over time. Using a scanning tunneling microscope to observe spin excitations, we determined the orientation and strength of the anisotropies of individual iron and manganese atoms on a thin layer of copper nitride. The relative intensities of the inelastic tunneling processes are consistent with dipolar interactions, as seen for inelastic neutron scattering. First-principles calculations indicate that the magnetic atoms become incorporated into a polar covalent surface molecular network in the copper nitride. These structures, which provide atom-by-atom accessibility via local probes, have the potential for engineering anisotropies large enough to produce stable magnetization at low temperatures for a single atomic spin.     

Viking magnetic properties investigation: preliminary results

Three permanent magnet arrays are aboard the Viking lander. By sol 35, one array, fixed on a photometric reference test chart on top of the lander, has clearly attracted magnetic particles from airborne dust; two other magnet arrays, one strong and one weak, incorporated in the backhoe of the surface sampler, have both extracted considerable magnetic mineral from the surface as a result of nine insertions associated with sample acquisition. The loose martian surface material around the landing site is judged to contain 3 to 7 percent highly magnetic mineral which, pending spectrophotometric study, is thought to be mainly magnetite.     

Elimination of current dissipation in high transition temperature superconductors

The relaxation of the shielding current-induced magnetic moment in YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7) thin films, which were grown in situ, is studied as a function of temperature. Although typical relaxations cause a large amount of decay in the magnetic shielding current (on the order of 10 to 20 percent for the first 1000 seconds), it is shown that this is not necessarily a serious problem for applications such as magnets operating in persistent-current modes. This is because the decay of the magnetic shielding current depends sensitively on how far away the operating current density is from the critical current density J(c). By using a quenching process the shielding current is reduced slightly below J(c) and the relaxation is dramatically reduced. A general relation between the relaxation rate at J(c) and the reduction of the relaxation rate upon lowering of the operating current is obtained and is shown to be consistent with experimental data.     

Majority logic gate for magnetic quantum-dot cellular automata

We describe the operation of, and demonstrate logic functionality in, networks of physically coupled, nanometer-scale magnets designed for digital computation in magnetic quantum-dot cellular automata (MQCA) systems. MQCA offer low power dissipation and high integration density of functional elements and operate at room temperature. The basic MQCA logic gate, that is, the three-input majority logic gate, is demonstrated.     

Corrections and clarifications

The News & Comment article "DOE ponders yet more uses for SSC" (13 May, p. 898) by Christopher Anderson incompletely identified the source of a proposal to use Superconducting Super Collider magnets to measure the refractive index of light in a strong magnetic field. The principal investigator is Talso Chui at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, in collaboration with researchers from a group of institutions in the United States and the Republic of China.     

一种马铃薯漏播检测及补偿装置的研制

针对现有的链勺式排种器马铃薯播种机作业过程中普遍存在的漏播现象,以PIC16F877单片机为核心,提出了一种由漏播检测启动信号生成电路、红外漏播检测电路和窝眼轮式排种系统构成的漏播检测补偿新方案。漏播检测启动信号生成电路主要由永磁铁和干簧继电器电路构成,每当固定于取种勺底板上的永磁铁略过干簧继电器时,都会触发系统进行一次基于红外信号发射、接收的漏播检测工作,系统软件基于PIC16F877特定引脚上一定时间段内发生电平变化的次数做出是否漏播的判断;如果确定漏播事件发生,PIC16F877将迅速发出补种指令,窝眼轮式排种器在步进电机带动下迅速旋转90°将待补薯种排入导种槽,从而实现漏播补偿。试验结果表明,该系统漏播检测的准确率99.8%,补种成功率75%,总播种成功率96.5%,链勺式排种器马铃薯播种机的漏播被有效抑制。     

Matrix-Mediated Synthesis of Nanocrystalline ggr-Fe2O3: A New Optically Transparent Magnetic Material

A new magnetic material with appreciable optical transmission in the visible region at room temperature has been isolated as a gamma-Fe(2)O(3)/polymer nanocomposite. The synthesis is carried out in an ion-exchange resin at 60 degrees C. Magnetization and susceptibility data demonstrate loading-dependent saturation moments as high as 46 electromagnetic units per gram and superparamagnetism for lower loadings where particle sizes are less than 100 angstroms. Optical absorption studies show that the small-particle form of gamma-Fe(2)O(3) is considerably more transparent to visible light than the single-crystal form. The difference in absorption ranges from nearly an order of magnitude in the "red" spectral region to a factor of 3 at 5400 angstroms. The magnetization of the nanocomposite is greater by more than an order of magnitude than those of the strongest room-temperature transparent magnets, FeBO(3) and FeF(3).     

Galileo magnetometer measurements: a stronger case for a subsurface ocean at Europa

On 3 January 2000, the Galileo spacecraft passed close to Europa when it was located far south of Jupiter's magnetic equator in a region where the radial component of the magnetospheric magnetic field points inward toward Jupiter. This pass with a previously unexamined orientation of the external forcing field distinguished between an induced and a permanent magnetic dipole moment model of Europa's internal field. The Galileo magnetometer measured changes in the magnetic field predicted if a current-carrying outer shell, such as a planet-scale liquid ocean, is present beneath the icy surface. The evidence that Europa's field varies temporally strengthens the argument that a liquid ocean exists beneath the present-day surface.     

Earth's core and the geodynamo

Earth's magnetic field is generated by fluid motion in the liquid iron core. Details of how this occurs are now emerging from numerical simulations that achieve a self-sustaining magnetic field. Early results predict a dominant dipole field outside the core, and some models even reproduce magnetic reversals. The simulations also show how different patterns of flow can produce similar external fields. Efforts to distinguish between the various possibilities appeal to observations of the time-dependent behavior of the field. Important constraints will come from geological records of the magnetic field in the past.     

Superconducting Magnets in High-Energy Physics: Large-scale magnets that dissipate no electrical power are under construction for high-energy physics research

The promise of superconductivity making possible large magnets that dissipate no power is now being realized. Most of the early difficulties have been overcome; hence it is now a straight-forward engineering problem to design and build a large stable supermagnet. The application of such magnets to research in high-energy physics can be expected to grow rapidly in the next few years.