Projects

• Brief description of the project
• Structure and properties of networks of nanoscopic magnetic wires
• Electronic structure of artificial atoms and molecules: spin-orbit coupling effects
• Computer simulations of quantum transport in semiconductor nanodevices
• Surfactants, polyelectrolytes and nanoparticles as building blocks for surface nanostructures
• Design and computer simulations of the nanodevices to applications in quantum computing
• Current induced magnetization switching (CIMS) and noise characterization of MgO based magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs)
• Dynamics of nanostructural organization and activity of photosynthetic systems in natural and model membranes

In 2009 five more PhD positions will be opened:

• Computer modeling of biological nanostructures
• Surface and interface properties of metal-oxide magnetic nanostructures
• Hybrid organic-inorganic layered materials - precursors of semiconducting nanostructures
• Physical properties of multilayer thin films of Mg-Ti-V/Ni and their hydrides
• Nanostructures and stability of thin liquid layers

Supervisor:

Prof. Krzysztof Kułakowski (AGH) ()

Student:

Joanna Tomkowicz (WFiIS AGH)

Topic:

Structure and properties of networks of nanoscopic magnetic wires

Foreign partner:

Prof. Julian Gonzalez, Material Physics Department, Universidad del Pais Vasco,
Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal, 3, San Sebastian, 20018, Spain

Brief description:

The aim of the calculations is to get information on non-equilibrium magnetic properties (magnetization curves, hysteresis, relaxation, self-organization, aging) of systems of monodomain particles with different structures, from periodic nanoscopic arrays to disordered networks. An essential property of the investigated systems is the long-range dipolar interaction. The simulations to be performed are due to the structure formation in the presence of the applied magnetic field and to the magnetic properties themselves. Our longlasting cooperation with the foreign partner (prof. Gonzalez, Basque Country University, Spain) will allow the PhD student to contact with experienced experimental groups (dr Murillo, CIDETEC, San Sebastian and prof. Rivas, Univ. Santiago de Compostela) who work in magnetic materials, and in particular in the magnetic properties of wires and sets of wires. The set of methods of planned simulations contains the molecular dynamics on lattice, the damage spreading in the cellular automata technique and the coupled map lattices. The results can be relevant for the physics of micro- and nanowires, magnetic polymers, ferrofluids, spin glasses, magnetic gels and molecular networks.

Students international exchange:

Two visits of the phd-student in Spain are planned:
first visit: February-July 2010 [the stay partially covers reporting periods IV and V]
second visit: February-May 2011 [partially VI and partially VII]

The program of the first visit contains the measurements of the stray magnetic field of bistable micro- and nanowires, measurements of the hysteresis loops of the system of wires in various spatial configurations, and measurements of the domain wall velocities in wires, for various amplitude of the applied field and various conditions of pre-annealing.

The second visit will be devoted to contacts with the CIDETEC laboratory in San Sebastian and with the magnetic laboratory in the University in Santiago de Compostela. The aim of these contacts is to get experimental data on ferrofluids and magnetic nanoarrays.