The field of magnetic nanostructures has become a fertile testing ground for new materials and applications. In this talk various exchange-coupling concepts will be introduced to describe interfacial pinning phenomena between, say, two ferromagnets or a ferromagnet and an antiferromagnet. The examples demonstrate emerging nanotech strategies to create both "spintronic" devices for computer memories, and even new permanent magnets whose properties transcend those of known bulk materials. The coupling principles will be illustrated experimentally in epitaxial magnetic superlattices.

ANL Physics Division Colloquium Schedule