Search

We examine the role of sputter damage on limiting the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and interlayer exchange coupling in Pt/Co/Ir-based synthetic antiferromagnets, a key building block used in the microelectronics community for standalone and embedded magnetic random access memories. By replacing the more conventional Ar process gas with Kr or Xe, we reduce the energy of backscattered sputter gas ions bombarding the substrate from in excess of 100 eV to a few 10 s of eV. Reducing this kinetic bombardment is critical to avoid intermixing of this nanolayered functional heterostructure, with the constituent Pt, Co, and Ir layer thicknesses each below 1 nm. Our approach leads to a simultaneous enhancement in the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (>2 × 106 J/m3) and interlayer exchange coupling energy (>3.5 mJ/m2). This advantageous improvement in perpendicular anisotropy and interlayer exchange coupling is evident on a 5 nm-thick Pt buffer layer and additionally on an MgO/CoFeB/Mo underlayers complex, showing that this method can improve the performance of both top- and bottom-pinned reference layers in perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction devices. These experimental findings may help advance the processing of conventional and synthetic antiferromagnetic devices for emerging spintronic memory technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the massive growth of the aging population worldwide, of utmost importance is reducing falls. Critical to reducing fall risk is one's ability to weight incoming sensory information towards maintaining balance. The purpose of this research was to investigate if simple, targeted sensory training on aging individuals (50 - 80 years old), including twelve healthy and eight individuals with chronic stroke, could improve their balance. Repeated sensory training targeted visual (via eyesopen/closed) and somatosensory inputs (via light touch to the fingertip as well as hard, soft foam, and hard foam support surfaces to the feet) during standing and dynamic base-ofsupport (BOS) exercises. Study participants underwent six weeks of training. Prior to and post training, standing balance was assessed via a simple, clinical measure: the balance error scoring system (BESS). Following several weeks of training, participants showed significant improvements in BESS errors: healthy participants for small BOS with limited somatosensory information (i.e., tandem and single-leg standing on foam) and participants with stroke in all conditions.Clinical Relevance- This research study demonstrated that simple, accessible exercises, can positively impact balance in the aging population, a pressing need.