Special Topics in Magnetism: Magnetism in reduced dimensions and spin transport

Days and hours:

• Lecture:
  • Wednesdays 10:15–12:00 hrs.
  • Room: Lecture Hall B (R. 0.1.01), Arnimallee 14
  • First Lecture: 17. October 2018

• Practice seminar:
  • Every other week, Wednesdays 14:15–16:00 hrs.
  • Room: Seminar Room E2 (R. 1.1.53), Arnimallee 14
  • First practice seminar: 24. October 2018

Target Group:

Students in the Master course "Physics" or related Master courses. Knowledge in fundamental solid state physics (Bachelor-degree level) is required. The lecture and accompanying exercises constitute the module "Special Topics in Magnetism", as described in the study regulations of the Master course "Physics".

Type of Study:

Lecture with accompanying practice seminar (Examination) (Details)

Registration:

Important! Students in the Master course "Physics" have to register until 02. November 2018 in the Campus Management System for both, the lecture and the practice seminar, in order to take the module.

Practice seminar:

The condition for the successful active participation in the module is participation in the discussion in the practice seminar, which implies a regular attendance of the seminar. Successful completion of the whole module includes, in addition, passing the examination.

Examination:

The grade for the module will be determined by oral exams of 30 minutes, which will take place during the last week of the lecture period (11.–15.02.2019). 

Repeat exams are offered during the first week of the lecture period of the following summer semester (08.–12.04.2019). Everyone can take a repeat exam, even if the first exam was already successfully passed. In that case, the exam with the better grade counts. 

Credit Points:

• Five credit points are awarded for the successful completion of the module "Special Topics in Magnetism". 
• Students of the master course in physics will get the certification about the exam and the regular and active participation in the practice seminar directly through the Campus Management System. All other students will get a paper certificate. 
• If you need a paper certificate in addition to the certification in the Campus Management System, please send an e-mail to Marion Badow.

Material:

The lecture notes, material for the lecture and the practice seminar as well as the schedule of the practice seminar will be provided online via Blackboard. Login to Blackboard requires a valid ZEDAT account. Students who are registered in the Campus-Management System for the course automatically receive access to the course material on Blackboard. Participants inscribed into other courses than the master course in physics can send an access request.

Contents:

The field of magnetic nanostructures and spin transport has continuously spawned highly valued discoveries over the past years and is still under a rapid and lively development. Fundamental research in this field is fueled by the vision of dissipationless information processing when using pure spin currents instead of elecronic charge currents like in conventional semiconductor electronics. Top-level publications from this field receive thus an enormous degree of attention.

This lecture will lead from an introduction into the basics of spin and magnetism in reduced dimensions to some of the most fascinating recent examples of actual research. It will cover the following contents:

• Quantum-mechanical description of spin
• Magnetic anisotropy
• Molecular magnetism
• Spin currents and spin injection
• Pure spin currents
• Spin caloritronics
• Magnetoresistance effects and spintronics
• Antiferromagnetic spintronics
• Magnetic domains and domain-wall motion
• Topological spin structures
• Magnetization dynamics
• Spin waves

The topics covered match well to the research focus of several of the experimental and theoretical work groups of the department.

Literature:

• Original publications in scientific journals (available online from within FU)
• J. A. C. Bland and B. Heinrich (Eds.), Ultrathin Magnetic Structures I-IV (Springer) (available online from within FU)
• S. Bandyopadhyay and M. Cahay, Introduction to Spintronics (CRC Press)
• B. Hillebrands and K. Ounadjela (Eds.), Spin Dynamics in Confined Magnetic Structures I-III (Springer)
• J. M. D. Coey, Magnetism and Magnetic Materials (Cambridge University Press)
• H. Zabel and M. Farle (eds.), Magnetic Nanostructures (Springer)