SFU Canada Research Chairs Seminar Series: "Fantastic voyage: To nano and back"

Abstract

In the last four decades interest in material research and industry has shifted from bulk materials to rapid quenched ribbons and thin films. Advances in lithography have enabled the fabrication of features several tens of nanometers in size. Progress in film growth has lead to formation of nano-sized dots with atomic scale composition control along the growth direction. Advances in scanning tunneling microscopy have even enabled the manipulation of single atoms and molecules. The trend of reducing material size has been driven by the search for novel physical properties on the nano and sub-nano scale and the need for smaller electronic devices. However, recently the emphasis has shifted toward renewable energy and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) where the critical dimensions are of the order of a micron. I am interested in both nano and micro science and technology. In the first part of my talk I will discuss the importance of reducing size in magnetic recording. At the nanometer scale both magnetic moment reversal, and the conductivity across the interface between a ferromagnet and metal (or oxide), have unique characteristics that have been used to increase recording media density almost one million times in last three decades. I will review recent developments in recording industry with emphasis on our current work and our future plans. In the second part of my talk I will discuss the importance of permanent magnets in MEMS and give a quick tour of the Surface Science Lab and the development of instruments for both MEMS and solar cell research.