|
| Cover:
Magnetic ripples (the striations) and domain walls (the thick lines) are evident in this Lorentz microscopy image of a thin permalloy film. The image extends approximately 100 microns on each side. As described in the article on page 31, construction of complex structures from layers of thin magnetic films is one of the hottest topics in magnetism today, due largely to growing applications in sensors and electronic storage media. (Courtesy of Horst Hoffmann, University of Regensburg, Germany). |
|
Readings
from the Physics Today Archive
We are proud to present a collection of readings from our
archives that are associated with this issue. Updated throughout the
month.
Layered
Magnetic Structures: History, Highlights, Applications
Once studied
primarily for their effects on light, thin magnetic films are today being
layered to make complex structures with unique magnetic properties. Devices
based on these structures are revolutionizing electronic data storage
-- Peter Grünberg
Half
Metallic Magnets
Not to be confused
with semiconductors, half metals belong to a new class of materials that
look set to play a key role in next-generation electronic devices -- Warren
E. Pickett and Jagadeesh S. Moodera
Epitaxially
Self-Assembled Quantum Dots
Nanometer-scale islands that form spontaneously on a
semiconductor substrate have atomlike properties and potential applications
in optical and optoelectronic devices, quantum computing, and information
storage -- Pierre M. Petroff, Axel Lorke, and Atac Imamoglu
Departments
Physics Update
Letters
Latin American Physicists Weigh In on Funding, Demographics, Potential
Global Science Teams Will Have to Share Resources and Glory
Renormalized
Relations in
Condensed Matter
Mystery Error in Gamow's Tompkins
Reappears
Palimpsest Teaches History, Geography
Los Alamos Fire Posed Little
Radiation Hazard
Quantum Mechanics,
Born Again
Search and
Discovery
Helium Joins Family of Gaseous Bose-Einstein Condensates
Now that researchers have observed the condensation of a gas of helium in its metastable state, helium is the first atom to form a Bose condensate in two phases.
Dramatic Evidence Seen for Collective Behavior among Electrons
in Closely Separated Layers
Theorists describe the two-layer system as a Josephson junction, an exciton condensate, or a ferromagnet.
Novel B Factories Close in on the Violation of CP Symmetry
How well does CP violation obey standard particle theory? Electron- positron colliders of a new kind were built in the US and Japan to find out.
Issues and
Events
Europe
Moves toward Coherent Higher Education, Competes for Students
In the debates on how to reform Europe's higher education
systems, the aims are faster, internationally recognized degrees that
will be accepted by employers, increased flexibility of study programs,
and global competitiveness.
Max
Planck Society Launches International PhD Programs
Germany's foremost research organization has launched new PhD programs
to stanch brain drain, combat plummeting enrollments in science,
and forge long-term international collaborations.
Dropout
Rate among Chinese Physics PhD Students Seems High; Community
Considers Why
US physics departments are starting to take measures
to select students who are more dedicated to staying in physics.
DESY
Unveils Plan for the TESLA Collider
The superconducting 500-GeV e+e-
linear collider would run under town and country for 33 kilometers.
Pakistan
Reshuffles Weapons Program
Pakistan has moved its nuclear weapons program out of the Pakistan Atomic
Energy Commission and into thenew National Defense Complex. The move
separates the country's unclassified and clandestine nuclear programs
for the first time.
Bush
Appoints Venture Capitalist as Technology Adviser
Silicon Valley venture capitalist Floyd Kvamme,
a Republican activist, has been named cochair of the President's Committee
of Advisors on Science and Technology.
First
Light for Keck Interferometer
Astronomers on Mauna Kea in Hawaii have observed a faint star among
other objects star with the two newly linked, 10-meter Keck telescopes.
Faculty
Retirements, Recruitments Rise
The fabled flood of physics faculty retirements
is turning out to be more of a trickle, according to the latest academic
workforce survey.
High-School
Physics Student Bags Two Competitions
Mariangela Lisanti, a 17-year-old high-school
student from Westport, Connecticut, won first prize in a science competition
last December for her project "Conductance Quantization in Gold Nanocontacts,"
taking home a $100 000 college scholarship. Then, in March, she did it
again.
Web Watch
CLEO/QELS Convenes in Baltimore
The latest advances in research and applications in a broad range of optoelectronics and laser science disciplines will be featured at the 21st Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) and the 10th Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference (QELS), which run concurrently 6-11 May at the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland.
Books
Beyond
the Science Wars: The Missing Discourse about Science, edited by U. Segerstråle, and Society and Real Science: What It Is, and What It Means, J. Ziman (reviewed by C. McConnell and R. H. March)
Einstein
in Love: A Scientific Romance, D. Overbye, and Einstein: The Formative Years, 1879-1909, edited by D. Howard and J. Stachel (reviewed by A. J. Kox)
Light
Science: Physics and the Visual Arts, T. D. Rossing and C. J. Chiaverina (reviewed by H. Stroke)
Bose-Einstein
Condensation of Excitons and Biexcitons and Coherent Nonlinear Optics
with Excitons, S. A. Moskalenko and D. W. Snoke (reviewed by K. Burnett)
Dynamics
of Galaxies, G. Bertin (reviewed by D. and B. C. Elmegreen)
Statistical
Mechanics: A Short Treatise, G. Gallavotti (reviewed by D. Ruelle)
Modern
Introductory Physics, C. H. Holbrow, J. N. Lloyd, and J. C. Amato (reviewed by L. Roelofs)
New
Books
New Products
Focus on Spectroscopy
We Hear
That
AAPT
Honors Physics Educators
AGU Recognizes
Contributions to Geophysics
Pilachowski
Is AAS President-Elect
NAE Elects
New Members
In Brief
Obituaries
Abraham
"Bram" Pais
Thomas
John Ypsilantis
George
Wilse Robinson
William
George Fastie
Robert
Michael Hjellming
Thomas
Emanuel Feuchtwang
Chanchal
Kumar Majumdar
Job Opportunities
Untitled
©
2001 American Institute of Physics
|
