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Magnetism In Thin Insulating Films at Room Temperature
Researchers at the University of Twente’s MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology have succeeded in producing ultrathin films with an unusual combination of properties. At room temperature they do not conduct electricity, but they are magnetic. This would be extremely useful in applications that require fast magnetic switching, such as new types of memory, for example. The researchers collaborated with fellow scientists at Stanford University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Their findings have been published in Physical Review Letters.
These new materials are known as LSMO (lanthanum strontium manganite) films. When these films are grown on a strontium titanate substrate, their crystalline structure appears to change during the growth process. At a thickness of about 40 nanometres (a nanometre is one millionth of a millimetre) or less, the electrical conductivity of an LSMO film abruptly drops to zero. At the same time, the Curie temperature shoots up. As a result, the material remains magnetic even at temperatures well above room temperature. The trick is to control the growth of the film accurately enough to consistently achieve the desired change in the crystal. In previous work with other materials, much lower temperatures were required to produce magnetic properties of this kind.
Spin polarization
The resultant insulating magnetic layer is suitable for “spin polarized tunneling”. In addition to carrying a charge, electrons have another property, known as “spin”. The direction in which they spin around their axis (clockwise or counter clockwise) carries magnetic information. The thin LSMO film, which is now magnetic, has a preference for a given direction of spin. Thus electrons with this type of spin can “tunnel” through the film more easily than electrons which spin in the opposite direction. This offers a new switching method for information carriers, a property that will be of enormous importance in future spintronic devices.
X-ray diffraction measurements have shown that films of different thickness have significantly different crystalline structures. The thickest film (8 nm) is at the top, while the films in the middle and at the bottom are 4.0 nm thick and 3.6 nm thick, respectively. The crystalline structure of the thickest film is slightly "tilted" relative to the substrate.
The research has been done within the Inorganic Materials Science Group (IMS) of Prof Dave Blank and Prof Guus Rijnders. The group is part of the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology of the University of Twente.
Source: http://www.utwente.nl/en/archive/2012/10/magnetism_in_thin_insulating_films_at_room_temperature.doc/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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