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Modeling and Characterization of Materials with Unique Magnetic, Electric and Mechanical Properties (Second Volume)

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Electronic Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2025 | Viewed by 9376

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Department of Solid State Physics, Institute of Physics, University of Silesia, 75-Pułku Piechoty 1A, 40-500 Chorzów, Poland
Interests: magnetic and related properties of amorphous, nanocrystalline, and composite materials; solid state physics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Modern materials are a source of technology progress in many areas. There are well known applications in electronics, energetics (including the green technologies), motor and car industry.  For example, modern soft magnetic materials as a core of transformers or electric motors cause a significant increase of their energetic efficiency, saving energy in a global meaning. On the other hand, the hard magnetic materials are widely used in computer and energetic technologies as data storage media and high-efficiency electric generators, respectively. Between this two groups, one can observe a family of magnetic materials with excellent properties for broad application spectra (sensors, actuators, energy harvesting devices, magnetic refrigerators etc.). Other interesting property is electric transport in solids giving new conducting and semiconducting materials for modern electronic and computing machines. In this aspect, it is worth to mention topological insulators which sims to be a future for high efficiency electronic devices.

The progress in magnetic materials, not restricted to the mention above groups, would not be possible without basic science including technology, characterization and modeling in the atomic as well as large scale level. Such researches are useful for designing new systems with unique properties required for different applications.

The special issue entitled “Modeling and Characterization of Materials with Unique Magnetic, Electric and Mechanical Properties (Second Volume)” refers to reviews and/or original research papers in the broad area of materials characterized by some unique features, leading to new application spectra.

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Artur Chrobak
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • magnetism
  • magnetic materials
  • electric transport
  • electronic structure
  • intermetallic compounds
  • mechanical properties
  • materials simulations

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 4363 KiB  
Article
Temperature-Dependent Compensation Points in GdxFe1−x Ferrimagnets
by Chao Chen, Cuixiu Zheng, Shanshan Hu, Jianwei Zhang and Yaowen Liu
Materials 2025, 18(6), 1193; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18061193 - 7 Mar 2025
Viewed by 544
Abstract
Recent experiments have reported distinct handedness of spin waves across the compensation temperatures of ferrimagnets, offering promising functionalities for ferrimagnet-based magnonic applications with two distinct polarizations. This paper investigates the effects of various factors on the compensation points of GdFe ferrimagnets through atomistic-level [...] Read more.
Recent experiments have reported distinct handedness of spin waves across the compensation temperatures of ferrimagnets, offering promising functionalities for ferrimagnet-based magnonic applications with two distinct polarizations. This paper investigates the effects of various factors on the compensation points of GdFe ferrimagnets through atomistic-level spin dynamics simulations. The results show that as the Gd composition increases, both the magnetization compensation temperature and the angular momentum compensation temperature of the GdFe alloy increase, with a linear relationship observed between the two compensation temperatures. Furthermore, we show that external magnetic fields and antiferromagnetic exchange strength can also modulate the compensation temperatures. Moreover, the antiferromagnetic exchange strength also affects the resonance frequency of ferrimagnetic materials. In the absence of an external field, the resonance frequency of GdFe is divided into two branches and both increase linearly with the increase in antiferromagnetic exchange strength. This study may stimulate fundamental research on compensated ferrimagnets, which may be useful for building chirality-based spintronics. Full article
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14 pages, 7106 KiB  
Article
Numerical Investigation and Device Architecture Optimization of Sb2Se3 Thin-Film Solar Cells Using SCAPS-1D
by Chung-Kuan Lai and Yi-Cheng Lin
Materials 2024, 17(24), 6203; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17246203 - 19 Dec 2024
Viewed by 753
Abstract
Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) shows promise for photovoltaics due to its favorable properties and low toxicity. However, current Sb2Se3 solar cells exhibit efficiencies significantly below their theoretical limits, primarily due to interface recombination and non-optimal device architectures. [...] Read more.
Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) shows promise for photovoltaics due to its favorable properties and low toxicity. However, current Sb2Se3 solar cells exhibit efficiencies significantly below their theoretical limits, primarily due to interface recombination and non-optimal device architectures. This study presents a comprehensive numerical investigation of Sb2Se3 thin-film solar cells using SCAPS-1D simulation software, focusing on device architecture optimization and interface engineering. We systematically analyzed device configurations (substrate and superstrate), hole-transport layer (HTL) materials (including NiOx, CZTS, Cu2O, CuO, CuI, CuSCN, CZ-TA, and Spiro-OMeTAD), layer thicknesses, carrier densities, and resistance effects. The substrate configuration with molybdenum back contact demonstrated superior performance compared with the superstrate design, primarily due to favorable energy band alignment at the Mo/Sb2Se3 interface. Among the investigated HTL materials, Cu2O exhibited optimal performance with minimal valence-band offset, achieving maximum efficiency at 0.06 μm thickness. Device optimization revealed critical parameters: series resistance should be minimized to 0–5 Ω-cm2 while maintaining shunt resistance above 2000 Ω-cm2. The optimized Mo/Cu2O(0.06 μm)/Sb2Se3/CdS/i-ZnO/ITO/Al structure achieved a remarkable power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 21.68%, representing a significant improvement from 14.23% in conventional cells without HTL. This study provides crucial insights for the practical development of high-efficiency Sb2Se3 solar cells, demonstrating the significant impact of device architecture optimization and interface engineering on overall performance. Full article
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13 pages, 572 KiB  
Article
High Spin Magnetic Moments in All-3d-Metallic Co-Based Full Heusler Compounds
by Murat Tas, Kemal Özdoğan, Ersoy Şaşıoğlu and Iosif Galanakis
Materials 2023, 16(24), 7543; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16247543 - 7 Dec 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1540
Abstract
We conduct ab-initio electronic structure calculations to explore a novel category of magnetic Heusler compounds, comprising solely 3d transition metal atoms and characterized by high spin magnetic moments. Specifically, we focus on Co2YZ Heusler compounds, where Y and Z [...] Read more.
We conduct ab-initio electronic structure calculations to explore a novel category of magnetic Heusler compounds, comprising solely 3d transition metal atoms and characterized by high spin magnetic moments. Specifically, we focus on Co2YZ Heusler compounds, where Y and Z represent transition metal atoms such that the order of the valence is Co > Y > Z. We show that these compounds exhibit a distinctive region of very low density of minority-spin states at the Fermi level when crystallizing in the L21 lattice structure. The existence of this pseudogap leads most of the studied compounds to a Slater–Pauling-type behavior of their total spin magnetic moment. Co2FeMn is the compound that presents the largest total spin magnetic moment in the unit cell reaching a very large value of 9 μB. Our findings suggest that these compounds are exceptionally promising materials for applications in the realms of spintronics and magnetoelectronics. Full article
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11 pages, 5754 KiB  
Article
Modeling of Severe Plastic Deformation by HSHPT of As-Cast Ti-Nb-Zr-Ta-Fe-O Gum Alloy for Orthopedic Implant
by Dan Cătălin Bîrsan, Carmela Gurău, Florin-Bogdan Marin, Cristian Stefănescu and Gheorghe Gurău
Materials 2023, 16(8), 3188; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16083188 - 18 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1394
Abstract
The High Speed High Pressure Torsion (HSHPT) is the severe plastic deformation method (SPD) designed for the grain refinement of hard-to-deform alloys, and it is able to produce large, rotationally complex shells. In this paper, the new bulk nanostructured Ti-Nb-Zr-Ta-Fe-O Gum metal was [...] Read more.
The High Speed High Pressure Torsion (HSHPT) is the severe plastic deformation method (SPD) designed for the grain refinement of hard-to-deform alloys, and it is able to produce large, rotationally complex shells. In this paper, the new bulk nanostructured Ti-Nb-Zr-Ta-Fe-O Gum metal was investigated using HSHPT. The biomaterial in the as-cast state was simultaneously compressed up to 1 GPa and torsion was applied with friction at a temperature that rose as a pulse in less than 15 s. The interaction between the compression, the torsion, and the intense friction that generates heat requires accurate 3D finite element simulation. Simufact Forming was employed to simulate severe plastic deformation of a shell blank for orthopedic implants using the advancing Patran Tetra elements and adaptable global meshing. The simulation was conducted by applying to the lower anvil a displacement of 4.2 mm in the z-direction and applying a rotational speed of 900 rpm to the upper anvil. The calculations show that the HSHPT accumulated a large plastic deformation strain in a very short time, leading to the desired shape and grain refinement. Full article
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10 pages, 6071 KiB  
Article
Magnetic Anisotropies and Exchange Bias of Co/CoO Multilayers with Intermediate Ultrathin Pt Layers
by Dimitrios I. Anyfantis, Camillo Ballani, Nikos Kanistras, Alexandros Barnasas, Ioannis Tsiaoussis, Georg Schmidt, Evangelos Th. Papaioannou and Panagiotis Poulopoulos
Materials 2023, 16(4), 1378; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16041378 - 7 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2166
Abstract
Co/CoO multilayers are fabricated by means of radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. For the formation of each multilayer period, a Co layer is initially produced followed by natural oxidation. Platinum is used not only as buffer and capping layers, but also in the form of [...] Read more.
Co/CoO multilayers are fabricated by means of radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. For the formation of each multilayer period, a Co layer is initially produced followed by natural oxidation. Platinum is used not only as buffer and capping layers, but also in the form of intermediate ultrathin layers to enhance perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Three samples are compared with respect to the magnetic anisotropies and exchange bias between 4–300 K based on superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry measurements. Two of the multilayers are identical Co/CoO/Pt ones; one of them, however, is grown on a Co/Pt “magnetic substrate” to induce perpendicular magnetic anisotropy via exchange coupling through an ultrathin Pt intermediate layer. The third multilayer is of the form Co/CoO/Co/Pt. The use of a “magnetic substrate” results in the observation of loops with large remanence when the field applies perpendicular to the film plane. The CoO/Co interfaces lead to a significant exchange bias at low temperatures after field cooling. The largest exchange bias was observed in the film with double Co/CoO/Co interfaces. Consequently, significant perpendicular anisotropy coexists with large exchange bias, especially at low temperatures. Such samples can be potentially useful for applications related to spintronics and magnetic storage. Full article
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18 pages, 4408 KiB  
Article
Solid-State Dewetting as a Driving Force for Structural Transformation and Magnetization Reversal Mechanism in FePd Thin Films
by Arkadiusz Zarzycki, Marcin Perzanowski, Michal Krupinski and Marta Marszalek
Materials 2023, 16(1), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16010092 - 22 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2167
Abstract
In this work, the process of solid-state dewetting in FePd thin films and its influence on structural transformation and magnetic properties is presented. The morphology, structure and magnetic properties of the FePd system subjected to annealing at 600 °C for different times were [...] Read more.
In this work, the process of solid-state dewetting in FePd thin films and its influence on structural transformation and magnetic properties is presented. The morphology, structure and magnetic properties of the FePd system subjected to annealing at 600 °C for different times were studied. The analysis showed a strong correlation between the dewetting process and various physical phenomena. In particular, the transition between the A1 phase and L10 phase is strongly influenced by and inextricably connected with solid-state dewetting. Major changes were observed when the film lost its continuity, including a fast growth of the L10 phase, changes in the magnetization reversal behavior or the induction of magnetic spring-like behavior. Full article
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