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Magnetic thin films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) have special attributes for explorations and perpendicular magnetic recording. We have observed three hitherto unknown new features in materials with PMA: 1. Asymmetrical domain nucleation centers that produce domains for only one magnetization direction (Fig. 1). 2. The backward domain wall motion of the asymmetrical nucleation centers is much faster than that of the forward motion. 3. Magnetic domains with a fixed boundary but fading contrast.

Thin-film transistors, already indispensable in a number of portable electronics, would benefit from optical transparency and compatibility with flexible, lightweight plastics. Transistors with these qualities would be a major advance if they could be fabricated by a scalable, large-area process.

We developed a low-pressure magnetron sputtering technique together with the linear dynamic deposition method and successfully fabricated a new type of magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJs) with (001) textured MgO barrier. We are the only US university to have achieved this success as of April 2007.

Members of IRG-I of the MIT MRSEC have recently demonstrated wireless transfers of power on the order of 60W over distances greater than 7 feet, with efficiency of roughly 50%, confirming the predictions of an earlier theoretical paper. The power transfer scheme proposed, dubbed "WiTricity," could be used for wireless charging of autonomous electronic devices (e.g. laptops, cell-phones, iPods).

Mike McGehee, Stanford University, Robert D. Miller, IBM Almaden Research Center, Joe DeSimone, University of North Carolina Highlight from Stanford MRSEC 0213618

Marni Goldman, Education Director of CPIMA, died of natural causes in late February while on vacation with her family. Although she never walked and had only the most limited use of her arms, Marni's academic and professional accomplishments placed her in elite company, even as her friendships extended far and wide. Marni earned bachelor's degrees in both Psychology and Materials Science from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in Materials Science from the University of California Berkeley.

When proteins are made inside cells, genetic information (in the form of messenger RNA) must be "translated" into specific sequences of amino acid building blocks. Accurate translation is essential to the health of the cell, and the idea that "one gene gives one protein" emerged very early in the development of the field of molecular biology. Researchers in the Center for the Science and Engineering of Materials (CSEM) at the California Institute of Technology are changing that idea.

The IRG on ferroelectric nanophotonic materials and devices seeks to develop tunable photonic devices by combining the nonlinear dispersion of photonic metamaterials with the unusual optical properties of ferroelectric perovskites. A series of experimental tests and theoretical calculations have demonstrated the potential of this approach. The bottom figure shows how the refractive index of a ferroelectric thin film can be changed with applied electric field. The top right shows how light can be confined to a ferroelectric wave-guide the results of a theoretical calculation.