Please note this is a Short Discount publication. This, the third report in Elsevier's Materials Technology in Japan series, concentrates on magnetic materials as a topic gaining worldwide attention, and each chapter looks not only at current research, but also describes the technology as it is being applied and its future potential. Magnetic–related research is the second largest field of research in Japan after semiconductors, with the estimated number of researchers and engineers engaged in magnetics–related activities currently at 20,000. This research report serves as both a review of research undertaken and developments to date, and a forecast of where the industry is going.

Please note this is a Short Discount publication. Advanced Materials in Japan: Source Book 1992 offers the reader news of all the developments which have taken place over the last year. The Source Book is divided into chapters based on the divisions of news in New Materials in Japan – Metals & Alloys; Ceramics; Composites; Electronic & Optoelectronic Materials; Magnetic Materials; Plastics; Materials & The Environment; Medical Materials and Textiles, each introduced by an expert in these particular areas and discussing the implications of the information to non–Japanese industry. In addition, the Source Book includes a chapter devoted to business/market information – company mergers acquisitions etc., together with an overview of the Japanese approach to advanced materials and highlighting all major research initiatives, research programmes etc.

Advances in Magnetic Materials: Processing, Properties, and Performance discusses recent developments of magnetic materials, including fabrication, characterization and applications in the aerospace, biomedical, and semiconductors industries. With contributions by international professionals who possess broad and varied expertise, this volume encompasses both bulk materials and thin films and coatings for magnetic applications. A timely reference book that describes such things as ferromagnetism, nanomaterials, and Fe, ZnO, and Co-based materials, Advances in Magnetic Materials is an ideal text for students, researchers, and professionals working in materials science. Describes recent developments of magnetic materials, including fabrication, characterization, and applications Addresses a variety of industrial applications, such as aerospace, biomedical, and semiconductors Discusses bulk materials and thin films and coatings Covers ferromagnetism, nanomaterials, Fe, ZnO, and Co-based materials Contains the contributions of international professionals with broad and varied expertise Covers a holistic range of magnetic materials in various aspects of process, properties, and performance

This book focuses on how to use magnetic material usefully for electrical motor drive system, especially electrical vehicles and power electronics. The contents have been selected in such a way that engineers in other fields might find some of the ideas difficult to grasp, but they can easily acquire a general or basic understanding of related concepts if they acquire even a rudimentary understanding of the selected contents.The cutting-edge technologies of magnetism are also explained. From the fundamental theory of magnetism to material, equipment, and applications, readers can understand the underlying concepts. Therefore, a new electric vehicle from the point of view of magnetic materials or a new magnetic material from the point of a view of electric vehicles can be envisioned: that is, magnetic material for motor drive systems based on fusion technology of an electromagnetic field. Magnetic material alone does not make up an electric vehicle, of course. Other components such as mechanical structure material, semiconductors, fuel cells, and electrically conductive material are important, and they are difficult to achieve. However, magnetic material involves one of the most important key technologies, and there are high expectations for its use in the future. It will be the future standard for motor-drive system researchers and of magneticmaterial researchers as well. This book is a first step in that direction.

This issue documents the state of the field in magnetic thin film processing using electrochemical methods including film nucleation and growth, structure of deposits, stress and micromagnetics of films, thermal and magnetic annealing, electrochemical and electroless plating systems, etching, process chemistry, tool design, and process control.

In December 2002, the world's first commercial magnetic levitation super-train went into operation in Shanghai. The train is held just above the rails by magnetic levitation (maglev) and can travel at a speed of 400 km/hr, completing the 30km journey from the city to the airport in minutes. Now consumers are enjoying 50 GB hard drives compared to 0.5 GB hard drives ten years ago. Achievements in magnetic materials research have made dreams of a few decades ago reality. The objective of the four volume reference, Handbook of Advanced Magnetic Materials, is to provide a comprehensive review of recent progress in magnetic materials research. Each chapter will have an introduction to give a clear definition of basic and important concepts of the topic. The details of the topic are then elucidated theoretically and experimentally. New ideas for further advancement are then discussed. Sufficient references are also included for those who wish to read the original work. In the last decade, one of the most significant thrust areas of materials research has been nanostructured magnetic materials. There are several critical sizes that control the behavior of a magnetic material, and size effects become especially critical when dimensions approach a few nanometers, where quantum phenomena appear. The first volume of the book, Nanostructured Advanced Magnetic Materials, has therefore been devoted to the recent development of nanostructured magnetic materials, emphasizing size effects. Our understanding of magnetism has advanced with the establishment of the theory of atomic magnetic moments and itinerant magnetism. Simulation is a powerful tool for exploration and explanation of properties of various magnetic materials. Simulation also provides insight for further development of new materials. Naturally, before any simulation can be started, a model must be constructed. This requires that the material be well characterized. Therefore the second volume, Characterization and Simulation provides a comprehensive review of both experimental methods and simulation techniques for the characterization of magnetic materials. After an introduction, each section gives a detailed description of the method and the following sections provide examples and results of the method. Finally further development of the method will be discussed. The success of each type of magnetic material depends on its properties and cost which are directly related to its fabrication process. Processing of a material can be critical for development of artificial materials such as multilayer films, clusters, etc. Moreover, cost-effective processing usually determines whether a material can be commercialized. In recent years processing of materials has continuously evolved from improvement of traditional methods to more sophisticated and novel methods. The objective of the third volume, Processing of Advanced Magnetic Materials, is to provide a comprehensive review of recent developments in processing of advanced magnetic materials. Each chapter will have an introduction and a section to provide a detailed description of the processing method. The following sections give detailed descriptions of the processing, properties and applications of the relevant materials. Finally the potential and limitation of the processing method will be discussed. The properties of a magnetic material can be characterized by intrinsic properties such as anisotropy, saturation magnetization and extrinsic properties such as coercivity. The properties of a magnetic material can be affected by its chemical composition and processing route. With the continuous search for new materials and invention of new processing routes, magnetic properties of materials cover a wide spectrum of soft magnetic materials, hard magnetic materials, recording materials, sensor materials and others. The objective of the fourth volume, Properties and Applications of Advanced Magnetic Materials, is to provide a comprehensive review of recent development of various magnetic materials and their applications. Each chapter will have an introduction of the materials and the principles of their applications. The following sections give a detailed description of the processing, properties and applications. Finally the potential and limitation of the materials will be discussed.

This brief reviews current research on magnetic skyrmions, with emphasis on formation mechanisms, observation techniques, and materials design strategies. The response of skyrmions, both static and dynamical, to various electromagnetic fields is also covered in detail. Recent progress in magnetic imaging techniques has enabled the observation of skyrmions in real space, as well as the analysis of their ordering manner and the details of their internal structure. In metallic systems, conduction electrons moving through the skyrmion spin texture gain a nontrivial quantum Berry phase, which provides topological force to the underlying spin texture and enables the current-induced manipulation of magnetic skyrmions. On the other hand, skyrmions in an insulator can induce electric polarization through relativistic spin-orbit interaction, paving the way for the control of skyrmions by an external electric field without loss of Joule heating. Because of its nanometric scale, particle nature, and electric controllability, skyrmions are considered as potential candidates for new information carriers in the next generation of spintronics devices.