A soft magnetic force microscope (MFM) tip was used to evaluate the magnetic recording characteristics of compositionally separated Co-Cr perpendicular media. Small magnetic bits were recorded on thick (350 nm). and thin (100 nm) films, focusing on the fineness of compositionally separated microstructures. MFM images showed bit marks 230 and 150 nm in diameter, measured at full-width at half maximum (FWHM) for the thick and thin films, respectively. These results verify that the recordable bit size can be decreased by using a thinner film with a finer compositionally separated microstructure. Simulation was used to clarify the relationship between the actual sizes of the recorded bits and the sizes of their MFM images. The recorded bit size was found to closely correspond to the FWHM of the MFM bit images.

The magnetic properties and the structure of electroless-deposited NiFeB films were investigated in comparison with those of electrodeposited NiFe films. The electroless-deposited NiFeB film with 27at% Fe content had the lowest coercivity, H, as low as 0.5 Oe with a saturation magnetic flux density, Bs, of 1.0 T. The saturation magnetostriction, λ, and the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, Hk, were 5.010-6 and 10 Oe, respectively, which were larger than those of the conventional, electrodeposited permalloy film. The permeability of as-deposited Ni70Fe27B3 film was 1000 at 1 MHz. In order to improve the permeability, the film was heated at 200 in a magnetic field applied in the hard-axis direction to decrease the Hk value, and the permeability became 2000 at 1 MHz. The crystal structure and grain size of NiFeB and NiFe films were investigated by XRD, THEED and TEM. Both films with low Hc had an fcc structure; the grain size of the NiFeB film was smaller than 10 nm, while that of the NiFe film was larger, approximately 20 nm. The results suggested that the electroless-deposited NiFeB film had a larger magnetic anisotropy than the electrodeposited NiFe film. Moreover, the films with Hc less than 10 Oe ded not show clear difference between their TEM bright images and THEED patterns.

The authors have studied the demagnetization phenomenon which is observed in a conventional CoCrTa/CoZrNb double-layered (DL) perpendicular recording medium. The authors have also investigated the effects of an in-plane hard magnetic layer in a triple-layered (TL) perpendicular recording medium. The in-plane hard magnetic underlayer is made of CoSm or CoCrTa/Cr and is laid under the CoZrNb soft magnetic layer. In the DL medium, a demagnetization phenomenon i.e. decrease of the readback signal, is observed when the CoCrTa layer has a strong perpendicular orientation and the CoZrNb underlayer has a low coercivity. The amount of the signal decrease depends strongly on the accumulated disk revolutions. This demagnetization is considered to be caused by fact that the recorded magnetization in the CoCrTa layer is reduced by the magnetic field generated from the domain walls in the CoZrNb layer, since the CoZrNb layer is very sensitive to a magnetic environment such as geo-magnetism and domain walls move as the disk rotates. On the other hand in the TL medium, the hard magnetic layer has an effect of pinning the magnetic domain in the CoZrNb layer, by which the demagnetization problem is successfully prevented. The hard magnetic layer remarkably reduces the domain walls in the CoZrNb layer and contributes to medium noise reduction. Thus the TL medium presents a higher SN ratio than DL medium.

Computer circumstance have changed drastically, and larger capacity removable media is indispensable. Magneto-optical disk is promising candidate to satisfy computer user's needs. In this report, future perspective of high density magneto-optical recording technology is investigated.

A particulate recording medium with an ultrathin magnetic layer is presented in this paper. This medium consists of a magnetic layer and a nonmagnetic underlayer composed of very fine titanium dioxide powder. When metal powder was employed, we observed the anticipated advantages of decreasing the thickness of the magnetic layer in tapes and diskettes. By reducing the layer thickness to below 0.3 µm we were able to increase the reproduced output at short wavelengths, and improve both the overwrite erasability and the D50. There was also a decrease in the half peak width of an isolated pulse and a peak shift. Tribological advantages were also observed with this medium. When barium ferrite was employed as the magnetic powder, we observed that the modulation noise of thin-layer barium ferrite medium was less than that of a thinlayer MP medium while it generated an output as high as that of the MP medium. The advantages of the barium ferrite medium lie in its two-layer construction. Particulate media will continue to develop as magnetic powder is improved mainly in terms of its size, saturation magnetization, and coercivity.

Tremendous progress has been made in magnetic data storage by applying theoretical considerations to technologies accumulated empirically through a great deal of research and development. In Japan, the recording demagnetization phenomenon was eagerly analyzed by many researchers because it was a serious problem in analogue signal recording such as video tape recording using a relatively thick magnetic recording medium. Consequently, perpendicular magnetic recording was proposed as a method for extremely high-bit-density recording. This paper describes the theoretical background which has resulted in the idea of perpendicular magnetic recording. Furthermore, the possibility of magnetic recording is discussed on the basis of the results obtained theoretically by magnetic recording simulators. Magnetic storage has the potential for extremely high-bit-density recording exceeding 1 Tb/cm2. We propose the idea of 'spinic data storage' in which binary digital data could be stored into each ferromagnetic single-domain columnar particle when the perpendicular magnetizing method is used.

Co-Zr and Co-Zr-Ta amorphous films were prepared by the Kr sputtering method for use as the backlayers of Co-Cr perpendicular magnetic recording tape media. The effect of the addition of Ta to Co-Zr thin films was also investigated. Lower substrate temperature was required to prepare amorphous Co-Zr films with excellent soft magnetic properties. The relationships among Ta content X, magnetostriction constant λ and magnetic characteristics such as coercivity Hc and relative permeability µr were clarified. A method of evaluating λ of soft magnetic thin films deposited on polymer sheet substrate has been presented. Films with composition of (Co95.7Zr4.3) 100-X TaX at X of 10 at.% possessed sufficiency soft magnetic properties such as low Hc below 80 A/m and high µr above 600. Addition of Ta was effective in changing change the sign of λ from positive to negative. It was found that the negative magnetoelastic energy and the smaller λ caused the soft magnetism.

Extremely narrow track width of deep submicron range is examined in perpendicular magnetic recording. Head field distribution of a single-pole head analyzed by 3-dimensional computer simulation results in a sharp gradient, but relatively large cross-sectional area is required to maintain head field strength. Based on this design concept, a lateral single-pole head is described and proved to attain track width of 0.4 µm. In addition, multilevel partial response appropriate to the new multitrack recording system is proposed.

Research in radar polarimetry is hampered by shortcomings of the conventional formulation of polarimetric backscatter concepts. In particular the correct form of the Sinclair backscatter matrix under changes of polarization bases is derived from the antenna voltage (energy transfer) equation yielding the erroneous impression that radar polarimetry is a mongrel between scattering behavior and network performance. The present contribution restores logical consistency in a natural way by introducing the concept of an antilinear backscatter operator. This approach decouples scattering process and network performance, illuminates matrix analytical properties of the radar backscatter matrix and highlights characteristic states of polarization.

The complex refractive indices n-jχ of typical magnetic fluids were evaluated for the sake of utilizing them as optical materials. Transmission and reflection spectra were measured in the wavelength range of 0.6-1.6 µm by using monochromators. Magnetic fluids were put into glass cells of 2.5-14-µm thickness for transmission measurement. Due to the absorption by magnetic fluids, the transmittance decreased notably with the increase of the sample thickness. The extinction coefficient χ was evaluated from the dependence of the transmittance on the sample thickness. χ was found to vary between 0.003 and 0.03 depending upon wavelength. The refractive index n was evaluated by fitting theoretical curves to the reflectances that were measured for various incident angles. n was found to vary between 1.6 and 1.7 depending slightly on wavelength. Since a magnetic fluid is a composite of ferrite particles and a solvent, the refractive index can be calculated by using the effective medium theory. The calculated value agreed well with the experimental value. Preliminary experiment of optical switching was also demonstrated by utilizing the mobility of a magnetic fluid.

A folded short in parallel-plate waveguide is investigated using the Fourier transform and the mode-matching. A fast-converging series solution for scattering from the folded short is obtained and its characteristics are presented. Our solution for the E-plane short agrees well with measurements and is numerically more efficient than the existing moment-method solution. The presented scattering characteristics are useful for the design of the E- and H -plane shorts in rectangular waveguide.

The dielectric rod waveguides with corrugation consisting of nonintegral-ratio period waves are investigated numerically. The leakage characteristics of HE11-type wave in the waveguide is analyzed by applying Yasuura's method. The complex propagation constants and the far field patterns are presented. The radiation pattern of a fabricated waveguide with corrugation agrees well with the calculated value. The dependence of radiation characteristics on the corrugation form is discussed. It is shown that the leakage directions and the intensity of leaky waves are controlled independently one another. The radiation pattern can be synthesized by choosing the geometric parameters of the corrugation properly.

Standard Site Method (SSM) is theoretically analyzed using matrix representations to examine its validity and develop an improved method. The analysis reveals that the SSM yields an antenna factor specifically related to the effective load impedance presented by the cable and associated devices which are disconnected from the antenna during the SSM site attenuation measurements. Therefore, an additional conversion is required to determine the desired antenna factor under actual load conditions. It is also concluded that the SSM is not applicable to antennas having height-dependent antenna factors. In addition, the SSM correction factors are found to be theoretically inappropriate. Uncertainty of the antenna factor obtained using the SSM is discussed and the required antenna separation distance is investigated. To improve the existing SSM, it is proposed that both transmitting and receiving antennas are placed at the same height during the site attenuation measurements. Experiments exhibit the superiority of the improved method.

In the early stage of hyperthermia, a large number of engineering efforts have been done in the development or the improvement of the heating and temperature measuring techniques. However, they were not always satisfactory clinically. Thus, even in this moment, various engineering researches as well as the electromagnetic techniques for hyperthermia should be build up rapidly. This paper describes some of the highlights of developed or ongoing electromagnetic heating techniques in hyperthermia and identities a trend of emerging electromagnetic heating. Furthermore, the author emphasizes that few medical engineering efforts have been done in the boundary field between pure physics and clinics, and the proper way to develop the hyperthermia equipment is the best use of successes in the three essential regions: Physics, Biology and Clinics.

Three-dimensional vocal tract shapes of a male, a female and a child subjects are measured from magnetic resonance (MR) images during sustained phonation of Japanese vowels /a, i, u, e, o/. Non-uniform dimensional differences in the vocal tract shapes of the subjects are quantitatively measured. Vocal tract area functions of the female and child subjects are normalized to those of the male on the basis of non-uniform and uniform scalings of the vocal tract length and compared with each other. A comparison is also made between the formant frequencies computed from the area functions normalized by the two different scalings. It is suggested by the comparisons that non-uniformity in the vocal tract dimensions is not essential in the normalization of the five Japanese vowels.

This study shows that using the direct offset integration technique (DOIT) and additional positive feedback (APF) in a high-Tc dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) improves the effective flux-to-voltage transfer function and reduces the flux noise of a magnetometer, thus improving the magnetic field noise. The effective flux-to-voltage transfer function and the flux noise with APF were measured at different values of the positive feedback parameter βa, which depends on the resistance of the APF circuit. These quantities were also compared between conditions with and without APF. This investigation showed that a βa condition the most suitable for minimizing the flux noise of a magnetometer with APF exists and that it is βa=0.77. The effective flux-to-voltage transfer function with APF is about three times what it is without APF (93 µV/Φ0 vs. 32 µV/Φ0). The magnetic field noise of a magnetometer with APF is improved by a factor of about 3 (242 fT/Hz vs. 738 fT/Hz).

MRI is a widely used diagnostic imaging modality because it has excellent diagnostic capabilities, is safe to use and generates images not affected by bone artifacts. Images are obtained by utilizing the phenomenon of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) by which protons located in a static magnetic field absorb radiofrequency (RF) pulses with a specific frequency and release a part of the energy as a NMR signal. Potentially MRI has the ability to provide functional and metabolic information (such as flow, temperature, diffusion, neuron activity) in addition to morphological information. This paper describes the imaging principles and provides a general outline of some applications: flow imaging, metabolite imaging and temperature imaging.

This paper describes a SQUID magnetometer and the measurement of small signals. It also describes the current state of SQUID technology developed in the SSL project.

The superconducting magnet on a maglev vehicle vibrate and heats up inside under the influence of various disturbances in running. We have investigated the characteristics of heating in the superconducting magnet vibrating under the electro-magnetic disturbance from the ground coils. This magnetic disturbance has a frequency component ranging widely from 0 Hz to several hundred Hz which is proportional to the speed of the maglev vehicle. It was revealed that an extreme increase of heat load on the inner vessel of the energized magnet occurred at a particular frequency and it surpassed the capacity of the refrigerator installed in the tank of the superconducting magnet. As a result of the investigation, we could identify broadly three factors of heating, and now we have good prospects of largely suppressing the heating by reducing the disturbance through the folded arrangement of the ground coils and a structural improvement of the magnet.

The effects of Gaussian electromagnetic noise and non-Gaussian one on TV picture degradation are studied by using a composite noise generator which can control noise parameters. Three kinds of still pictures and four kinds of motion pictures are tested, and the picture degradation is subjectively evaluated with five-grade impairment scale. The tendency of the picture degradation against the every picture is almost the same. But MOS (Mean Opinion Score) between still picture and motion picture degradation is different in some measure when the power of burst noise is small.