A vector signal generator is capable of operating on microwave frequencies. It comprises a microwave resonator, an output for coupling microwave photons out of said microwave resonator, and a Josephson junction or junction array coupled to the microwave resonator for emitting microwave signals into the microwave resonator. A biasing circuit is provided for applying a bias to the Josephson junction or junction array. A tunable attenuator is coupled to said microwave resonator.

This spin current magnetization rotational type magnetoresistive element includes a magnetoresistive effect element having a first ferromagnetic metal layer having a fixed magnetization orientation, a second ferromagnetic metal layer having a variable magnetization orientation, and a non-magnetic layer sandwiched between the first ferromagnetic metal layer and the second ferromagnetic metal layer, and spin-orbit torque wiring which extends in a direction that intersects the stacking direction of the magnetoresistive effect element, and is connected to the second ferromagnetic metal layer, wherein the electric current that flows through the magnetoresistive effect element and the electric current that flows through the spin-orbit torque wiring merge or are distributed in the portion where the magnetoresistive effect element and the spin-orbit torque wiring are connected.

Disclosed herein is a detection device comprising sensors with spin torque oscillators (STOs), at least one fluidic channel configured to receive molecules to be detected, and detection circuitry coupled to the sensors. At least some of the molecules to be detected are labeled by magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). The presence of one or more MNPs in the vicinity of a STO subjected to a bias current changes the oscillation frequency of the STO. The sensors are encapsulated by a material, such as an insulator, separating the sensors from the at least one fluidic channel. A surface of the material provides binding sites for the molecules to be detected. The detection circuitry is configured to detect changes in the oscillation frequencies of the sensors in response to presence or absence of one or more MNPs coupled to one or more binding sites associated with the sensors.

Disclosed is a method for generating, from a first electric current having a first frequency, a plurality of second currents each having a second respective frequency component, the method including the following steps: supplying a frequency distributor including a first set of pillars including a layer made from a first magnetic material and having a resonance frequency; exciting each pillar of the first set with an electromagnetic field having the first frequency, the ratio between twice the resonance frequency of each pillar of the first set and the first frequency being equal, to within ten percent, to a first natural integer; and generating, by each pillar of the first set, a second frequency component in the second respective current.

Ferrimagnetic oscillator magnetometers do not use lasers to stimulate fluorescence emission from defect centers in solid-state hosts (e.g., nitrogen vacancies in diamonds). Instead, in a ferrimagnetic oscillator magnetometer, the applied magnetic field shifts the resonance of entangled electronic spins in a ferrimagnetic crystal. These spins are entangled and can have an ensemble resonance linewidth of approximately 370 kHz to 10 MHz. The resonance shift produces microwave sidebands with amplitudes proportional to the magnetic field strength at frequencies proportional to the magnetic field oscillation frequency. These sidebands can be coherently averaged, digitized, and coherently processed, yielding magnetic field measurements with sensitivities possibly approaching the spin projection limit of 1 attotesla/√{square root over (Hz)}. The encoding of magnetic signals in frequency rather than amplitude relaxes or removes otherwise stringent requires on the digitizer.

A magnetoresistance effect element includes: a first ferromagnetic layer; a second ferromagnetic layer; and a non-magnetic layer provided between the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer, wherein at least one of the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer includes a first layer and a second layer in order from the side closer to the non-magnetic layer, the first layer contains a crystallized Co-based Heusler alloy, at least a part of the second layer is crystallized, the second layer contains a ferromagnetic element, boron element and an additive element, and the additive element is any element selected from a group consisting of Ti, V, Cr, Cu, Zn, Zr, Mo, Ru, Pd, Ta, W, Ir, Pt, and Au.

A spin torque oscillator includes a first electrode, a second electrode and a device layer stack located between the first electrode and the second electrode. The device layer stack includes a spin polarization layer including a first ferromagnetic material, an assist layer including a third ferromagnetic material, a ferromagnetic oscillation layer including a second ferromagnetic material located between the spin polarization layer and the assist layer, a nonmagnetic spacer layer located between the spin polarization layer and the ferromagnetic oscillation, and a nonmagnetic coupling layer located between the ferromagnetic oscillation layer and the assist layer. The assist layer is antiferromagnetically coupled to the ferromagnetic oscillation layer through the non-magnetic coupling layer, and the assist layer has a magnetization that is coupled to a magnetization of the ferromagnetic oscillation layer.

Disclosed herein are methods and apparatuses for sequencing nucleic acids using a detection device, the detection device comprising a plurality of spin torque oscillators (STOs) and at least one fluidic channel. In some embodiments of a method, a nucleotide precursor is labeled with a magnetic nanoparticle (MNP), and the labeled nucleotide precursor is added to the fluidic channel of the detection device. It is determined whether at least one of the plurality of STOs is generating a signal. Based at least in part on the determination of whether the at least one of the plurality of STOs is generating the signal, it is determined whether the labeled nucleotide precursor has been detected.

Ferrimagnetic oscillator magnetometers do not use lasers to stimulate fluorescence emission from defect centers in solid-state hosts (e.g., nitrogen vacancies in diamonds). Instead, in a ferrimagnetic oscillator magnetometer, the applied magnetic field shifts the resonance of entangled electronic spins in a ferrimagnetic crystal. These spins are entangled and can have an ensemble resonance linewidth of approximately 370 kHz to 10 MHz. The resonance shift produces microwave sidebands with amplitudes proportional to the magnetic field strength at frequencies proportional to the magnetic field oscillation frequency. These sidebands can be coherently averaged, digitized, and coherently processed, yielding magnetic field measurements with sensitivities possibly approaching the spin projection limit of 1 attotesla/√{square root over (Hz)}. The encoding of magnetic signals in frequency rather than amplitude relaxes or removes otherwise stringent requires on the digitizer.

A magnetic device for magnetic random access memory (MRAM), spin torque MRAM, or spin torque oscillator technology is disclosed wherein a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) with a sidewall is formed between a bottom electrode and a top electrode. A passivation layer that is a single layer or multilayer comprising one of B, C, or Ge, or an alloy thereof wherein the B, C, and Ge content, respectively, is at least 10 atomic % is formed on the MTJ sidewall to protect the MTJ from reactive species during subsequent processing including deposition of a dielectric layer that electrically isolates the MTJ from adjacent MTJs, and during annealing steps around 400° C. in CMOS fabrication. The single layer is about 3 to 10 Angstroms thick and may be an oxide or nitride of B, C, or Ge. The passivation layer is preferably amorphous to prevent diffusion of reactive oxygen or nitrogen species.