Dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS), achieved through substitutional doping of spin‐polarized transition metals into semiconducting systems, enable experimental modulation of spin dynamics in ways that hold great promise for novel magneto–electric or magneto–optical devices, especially for two‐dimensional (2D) systems such as transition metal dichalcogenides that accentuate interactions and activate valley degrees of freedom. Practical applications of 2D magnetism will likely require room‐temperature operation, air stability, and (for magnetic semiconductors) the ability to achieve optimal doping levels without dopant aggregation. Here, room‐temperature ferromagnetic order obtained in semiconducting vanadium‐doped tungsten disulfide monolayers produced by a reliable single‐step film sulfidation method across an exceptionally wide range of vanadium concentrations, up to 12 at% with minimal dopant aggregation, is described. These monolayers develop p‐type transport as a function of vanadium incorporation and rapidly reach ambipolarity. Ferromagnetism peaks at an intermediate vanadium concentration of ~2 at% and decreases for higher concentrations, which is consistent with quenching due to orbital hybridization at closer vanadium–vanadium spacings, as supported by transmission electron microscopy, magnetometry, and first‐principles calculations. Room‐temperature 2D‐DMS provide a new component to expand the functional scope of van der Waals heterostructures and bring semiconducting magnetic 2D heterostructures into the realm of practical application.

The exploration of exchange bias (EB) on the nanoscale provides a novel approach to improving the anisotropic properties of magnetic nanoparticles for prospective applications in nanospintronics and nanomedicine. However, the physical origin of EB is not fully understood. Recent advances in chemical synthesis provide a unique opportunity to explore EB in a variety of iron oxide-based nanostructures ranging from core/shell to hollow and hybrid composite nanoparticles. Experimental and atomistic Monte Carlo studies have shed light on the roles of interface and surface spins in these nanosystems. This review paper aims to provide a thorough understanding of the EB and related phenomena in iron oxide-based nanoparticle systems, knowledge of which is essential to tune the anisotropic magnetic properties of exchange-coupled nanoparticle systems for potential applications.

The use of hydrogen as a clean and renewable alternative to fossil fuels requires a suite of flammability mitigating technologies, particularly robust sensors for hydrogen leak detection and concentration monitoring. To this end, we have developed a class of lightweight optical hydrogen sensors based on a metasurface of Pd nano-patchy particle arrays, which fulfills the increasing requirements of a safe hydrogen fuel sensing system with no risk of sparking. The structure of the optical sensor is readily nano-engineered to yield extraordinarily rapid response to hydrogen gas (<3 s at 1 mbar H₂) with a high degree of accuracy (<5%). By incorporating 20% Ag, Au or Co, the sensing performances of the Pd-alloy sensor are significantly enhanced, especially for the Pd₈₀Co₂₀sensor whose optical response time at 1 mbar of H₂is just ~0.85 s, while preserving the excellent accuracy (<2.5%), limit of detection (2.5 ppm), and robustness against aging, temperature, and interfering gases. The superior performance of our sensor places it among the fastest and most sensitive optical hydrogen sensors.

Disorder among surface spins is a dominant factor in the magnetic response of magnetic nanoparticle systems. In this work, we examine time-dependent magnetization in high-quality, monodisperse hollow maghemite nanoparticles (NPs) with a 14.8 ± 0.5 nm outer diameter and enhanced surface-to-volume ratio. The nanoparticle ensemble exhibits spin-glass-like signatures in dc magnetic aging and memory protocols and ac magnetic susceptibility. The dynamics of the system slow near 50 K and become frozen on experimental time scales below 20 K. Remanence curves indicate the development of magnetic irreversibility concurrent with the freezing of the spin dynamics. A strong exchange-bias effect and its training behavior point to highly frustrated surface spins that rearrange much more slowly than interior spins. Monte Carlo simulations of a hollow particle corroborate strongly disordered surface layers with complex energy landscapes that underlie both glass-like dynamics and magnetic irreversibility. Calculated hysteresis loops reveal that magnetic behavior is not identical at the inner and outer surfaces, with spins at the outer surface layer of the 15 nm hollow particles exhibiting a higher degree of frustration. Our combined experimental and simulated results shed light on the origin of spin-glass-like phenomena and the important role played by the surface spins in magnetic hollow nanostructures.

We report upon the excellent magnetocaloric properties of Gd53Al24Co20Zr3 amorphous microwires. In addition to obtaining the large magnetic entropy change (−ΔSM ∼ 10.3 J/kg K at TC ∼ 95 K), an extremely large value of refrigerant capacity (RC ∼ 733.4 J/kg) has been achieved for a field change of 5 T in an array of forty microwires arranged in parallel. This value of RC is about 79% and 103% larger than those of Gd (∼410 J/kg) and Gd5Si2Ge1.9Fe0.1 (∼360 J/kg) regardless of their magnetic ordering temperatures. The design and fabrication of a magnetic bed made of these parallel-arranged microwires would thus be a very promising approach for active magnetic refrigeration for nitrogen liquefaction. Since these microwires can easily be assembled as laminate structures, they have potential applications as a cooling device for micro electro mechanical systems and nano electro mechanical systems.