Merons are a class of topologically protected particle-like structures created in in-plane magnetized magnetic films. The structures can act as information carriers and could be used for magnetic storage. However, the development of such applications is hampered by limitations in the size, thermal stability and magnetic-field requirements of the systems. Here we report the construction of millimetre-scale meron lattices that are stable at room temperature and under zero magnetic field. Our system is based on a trilayer structure composed of a thin iron film sandwiched between films of palladium and magnesium oxide (Pd/Fe/MgO) on a gallium nitride wafer. It is fabricated using a molecular-beam epitaxy approach that is assisted by a high magnetic field, which leads to a strong Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction. The lattices can be used for chirality transfer from merons to electrons and then to photons, and we show that the meron lattices can be used as spin injectors in nitride-based light-emitting diodes. The topology-induced spin light-emitting diode can provide 22.5% circularly polarized electroluminescence at room temperature and under zero magnetic field.

Accentuated Cut Edges (ACE) is a recently developed grape must extraction technique, which mechanically breaks grape skins into small fragments but maintains seed integrity. This study was the first to elucidate the effect of ACE on Shiraz wine’s basic chemical composition, colour, phenolic compounds, polysaccharides and sensory profiles. A further aim was to investigate any potential influence provided by ACE on the pre-fermentation water addition to must. ACE did not visually affect Shiraz wine colour, but significantly enhanced the concentration of tannin and total phenolics. Wine polysaccharide concentration was mainly increased in response to the maceration time rather than the ACE technique. ACE appeared to increase the earthy/dusty flavour, possibly due to the different precursors released by the greater skin breakage. The pre-fermentation addition of the water diluted the wine aromas, flavours and astringency profiles. However, combining the ACE technique with water addition enhanced the wine textural quality by increasing the intensities of the crucial astringent wine quality sub-qualities, adhesive and graininess. Furthermore, insights into the chemical factors influencing the astringency sensations were provided in this study. This research indicates that wine producers may use ACE with pre-fermentation water dilution to reduce the wine alcohol level but maintain important textural components.

Producing wines within an acceptable range of astringency is important for quality and consumer acceptance. Astringency can be modified by fining during the winemaking process and the use of vegetable proteins (especially potato proteins) as fining agents has gained increasing interest due to consumers’ requirements. The research presented was the first to investigate the effect of a potato protein dose on the kinetics of tannin and phenolic removal compared to gelatin for two unfined Cabernet Sauvignon wines. To further understand the results, the influence of the wine matrix and fining parameters (including pH, ethanol concentration, sugar concentration, temperature, and agitation) were tested according to a fractional 2^5-1 factorial design on one of the Cabernet Sauvignon wines using potato proteins. The results from the factorial design indicate that potato protein fining was significantly influenced by wine pH, ethanol concentration, fining temperature as well as an interaction (pH × ethanol) but not by sugar content or agitation. Insights into the steps required for the optimisation of fining were gained from the study, revealing that potato protein fining efficiency could be increased by treating wines at higher temperatures (20 °C, rather than the conventional 10–15 °C), and at both a lower pH and/or alcohol concentration.

200 mm silicon carbide bulk growth would be the mainstream in industrial production, but the difficulty of multiple physical fields control is increased with the larger diameter. In this study, a resistance heating based physical vapour transport system was established and explored for its appropriate parameters of multiple physical fields (such as thermal, velocity, flux and reaction components fields) by the COMSOL simulation. A combination of pressure at 5 torr and seed temperature of 2340 K was gained by taking the rate and homogeneity of in-plane growth into consideration. Furthermore, a gas deflector was designed to decrease the convection and to improve the homogeneity of mass transport. This gas deflector had the ability to enhance the quality and yield of 200 mm SiC crystal bulk. A high yield of 90.1% was achieved for the 200 mm part within the crystal thanks to this deflector (without the usage of the deflector was 38.5%). This work provides a useful tool and insights into the steps required for the optimisation of 200 mm or larger size SiC bulk growth.

The silicon carbide (SiC) crystal growth is a multiple‐phase aggregation process of Si and C atoms. With the development of the clean energy industry, the 4H‐SiC has gained increasing attention as it is an ideal material for new energy automobiles and optoelectronic devices. The aggregation process is normally complex and dynamic due to its distinctive formation energy, and it is hard to study and trace back in a non‐destructive and comprehensive way. Here, this work developed a non‐destructive and deep learning‐enhanced characterization method of 4H‐SiC material, which was based on micro‐CT scanning, the verification of various optical measurements, and the convolutional neural network (ResNet‐50 architecture). Harmful defects at the micro‐level, polytypes, micropipes, and carbon inclusions could be identified and orientated with more than 96% high performance on both accuracy and precision. The three‐dimensional visual reconstruction with quantitative analyses provided a vivid tracing back of the SiC aggregation process. This work demonstrated a useful tool to understand and optimize the SiC growth technology and further enhance productivity.