The phenomenon of negative remanent magnetization (NRM) has been observed experimentally in a number of heterogeneous magnetic systems and has been considered anomalous. The existence of NRM in homogenous magnetic materials is still in debate, mainly due to the lack of compelling support from experimental data and a convincing theoretical explanation for its thermodynamic validation. Here we resolve the long-existing controversy by presenting experimental evidence and physical justification that NRM is real in a prototype homogeneous ferromagnetic nanoparticle, an europium sulfide nanoparticle. We provide novel insights into major and minor hysteresis behavior that illuminate the true nature of the observed inverted hysteresis and validate its thermodynamic permissibility and, for the first time, present counterintuitive magnetic aftereffect behavior that is consistent with the mechanism of magnetization reversal, possessing unique capability to identify NRM. The origin and conditions of NRM are explained quantitatively via a wasp-waist model, in combination of energy calculations.

Combining and coupling both magnetic and electric properties in one single phase multiferroic material has attracted high interest recently to enable a broad range of novel devices and applications. To evaluate one potential route toward new multiferroics, we have studied 0.5% Fe-doped BaTiO₃ single crystals and measured the ferroelectric, magnetic, and multiferroic properties. X-ray absorption spectroscopy shows the presence of Fe³⁺, and magnetic measurements confirmed that this has a significant impact on the magnetic properties. Doping of iron introduces paramagnetism from lone iron atoms as well as what appears to be a weak ferromagnetism. Multiferroicity and magnetoelectric (ME) coupling were observed in the polarization-electric field hysteresis loops with an applied magnetic field, yet there was no direct evidence that ME coupling persists when the sample was in the defect dipole-aligned state.

The magnetic susceptibility of pyrolytic graphite (PyG) is temperature dependent. Under an external magnetic field, a levitated PyG sample with a localized temperature change experiences unequal diamagnetic forces. In this paper, we present a study of the macroscale optomechanical displacement of a levitated PyG sample by using a laser source to locally increase the temperature. Dynamic finite-element method simulations show that a localized increase in the sample temperature, simulating a laser source, decreases the diamagnetic force in that local area, leading to the displacement of the PyG sample in the plane of the permanent magnet array. Experimental setups built using different laser sources and samples confirm the range of applicability of the actuation phenomenon to different conditions. An additional setup without moving parts reduced the likelihood by which airflow could have caused the displacement, as we suspect happened in the previous studies.

The magnetocaloric temperature change (ΔT_Temp) is an important factor in the performance evaluation of the magnetocaloric material's magnetocaloric effect (MCE), which has been attracting significant interest due to its application in energy efficient near-room temperature magnetic refrigeration technology with environmentally desirable characteristics. A novel magnetocaloric temperature change test system with fully controlled field, temperature, and time capabilities is designed and analyzed. This test system allows the detailed observations of the applied field effect, sample temperature effect, and time effect on the testing magnetocaloric material. The effectiveness of this test system was evaluated by testing the MCE within sample of Gd turnings. The magnetocaloric temperature change measurements, T_Temp, at various H and Temp was measured and showed numerical and characteristic agreements with literature, thus provided evidence that this test is capable of making conventional measurement as well as new measurements on the material's dynamic time effects.

The adiabatic temperature change (ΔT) during the magnetization and demagnetization processes of bulk gadolinium is directly measured for several applied magnetic fields in the temperature range 285 K to 305 K. During the magnetization process, ΔT measurements display the same maximum for each applied field when plotted against the initial temperature (T_i). However, during the demagnetization process, the maximum ΔT varies for each applied field. This discrepancy between the magnetization and demagnetization measurements appears inconsistent with the reversibility of the magnetocaloric effect. A new approach is undertaken to highlight the reversibility of the magnetocaloric effect by plotting ΔT against the average temperature change (T_avg) instead of T_i. The value of T_avg which corresponds to the maximum ΔT is found to increase linearly with the applied magnetic field, consistently for both the magnetization and demagnetization measurements. Solving the linear-fitting equations of these measurements gives a new, and more precise, Curie temperature measurement. This new approach confirmed that the relationship between the maximum adiabatic temperature change (ΔT_peak) and the applied magnetic field is perfectly linear.

This describes the application of a visual servo control method to the microrobotic manipulation of polymer beads on a two-dimensional fluid interface. A microrobot, actuated through magnetic fields, is utilized to manipulate a non-magnetic polymer bead into a desired position. The controller utilizes multiple modes of robot actuation to address the different stages of the task. A filtering strategy employed in separation mode allows the robot to spiral from the manipuland in a fashion that promotes the manipulation positioning objective. Experiments demonstrate that our multiphase controller can be used to direct a microrobot to position a manipuland to within an average positional error of approximately 8 pixels (64 µm) over numerous trials.