There is a special reason for reviewing this book at this time: it is the 50th edition of a compendium that is known and used frequently in most chemical and physical laboratories in many parts of the world. Surely, a publication that has been published for 56 years, withstanding the vagaries of science in this century, must have had something to offer. There is another reason: while the book is a standard fixture in most chemical and physical laboratories, including those in medical centers, it is not as frequently seen in the laboratories of physician's offices (those either in solo or group practice). I believe that the Handbook can be useful in those laboratories. One of the reasons, among others, is that the various basic items of information it offers may be helpful in new tests, either physical or chemical, which are continuously being published. The basic information may relate

Handbook of Chemistry and Physics

The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters

We review the progress achieved during the recent five years in immunochemical biosensors (immunosensors) combined with nanoparticles for enhanced sensitivity. The initial part introduces antibodies as classic recognition elements. The optical sensing part describes fluorescent, luminescent, and surface plasmon resonance systems. Amperometry, voltammetry, and impedance spectroscopy represent electrochemical transducer methods; electrochemiluminescence with photoelectric conversion constitutes a widely utilized combined method. The transducing options function together with suitable nanoparticles: metallic and metal oxides, including magnetic ones, carbon-based nanotubes, graphene variants, luminescent carbon dots, nanocrystals as quantum dots, and photon up-converting particles. These sources merged together provide extreme variability of existing nanoimmunosensing options. Finally, applications in clinical analysis (markers, tumor cells, and pharmaceuticals) and in the detection of pathogenic microorganisms, toxic agents, and pesticides in the environmental field and food products are summarized.

Nanoparticle-Based Immunochemical Biosensors and Assays: Recent Advances and Challenges

The observation of magnetic domains by magneto-optical microscopy, based on the Kerr and the Faraday effect, is one of the most prominent techniques for the visualization of distributions of magnetization within magnetic materials. The method has gained increased attention due to the possibility to visualize field and current induced phenomena in nanostructured magnetic materials on fast time-scales. Fundamental concepts and recent advances in methodology are discussed in order to provide guidance on the usage of wide-field magneto-optical microscopy in applied magnetism. Recent applications of magneto-optical microscopy in bulk and thin film materials are reviewed at the end.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/48/33/333001/pdf

Progress in magnetic domain observation by advanced magneto-optical microscopy

The research and development in the field of magnetoresistive sensors has played an important role in the last few decades. Here, the authors give an introduction to the fundamentals of the anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) and the giant magnetoresistive (GMR) effect as well as an overview of various types of sensors in industrial applications. In addition, the authors present their recent work in this field, ranging from sensor systems fabricated on traditional substrate materials like silicon (Si), over new fabrication techniques for magnetoresistive sensors on flexible substrates for special applications, e.g., a flexible write head for component integrated data storage, micro-stamping of sensors on arbitrary surfaces or three dimensional sensing under extreme conditions (restricted mounting space in motor air gap, high temperatures during geothermal drilling).

/pdf/recent-developments-of-magnetoresistive-sensors-for-54lbwz8mhs.pdf

Recent Developments of Magnetoresistive Sensors for Industrial Applications

A 3-D magnetic field sensor based on the giant magnetoresistive (GMR) spin valve (SV) was designed for improving the energy efficiency in intelligent automating devices. Generally GMR SV sensors are selective only in the plane of the substrate due to fabrication restraints. For this application, a sensor with ultra-thin dimensions is required for the system integration. The approach using micro-assembly for the accomplishment of 3-D field detection is not possible. Therefore, the integration of soft magnetic materials is essential to deflect the magnetic flux for the detection of a magnetic field in the direction perpendicular to the substrate. In this paper the design of 3-D flux guides was presented. Finite element method (FEM) simulations were used to optimize the flux guide design. NiFe, with its high permeability μ, low coercivity Hc and relatively high saturation flux density Bs, was regarded as the suitable material for this application. Electroplating and patterning by means of photolithography promises to be the appropriate process to integrate this material after the deposition of the GMR multilayer. To characterize the magnetic properties measurements with a Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) as well as a hysteresisgraph were carried out.

Designs and Characterizations of Soft Magnetic Flux Guides in a 3-D Magnetic Field Sensor

Self-cleaning mechanisms in ultrasonic bonding of Al wire

Flexible Magnetic Writing / Reading System: Polyimide Film as Flexible Substrate

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization on silicon integrated magnetics for high-frequency power applications. The presented device achieves superior characteristics in terms of energy density, electrical resistance, current capability, and inductance versus frequency stability. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of use of the presented device for high-frequency power applications, it is tested with two different buck point of load (PoL) dc–dc converters, one of them is off-shelf chipset and the other is designed specifically for the microdevice. Experimental measurements show that the microdevices achieve a maximum inductance of about 50 nH, electrical resistance of 300 mΩ, rated current capabilities up to 1 A, and stable L versus f characteristics up to 100 MHz. Also, the PoL buck converters with the microdevices achieve a peak efficiency of up to 82% with a flat efficiency curve at switching frequencies up to 30 MHz while providing tight output voltage regulation (<0.2%) and low temperature rise (40 °C) at the rated current.

Marc Christopher Wurz

Papers

Recent Developments of Magnetoresistive Sensors for Industrial Applications

Designs and Characterizations of Soft Magnetic Flux Guides in a 3-D Magnetic Field Sensor

Self-cleaning mechanisms in ultrasonic bonding of Al wire

Flexible Magnetic Writing / Reading System: Polyimide Film as Flexible Substrate

Microfabricated Magnetics on Silicon for Point of Load High-Frequency DC–DC Converter Applications