PHYSICAL REVIEW FOCUS 18 October 2007 http://focus.aps.org/
David Ehrenstein, American Physical Society
Introductions to the Focus stories of the past week;
visit http://focus.aps.org for the complete stories.
NOBEL FOCUS: SENSITIVE MAGNETIC SANDWICH
Last week two European researchers received the Nobel Prize
in Physics for discovering that a magnetic field significantly
reduces the electrical resistance of certain atom-thin metallic
sandwiches. Their reports were published in Physical Review
Letters and Physical Review B in 1988 and 1989. Since then,
technologists have improved the effect, and it is now widely
used to detect the tiny patches of magnetism that store
information on high-density disk drives.
(M. N. Baibich et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 2472, and
G. Binasch et al., Phys. Rev. B 39, 4828)
Links to the papers: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v61/e2472
and http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v39/e4828
COMPLETE Focus story at http://focus.aps.org/story/v20/st13
NOBEL FOCUS: CHEMISTRY IN 2D
In chemistry, two dimensions are often better than three, since
surface-bound reactions can be probed in greater detail than
those in a liquid solution. Gerhard Ertl was awarded the chemistry
Nobel Prize last week for his many contributions to the field of
surface chemistry. A professor emeritus at the Fritz Haber Institute
of the Max Planck Society in Berlin, Ertl devoted years to understanding
many surface-mediated reactions important in atmospheric science
and industry, including the reaction that cleans up the fumes in a
car's exhaust. Three important papers in those studies appeared in
Physical Review Letters, beginning in 1985.
(M. P. Cox et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 1725, and
S. Jakubith et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 3013 and
C. Beta et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 188302)
Links to the papers: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v54/e1725
and http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v65/e3013 and
http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v93/e188302
COMPLETE Focus story at http://focus.aps.org/story/v20/st14
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Copyright 2007, The American Physical Society.
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