[en] In nanogranular CoPtC thin films, the CoPt nanocrystals embedded in graphite-like C were found to have an elongated prolate ellipsoid-like shape. The long axes of the ellipsoids were perpendicular to the film plane, that is, in the film-growth direction. The shape magnetic anisotropy resulting from the shape of the CoPt ellipsoids gave rise to a magnetization component out of the film plane. The easy axis of the magnetization remained as that of the film plane

[en] The conformal coating of effective stationary phases onto micro-fabricated columns having complex geometries such as semi-packed columns poses a real challenge. Here, we report for the first time the conformal coating of a semi-packed column with amino-functionalized parylene diX-AM (poly-aminomethyl-[2,2]-paracyclophane), which was found to be an effective stationary-phase material for the chromatography of short-retention-time compounds. A semi-packed column (consisting of a zigzag array of 30 µm square micro-pillars in a 1.0 m long, 180 µm wide and 230 µm deep channel) and an open tubular column (1.0 m long, 160 µm wide and 230 µm deep channel) used for comparison purposes were micro-fabricated on silicon that was subsequently coated with diX-AM parylene and thermally bonded. The chromatograms recorded on a commercial gas chromatograph demonstrated the usefulness of the conformal diX-AM coating as a stationary phase for semi-packed columns. The separation efficiency of the semi-packed column was found to be more than ten times that of the open tubular column

[en] We report our discovery in Swift satellite data of a transient gamma-ray counterpart (3.2 σ confidence) to the fast radio burst (FRB) FRB 131104, the first such counterpart to any FRB. The transient has a duration T _9_0 ≳ 100 s and a fluence S_γ ≈ 4 × 10"−"6 erg cm"−"2, increasing the energy budget for this event by more than a billion times; at the nominal z ≈ 0.55 redshift implied by its dispersion measure, the burst’s gamma-ray energy output is E_γ ≈ 5 × 10"5"1 erg. The observed radio to gamma-ray fluence ratio for FRB 131104 is consistent with a lower limit we derive from Swift observations of another FRB, which is not detected in gamma-rays, and with an upper limit previously derived for the brightest gamma-ray flare from SGR 1806−20, which was not detected in the radio. X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical observations beginning two days after the FRB do not reveal any associated afterglow, supernova, or transient; Swift observations exclude association with the brightest 65% of Swift gamma-ray burst (GRB) X-ray afterglows, while leaving the possibility of an associated supernova at much more than 10% the FRB’s nominal distance, D ≳ 320 Mpc, largely unconstrained. Transient high-luminosity gamma-ray emission arises most naturally in a relativistic outflow or shock breakout, such as, for example, from magnetar flares, GRBs, relativistic supernovae, and some types of galactic nuclear activity. Our discovery thus bolsters the case for an extragalactic origin for some FRBs and suggests that future rapid-response observations might identify long-lived counterparts, resolving the nature of these mysterious phenomena and realizing their promise as probes of cosmology and fundamental physics.

[en] The High Altitude Water Cerenkov (HAWC) and IceCube observatories, through the Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON) framework, have developed a multimessenger joint search for extragalactic astrophysical sources. This analysis looks for sources that emit both cosmic neutrinos and gamma rays that are produced in photohadronic or hadronic interactions. The AMON system is running continuously, receiving subthreshold data (i.e., data that are not suited on their own to do astrophysical searches) from HAWC and IceCube, and combining them in real time. Here we present the analysis algorithm, as well as results from archival data collected between 2015 June and 2018 August, with a total live time of 3.0 yr. During this period we found two coincident events that have a false-alarm rate (FAR) of <1 coincidence yr^–1, consistent with the background expectations. The real-time implementation of the analysis in the AMON system began on 2019 November 20 and issues alerts to the community through the Gamma-ray Coordinates Network with an FAR threshold of <4 coincidences yr^–1.