Randomnes makes some computations simpler, now it can be done in a single MRAM-like device. IEEE spectrum interviewed Prof. Wang and Yang on their device, find the interview here.

At the 2017 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting in San Francisco, Yang Lv and Prof. Jian-Ping Wang reported their device, similar to an MRAM memory cell, can perform the stochastic computing versions of both addition and multiplication on four logical inputs. They have made a big leap in a strange but growing field of computing,  called stochastic computing. The method uses random bits to calculate via simpler circuits, at lower power, and with greater tolerance for errors. Though it was first conceived in the 1960s, one of the things holding stochastic computing back was the lack of suitable devices to make it practical.

Congratulations to Xuan Li, who has successfully defended his PhD thesis on December 18. His dissertation topic is Iron Nitride based Magnetoresistance Devices for Spintronic Applications. 

Congrats again, Dr. Li!

Congratulations to Todd Klein, who has successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on December 14. His dissertation topic is Development of GMR Biosensors and Systems for Early Disease Detection.

Dr. Klein was a student leader of the Golden Gopher Magnetic Biosensing Team, which won the distinguished award for our group and the University of Minnesota in the Nikia Sensing Xchallenge Competition. Dr. Todd Klein is the R&D director of Zepto Life Technology LLC, a start-up company co-founded by Prof. Wang.

Congrats again, Dr. Klein!

Diqing's poster titled “Giant Magnetoresistance Based Handheld Platform for Rapid Detection of Influenza A Virus” has received the Best Poster Award in her poster session with over 100 posters in total. The MMM conference is held in Pittsburgh, US this year, and has attracted researchers from all over the world for the discussion of a variety of topics on magnetism and magnetic materials.

Diqing and her coworkers from Prof. Jian-Ping Wang and Prof. Andres Perez’s groups demonstrated the outstanding performance of their GMR-based handheld system in the sensitive detection of Influenza A virus. By using a sandwich structure of capture antibody-antigen-detection antibody-magnetic nanoparticles on the GMR sensor surface, the detecting system can successfully detect both Influenza A Virus nucleoprotein and the purified H3N2 virus sample with a detection limit better than the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), which is a commonly used method for the virus detection. Moreover, with the size of a snack container and a user-friendly interface, this handheld system is capable of onsite detection, and the whole detection process can be finished within 10 minutes.

(More details on the handheld system can be had in the Z-Lab story)

Scientists at the University of Minnesota have successfully developed and tested a prototype of Z-Lab, a portable diagnostic platform designed to perform on site testing of biological samples for various ailments. This is the first version of the prototype developed for point-of-care diagnostics. The details of the device and results of the test are reported in the paper “Portable GMR Handheld Platform for the Detection of Influenza A Virus” published recently in ACS Sensors.

The prototype was used to test for the presence of the influenza A virus (IAV) in a treated sample. The testing process, which parallels the commonly used ELISA test process, involves antibodies acting as sensors capturing a biomarker, to which a detectable object is added that will bind to the sensor-biomarker complex. In the case of Z-Lab, a GMR (Giant Magnetoresistance) chip is used as the surface, and a magnetic label (MNP) is the detectable object. If the disease indicator is present in the sample, magnetic tags will bind to the GMR sensor resulting in a change in the electrical signal. The signal is monitored by the Z-Lab handheld device which is capable of data processing, display, wireless communication, and GPS location services depending on the needs of the specific application.

This breakthrough news is also covered by ECE department website.

Our bio-group has successfully developed a portable diagnostic platform, Z-Lab, which is capable of performing on site testing of Influenza A Virus (IAV) in swine with minimum sample handling and laboratory skill requirements. Influenza virus, if present in the sample, will cause magnetic tags to bind to the GMR sensor through a sandwich structure, resulting in change in MR. This real-time electrical signal can be detected by our Z-Lab handheld device, which is capable of data processing, display, wireless communication, and GPS location services depending on the needs of specific application.

This Z-Lab system is the first version of a prototype that has been developed for point-of-care diagnostics. The GMR chips used in this system give its strong multiplex capability, which can significantly reduce costs associated with laboratory testing and enable widespread medical and environmental testing in homes, in the field, and at point-of-care clinics. The ultimate goal of our GMR-based handheld platform is to realize on-site testing on unprocessed biological samples.

Wanna know more? Click here.

Congratulations to Kai, who has successfully defended his PhD thesis on August 23. His dissertation topic is Magneto-Nanosensor Platforms for Biosensing Applications. 

Dr. Kai Wu is the first student in our group to get the PhD degree within four years right after his/her undergraduate study. He is an amazing student for our group and for the U. He has published 15 papers, one book chapter and one patent during his entire phd study, with him as the first author for 11 papers. More importantly, the quality of his papers is extremely high. Some of his papers will be seminal in his research field.

Congrats again, Dr. Wu!

Congratulations to Kai Wu and co-workers! Their joint work “Characterizing Physical Properties of Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles in Liquid Phase Using Brownian Relaxation” published in Small was selected as Back Cover in volume 13, issue 22 (Small 22/2017).

The nonlinear magnetic response of SPIONs to magnetic fields induces harmonic signals that contain information of these nanoparticles. In this paper, Kai Wu, Jian-Ping Wang and co-workers, report using the phase lag and harmonic ratios in the SPIONs to analyze the saturation magnetization, average hydrodynamic size, the dominating relaxation processes of SPIONs, and the distinction between single- and multi-core particles.

Congratulations to Diqing Su, Jianxin Zhu, and Xudong Hang, who have successfully passed their PhD Oral Exams! Cheers!

(From left to right: Diqing Su, Xudong Hang, Md Aminul Mehedi, Karl (Boo) Schhlip, and Patrick Quarterman)

Jun-Yang Chen and co-workers have created a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) that can be switched by a pulse of light lasting one trillionth of a second, setting a speed record. The magnetic tunnel junction is a device critical to information technology with the termination of Moore’s law, a principle that has ruled the microelectronics industry for five decades.

This advancement holds promise for the development of new, optically controlled, ultrafast magnetic devices collectively called spintronics (electronics that combine optical and magnetic nanotechnologies). These devices could lead to innovations in the storage, processing, and communication of information in the coming decade. An example of such innovation would be the development of a system that like the human brain, can both store and analyze a large amount of data simultaneously.

The details of the device and the tests conducted on it are reported in the paper “All-Optical Switching of Magnetic Tunnel Junctions with Single Subpicosecond Laser Pulses,” published in Physical Review Applied (volume 7, issue 3).

This breakthrough news is also covered by Phys.org, ScienceNewsline, and EE Times Asia.