This award will support a 12 month long-term visit by Dr. Bharat B. Pant of the Solid State Electronics Center at Honeywell, Inc. to visit Japan for a cooperative research project involving Professors Kimihide Matsuyama and Ichiro Sasada of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Kyushu University and Professor Jiro Yamasaki of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Kyushu Institute of Technology. The proposed research involves modeling of the response of long strips of ferromagnetic film used in magnetoresistive sensors. In these sensors a change in the sensed field produces a change in the resistance of the strip. The research will be targeted towards two types of devices which use magnetic thin films, i.e. verticle Bloch line memory and thin film magnetic sensors. The work proposed is of both a theoretical and computational nature. The research will be carried out in conjunction with Professor Matsuyama's verticle Bloch line memory effort, Professor Sasada's work in the use of amorphous ferromagnetic ribbons as torque sensors and Professor Yamasaki's research into experimental investi- gations of the dynamics of magnetization in thin films. The proposed research has significant scientific as well as practical value. It will provide an important contribution to our basic theoretical and experimental understanding of the statics and dynamics of magnetism in thin films. Research resulting from this project could improve the ability to design thin film magneto-resistive sensors which are currently being studied for use in magnetic recording disk files. This could have an important economic impact on the disk drive industry. All of the researchers are experts in their specific areas. Both Kyushu University and the Kyushu Institute of Technology have ongoing experimental efforts taking place in this area. Kyushu University is well advanced in experiments in vertical Bloch line memory and amorphous magnetic films. Since Honeywell has no experimental effort in this area it is advantageous for Professor Pant to carry out his research at this University. It is believed that the collaborations will be very successful and that this research will result in continued cooperation among the researchers.
