Introduction of members

 

 

Yevgen Pogoryelov (Post-doctoral Fellow)

 

My name is Yevgen Pogoryelov and I am from Ukraine. I was born in Kiev and there I also started my scientific life. In 1998 I graduated from the Radiophysical department of the National Taras Shevchenko University in Kiev with the M.Sc. degree. Then I joined the Institute for Magnetism of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and in 2004 received Ph.D. degree. My doctoral thesis was devoted to investigation of indirect exchange coupling between ultrathin transition (Fe) and rare-earth (Tb) metal layers through nonmagnetic metal spacer (Au, Cu). While carrying out thorough studies of exchange coupling in such trilayer structures by using various measurement techniques I experimentally found the existence of so called spin-Hall effect and it appeared to be very sensitive to exchange processes in trilayer systems. After receiving Ph.D. degree my scientific activities were focused on spin-related phenomena in magnetic films. For half a year I worked as a junior researcher at the same institute and then joined ISML as a postdoctoral fellow. I am very grateful to Prof. Suzuki for this opportunity to work in his group. Here he offered me an interesting subject for my research – fabrication and characterization of nanoscale ferromagnetic dots and dot arrays. And as the characterization stage also includes the study of their magnetic properties I will be able to apply my previous experience and knowledge to these tiny objects.

 

Hnin Yu Yu Ko (Post-doctoral Fellow)

 

My name is Hnin Yu Yu Ko. My home country is Myanmar, the former name is Burma. Some of Japanese people know about my country from the movie named “Biruma no tategoto” shown in Japan very long time ago. I finished my undergraduate study in chemical engineering, Yangon Institute of Technology, Myanmar in September 1996. After that, I joined Kobe University for master and doctoral degree. My Ph.D research title is “Fabrications and properties of nano-sized metal particles dispersed metal oxide thin films by liquid phase deposition.” I received Ph.D degree in March 2002. Then, I joined Kwansei Gakuin University as a postdoctoral research fellow from April 2002 to March 2005 in the area of optical properties of metal nanoparticles. I studied synthesis and characterization of various kinds of metal particles. I am eager to know the application of these metal particles, especially in the magnetic field of study. It is a very promising area of research. I do believe that this research field is very attractive and challenging to me. Fortunately, Professor Suzuki handed me a chance to do research in this field. I joined ISML on April 2005. I am studying under the title of “Thermal stability of high density perpendicular magnetic recording media”. I am very impressed by the research activity at the ISML here.

 

Nguyen N. Phuoc (Post-doctoral fellow – Former PhD student)

 

Greetings! My name is Nguyen Nguyen Phuoc. I am from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, a small but beautiful city. Prior to being with ISML, I was a research fellow at the Hanoi University of Technology, where I got my Master’s degree. I joined ISML in September 2003 as a PhD student under the supervision of Professor Takao Suzuki. My PhD thesis work is to study perpendicular exchange bias mechanism in FePt/FeMn multilayers. Upon my graduation in September 2006, Professor Suzuki kindly offered me a postdoctoral position at ISML. Currently, I am involved with the research on investigation of magneto-optical properties of FeRh thin films at high temperatures. Also, I conduct research on exchange coupling in nano-composite particles. With the very kind support from Prof. Suzuki, I am confident that I will have a fruitful stay at ISML.

 

Htoo Aung (Engineer)

 

My name is Htoo Aung and I am from Myanmar. Myanmar lies at the meeting point of two of the world’s great civilizations, China and India, but it blends both of these influences with its own very special local characteristics. The people have preserved traditional values, and are deeply devout in their religion, with a close-knit family system and respect for elders still powerfully observed.

I received a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics in 1995 September from Yangon Institute of Technology. Then I joined Ministry of Communications Posts and Telegraphs in Myanmar as a Telecommunications Engineer. I am pretty much interested in Electromagnetic radiation and this was the motivation for my career. I have designed and operated National telecommunications microwave transmission infrastructures in nation-wide. Before I left from job, I worked as in charge for National backbone networks. In 2002, I got a great chance to study in Waseda University for Master of Science in Telecommunications and Information Studies. My main research is the design and application for broadband wireless personal area network (WPAN) in millimeter wave transmission. Magnetic devices are now so deeply integrated into everyday life that the average citizen takes most of them for granted. The prospects of magnetic recoding storage media have so much attracted to me. I expected to learn a lot but  to be honest, the philosophy of Professor Suzuki touched my heart and I would like to learn and work under his guidance. I have granted the position at this prestigious ISML, and I am very much thankful to Prof. Suzuki about his kind support. I am very excited to work here because I find it very interesting and I love the working environment and the atmosphere here in ISML.

In all, I am proud and grateful to work in here. Although my stay in ISML is a little bit short, it will be one of the most important periods in my life. I am so grateful and pleased for getting a chance to learn from ISML members to broaden my intellectual horizons.

 

Nguyen Thanh Nam (PhD Student)

 

My name is Nguyen Thanh Nam, Nguyen is my family name, Thanh is my middle name, and Nam is my given name. So you can call me Nam, a part of my country’s name, Viet Nam. I was born on February 10, 1983 in Thanh Hoa city, in North of Viet Nam. In 1998, when I was 15 years old, I came and lived in Hanoi city, the capital of Viet Nam, and enrolled Hanoi University of Science as a student of the Educational Program for Gifted High School Pupils. Then I continued to study in the same university for my bachelor degree. I got my bachelor’s degree in July 2005.

Now I am a PhD student. I joined ISML in October 2006. I am very happy with the chance that Professor Takao Suzuki gave me to be his PhD student. My main research here focuses on the exchange bias mechanism in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic multilayers as the same research I have done for my bachelor’s degree. Undoubtedly, researching in ISML will be an enriching experience. I will avail of the best opportunities to develop a better understanding of magnetic recording materials as well as many cultural aspects with many nice colleagues coming from around the world. Living far away from my family and my hometown can be difficult. However, my aspiration of becoming a creative researcher gives me the confidence that can help me overcome any obstacle. With very kind support from Professor Suzuki and help from nice colleagues, I will do my best as I can and hope that I will finish my PhD course in the time.

 

Sho Inoue (Master Student)

 

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sho Inoue. I'm 23 years old, and love snowboarding. Have you ever played snowboarding? Snowboarding has various styles.  My favorite style is to play in nature. It is exciting for me to slide on powder snow and to fall over a cliff. 3 years ago, I and my friends at TTI organized a snowboarding team “Non” named after my dog’s name. It is my pleasure to play snowboarding with the team members who show many kinds of snowboarding style. Each member improves snowboarding skills together. I hope we can enjoy snowboarding together every winter. I often go snowboarding to Oku-mino region with teammates in winter. However the quality of snow there is not good. Artificial snow can hardly satisfy me. So I would like to go to Canada some time to enjoy snowboarding on fresh snow.

I have become a member of the ISML since this year, and am learning magnetism here now. I selected this laboratory for two purposes. The first is to learn various kinds of recording technologies and recording media. I am also interested in studying how a human being memorizes huge volume of information. I want to apply the recording mechanism to media technology if possible. I would like to acquire much knowledge from this laboratory. The other reason is to develop my English language skill. I would like to be able to communicate in English. Of course, if I can do so, I will be able to have a better time in travels abroad. Thank you.

 

 

Hiroaki Yamamoto (Master Student)

 

My name is Hiroaki Yamamoto. I am 22 years old. I was born in Hiroshima, and living there until 18 years old. Hiroshima is the first city where was damaged by the atomic bomb in the history of human. It was completely revived by the grace of predecessors. Peace Memorial called “Genbaku Dome” or “Atomic Bomb Dome” is preserved not to forget misery of war and fear of the atomic bomb. Hiroshima has not only a World Heritage Site of war, but also one of old culture. Itsukushima Shinto Shrine dated from 1000 years ago. It has a gate called “torii” in Japanese. The half height of it is sunk in sea in high tide. It appears to be floating on the sea. The sight is very mystic. Many times, it’s been severely damaged by typhoons. Whenever it was damaged, people in Hiroshima repaired it. I’m proud of these Hiroshima’s indomitable spirits.

My favorite hobbies include seeing movies, listening to music and reading comics and novels. I have seen many foreign movies from my childhood. I hope I will be able to see movies without captions.I have studied fundamentals of Engineering for 3 years, and I started to study magnetic materials in ISML from this April. One reason why I decided to become a member of ISML is that I was interested in magnetism when I took Prof. Suzuki’s class. The other reason is that ISML is a good English environment. I’m not very good at English, and my vocabulary and hearing skills are limited. So, I want to learn English.

 

Mariko Kawahara (secretary)

 

My name is Mariko Kawahara. I have been working as the secretary for Prof. Suzuki and ISML since the 9th of February. I feel very honored to work in the No.1 laboratory in the world. This is the first time for me to work in a University. Some of my friends recommended me to work for a University, maybe because I am interested in learning foreign languages.

Last year I worked at the EXPO 2005 as a receptionist in the Rotary Pavilion. During that time I had a great chance to welcome many visitors and guests from all over the world. There were many foreign visitors. I don’t think I will ever meet so many foreigners from various countries in such a short time again. I could only have short conversations with them, but I realized clearly that they all have different feelings, customs and cultures from seeing their behaviors. It was very interesting! The world is now getting so much smaller due to high technological development. I appreciated getting the chance to meet people from many other countries and I want to cherish our relationships as well.

As Prof. Suzuki mentioned once in the ISML meeting, I lived in Germany for two years. After graduating from University in Japan, in which my major was economics, I went to Germany in order to learn German. It was actually my father’s idea, because he knew a good family through his business. I spent one year in a language school and after that I had a chance to be an auditing student in the University of Cologne. It was very hard for me to sit down in the big hall and listen to lectures. In the first semester I could not understand anything and just struggled with a dictionary. In the second semester, somehow it became a little bit better. It was a wonderful experience. I was really impressed with how hard the students studied and how proud they were to be students, which was a completely different image of my student life in Japan.

Now, I have just started working here. There are still so many things I don’t know, but I feel great energy from Prof. Suzuki and the other ISML members, seeing you working.

 

 

Introduction of former members

 

Tieren Gao (Former Postdoctoral fellow)

My name is Tieren Gao, and I am currently a postdoctoral fellow. I was born in Hu’nan Province, locating in the middle of China. In China, Hu’nan means the south of Changjiang River. I came to Japan on June 28th, 2006 after just received my PhD degree from Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Before furthered my PhD degree, I got my B.S and M.S degree from Lanzhou University in 1999 and 2002, respectively, and then I worked for Shaoxing University as a lecturer for one year until I enrolled in Fudan University. In Fudan University, my PhD research was concentrated on perpendicular magnetic recording media and exchange bias bilayers. These days, I am focusing on the FePt/FeRh multilayer composite fabricated by pulse laser ablation method. This is my first time to work in foreign country. I felt that every one is very polite and friendly since I arrived in Japan. I thank Prof. Suzuki to give me this  postdoctoral opportunity. He lets me learn many many things both research and life. I also appreciate the kind help from ISML members.

 

Jiangwei Cao (Former Postdoctoral fellow)

Hello, My name is Jiangwei Cao and I am from China. I was born in a small village of China in 1979, when some important events were happening in China also, that is the beginning of reform and opening policy. In 1997, when I was 18 years old, I enrolled in Lanzhou University, which is one of the famous universities in China, although it locates in undeveloped northwest area. I stayed in Lanzhou for nine years and got doctoral degree from Lanzhou University. During my Ph.D student period, I had a chance to come to Japan and study in Shinshu University as an exchange student for ten months. In Nagano, I met many Japanese friends with various ages and background. The friendship and hospitality of them impressed me greatly. I hoped I could have a chance to come to Japan again. Fortunately, Professor Suzuki offered me this opportunity to work and study in ISML after I received my Ph.D degree. My doctoral thesis is “The study of FePt thin films for ultra-high density magnetic recording media”. My research work here also relates to heat assisted magnetic recording media and bit-patterned media. I’ll do all my best and I hope to bring great contribution to this laboratory by my research activities.

Hirokazu Shukuin (Former Senior Student)

 

Hello! My name is Hirokazu Shukuin. I’m 21 years old. I’m from Tottori prefecture. My hobbies are playing and watching sports. Before I was a members of baseball club, ekiden club (ekiden is long-distance relay road race), and boat club. Also I like soccer. I watch TV program ”Yabetchi FC” every week. But I didn’t play soccer lately. So let’s play soccer together! I have my interest in the field of mechanical engineering. I have studied such subjects as Applied Mechanics, Strength of Materials, CAD, Design Engineering, etc. Among the modern trends of the mechanical engineering are decreasing of dimensionality down to nano-scale, and combining of nano-devices with magnetic materials. Fortunately ISML is focusing on nano-scale magnetic materials and ISML has unique equipment for fabrication and characterization. So I decided to study nano-scale processing technique and magnetism in this laboratory. Another advantage of ISML is that its members are coming from many countries giving a unique opportunity to learn English and improve my English skill. I want to speak English fluently, and communicate with others in English. This is another reason for selecting ISML. I’ll do my best for a year.

 

Yoichi Tominaga (Former Senior Student)

This is Yoichi Tominaga from Aichi Japan. Aichi is famous for Toyota Motors and many Industrial companies. You can see companies and factories which have the highest technologies in Japan or even in the world. You also can see some traditional Japan. In the history, Hideyoshi, Nobunaga and Ieyasu were born in Aichi. They are the most famous people in Japanese history. There are many historical traditional stories in many places like Nagoya castle with golden fishes on the roof. I finished high school science course in 2002, and I entered matriculated Toyota Technological Institute. I have studied basic engineering for 3 years, and I have been abroad for 6 months to study English.After that, I came to ISML to finish my last year of TTI. I studied basic engineering for 3 years and now I’m standing the start line. I know I have to study more and more but I came to be an engineer, so I want to achieve something spending my life. The study at ISML will be the base study of my career. I wish you would see my name somewhere in the world in the future. Of course in a positive way. Thank you.

Yoshinori Tanaka (Former PD Fellow)

I love sports, people and science. Contrary to my appearance, I won the first prize in a Karate tournament. My name is Yoshinori Tanaka. I’m from Kagoshima-city, my hometown. Kagoshima is located in the southern part of Japan, so the climate and the characters of the residents there are very hot and warm (Of course the characters of ISML members are also hot and warm). An environment plays an important role in the process of the personality formation, like properties of chemical elements are determined by their environment (crystal structure, temperature, etc.).
Indeed, the magnetic moments on transition elements seem to be strongly dependent on their environment. Generally, the magnetic moments on atoms, surrounded by neighbor atoms with deep local potential, are enhanced, like the moment on Fe atom in the permalloy or Ni-Mn-Fe-Ga. In both alloys, the nearest neighbors of Fe are Ni atoms. Then, one of the aims of my doctoral thesis was to examine the effect of surrounding deep local potential on magnetic properties. To do this, electronic structures of binary alloys between transition-metal elements were calculated for the B2 and L12 structures. The surrounding deeper local potential attracts the electronic states of the subject atoms into lower energy range and brings the various moments and interesting features. In other words, the effects of the surrounding local potential can control the relative position between the Fermi level (EF) and the band gap or the peak of the density of states (DOS). The possibility to control the relative position between the EF and DOS peak or the band gap will give significant information to discover new spintronic materials. As a result of my research, the significant (environment) effects of surrounding local potential were confirmed.
The environment is also significant for our life so that I’d like to sustain its good condition and hand it over to the next generation. Although we cannot solve the global environment issues directly, we may slightly contribute to improve its state through our research activities. Since one of the projects that this laboratory focused on is the magnetic properties of ordered (L12, L10) alloys, I feel happy to become involved in the research activities in this field and other new fields. I am deeply grateful to professor Takao Suzuki for giving me the opportunity to participate in his projects. I’ll do all my best and I hope to bring great contribution to this laboratory by my research activities.

Takuya Shibata(Former Senior Student)

Hello, my name is Takuya Shibata. I’m 22 years old. I’m from Fukuoka prefecture. It is a very beautiful place. My favorite pastimes include watching movies, TV programs, chatting with my friends, and playing sports. I love playing baseball.Before becoming a student at this Institute, I had been at the Toyota Technical Skills Academy (founded by Toyota Motor Corporation). During the Academy I had had opportunities to see factories of the Toyota Motor Corporation many times. They have wonderful technology. Therefore I determined to enter university in order to study the technology.
I am interested in magnetism. When I attended the class of Professor Suzuki, I learned recent research activity of the high-density magnetic recording. I was really surprised to hear the rapid progress of the technology, and thought I would like to learn this wonderful technology. This is one of the reasons why I chose this laboratory. The other reason is that there are many foreigners in this laboratory, and the daily conversation of this laboratory is almost made in English. Now I’ll make an effort to brush up my English skill, and I would like to visit many countries. I’ll do my best.

Ken Takeuchi (Former Master Student)
My name is Ken Takeuchi, born in Kyoto in 1980. Now I am 22 years old. I lived near Kinkaku-ji Temple and Ryoan-ji Temple, which is a very sequestered place. My hobby is listening to the music, especially to pop, rock and punk rock. My another hobby is watching FI match on TV. I am a Ferrari fan and hope they will win many times. I have studied the fundamentals of Engineering for 3 years and now I start to study magnetic materials. I hope I can get more knowledge about magnetic materials.

Yasuyuki Kageyama (Former PhD Student)
Since I joined to ISML, 4 months have already passed. I am now feeling that I have been quite familiar with all of the members in Prof. Suzuki’s Laboratory. That may be not only from fact that I am somewhat aged as student, but also greatly owing to friendly and kind personality of this group.Now I live in Chikusa ward of Nagoya city with my wife and my son. Nagoya is also my hometown (born in 1959). After studied at University of Tokyo for 6 years from 1978, I got a Master's Degree in Engineering with syntheses of diamond thin films by microwave plasma CVD. In 1984, I joined Toyota Central Research and Development Labs., Inc. (TCRDL). In this company, I have been working on research and development of thin film for various applications (sensor, LSI memory, flat panel display, optical coatings, hard coatings, and so on). The most recent project I have been engaged on is development of ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM) with using ferroelectric dielectric materials. Through this project, I have come to feel strongly that for electronic devices of the next generation, we should develop new types of memory or sensor devices which work according to a totally novel principle with combining both ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials into one tip. For this purpose I had been hoping to study magnetism, and fortunately I happened to be given an opportunity to study here by Prof. Suzuki. Now I am much pleased to stay and work on research here, and I am just learning lots of things. 

Kentaro Nakajima(Associate Professor)

Hi, there! My name is Kentaro Nakajima. I have just joined ISML as an associate professor from 1st May in this year. I was born in Tokyo in 1967, and received a Ph.D degree from Tohoku University in 1996 for a dissertation upon “ Study of electronic structure of fcc-Fe, Co Ni ultra-thin films using Magneto-optical Spectroscopy “ . Afterward,  I joined Toshiba Corp as a researcher, and had worked until 2003. While in Toshiba, I experienced several subjects, such as spin-STM,  MFM, MBE, device fabrication process, single-electron device, spin-valves device, micro-magnetic simulations, MRAM design and development…..Those experiences are really my fortune. I was in Ireland from 2003 to 2005, working as a senior researcher. I enjoyed living in Ireland, and deeply fascinated with her culture and nature. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to visit to Connaught, where old Celtic culture is still alive in. However, in Dublin, I used to go pub every weekend to enjoy Celtic music with a paint of Guinness.
Though two months already passed, I am still struggling to get used to the new circumstance…but I am really pleased my new job. I met several former members at the last reunion party of the ISML in this April. Hope we have a reunion in near future!

Zhen-gang Zhang (Former PD Fellow)


My hometown is Pingyuan, a small city, located in Shandong Province of China, around 400 km to the south of Beijing. “Pingyuan” means plain in Chinese; indeed my hometown perches herself in such a great plain that you can not find any even small hill anywhere. In 1986, when I was 18 years old, I was accepted by Lanzhou University, which is one of the famous universities in China, after I had finished my high-school education in my hometown. Lanzhou is located in the North-west of China. I need two days to get there by train. Although far away from my hometown, Lanzhou is the most important city in my life, where I spent 13 years until I got my Ph.D in 1999. During these 13 years, I had 3 years staying in another university also in Lanzhou as a assistant professor after I graduated in 1990. After that, I went back to Lanzhou University to start my research work as a Ph.D student. My doctoral thesis is on the fabrication and characterization of nano-granular magnetic films. This work was focused on getting high TMR ratio in Co-Al-O insulating granular systems. In the end of 1999, I got one scholarship from Portugal government as a postdoctoral fellow in INESC, one institute in Portugal. My group was Microsystems & Nanotechnologies, directed by Prof. Paulo Freitas. My research direction was to develop TMR materials for high density recording head. After two-year working, the properties of TMR materials had been improved greatly. However, at that moment, I realized that it would be much better for my improvement if I can do some research works on the other direction. Fortunately, Prof. Suzuki provided me this chance as a postdoc fellow in his group. I believe I can get a heavy harvest under the supervision of Prof. Suzuki. 

Yunwei Fan (Former Secretary)
I’m Yunwei Fan from China. I graduated from the Geology Department of Lanzhou University in 1990. Then I worked in “Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineer Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences” for 11 years, in which 3 years for research work and another 8 years for administerial work. In June 2001, my daughter and I went to Portugal to visit my husband Zhengang Zhang, who worked in INESC as a postdoctoral fellow. At the end of 2001, we were glad that Prof. Suzuki provided a postdoctoral position in ISML for my husband, so our family could have the chance to move to Japan. I knew Japan is one of the most advanced countries in the world but I had never been there before. After living in Japan nearly one and a half year, I know more and more about Japan and I like it indeed. I have many Japanese friends here. They are very friendly and kindly, giving me much help in my life, and we enjoyed many things together. Fortunately, in November 2002, Prof. Suzuki gave me the opportunity to work as a secretary in his group and I could work again. All the members of this group are also very nice and friendly, helping me in many ways. This is a really good group family!

Cristian Papusoi(Former PD Fellow)
My name is Cristian PAPUSOI, I am 33 years old and I come from Romania. I have received the Ph.D. degree in physics in 1998, at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, in my town Iasi. Since I graduated, in 1992, I have been with the Department of Electricity and Physical Electronics of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University. My university was inaugurated in 1860, in the presence of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the Ruler of the Union of Romania, and has received his name. According to the Regulation of 1851, the University contained at the beginning three faculties: the Faculty of Philosophy, with three sections, philosophy, literature and science, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Theology. Today, with about 13.000 undergraduate students and more than 2.000 doctoral students currently registered, it provides a full range of classical education. The University employs about 900 academics and about 800 administrative staff members. The faculties are: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, Geography-Geology, History, Law, Letters, Physics, Mathematics, Orthodox Theology, Psychology and Education Sciences, Philosophy, Physical Education and Sport. My field of interest covers the interpretation of the magnetization processes for fine magnetic particle systems, with special reference to the role played by thermal fluctuations. My Ph.D. thesis coped with the magnetization acquired during heating or cooling of a fine (nanometric) particle system in the presence on an external field. This research subject is very interesting not only for physicists but also for archeologists who are using magnetic methods to determine the age of rocks containing ferro/ferrimagnetic oxides. The so-called thermoremanent magnetization is the remanent magnetization acquired during the cooling of a magnetic particle system in the presence of an external field which is subsequently suppressed. Rocks containing natural ferro/ferrimagnetic oxides have also been cooled down after volcanic irruptions in the presence of the earth magnetic field, keeping thus the memory of its intensity and direction at that time.  Last year I had the opportunity of meeting Prof. Takao Suzuki during a summer school on magnetic recording on Rhodes Island, Greece. I was very happy to hear that he was looking for a scientist to work exactly on the subject I was studying at that time, namely the determination of the particle anisotropy and volume distributions in granular-type recording media. At that time I had already heard about Prof. Takao Suzuki and the ISML in Toyota Technological Institute while I was working in the ISTG of Prof. J.C.Lodder in the Netherlands. I remember that one day, a new ISTG member, Gavin Phillips was introduced to us by Prof. C.Lodder who emphasized the fact that Gavin had spent one year in the prestigious group of Prof. Suzuki before coming to the Netherlands. I have seen a lot of admiration on my colleagues’ faces. From his saying, I was very surprised to hear that people in Japan are working harder than anywhere else. But this was another good reason for me for trying to obtain a post-doctoral position in the group of Prof. Suzuki.
I would also like to say a few words about the members of this group. I have met very nice people here, very cooperative and kind. The atmosphere in the ISML, undoubtedly influenced by the multicultural background of its members, is very good and supportive for research. The secretary of Prof. Suzuki, Ms. Akiko Aoyama, is also very kind and understanding and she helped me in many circumstances. I would like to thank her very much. I am very happy to be here and I would like to thank once more Prof. Takao Suzuki for giving me this opportunity. Thank you, all my colleagues, for your support and help.

Kyongha Kang (FormerPD Fellow)
“An-nyung-ha-se-yo?” (which means “how are you?” in Korean, my native language)
My name is Kyongha Kang. I joined the group on July 22, 2001 just after I got my D.Phil. degree at the University of Oxford. I have studied magnetism and magnetic materials since I entered Korea Institute of Science and Technology to obtain an M.Sc. degree. At the Magnetic Materials Group at Oxford University I studied magneto-optical storage materials and the title of my D.Phil. thesis, which was supervised Dr. Amanda K. Petford-Long and Dr. John Hutchison, is “Crystal Structure, and Magnetic and Magneto-optical Properties of MnSbBi Thin Films”. I am studying FePt/Ag multilayer thin films for perpendicular magnetic recording in ISML. FePt particles isolated by Ag show a high magnetic perpendicular anisotropy which has encouraging to make a disk with the alloy film deposited to demonstrate high magnetic recording density. I am also with several other projects. My family members are very happy living in Nagoya particularly, because of the relatively short distance between our country and Japan.

Ko-Wei Lin (Former PD Fellow)
My name is Ko-Wei Lin and I am from Taiwan, a three-hour flight to Japan. I got my Ph.D. in Stony Brook University (New York, USA) in May 2002 with Professor Gambino, the coauthor of The Magneto-optic Materials with Professor Suzuki. After that, I went to the ISML, directed by Professor Suzuki as a postdoctoral fellow. My project involves the fabrication and characterization of cobalt particles by ion-beam induced chemical vapor deposition (IBICVD) technique. Thanks to the endless support from Professor Suzuki, I can not only concentrate on the experimental research but also exchange opinions and discussions with others by attending international conferences such as TMRC, MMM, etc. The results have been submitted to Nanotach 2003, Intermag 2003, and ICM 2003. Without help from colleagues and Professor Suzuki, I could not make it. In all, I am proud to be a member of ISML. Although my stay in ISML is a little bit short, it is one of the most important periods in my life.

Adam Lapicki(Former PD Fellow)
"A bird is a bird, slavery means slavery, a knife is a knife, death remains death..."  / Zbigniew Herbert /
Why did a Polish poet write such a sequence of trivial identities? Maybe there is a hidden meaning or the double confirmation has a sense of negation. This has a lot of to do with the experience of Japan. Being born more than thirty-six years ago in a small village in Poland I have had many opportunities to face various challenges of life both in Poland and later in the USA during my doctorate studies, and I don’t even know why I am still looking for more. I take my adventure at the ISML of Toyota Technological Institute as a challenge for my abilities to adopt simultaneously to a different culture of a complex hierarchy and unspoken rules, and a different professional field at demanding standards of Prof. Suzuki. The TTI creates a very specific environment to serve best those who are dedicating themselves to scientific research. You can easily arrange your life in such a way that all the distractions of the outside world are away from you. Yet this is a kind of family atmosphere with its good and not so good consequences. You can learn here about respect, humbleness and obedience, how to share your success and you can count on help in solving many problems (even those you would prefer to have for yourselves). It is not only about science, your whole life is penetrated by the essence of Japanese culture through the secular life in the dormitory, ceremonial social meetings, group excursions and so on. The experience of ISML is not just about Japan, the extremely international group gives an additional dimension to being a foreigner here, where our Japanese colleagues may occasionally feel like a minority too. It is hard to predict if all that will be sufficient to understand the complexity of this country of tremendous ambition, the nation overcoming the humble spirit of Buddhism and the memories of a conquered empire. However, after Wislawa Szymborska, “I prefer myself who likes people than myself loving the humankind. I prefer not to claim that the mind is responsible for everything. I prefer moralists who don't promise anything. I prefer the countries conquered than those conquering” and I am looking forward to new challenges in the land of the rising sun.

Tao Yang(Former PD Fellow)
One of my colleagues once said that I was luckier than he has been. I know he meant I could communicate with Japanese people and I know more about Japan than he did. In this sense, he is right. I had studied in Tokyo for two years as an exchange student from 1995 to 1997. During that two years, not only I started to speak Japanese language, but also I got to know more about Japan and Japanese people. In the end of 1997, I went back to Beijing and got my Ph.D. degree from Tsinghua University. After that, I found a position in the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Two years after I left Tokyo, I came to Japan again. It was May of 2000. Many things are different from the last time. Nagoya, where my wife and I are living, is different from Tokyo in many ways. But what surprised me is our laboratory. This is the best equipped laboratory I have seen, including some famous Japanese national university laboratories I have visited. And the research field of this laboratory is the information storage materials, which I have been expecting to work on from several years ago.   The most surprising is the people working here. When I entered the laboratory for the first time, I even doubted if I was in Japan. Because those faces that appeared before me are absolutely not Japanese, until I met Mr. Kanazawa and Mr. Mochida. The ISML members are from various continents and the official language is English. It is just like a small United Nations. I have been benefiting a lot from such an international atmosphere.  As for the boss of such a laboratory, Professor Takao Suzuki, he is very nice and kind but also very strict.
Time is flying, nine months have passed since I came here. During the time passed, I have learned a lot about magnetic recording media. With the support of Professor Suzuki and the Institute, I was able to attend some conferences and symposiums, including some international ones. Those are really good experiences for me.
Now my wife and I have settled down. My wife is learning Japanese. Her level is now sufficient to discuss with me in Japanese, not ask, some problems she meets during her study. On the other hand, I have to try to keep my Japanese level, since I don’t have many opportunities to practice now. As for the colleague I mentioned at the beginning, he will not have any reason to say that any more. Because he has married a Japanese girl. 

Ehsan Ahmad (Former PD Fellow)

The first word of Japanese Language that I managed to understand at the very second day of my arrival in Japan is “chotto”. Surprisingly the word is pronounced as the same way as we do in Bengali and bears the same meaning. This is a chotto incident that I will talk about many times in the years to come.
I am a new comer to the group. My native country is BANGLADESH, a beautiful green country with a very large population. I was born and bought up in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. I completed my BSc and MSc degrees from the Department of Physics of University of Dhaka and after that, I joined Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet as a Lecturer in 1991. I went to Cambridge with Commonwealth Scholarship in 1992. I completed my MPhil in Microelectronics and Semiconductor Physics from the Microelectronic Research Center in Cavendish Laboratory. My supervisor was Prof. Haroon Ahmed. Then I joined Dr. J. A. C. Bland’s Thin Film Magnetism group and completed my PhD under his supervision. I returned to Bangladesh from Cambridge and took up a teaching position at my old University. At the same time, I was looking for an opportunity to get a research position abroad. I was fortunate that I came to know about the PD fellowship at ISML and applied for it. I am honored that I have given the position at this prestigious group, and I am very much thankful to Prof. Suzuki about his kind support.
I got married in 1991. My wife who is also a physics graduate and was a school teacher in Bangladesh. We have a six and half years old son who will start his first ever-primary school her in Nagoya from this April.
I am very excited to see this well equipped lab along with a group of expert people from different parts of the world. They all speak English, which is good news for me. However, ones ears need to be tuned carefully to cope with the wide spectrum of accents used in the lab to communicate in English. Within the last four weeks I realize that I am with a bunch of very nice, kind and helpful people, who really cares for each other.
I would like to survive through a year to write more about my experience in Japan in the next edition of OVERWRITE. Till then “sayonara”. 

Andrei Toporov(Former PD Fellow)
My name is Andrei Toporov. Andrei is given name and Toporov is family name. I was born in Moscow, the capital of former USSR, in 1963. So, I am a real muscovite. I graduated from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute in 1986 with the M.Sc. degree in solid state physics. The diploma (master) work was dedicated to the temporal magnetization characteristics of rare-earth Bi-substituted in-plane garnet films.
Then I was with the Institute of Crystallography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, where worked in the field of tunable solid states lasers up to 1990.
Gorbachev’s “perestroika” resulted the former soviet and Russian science in collapse so I had to join the Central Scientific Research Laboratory MENATEP in Moscow, which was one of the private scientific companies as a research engineer to keep on working. Fortunately, the subject of the study was relevant to my diploma work therefore it was possible to succeed quickly. However, the financial situation in our country became worse and most of the companies dealing with scientific business went bankrupt. In 1993 I was admitted to the Moscow State Institute of Radioengineering, Electronics and Automation as a Ph.D. student and in 1995 received the Ph.D. degree in electronics of condensed matters. The subject of the Ph.D. work was related to the magneto-optical visualization and imaging and their applications. I was lucky because I was able to use knowledge, experience and data previously gained.
In 1996 I joined General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow as a research associate and in 1998 I was promoted to the senior research associate. My work involved studying the dependence of reversal characteristics of thin ablated and sputtered films of Co-rich amorphous magnetics and Ni-Fe alloys upon the deposition parameters and their capabilities as the sensor materials. More recently, I was involved in the collaborative development of patterned thin-film spin-tunneling structures for sensor and memory applications.
In 1998 I was awarded by Royal Society/NATO fellowship and in May, 1999 I joined the Department of Materials, the University of Oxford to study patterned magnetic media. The magnetization distribution in focused ion beam patterned Ni-Fe magnetic antidot arrays has been for the first time observed by Lorentz TEM. Fortunately, my wife and 2-year-old son were with me at the moment, thus we both did not suffer from loneliness and life went in the usual way. We enjoyed England very much, the homeland of Isaac Newton and Winston Churchill, captain Cook and Sherlock Holmes, William Shakespeare and admiral Nelson and many other bright and talented persons, country of very old traditions. Hopefully, we will have a possibility to visit this country once again.
In 2000 Professor Suzuki kindly invited me to join his laboratory at the Toyota Technological Institute. I arrived in Nagoya on the 22nd of August 2000 from Moscow. So at the moment I am in Japan approximately half a year. I have been working in the area of magneto-optical studies of Pt-alloys aiming at the application to magnetic recording. The laboratory is English-speaking one so there is no problem to communicate and well equipped. I have been gaining day by day the experience studying experimental techniques and improve knowledge in basic magnetism through seminars, Professor Suzuki’s lectures and communications with my colleagues. I am happy to work in such the creative and fruitful environment and to contribute to the subject I am responsible for.
My wife and myself are interested in  Japanese culture, cuisine and traditions. We tried to study Japanese language but it seems to be absolutely formidable for us.

Rachid Sbiaa (Former PD Fellow)
My name is Rachid Sbiaa; I am a newcomer in Toyota Technological Institute.  I am glad to be here in the laboratory of Prof. Takao SUZUKI to extend my experience in the magnetooptical field and to take new scientific challenges during my stay.
I was born in Fez, the cultural capital of Morocco. It was built more than twelve centuries ago, near Atlas Mountains so many civilizations had left their marks on the walls of the city. As I was 23 years, I left to study in Paris where I then spent eight years until one week ago. In this period I have discovered  the french culture which is well represented in Paris from many famous museums, theatres and historic monuments. My Ph.D. work was on the study of exchange coupling in multilayer films and its application to Magnetically-induced Super-Resolution method. The objective of this study is to optimize new magnetooptical media for high density storage. This work was supervised by Prof. Henri LE GALL at the CNRS Laboratory.
It is sure that the necessity to increase media with high density for many applications requires the improvement of the actual media as well as innovation of new. In such objective Japanese Laboratories are, year after year, developing many interesting and exiting propositions. For such reason I am pleased to work in ISML which I believe is one of the most famous laboratories in the magnetic and magnetooptical storage technology.
I am here in Nagoya just for a week, I am feeling good and I am starting to get familiar with the Japanese life style. Every body in the group has been helpful and of great support if any thing is needed. I would like to thank them very much.

Evangelos Stavrou (Former PD Fellow)
I am a newcomer in the Information Storage Laboratory of the TTI, coming here in the middle of March 99 and at this moment, when I write this text, I am just only one week in TTI. My family name is Stavrou and the given name Evangelos. One calls me, however, Lakis, which is my nickname. I was born near to Athens/ Greece in 1970 and also grew up there but as I was 18 years old, I moved to Kassel/ Germany. So, I know both cultures well. Although both countries are in Europe, one can observe many differences in the live of Greek and German people. In the University Gesamthochschule of Kassel I obtained my diplom degree and after that I started my Ph.D work in Kassel too.  My diplom-work was about the deposition, the characterization and the measure of stresses in reactively sputtered hard materials (TiN, SiN, AlN). In my Ph.D work, however, I changed my research field in applied magnetism and in particular, I investigated the magnetic properties and spin reorientation effects, with temperature, in sputtered Gd/Fe and Gd/FeCo multilayers and exchange coupled TbFeCo / GdFeCo alloys.  These films have a high potential for future applications in the magneto-optical (MO) recording. I was very interested, after I have finished my Ph.D in January 1999, to continue my research activities in the magneto-optical recording, both in basic and applied magneto-optics, so I had to move to Japan! I believe, the lab of Prof. Takao Suzuki in TTI is just the right address for me, because both my previous work and also my future plans are well fitted to the projects, which run here.  About the live in TTI , respectively in Nagoya, I can not yet say much. But however in this first time I am feeling good and there were no problems up to now; this is of course the consequence of the help and the friendly assistance of the members in our lab.  So far, my Japanese is restricted to few words but, of course, I want to improve that, so that I am able to communicate with the people here  and to manage alone  several live situations here. And speaking Japanese, this is also the right way to learn more about this very exiting culture and to explore Japan.

Hiroyasu Kawano (Former Visiting Research Fellow)
.I joined the Information Storage Materials Laboratoryin Toyota Technological Institute as a research scientist in April, 1999 .
I was born in Osaka in 1966, and graduated from University of Osaka Prefecture and received Bachelor and Master of Engineering. My major is Materials Science and Engineering.  I am from Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd.(Akashi in Hyogo) and was working on thin film circuit boards (MCMs) for 6 years before coming to this laboratory.  Since 1998,  I have been involved with the development of high performance MO Media, and related projects.I am therefore at a learning stage as beginner for the data storage technologies. However I am going to do my best in this ISML Lab.Lastly I am NOT good at English, but I think English is a significant tool of communicating with foreigners. I am also challenging for trying English Communication in this Lab.

Masahiro Birukawa (Former Ph.D Student)

I’m a new face in this laboratory, first name is Masahiro and family name is Birukawa. I’m working for Matsushita for 22 years.  Recently I did research and developed high density Magneto-optical recor- ding. From this April, I am a Ph.D. student in this laboratory, and I’m going to research more high density recording.

I was born in the southern seaside of Akita prefecture in Tohoku area in the northern part of Japan. Many people often said that my family name is unusual, sometimes even a foreigner said this. In the local area where I was born, however, it’s a popular name. I lived in Tokyo since I was two years old, therefore I don’t remember almost anything of Akita’s life. I grew up in Tokyo, and I received BS and MS from Koio University.

I moved to Osaka 21 years ago because I joined to Matsushita. First I was engaged to the development of SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy) for three years. I was working at the development of  an optical recording media from 1979, about magneto-optical media and write-once media. When I start working, there was not a read/write tester, therefore we tested hand made with poor optical systems. I was very exited when I could initially observe written marks which was around 5 mm of diameter. The technical level was very poor compared to now, but I enjoyed it very much.

I like sports but I don’t do anything at this moment. I was a basket ball player in my student days, I enjoyed sometimes watching the game of NBA on satellite TV. I often enjoy to travel with my family. On my travels I enjoyed the special food the most. I like sansai specially. It’s a kind of plant that grows mountainside. There are many kinds, for example sprouts and shoots of trees or grasses, many kinds of mushrooms, roots and bulbs etc.  Especially, the Tohoku area is rich in sansai. The most exciting meal at my trips is at Dewaya in Yamagata prefecture where MORIS/ISOM will be held in this autumn.

Dewaya is a Japanese style inn, but we can also take only a meal without accommodation. There are many gods in Japan, and many gods are living in the mountains. Mt. Gassan in Yamagata prefecture is famous for many pilgrims. In the old days, Dewaya was an inn for pilgrims to Mt. Gassan, and the area is very rich in sansai. If you have a chance to make a trip to the Tohoku area, please try to have a lunch or dinner at Dewaya. You can try sansai more than 40 or 50 kinds depending of the season. How about to try it before or after MORIS/ISOM’97.

The language in Tohoku area called “Tohoku-ben” is distinctive and unique. When “Tohoku-ben” is used in TV, standard Japanese is superimposed on the screen. Of course, all people speak standard Japanese now, but we cannot understand if they speak “Tohoku-ben”. The most shortest conversation in Japan, which is very famous is:  One person ask at the street “Do-sa?”, and another person answer “Yu-sa”. Two persons passing each other can have these conversation without stopping!  “Do” means “who”, “where” or “which”,  “sa” means “for”, “to” or “toward”. Therefore “Do-sa” means “where are you going to?”. “Yu” means “hot water” or “bath”, therefore “Yu-sa” means “I’m going to the public bath?”. Someone told that people lived in Tohoku area don’t open the mouth widely and sentences becomes very short because it is very cold. If they open the mouth widely for long time, the mouth will immediately be frozen . However, nobody knows whether this story is true or not. Another example, when someone invited the guests to dinner, the host said “Ke!”. The guests did not understand. “Ke” means “Please eat it”. It may be a short form of “kue” which is the imperative form of “taberu” (=to eat). “Tohoku-ben” is very interesting.

Mitsunori Mochida (Ph.D. Student)
My name is Mitsunori Mochida.  (Mochida is my family name.)
 I was born in Odawara City, where was well known as a castle town. When I was a university student, I lived in Sendai City, where was well known as a castle town too. And now, I came this Nagoya City, here was well known as a castle town too. I think this is a strange destiny. In addition, the Shinkansen that is “Japanese super express” stop at the station of these cities.
 About six years ago, I got my master’s at Tohoku University. I was major in applied physics in the University, and concretely I studied superconductivity. In those days, I compounded some materials of oxide and made the oxide superconductor using a furnace. And then I analyzed the structure and estimated the lattice constants of these samples of superconductor by XRD, and measured the critical temperature of the superconductor by the dependence of electrical resistance on temperature and by the dependence of magnetic susceptibility on temperature. Because the characteristic of superconductor is that the electrical resistance is zero and the diamagnetism.
 At the present time, I came here from Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), Yokohama research center as a research fellow. In Yokohama research center, I have researched and developed for six years about magnetic disk as follows:
1. The error analysis of floppy disk.
2. The basic simulation of magnetic recording system.
3. The original examination of laser texturing using laser diode for hard disk, to decrease the cost and size of laser texturing apparatus.
4. The construction of laser texturing apparatus of MCC-type, that is used in factory now.
5. The analysis of magneto-electric property of hard disk, for example “Track Average Amplitude”, ”PW50”,”OverWrite”, “Signal Noise Ratio” and “Non Linear Transition Shift”.
 Now, I will research magnetic property of hard disk media using a great number of apparatus, in this TTI. And I’m studying English and English conversation to communicate everybody in this laboratory. Therefore, I wish to be corrected my wrong English.
 At last, I list bellow my favorite.
1. Listening classical music, for example the work of Tchaikovsky.
2. Reading Japanese historical book about “the Warring States period”.
3. Reading Chinese historical novel and book, that translated in Japanese language, for example “The romance of three kingdoms” and “The art of war”
4. Playing sports, for example jogging (running) and playing baseball. (But I cannot play well.)
5. Watching Japanese professional baseball game, in addition, my favorite team is Yakuruto Swallows.
6. Watching soccer (association football), especially internationals match for example the World Cup.
7. Watching horse racing only on television. (Incidentally I have never bet…)
 Thank you for your reading.

M. Ariful I. Nahid (Former Ph.D. Student)
I come from the small city, named Rajshahi of Bangladesh. I graduated from the Dept. of Applied Physics & Electronics, Rajshahi University, Bangladesh. I joined in ISML as a Ph.D student in October, 2001. For a long time it is my great desire to do research in good research environment. Japan is one of the best countries for high quality research. So it is really a memorable day when I first arrived in this nice country. Every member in ISML is also very nice and friendly. But the most interesting thing here is that all members are from different countries. So although it is my first foreign country, I am able to see the other countries by hearing from other members. So this lab is the little world. I don’t know what will be the next generation storage media: One has to discover and develop them and I am sure there are still so many new discoveries and developments laying ahead of us in magnetism. For this mission I came in this ISML with good research atmosphere and I will try my best as I can. This is the great hope for me. I am grateful to work here and hope to succeed.

Hiroyasu Isobe (Former Master Student)
Hi, my name is Hiroyasu Isobe, 22 years old. I’m from Yamaguchi, Japan. Yamaguchi is in the west of Honsyu, surrounded by the Sea of Japan and the Inland Sea and famous for “FUGUSASI”. But I have never eaten it yet, because it is so expensive! My hobby is taking some sport exercises. I like soccer very much. My favorite player is “Junichi Inamoto”. Do you know him? He is a nice guy. He got 2 goals in FIFA W’cup 2002 and since then I have liked him always. Another my hobby is to play catch. I want to throw the ball much faster and I know Mr. Kawamori is a nice rival. By the way, I have special talent in playing “IGO”. IGO is a traditional Japanese game. Prof. Suzuki is a strong rival in it. I selected this lab because this is a lab of an international flavor. Surely, all members speak English here. I like to speak English very much. OK! Finally, I hope I will have a wonderful life here.

Keita Kawamori (Former Master Student)
My name is Keita Kawamori. I am 21 years old now. I was born 1981 in Kyoto and lived in Kyoto until I was 18 years old. I entered Toyota Technological Institute 3 years ago. I studied basic of engineering for 3 years. I studied a little magnetic materials. I am beginner at magnetic materials. My hobby is baseball and listening to the music. I like playing baseball and watching it, too. I belong to the T.T.I.baseball club, and practice baseball every Saturday. By the way, I am an outfielder. I often watch baseball games on TV, and I support Yomiuri Giants which is a Japanese baseball team.

Mitsuhisa Matsuo (Former Research Fellow)

My name is Mitsuhisa Matsuo.I was born in 1965 in Yamaguchi prefecture and lived there until I graduated from Tokuyama College of Technology. I studied specially information engineering there. (e.g.: Implement operating system and designing a micro processor and so on.)  Since 1996, I am working at TOYOTA MACS. I was working as a system engineer to build measurement equipments for special needs from customers. I am good at making software for a micro processor.  I joined this project (making the magneto-optical measurement sy- stem with Dr. W. Van Drent in Information Storage Materials Laboratory) since I wanted to  improve my skills on system engineering.  I sometimes have difficulties to communicate in English. But, if I can speak English well, I can take a broad view of things. So,I am trying to improve my English. I am  carrying out this project with many people. I can't go ahead without their help. I appreciate these people.

Naotoshi Omoto (Foermer Senior Student)
Hello, My name is Naotoshi Omoto. I am 22 years old. I am from Kochi, Japan. Kochi is in the south of Shikoku.It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Shikoku Mountains. It is famous for the farming growing vegetables, especially eggplants, green peppers, and tomatoes, and the fishery. And then, Yosakoi Festival which opens every summer is very popular, and it spreads to Hokkaido, Nagoya, and so on. My hobby is listening to and singing Japanese songs. Since childhood I often watch music programs, so I know not only Japanese pops but also Enka (popular songs with a melody of traditional Japanese type), golden oldies, and children’s songs. I do not know foreign songs at all, however. Another hobby of mine is watching baseball. I cannot play baseball. But I like looking over Japanese professional ballplayers and the history of Japanese professional baseball. By the way, I am Hanshin Tigers fan. I selected this lab because I want to study CDs, MDs, DVDs, and videotapes that I always use in the future. I Iwant to deepen the knowledge of information storage materials, and study, develop, and improve them. I will do my best to get my wish.