Abstract:Contemporary interest in developing new platforms for information technology motivates fundamental studies of the spin degree of freedom in nanostructures. We first provide a brief overview of recent experiments that probe nanoscale spin phenomena in systems that interface semiconductors, superconductors and ferromagnets in novel configurations [1-3]. Then, we focus on a new experiment that demonstrates how to probe the elastic behavior of magnetic domain walls in ferromagnets with nanoscale resolution [4].[1] M. Nowakowski et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 137206 (2010).[2] J. Wang et al., Nature Physics 6, 389 (2010).[3] N. Dellas et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 072505 (2010).[4] A. Balk et al., arxiv: 1103.5240
Biography: Nitin Samarth is Professor and Associate Head in the Physics Department at The Pennsylvania State University. He completed his undergraduate education in physics at the Indian Institute of Technology (Mumbai) and received a Ph.D. in physics from Purdue University. He joined Penn State University after postdoctoral research at the University of Notre Dame. His research centers on the synthesis and study of semiconductor, magnetic and topological insulator quantum structures with a view towards applications in spintronics and quantum information. His group has particular interest in understanding the transport and dynamics of spins in semiconductor systems at length scales ranging from the nanoscale to the mesoscopic. Professor Samarth is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a recipient of the Faculty Scholar Medal in Physical Sciences and the George Atherton Award for Teaching Excellence from Penn State University, and the Outstanding Physics Alumnus Award from Purdue University.