Reader in Condensed Matter Physics
Chris Marrows is Reader in Condensed Matter Physics, and was previously a lecturer, and before that an 1851 research fellow, funded by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.
His research programme concerns materials and devices for future information technology, in particular devices based on electron spin - so-called spintronics. This involves a wide ranging investigation of nanoscale and thin film magnetic artificial structures, prepared largely by sputter deposition. Such materials are useful in the quest for ever more complex spin electronic devices - systems where the spin, as well as charge, of the electron is used in the storage and processing of information. Current areas of interest are magnetic tunnel junctions, current driven domain wall motion in magnetic nanostrutures, soft x-ray synchrotron studies of nanomagnets, and epitaxial graphene.
He has published over 120 articles in peer-reviewed journals since the completion of his thesis in 1997, and has presented his work at a several international conferences, including several invited talks and seminars in the UK, Europe and USA. He was a member of the final review panel for the EPSRC Advanced Magnetic Programme. His involvement with central facilities means that he is member of of the working group that developed the successful proposal for a polarised soft x-ray beamline BLADE for magnetism at Diamond, and of the new polarised neutron reflectometer polREF at the ISIS second target station. Recent pieces of work have been selected as a scientific highlights by the Diamond Light Source and the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island. He is co-ordinator of the ESF EUROCORES FoNE Network SpinCurrent, and Theme Leader on domain wall spintronics in Spin@RT.
He is invited lecturer on Spintronics at the European School on Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies from 2005-2008 - download the slides of his lectures here (PDF, about 170 Mb). He also took part in a Foreign and Commonwealth Office/EPSRC mission on spintronics to China in October 2005, including speaking at a Cafe Scientifique event in Shanghai, about "A Computer on the End of a Needle - How small can IT be?" (more slides to download here - PDF, 1.1 Mb).
He has five PhD students at present, Nick Porter, Graham Creeth, Kari Dempsey, Jason Morgan, and Andrew Strudwick and three postdoc researchers, Aidan Hindmarch, Serban Lepadatu, and Jill Weaver. In his spare time, he teaches undergraduate courses in Magnetism and Quantum Transport, is Programme Director for the Physics with Nanotechnology degree programme, and is the Condensed Matter Group representative on the School Postgraduate Committee and Research Committee.
last updated 15-04-2009
