Contact

University of Minnesota
School of Physics and Astronomy
116 Church St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Phone: (612) 626-9371 (lab)
           (612) 624-8840 (office)

E-mail: compton@physics.umn.edu

Current Research Interests

One of my interests is the role of magnetic anisotropy energy in spin injection experiments. Interfaces induce surface anisotropies that can depend on epitaxy, growth conditions, and roughness. These anisotropies behave like internal magnetic fields, changing the frequency of spin precession for injected electrons. These effective internal fields may also impact the rate of spin scattering for spintronic devices.

Background

• 2002. to present - Ph.D. program in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota, working with Professor Paul Crowell and the Fast Spin group. 

• 2001. - Masters degree from the Department of Physics at Miami University of Oxford, Ohio.  
   

Research Experience

My thesis research with Professor Michael Pechan used ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) to probe the magnetic anisotropy of a exchange-biased bilayer of 4 nm Fe on 120 nm FePt₃ on MgO (110).  We observed evidence of two magnetic transitions, the first at T_N1~160K where the FePt₃ is known to order antiferromagnetically.  The second transition, observed at T_N2~100K was unexpected for stoichiometric FePt₃, but may be due to a spin reorientation.  Most interesting in this research was the evolution of the in-plane FMR linewidth behavior.

Links

Publications