Prize Recipient

Nathaniel Stern
Harvey Mudd College

Citation:

"Exchange Anisotropy and Giant Magnetoresistance in Thin Film Spin Valves Containing Ultra-thin IrMn Antiferromagnetic Layers."

Background:

Stern received his B.S. in physics from Harvey Mudd College in May 2003 with Honors in Physics and the Humanities and Social Sciences. He conducted his undergraduate research in magnetism and magnetic materials. This research focused on exchange anisotropy in spin valves as well as stripe magnetic domain observations in nickel thin films. He received the Mindlin Prize for Innovative Ideas in the Sciences for his senior thesis on exchange bias in spin valves containing Iridium-Manganese antiferromagnets. He is currently attending graduate school at the University of California, Santa Barbara working with Dr. D. D. Awschalom. His research interests include electron and nuclear spin dynamics and magnetism in semiconductor structures. Nathaniel was awarded the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, but he is pursuing his Ph. D. as a Fellow of the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation.