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Albert Fert

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Albert Fert
Fert in 2008
Born(1937-03-07)7 March 1937(age 87)
Carcassonne, Aude,France
Alma materÉcole normale supérieure (Paris)
University of Paris
Known forGiant magnetoresistive effect,spintronics,skyrmions
AwardsCNRS Gold medal(2003)
Wolf Prize in Physics(2006)
Japan Prize(2007)
Nobel Prize in Physics(2007)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsUniversité Paris-Saclay,Unité Mixte de Physique CNRS/Thales,Michigan State University[1]
Doctoral advisorIan Campbell

Albert Fert(French:[albɛʁfɛʁ];born 7 March 1938) is a Frenchphysicistand one of the discoverers ofgiant magnetoresistancewhich brought about a breakthrough ingigabytehard disks.Currently, he is an emeritus professor atParis-Saclay UniversityinOrsay,scientific director of a joint laboratory (Unité mixte de recherche) between theCentre national de la recherche scientifique(National Scientific Research Centre) andThales Group,and adjunct professor atMichigan State University.He was awarded the 2007Nobel Prize in Physicstogether withPeter Grünberg.[2]

Biography

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In 1962 Albert Fert graduated from theÉcole Normale SupérieureinParis,[3]where he attended courses by the physicistsAlfred KastlerandJacques Friedel.(As an undergraduate he had strong interests in photography and cinema, and was a great admirer of the work ofIngmar Bergman.[4])

After the École Normale Supérieure, Fert attended theUniversity of Grenobleand in 1963 received his Ph.D. (doctorat de troisième cycle) from theUniversity of Pariswith a thesis prepared in the fundamental electronicOrsay Faculty of Sciencesand in the physical spectrometry laboratory of the University of Grenoble Faculty of Sciences.

On his return from military service in 1965, Fert became assistant professor at the Orsay Faculty of Sciences of theUniversity of Paris XI(Université Paris-Sud).[5]Under the direction of Ian Campbell at theLaboratory of Solid Physicshe prepared for a doctorate Sc.D. (doctorat des sciences) in Physical Sciences on the electrical transport properties ofnickelandiron,which he completed in 1970.[3]He was named professor in 1976.

Fert worked as research director for the university'scondensed-matter physicslaboratory (1970–1995) prior to moving to Unité Mixte de Physique, a laboratory jointly run by the Université Paris-Sud and the technology companyThales.

In 1988, Albert Fert at Orsay in France, and Peter Gruenberg at Jülich in Germany, simultaneously and independently discoveredgiant magnetoresistance(GMR) in magnetic multilayers.[6][7]This discovery is considered to mark the birth of spintronics,[8][9]a new subfield of electronics that exploits not only the electric charge of the electrons but also their magnetism (associated with their intrinsic angular momentum, or spin). Spintronics has already contributed important applications; the introduction of GMR read heads in hard disks has led to a considerable increase in the density of information storage.[9]Other spintronic properties are exploited in magnetic random access memory (MRAM),[9][10]which may soon impact computer and phone technology. In 2007, Fert and Prof. Grünberg jointly received theJapan Award(300.000 Euro) for their discovery of GMR.

In October 2006, Professor Fert received an honorary doctorate from the Department of Physics of theUniversity of Kaiserslautern.[3]

Fert has made many contributions to the development of spintronics. Following his 2007 Nobel Prize, he began to explore possible spintronics applications of topological properties at surfaces and interfaces.[11]His most recent works are on the topologically protected magnetic solitons called skyrmions[12]and on the conversion between charge current and spin current by topological insulators.[13]

Honors and awards

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References

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  1. ^"MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ADJUNCT PHYSICS PROFESSOR WINS NOBEL PRIZE".MSU Today.9 October 2007.
  2. ^"The Nobel Prize in Physics 2007".
  3. ^abcd"Prof. Albert Fert | GSE Mainz".www.mainz.uni-mainz.de.Retrieved19 January2021.
  4. ^"Albert Fert, un Nobel amoureux de Bergman".LEFIGARO(in French). 31 December 2007.Retrieved19 January2021.
  5. ^"The Nobel Prize in Physics 2007 – Albert Fert – Facts".NobelPrize.org.Retrieved19 January2021.
  6. ^Baibich, M. N.; Broto, J. M.; Fert, A.; Van Dau, F. Nguyen; Petroff, F.; Etienne, P.; Creuzet, G.; Friederich, A.; Chazelas, J. (21 November 1988)."Giant Magnetoresistance of (001)Fe/(001)Cr Magnetic Superlattices"(PDF).Physical Review Letters.61(21): 2472–2475.Bibcode:1988PhRvL..61.2472B.doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.61.2472.PMID10039127.
  7. ^Binasch, G.; Grünberg, P.; Saurenbach, F.; Zinn, W. (1 March 1989)."Enhanced magnetoresistance in layered magnetic structures with antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange".Physical Review B.39(7): 4828–4830.Bibcode:1989PhRvB..39.4828B.doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.39.4828.PMID9948867.
  8. ^Tsymbal, E. Y. (Evgeny Y.); Zutic, Igor (2012).Handbook of spin transport and magnetism.Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.ISBN9781439803776.OCLC756724063.
  9. ^abcChappert, Claude; Fert, Albert; Dau, Frédéric Nguyen Van (2007). "The emergence of spin electronics in data storage".Nature Materials.6(11): 813–823.Bibcode:2007NatMa...6..813C.doi:10.1038/nmat2024.ISSN1476-4660.PMID17972936.S2CID21075877.
  10. ^Åkerman, Johan (22 April 2005). "Toward a Universal Memory".Science.308(5721): 508–510.doi:10.1126/science.1110549.ISSN0036-8075.PMID15845842.S2CID60577959.
  11. ^Soumyanarayanan, Anjan; Reyren, Nicolas; Fert, Albert; Panagopoulos, Christos (23 November 2016). "Emergent phenomena induced by spin–orbit coupling at surfaces and interfaces".Nature.539(7630): 509–517.arXiv:1611.09521.Bibcode:2016arXiv161109521S.doi:10.1038/nature19820.ISSN1476-4687.PMID27882972.S2CID4452338.
  12. ^Fert, Albert; Reyren, Nicolas; Cros, Vincent (2017). "Magnetic skyrmions: advances in physics and potential applications".Nature Reviews Materials.2(7): 17031.arXiv:1712.07236.Bibcode:2017NatRM...217031F.doi:10.1038/natrevmats.2017.31.ISSN2058-8437.
  13. ^Rojas-Sánchez, J.-C.; Oyarzún, S.; Fu, Y.; Marty, A.; Vergnaud, C.; Gambarelli, S.; Vila, L.; Jamet, M.; Ohtsubo, Y. (1 March 2016). "Spin to Charge Conversion at Room Temperature by Spin Pumping into a New Type of Topological Insulator: $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-Sn Films".Physical Review Letters.116(9): 096602.arXiv:1509.02973.Bibcode:2016PhRvL.116i6602R.doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.096602.PMID26991190.S2CID91173907.
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