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Patricia D. Sparks

Ph.D., Cornell University
Solid state physics, including study of the optical properties of metals and interfaces

 Our work involves the design, making and study of magnetic device structures. Over the past few years an entirely new class of devices, based upon the property of "Giant Magnetoresistance" (GMR), has taken on an increasingly important role in sensor and data storage technology. We are working in collaboration with groups at Oxford and York Universities in England, with the magnetic microscopy group at the University of Minnesota and with the GMR group at IBM Almaden. In addition, we have access to the Cornell National Nanofabrication Facility for making the structures of interest. Our on campus facilities include a state of the art cryosystem with a temperature range of 450 K down to 1.7 K. This system is fully automated and is equipped with a 9 Tesla superconducting magnet and has the ability to rotate samples while making a variety of transport and magnetic measurements, e.g., DC resistivity, AC resistivity, 4 and 5 probe Hall Effect and a sample's I-V characteristics. We also have two state of the art Scanned Probe Microscopes, both of which can operate as either Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM) or Magnetic Force Microscopes (MFM). These systems allow us to image and map both the surface structure and the magnetic structure of our samples. We have recently acquired a pair of high-resolution optical microscopes from Olympus. These microscopes have an upper limit of 1000X magnification and are interfaced to dedicated computers for image acquisition and processing. This summer, we will be receiving delivery of a new thin film sputtering system for making thin film samples. This system will join our thermal evaporator and will greatly expand our capabilities in being able to make new and interesting thin film structures. Over the past five years, we have added in excess of $1,000,000.00 worth of new, state of the art research equipment to our laboratories. At the moment, we are leading the world-wide charge in this exciting new area of research.
Physics 51 • Physics 53 • Physics 133
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Office Keck 1238 Mail Patricia D. Sparks
Department of Physics
Harvey Mudd College
301 Platt Blvd.
Claremont, CA 91711-5990
E-mail sparks@hmc.edu
Phone 909-607-4038
909-621-8024 (department)
909-621-8887 (fax)