Dr. J.W. Harrell
Recent Publications
PH105 – Spring,
2012
PH125 – Spring,
2012
Dr. J. W. Harrell, Jr. is professor of physics at The
University of Alabama where he has been since 1979. He received his Ph.D. degree
in physics from the University
of North Carolina in 1969 and was a
faculty member at the University of North Dakota from
1969 until 1979. Dr. Harrell’s research interests include properties of
magnetic recording materials, with an emphasis on magnetic media. He is
affiliated with the Center for Materials for Information Technology (MINT). His
most recent research has focused on the magnetic properties and phase
transformation of chemically synthesized FePt and
related magnetic nanoparticles. Other projects in
which he has been involved include laser annealing of FePt
thin films and anisotropy graded media. He has also been involved in modeling
and characterizing thermal effects and magnetic interactions in magnetic
recording media. Previous work includes
the use of NMR to study molecular motion in solids and electron beam curable
binders for particulate magnetic media. Dr. Harrell has a strong interest in
physics education and has been instrumental in the implementation and
development of the Studio Physics approach to teaching introductory physics at
UA. He was named an A&S Teaching Fellow for 2000-2003. He served as Chair
of the Department of Physics and Astronomy from 1991-98. He is the author of
more than 100 research papers. Dr. Harrell is also active in the IEEE Magnetics
Society. He was recently a member of the
Society’s Education Committee, was Program Chair of the 2009 IEEE Magnetics
Society Summer School, and was a recent member of the Board of Editors of the
IEEE Transactions on Magnetics. Dr. Harrell can be reached via email at jharrell@bama.ua.edu or by calling the Department of Physics and Astronomy
at (205) 348-3785 or the MINT Center
at (205) 348-9404.