Dr. J.W. Harrell

Recent Publications

PH101, Spring 2008

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 a research participant in the Center for Materials for Information Technology (MINT) and is a member of the NSF-Materials Science and Engineering Center team that is studying the magnetic properties and phase transformation of chemically synthesized FePt and related magnetic nanoparticles. Other projects in which he is 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 90 research papers. Dr. Harrell is also active in the IEEE Magnetics Society and is currently chair of the Society’s Education Committee and a 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.