Andrew Balk

Andrew Balk is a CNST/UMD Postdoctoral Researcher in the Electron Physics Group. He received a B.S. and a Ph.D. in Physics from Penn State. His graduate research used low-temperature Hall effect measurements to probe the nanoscale flexing motion of magnetic domain walls, and he also developed a magneto-optical Kerr effect measurement to examine artificial spin ice structures. Andy is working with John Unguris to develop new measurement methods based on Scanning Electron Microscopy with Polarization Analysis (SEMPA) to elucidate the magnetic properties of nanoscale patterned thin films and magneto-electronic devices.  

• Magneto-optical Kerr effect studies of square artificial spin ice, K. K. Kohli, A. L. Balk, J. Li, S. Zhang, I. Gilbert, P. E. Lammert, V. H. Crespi, P. Schiffer, and N. Samarth, Physical Review B 84, 180412 (2011).
• Measurements of nanoscale domain wall flexing in a ferromagnetic thin film, A. L. Balk, M. E. Nowakowski, M. J. Wilson, D. W. Rench, P. Schiffer, D. D. Awschalom, and N. Samarth, Physical Review Letters 107, 077205 (2011).