John Slonczewski

Not to be confused with Joan Slonczewski.

John Slonczewski (1929–2019) was an American physicist known for his work on spin dynamics in magnetic systems.

John Slonczewski
Born	July 26, 1929 New York City, New York, United States
Died	May 31, 2019 (aged 89) [1] Katonah, New York, United States
Alma mater	Rutgers University,[2] Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Known for	Theory of magnetism, Stoner–Wohlfarth astroid curve
Awards	Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize (2013) IEEE Magnetics Society Achievement Award
Scientific career
Fields	Condensed matter theory
Institutions	IBM Research

Biography

Slonczewski did his undergraduate education at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1950 and started his PhD on "Band structure of Graphite" at Rutgers University in 1958.^[3][4] He then joined the IBM Research center in Yorktown, New York as a staff researcher, where he stayed till his retirement in 2002. Slonczewski is known for his extensive theoretical study of magnetic system, in particular his applications of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ)s.

In 1979, Slonczewski co-authored a book entitled "Magnetic Domain Walls in Bubble Materials: Advances in Materials and Device Research".^[5]

In 1996 he published a highly influential paper in the field of Spintronics, introducing the concept of spin-transfer torque, showing that spin polarized currents could be used to control the magnetization direction of magnetic electrodes in magnetic multilayers.^[6]

In 2012, Slonczewski received the IEEE Magnetics Society achievement award.^[7] Along with Luc Berger, he was awarded the 2013 Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize by the American Physical Society "for predicting spin-transfer torque and opening the field of current-induced control over magnetic nanostructures."^[2]

References

1. "John C. Slonczewski Friday, May 31, 2019". Clark Associates Funeral Home. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
2. "2013 Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize Recipient". American Physical Society. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
3. Maekawa, Sadamichi; Sun, Jonathan Z. (2020). "A memorial symposium for John C. Slonczewski at the 64th MMM conference". AIP Advances. 10 (3): 030401. Bibcode:2020AIPA...10c0401M. doi:10.1063/1.5129974. S2CID 216161043.
4. Slonczewski, J. C.; Weiss, P. R. (1958-01-15). "Band Structure of Graphite". Physical Review. 109 (2): 272–279. Bibcode:1958PhRv..109..272S. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.109.272.
5. Malozemoff, A. P.; Slonczewski, J. C. (September 2016). Magnetic Domain Walls in Bubble Materials. Academic Press. ISBN 9781483214764.
6. Slonczewski, J. C. (1996-06-01). "Current-driven excitation of magnetic multilayers". Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials. 159 (1): L1–L7. Bibcode:1996JMMM..159L...1S. doi:10.1016/0304-8853(96)00062-5. ISSN 0304-8853.
7. "IEEE Magnetics Society Achievement Award". IEEE Magnetics Society. Retrieved 21 March 2018.

Further reading

• Bajorek, Chris (12 April 2017). Oral history of John Slonczewski (PDF) (Report). Computer History Museum. X8163.2017. Retrieved 21 March 2018.