Something Old and Something New: Magnetism for Electronics

Prof. Allan McDonald
University of Texas

Abstract
Magnetism was first discovered more than 3000 years ago, whereas modern electronics is mostly the product of the most recent half-century of human invention.  Magnetism nevertheless now appears poised to provide new life to an aging electronics revolution.  I will discuss some of the recently discovered physical effects in magnetic conductors and insulators which researchers hope will power a future magneto-electronics revolution.

Bio Sketch
Allan H. MacDonald  received his B.Sc. degree from St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1973 and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Toronto in  1974 and 1978 respectively.  He was a member of the research staff  of the National Research Council of Canada from 1978 to 1987 and has taught at Indiana University (1987-2000) and the University of Texas  at Austin (2000-present)m where he now holds the Sid W. Richardson Chair in Physics.
He has contributed to research on electronic structure theory, the quantum Hall effect, magnetism, and  superconductivity, among a variety of other topics. Dr. MacDonald is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the US National  Academy of Sciences and has been awarded the Herzberg Medal (1987), the Buckley Prize (2007), and the Ernst Mach Honorary Medal (2012).