Frederick T. Parker
Dr. Parker received his Ph.D. in Physics from The Johns Hopkins University in 1970. His training was in both nuclear and solid state physics. Following a postdoctoral position at Carnegie-Mellon University from 1970 to 1974, he came to UC San Diego, where he joined the Chemistry Department, then associated with CMRR in 1983, and began full-time residence at CMRR in 1988. His earlier publications related to the solid state dealt mainly with magnetic phenomena appearing in metallic rare earth compounds. This included compounds with the largest known coercivities, micromagnetism, metamagnetism, intermediate valence, electronic relaxation, crystal field interactions, electronic transport, cooling by adiabatic demagnetization, and oxidation kinetics. He has over 70 publications.
CMRR Studies: Much of Dr. Parker's work relies on the premise that the higher density of advanced recording media requires ever smaller particles, so that chemical stability and surface and interparticle interactions become more important. Some of his studies are on the magnetic properties of the oxide shell of the particles in metal particle media, and the interparticle exchange interactions between the oxide particles and between the oxide and metal particles. He is determining the long term stability of current metal particle media, and working on possible new media. He has published on the mechanisms of magnetism reversal in metal and oxide particles, and chemical surface modification to enhance magnetic recording characteristics. In thin film research, he has studied giant magnetoresistance in heterogeneous alloys and photo-activated exchange coupling in multilayer systems, and determined the chemical phases in heterogeneous thin film media.
