Crooker Honored with Prestigious Los Alamos Fellows’ Prize

September 19, 2007

Media Contact:
Susan Ray, (850) 644-9651
sray@magnet.fsu.edu

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Ground-breaking research in the development of novel magneto-optical spectroscopies and their applications has earned Scott Crooker, a staff scientist at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory’s Pulsed Field Facility at Los Alamos National Lab, a 2007 Fellows' Prize for Outstanding Research.

Crooker's work – which employs a variety of magneto-optical spectroscopies to measure the magnetization and spin polarization of both solid-state and atomic systems – has been recognized with highly cited articles in Nature, Science and Physical Review Letters, as well as with invited and plenary talks at the American Physical Society’s annual meetings, the Gordon Conference and several other national and international seminars.

Crooker received his Ph.D. in physics in 1997 from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he studied ultrafast optics of magnetic semiconductors. He was a LANL Director’s funded postdoctoral fellow before joining the Pulsed Field Facility as a technical staff member in 2000. The Pulsed Field Facility is one of the Magnet Lab’s three sites; the other facilities are located in Tallahassee and Gainesville, Florida.

"I'm very fortunate to have colleagues and managers here at Los Alamos and within the Magnet Lab who have always supported the more 'exploratory' aspects of work going on in the optics lab," said Crooker. "From a scientific point of view, it’s a terrific environment."

The Los Alamos Fellows' Prize for Outstanding Research recognizes individuals for work performed at the laboratory that was published within the last 10 years and has had significant impact on its discipline or program.

Laboratory employees nominate staff members for the Fellows’ Prize and a committee of Lab Fellows reviews the nominations and makes recommendations to the director. Fellows' Prize winners will be recognized at an awards ceremony in mid-September hosted by LANL Director Michael Anastasio.

"Scott is one of the pioneers in high-field optics," said Alex Lacerda, associate director for user operations for all three sites and director of the Pulsed Field Facility. "Through his many collaborations, he is contributing greatly to the field of spintronics research."

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory develops and operates state-of-the-art, high-magnetic-field facilities that faculty and visiting scientists and engineers use for research in physics, biology, bioengineering, chemistry, geochemistry, biochemistry, and materials science. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the state of Florida, the lab is operated by Florida State University, and its 330,000-square-foot main facility is located in Tallahassee's Innovation Park. The Magnet Lab also has facilities at the University of Florida and at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.