 Contact Information:
Office: Science Building 175
Phone: 616-526-8542
Fax: 616-526-6501
email: ssteen @ calvin.edu
Mail: 1734 Knollcrest Circle SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4403
Education:
Ph.D., Michigan State, 1980
Research Interests:
When he joined the department in 1988, Professor Steenwyk brought with him industrial experience gained at AT&T Bell Laboratories. Since then he has done research in two distinct areas. With funds from Research Corporation and the assistance of several students, he built a scanning tunneling microscope which can resolve individual atoms allowing investigation of surface structure down to the atomic scale. Continuing a recent sabbatical collaboration at Michigan State University, he is currently investigating the effects of magnetism on electron conduction in "spin valves" consisting of very thin layers of magnetic and nonmagnetic metals. These effects are collectively called "giant magnetoresistance" (GMR). While his work is breaking new ground elucidating the physics of "spin flip scattering", related GMR devices are rapidly taking over the market as data sensors in hard disk drives, satisfying a residual pragmatism in our erstwhile industrial physicist. |
