Dr. Jonathan Morris

Dr. Morris joined the physics department at Xavier University in August 2013.

He earned his PhD from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom in 2007. During his studies he worked on a fascinating material that had been studied for its wide range of properties from being a potential battery material, being a good thermoelectric material to being a superconductor when water is added to it. Via measurements of the diffuse x-ray scattering and diffuse neutron scattering he was able to understand how the sodium ions in the material order and influence the interesting electronic properties. This work culminated in a thesis entitled andquot;Sodium ordering and the control of properties in sodium cobaltateandquot; and publications in Phys. Rev. B. and Nature.

After leaving Liverpool he spent 5 years at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for Materials and Energy in Berlin, Germany, working as a postdoctoral research assistant with Prof. Dr. Alan Tennant. During this time his highlight was confirming existence of an analogy of Dirac strings in a special type of magnetic material called andquot;spin iceandquot;. Along with work from collaborators this formed a body of evidence to support the existence of defects in spin ice that resemble magnetic monopoles reported in a letter to Science and in national and international media including a mention on the comedy Big Bang Theory.

Following from his time in Berlin, Dr. Morris took an assistant physicist position at Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago. He worked there alongside Dr. Ray Osborn and Dr. Stephan Rosenkranz studying distortion in a couple of systems using diffuse x-ray scattering. His collaborations with Prof. Tennant, Dr. Osborn and Dr. Rosenkranz continue as he utilizes the facilities at both Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory.

During his spare time Dr. Morris enjoys spending time with his wife, speaking to his family back in the UK, and is a supporter of Liverpool Football Club in the English Premier League.

A list of Dr. Morris's publications.