Richard Harrison

As head of the NanoPaleoMagnetism group in the Department of Earth Sciences, I develop cutting-edge experimental and computational approaches to study the properties and behaviour of magnetic nanoparticles in terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments.

 

Research Area

My primary research area is fundamental rock and mineral magnetism – with particular emphasis on the properties and behaviour of magnetic nanoparticles in terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments. Mineral magnetism studies how the physical, chemical and thermodynamic properties of magnetic minerals are influenced by their structural and microstructural characteristics. My research applies the principles of mineral physics, materials science, and crystallography to the study of magnetism in natural systems, employing an innovative combination of computational, experimental, and advanced microscopy techniques. My work demonstrates that nanoscale magnetic processes control the fidelity of paleomagnetic recordings at the global scale. I have pioneered the application of soft X-ray dichroic imaging to study the nanoscale magnetism of natural materials as well as the combined use of high-resolution tomography, micromagnetic simulations and electron holography to investigate the magnetic domain structures of natural 3D nanomagnets. I am particularly well known for my work on first-order reversal curve (FORC) diagrams and for writing FORCinel – a popular FORC processing package used by the both the Earth sciences and physics communities. My group collaborates extensively with world-leading international scientists on a broad range of topics ranging from meteorite magnetism, biomagnetism, environmental magnetism, Hadean paleomagnetism and even the origins of life.

 

Project Interests

I am excited to develop projects in the general areas of: 1) fundamental rock, mineral and environmental magnetism; 2) advanced electron and X-ray microscopy methods; 3) nanoscale to atomic scale tomography methods; 4) micromagnetic modelling; and 5) applications of AI and machine learning to any (or all) of these topics. I am keen to apply these kinds of methods to answer any interesting problem across the full remit of Earth, Environmental and Planetary sciences, including (but not limited to): 1) magnetism of meteorites; 2) magnetism of the early Earth; 3) health impacts, monitoring and mitigation of magnetic nanoparticle air pollution.