Professor Nicola Morley

MPhys, PhD, MInstP

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Professor in Material Physics

n.a.morley@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 5935

Sir Robert Hadfield Building

Full contact details

Professor Nicola Morley
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD

Profile

Nicola Morley was appointed as Lecturer to the department in May 2005 and promoted to Senior Lecturer in January 2014 and Professor in January 2019.

Her research is based in the Sheffield Centre of Advanced Magnetic Materials and Devices (SCAMMD). Previously, she was a postdoctoral research assistant in the SCAMMD group at the University of Sheffield (2003-2005).

She was awarded her PhD from the University of Durham in 2003, and graduated from the University of Oxford in 1999 with a MPhys in Physics.

Research interests

Nicola Morley's research centres on functional magnetic materials, including the understanding and development of magnetic films to be used in magnetic devices and sensors. The main research areas are:

Fe-based Magnetostrictive Materials and Devices
Research is focused on the fabrication and characterisation of Fe-based magnetostrictive film, including Fe-Co and Fe-Ga for MEMS device applications. Fabrication techniques include a state of the art co-sputter-evaporation deposition system, RF/DC sputter system and an evaporator. A wide range of characterisation techniques are used, which include XRD, AFM/MFM, MOKE magnetometry and resistance measurements, as well as central facilities (ESRF, France, diamond, UK). The main aim of the work is to understand the relationship between the magnetostriction, microstructure and magnetisation. The work has also involved the development of magnetostrictive MEMS devices, which includes magnetostrictive actuators for structural health monitoring, magnetostrictive energy harvesters and mass MEMS sensors.

Organic Spintronics
This research investigates the spin transport within organic semiconductors, including the development of room temperature organic spin-valves. The spin transport has been investigated using a range of techniques including magnetoresistance, XPS, MOKE magnetometry, AFM and muon spectroscopy. The main aims are to understand how the interfaces influence the spin transport in organic spin-valves and develop novel organic spin devices, such as the spin switch. Research has studied both lateral and vertical devices at room temperature.

Multiferroics
This research involves studying multilayer multiferroics to investigate how the optical, electrical and magnetic properties are linked within the hetrostructures. Work has studied how the interfaces influence the overall properties of the structures. Characterisation techniques include XRD, SEM, TEM, AFM/MFM, MOKE magnetometry and electrical measurements.

Functional Magnetic Materials
This research involves investigating functional magnetic materials (magnetocaloric, soft and hard magnets and magnetostrictive) using novel techniques such as spark plasma sintering (SPS), additive layer manufacture (ALM) and thin films, to determine how the structural properties of the materials influence the functional properties. The work has included studying element substitution, high entropy alloy and materials design using computational methods.

Publications

Journal articles

Hamdi N, Hidaoui S, Hassani HO, Lachkar M, Dusek M, Morley N & El Bali B (2020) Synthesis, crystal structure, physical and catalytic oxidation studies of a new hybrid phosphate [(N2H5)2Co(HPO4)2]. Journal of Molecular Structure.
Abbas Q, Rodrigues M, Baco S, Guan S & Morley N (2020) Influence of annealing temperature on the structural and magnetic properties of FeGaSiB thin films. Thin Solid Films. View this article in WRRO
Vincent JDS, Rodrigues M, Leong Z & Morley N (2020) Design and development of magnetostrictive actuators and sensors for structural health monitoring. Sensors, 20(3). View this article in WRRO
Abbas Q, Thomson T, Hayward T & Morley N (2019) Influence of Ga evaporation rate on the magnetic properties of amorphous FeGaSiB thin films. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials. View this article in WRRO
Leong Z, Holmes W, Clarke J, Padki A, Hayes S & Morley N (2019) Magnetostrictive sensors for composite damage detection and wireless structural health monitoring. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 55(7). View this article in WRRO
Backman G, Lawton B & Morley NA (2019) Magnetostrictive Energy Harvesting: Materials and design study. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics. View this article in WRRO
Morley NA, Nivedita LR, Manivel P, Pandian R, Murugesan S, Asokan K & RajendraKumar RT (2018) Enhancement of magnetostrictive properties of Galfenol thin films. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 451, 300-304. View this article in WRRO
Miskevich E, Alshammari FK, Yang WG, Sharp J, Baco S, Leong Z, Abbas QA & Morley NA (2018) Artificial multiferroic structures using soft magnetostrictive bilayers on Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)–PbTiO3. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 51. View this article in WRRO
Willis M, He J, Du J, Kreouzis T, Pratt FL, Lord JS, Telling MTF & Morley NA (2017) Reply to “Comment on ‘Muon spin relaxation study of spin dynamics in poly(triarylamine)”’. Synthetic Metals, 234, 177-179. View this article in WRRO
Abbas QA & Morley NA (2017) Fabrication and characterization of magnetostrictive amorphous FeGaSiB thin films. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 439, 353-357. View this article in WRRO
Hodges MPP, Grell M, Morley NA & Allwood DA (2017) Wide Field Magnetic Luminescence Imaging. Advanced Functional Materials, 27(31). View this article in WRRO
Quintana-Nedelcos A, Sánchez Llamazares JL, Sánchez-Valdés CF, Álvarez Alonso P, Gorria P, Shamba P & Morley NA (2017) On the correct estimation of the magnetic entropy change across the magneto-structural transition from the Maxwell relation: Study of MnCoGeBx alloy ribbons. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 694, 1189-1195. View this article in WRRO
Wang K, Murahari P, Yokoyama K, Lord JS, Pratt FL, He J, Schulz L, Willis M, Anthony JE, Morley NA , Nuccio L et al (2016) Temporal mapping of photochemical reactions and molecular excited states with carbon specificity.. Nature Materials, 16, 467-473. View this article in WRRO
Iurchuk V, Schick D, Bran J, Colson D, Forget A, Halley D, Koc A, Reinhardt M, Kwamen C, Morley NA , Bargheer M et al (2016) Optical Writing of Magnetic Properties by Remanent Photostriction. Physical Review Letters, 117(10). View this article in WRRO
Shamba P, Morley NA, Cespedes O, Reaney IM & Rainforth WM (2016) Optimization of magnetocaloric properties of arc-melted and spark plasma-sintered LaFe₁₁.₆Si₁.₄. Applied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing, 122(8). View this article in WRRO
Szumiata T, Gzik-Szumiata M, Brzózka K, Górka B, Gawroński M, Caruana Finkel A, Reeves-McLaren N & Morley NA (2016) Interface influence on the properties of Co 90 Fe 10 films on soft magnetic underlayers – Magnetostrictive and Mössbauer spectrometry studies. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 401, 943-948. View this article in WRRO
Yang W-G, Morley NA, Sharp J, Tian Y & Rainforth WM (2016) Strain-mediated converse magnetoelectric coupling strength manipulation by a thin titanium layer. Applied Physics Letters, 108(1). View this article in WRRO
Morley NA, Dost R, Lingam ASV & Barlow AJ (2015) Investigations of the polymer/magnetic interface of organic spin-valves. Applied Surface Science, 359, 704-713. View this article in WRRO
Yang W-G, Morley NA, Sharp J & Rainforth WM (2015) Giant electric field tunable magnetic properties in a Co50Fe50/lead magnesium niobate–lead titanate multiferroic heterostructure. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 48(30), 305005-305005. View this article in WRRO
Yang W-G, Morley NA & Rainforth WM (2015) Electric field-controlled magnetization in bilayered magnetic films for magnetoelectric memory. Journal of Applied Physics, 118(3), 034102-034102. View this article in WRRO
He J, Du J, Kreouzis T, Pratt FL, Lord JS, Telling MTF, Drew AJ, Morley NA & Willis M (2015) Muon spin relaxation study of spin dynamics in poly(triarylamine). Synthetic Metals, 208, 21-25. View this article in WRRO
Morley NA, Finkel AC, Yang W & Reeves-McLaren N (2014) Magnetic and Structural Characterization of NiFe/Fe₃₀Co₇₀ Bilayers. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 50(11), 1-4. View this article in WRRO
Morley NA, Drew AJ, Zhang H, Scott K, Hudziak S & Morgan DJ (2014) Study of the magnetic-Alq interface in organic spin-valves. Applied Surface Science. View this article in WRRO
Caruana Finkel A, Reeves-Mclaren N & Morley NA (2014) Influence of soft magnetic underlayers on the magnetic properties of Co90Fe10 films. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 357, 87-92.
Yokoyama K, Murahari P, Heathcote P, Nuccio L, Lord JS, Morley NA & Drew AJ (2013) Future directions of μsR - Laser excitation. Physica Scripta, 88(6).
Torchio R, Kvashnin YO, Marini C, Mathon O, Garbarino G, Mezouar M, Wright JP, Bruno P, Genovese L, Baudelet F , Meneghini C et al (2013) Pressure-induced structural and magnetic phase transitions in ordered and disordered equiatomic FeCo. Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, 88(18).
Kotapati S, Javed A, Reeves-Mclaren N, Gibbs MRJ & Morley NA (2013) Effect of the Ni81Fe19 thickness on the magnetic properties of Ni81Fe19/Fe50Co50 bilayers. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 331, 67-71.
Szumiata T, Górka B, Brzózka K, Gawroński M, Gzik-Szumiata M, Javed A, Morley NA & Gibbs MRJ (2013) Mössbauer study of vacuum annealed Fe100-xgax (10 ≤ x ≤ 35) thin films. Nukleonika, 58(1), 27-30.
Liu C-Y, Allwood DA, Gibbs MRJ, Morley NA, AlQahtani HRH & Grell M (2013) Interfacial studies of polymeric spin-valve structures. Synthetic Metals.
Gillin W & Morley N (2013) Editorial. Synthetic Metals, 173, 1-1.
Morley NA, Hodges MH, Gibbs MRJ, Qahtani HRHA, Grell M, Dediu V & Morgan DJ (2012) Study of polymer-magnetic electrode interfaces using XPS. Applied Surface Science.
Dean J, Bryan MT, Morley NA, Hrkac G, Javed A, Gibbs MRJ & Allwood DA (2011) Numerical study of the effective magnetocrystalline anisotropy and magnetostriction in polycrystalline FeGa films. J APPL PHYS, 110(4).
Schulz L, Nuccio L, Willis M, Desai P, Shakya P, Kreouzis T, Malik VK, Bernhard C, Pratt FL, Morley NA , Suter A et al (2011) Erratum: Engineering spin propagation across a hybrid organic/inorganic interface using a polar layer. Nature Materials, 10(3), 252-252.
Javed A, Morley NA, Szumiata T & Gibbs MRJ (2011) A comparative study of the microstructural and magnetic properties of <110> textured thin polycrystalline Fe 100-x Ga x (10 ≤ x ≤ 35) films. Applied Surface Science, 257(14), 5977-5983.
Morley NA, Dhandapani D, Rao A, Al Qahtani H, Gibbs MRJ, Grell M, Eastwood D & Tanner BK (2011) Polymeric spin-valves at room temperature. Synthetic Metals, 161(7-8), 558-562.
Javed A, Morley NA, Szumiata T & Gibbs MRJ (2011) A comparative study of the microstructural and magnetic properties of fenced(1 1 0) textured thin polycrystalline Fe100-x Ga x (10 ≤ x ≤ 35) films. Applied Surface Science.
Javed A, Morley NA & Gibbs MRJ (2011) Effect of growth parameters on the structure and magnetic properties of thin polycrystalline Fe films fabricated on Si〈1 0 0〉 substrates. Applied Surface Science, 257(13), 5586-5590.
Torchio R, Pascarelli S, Mathon O, Marini C, Anzellini S, Centomo P, Meneghini C, Mobilio S, Morley NA & Gibbs MRJ (2011) Structure and magnetism in compressed iron-cobalt alloys. HIGH PRESSURE RES, 31(1), 148-152.
Szumiata T, Brzózka K, Gawroński M, Górka B, Javed A, Morley NA & Gibbs MRJ (2011) Structural and magnetic ordering in Fe-Ga thin films examined by Mössbauer spectrometry. Acta Physica Polonica A, 119(1), 21-23.
Javed A, Morley NA & Gibbs MRJ (2011) Effect of growth parameters on the structure and magnetic properties of thin polycrystalline Fe films fabricated on Si〈1 0 0〉 substrates. Applied Surface Science.
Javed A, Szumiata T, Morley NA & Gibbs MRJ (2010) An investigation of the effect of structural order on magnetostriction and magnetic behavior of Fe-Ga alloy thin films. ACTA MATER, 58(11), 4003-4011.
Dhandapani D, Morley NA, Gibbs MRJ, Kreouzis T, Shakya P, Desai P & Gillin WP (2010) The Effect of Injection Layers on a Room Temperature Organic Spin Valve. IEEE T MAGN, 46(6), 1307-1310.
Javed A, Szumiata T, Morley NA & Gibbs MRJ (2010) An investigation of the effect of structural order on magnetostriction and magnetic behavior of Fe-Ga alloy thin films. Acta Materialia, 58(11), 4003-4011.
Schulz L, Nuccio L, Willis M, Desai P, Shakya P, Kreouzis T, Malik VK, Bernhard C, Pratt FL, Morley NA , Suter A et al (2010) Engineering spin propagation across a hybrid organic/inorganic interface using a polar layer. Nature Materials.
Morley NA, Dhandapani D, Rao A, Al Qahtani H, Gibbs MRJ, Grell M, Eastwood D & Tanner BK (2010) Polymeric spin-valves at room temperature. Synthetic Metals.
Javed A, Morley NA & Gibbs MRJ (2009) Structure, magnetic and magnetostrictive properties of as-deposited Fe-Ga thin films. J MAGN MAGN MATER, 321(18), 2877-2882.
Drew AJ, Hoppler J, Schulz L, Pratt FL, Desai P, Shakya P, Kreouzis T, Gillin WP, Suter A, Morley NA , Malik VK et al (2009) Direct measurement of the electronic spin diffusion length in a fully functional organic spin valve by low-energy muon spin rotation. NAT MATER, 8(2), 109-114.
Morley NA, Yeh SL, Rigby S, Javed A & Gibbs MRJ (2008) Development of a cosputter-evaporation chamber for Fe-Ga films. J VAC SCI TECHNOL A, 26(4), 581-586.
Drew AJ, Pratt FL, Hoppler J, Schulz L, Malik-Kumar V, Morley NA, Desai P, Shakya P, Kreouzis T, Gillin WP , Kim KW et al (2008) Intrinsic mobility limit for anisotropic electron transport in Alq(3). PHYS REV LETT, 100(11).
Desai P, Shakya P, Kreouzis T, Gillin WP, Morley NA & Gibbs MRJ (2007) Magnetoresistance and efficiency measurements of Alq(3)-based OLEDs. PHYS REV B, 75(9).
Morley NA, Gibbs MRJ, Ahmad E, Will IG & Xu YB (2006) Anisotropies and magnetostriction constants of epitaxial Co films on GaAs(100) substrates. J PHYS-CONDENS MAT, 18(39), 8781-8789.
Morley NA, Gibbs MRJ, Ahmad E, Will I & Xu YB (2006) MOKE hysteresis loop method of determining the anisotropy constants of ferromagnetic thin films: Fe on GaAs(100) with overlayers of Au and Cr. J MAGN MAGN MATER, 300(2), 436-444.
Morley NA, Gibbs MRJ, Ahmad E, Will IG & Xu YB (2006) Comparison between the in-plane anisotropies and magnetostriction constants of thin epitaxial Fe films grown on GaAs and Ga0.8In0.2As substrates, with Cr overlayers. J APPL PHYS, 99(8). View this article in WRRO
Morley NA, Gibbs MR, Ahmad E, Will IG & Xu Y (2006) In-plane anisotropics, magnetostriction and magnetoresistance of epitaxial Co films on GaAs(100) substrates. INTERMAG 2006 - IEEE International Magnetics Conference, 93.
Morley NA, Gibbs MRJ, Ahmad E, Will IG & Xu YB (2005) In-plane anisotropy and magnetostriction constants of Fe/Ga0.8In0.2As films with Cr overlayers. J PHYS-CONDENS MAT, 17(46), 7253-7262.
Morley NA, Gibbs MRJ, Ahmad E, Will IG & Xu YB (2005) Magnetostriction and magnetocrystalline anisotropy constants of ultrathin epitaxial Fe films on GaAs, with Au overlayers. J PHYS-CONDENS MAT, 17(7), 1201-1208.
Morley NA, Gibbs MRJ, Fronc K & Zuberek R (2004) Orientation and layer thickness dependence on the longitudinal magnetization and transverse magnetization hysteresis loops of sputtered multilayer Fe/Si and Fe/Ge thin films. J PHYS-CONDENS MAT, 16(23), 4121-4129.
Osamura K, Sugano M, Nyilas A, Shin HS, Weijers H, Hampshire DP, Morley N, Morley K, Keys S, Leghissa M , Herkert W et al (2002) The tensile property of commercial Bi2223 tapes: a report on the international round-robin test. Superconductor Science and Technology, 15(6), 888-893.
Morley NA, Leigh NR, Hongjun Niu & Hampshire DP (2001) High upper critical field in the Chevrel phase superconductor lead-molybdenum-sulphide doped with europium. IEEE Transactions on Appiled Superconductivity, 11(1), 3599-3602.
Niu HJ, Morley NA & Hampshire DP (2001) Chevrel phase (Pb/sub 1-x/Cu/sub 1.8x/)Mo/sub 6/S/sub 8/ with a mixed structure and high critical parameters. IEEE Transactions on Appiled Superconductivity, 11(1), 3619-3622.

Conference proceedings papers

Hayes S (2018) Structural health monitoring using magnetostrictive sensors. 2018 IEEE International Magnetics Conference (INTERMAG), 23 April 2018 - 27 April 2018. View this article in WRRO
Shamba P, Kerridge G, Morley NA, Reaney IM & Rainforth WM (2017) Synthesis of magnetocaloric LaFe11.6Si1.4 alloy by spark plasma sintering. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 903 (pp 012041-012041) View this article in WRRO
Al-Taher A, Reiss RW, Lafferty AD, Hayes SA, Lupu N, Murgulescu I & Morley NA (2017) Magnetostrictive materials for aerospace applications. Journal of Physics : Conference Series, Vol. 903(1) View this article in WRRO
Abbas QA, Morley NA, Johansson A & Thomson T (2017) Influence of Ar Pressure on the Magnetic Properties of Amorphous FeGaSiB Thin Films. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 24 April 2017 - 28 April 2017. View this article in WRRO
Leung Z, Al-Taher A, Chan L, Walters N, McGahan M, Hayes S, Lupu N, Murgulescu I & Morley N (2017) Structural Health Monitoring using magnetostrictive sensors. 2017 IEEE International Magnetics Conference (INTERMAG), 24 April 2017 - 28 April 2017.
Romero-Gonzalez M, Skipworth P, Morley N, Turton T, Holdsworth E, Chimonides G, Hassani F & Claeyssens F (2016) Measuring continuous concentration of mass pollutants in the aquatic environment. ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, Vol. 251
Hassani FA, Morley NA & Romero-Gonzalez M (2015) A polymer based sensor for phosphate detection in water. 2015 IEEE SENSORS, 1 November 2015 - 4 November 2015. View this article in WRRO
Schulz L, Wang K, Willis M, Nuccio L, Murahari P, Zhang S, Pratt FL, Lord JS, Morley NA, Bernhard C & Drew AJ (2014) Measurement of hyperfine coupling constants of muoniated radicals in small molecule semiconductors. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 551 (pp 012042-012042) View this article in WRRO
Szumiata T, Gorka B, Brzozka K, Gawronski M, Gzik-Szumiata M, Javed A, Morley NA & Gibbs MRJ (2013) Mossbauer study of vacuum annealed Fe100-xGax (10 <= x <= 35) thin films. NUKLEONIKA, Vol. 58(1) (pp 27-30)
Javed A, Morley NA & Gibbs MRJ (2010) Thickness dependence of magnetic and structural properties in Fe80Ga20 thin films. JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 107(9)
Morley NA, Javed A & Gibbs MRJ (2009) Effect of a forming field on the magnetic and structural properties of thin Fe-Ga films. JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 105(7)
Dhandapani D, Rao A, Morley NA, Das A, Grell M & Gibbs MRJ (2009) Effect of polymer processing on spin magnetoresistance in organic structures. JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 105(7)
Dhandapani D, Morley NA, Rao A, Das A, Grell M & Gibbs MRJ (2008) Comparison of Room Temperature Polymeric Spin-Valves With Different Organic Components. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, Vol. 44(11) (pp 2670-2673)
Morley NA, Rao A, Dhandapani D, Gibbs MRJ, Grell M & Richardson T (2008) Room temperature organic spintronics. JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 103(7)
Morley NA, Tang SL, Gibbs MRJ, Ahmad E, Will IG & Xu YB (2005) Magnetocrystalline anisotropies and magnetostriction of ultrathin Fe films on GaAs with Cr overlayers. JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 97(10)
Morley NA, Gibbs MRJ, Fronc K & Zuberek R (2005) Magnetoresistance measurements on Fe/Si and Fe/Ge multilayer thin films. JOURNAL OF MAGNETISM AND MAGNETIC MATERIALS, Vol. 286 (pp 91-94)
Ahmad E, Will IG, Lu YX, Xu YB, Morley NA & Gibbs MRJ (2004) Hysteretic properties of epitaxial Fe/GaAs(100) ultrathin films under external uniaxial strain. JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 95(11) (pp 6555-6557)

Professional activities

Member of the Muon Facility Access Panel.
Programme Chair of SpinOS 2012
Guest Editor for Synthetic Metals special edition (2012)