Journal: Physical Review Materials
Bio
Ovidiu (Ovi) Garlea is instrument scientist at the HYSPEC spectrometer at the Spallation Neutron Source. He holds a courtesy appointment with the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State University and is adjoint associate professor at the Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering at the University of Tennessee. He previously served as lead instrument scientist at the HB2A Neutron Powder Diffractometer at High Flux Isotope Reactor where he oversaw the instrument installation and built a vibrant magnetic diffraction community. Before becoming a staff member, Ovi has worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2005-2007), at the Ames Laboratory (2003-2005) and at the Synchrotron Light Laboratory ELETTRA (2003). He received his PhD in solid state physics from Joseph-Fourier University, Grenoble, France in 2001.
Ovi Garlea studies strongly correlated electron systems and quantum magnets using diffraction and inelastic scattering techniques using polarized and unpolarized neutrons. The research topics he is currently pursuing include:
- exotic magnetic ground states, such as complex magnetic ordering and spin-liquid, arising from competing interactions in geometrically frustrated magnets
- magnetic phase diagrams magneto-elastic coupling in functional materials, such as multiferroics, magnetocaloric materials and shape-memory alloys
- the interplay of spin, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom in transition metal systems
- magnetic excitations in low dimensional quantum systems
Ovi Garlea initiated a workshop series on Magnetic Structure Determination that runs regularly since 2009, and a workshop on Polarized Neutron Diffraction and Spectroscopy. He serves as a member in the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) Commission on Magnetic Structure, authored a book chapter "Magnetic Structures" in Neutron Scattering - Magnetic and Quantum Phenomena, Vol. 48 (Academic Press, 2016), and published over 160 research articles in peer reviewed journals (with a h-index of 27). He is also a senior adviser for the new neutron diffraction instrument VERDI (Versatile Diffractometer for complex magnetic structure), proposed for the Second Target Station at SNS.
Ovi Garlea is interacting with dozens of visiting scientists annually, and greatly enjoys his involvement in science education and outreach. Over the years he has hosted and mentored a number of undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from different universities including Florida State University, University of Tennessee, Clemson University, Georgia Tech, University of Virginia, and Louisiana State University.