Albert Fert is a world-renowned French physicist celebrated for his groundbreaking contributions to condensed matter physics and spintronics. Born on March 7, 1938, he completed his doctorate in Physical Sciences at the University of Paris XI in 1970, focusing on electrical transport properties of nickel and iron. He served as an assistant professor at the Orsay Faculty of Sciences starting in 1965, eventually becoming a professor in 1976 and leading a research group at the Laboratory of Solid Physics. Since 1995, he has been the scientific director of the combined CNRS/Thales Joint Physics Unit, bridging academic and industrial research in magnetism and nanotechnology while maintaining his position as emeritus professor at Université Paris-Saclay.
Fert's most seminal achievement came in 1988 when he independently discovered Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR) simultaneously with Peter Grünberg, a discovery that earned them the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics. This quantum mechanical phenomenon, where electrical resistance dramatically changes with magnetic field orientation in nanostructures, revolutionized data storage technology by enabling high-capacity hard disk drives that transformed digital information storage. Fert and his team further advanced the field by publishing early observations of magnetoresistance in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions and developing the theoretical concept of spin accumulation with Thierry Valet, which became essential for modern spintronic devices. His work catalyzed the birth of spintronics as a distinct research discipline, exploiting not only the electric charge but also the magnetic spin properties of electrons.
Following his Nobel recognition, Fert pioneered new research directions exploring topological properties in spintronics, becoming one of the main pioneers in the study of magnetic skyrmions, which are now recognized as crucial for next-generation magnetic memory technologies. His recent work focuses on the conversion between electrical and spin currents in topological insulators, opening new avenues for energy-efficient information processing. As a member of the Académie des sciences and through his leadership at the Laboratory Albert Fert, he continues to shape international research in condensed matter physics. Fert's discoveries have generated profound practical impacts, underpinning the modern information technology revolution and enabling the exponential growth of digital data storage that defines our era.
