Dr. Sam Liu is the principal investigator in the Magnetic Materials group, and is a professor in the University of Dayton School of Engineering. Dr. Liu is an internationally recognized expert in magnetic and electronic materials. In the 1980s, he was a student under Dr. Karl Strnat and Dr. Alden Ray at the University of Dayton.

In recent years, Dr. Liu has directed research efforts to develop new permanent magnet materials capable of operating at high temperatures (> 400°C). That research resulted in a significant advance in high temperature permanent magnets by pushing the maximum operating temperature from 300 to 550°C. In the last few years, an improvement in fracture toughness of more than 75% was accomplished for sintered Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets.

More recently, the Magnetics laboratory accomplished a breakthrough in the development of nanocomposite rare earth magnets by reaching (BH)max = 50 MGOe. This work was accomplished under DARPA sponsorship. This (BH)max is more than twice as high as the previous world record for nanocomposite magnets (23 MGOe), reported in 2000.

In addition, Dr. Liu has also made significant contributions to the development of other magnetic and electronic materials, including Nd2Fe14B-based magnets, Fe-Cr-Co-W ductile magnet materials, Fe-Si soft magnetic materials, and new ohmic contact materials to n- and p-type SiC with low resistivity and improved thermal stability.

Dr. Liu’s current research interests include magnetic materials with nanograin structure, high-temperature magnetic materials, and coercivity mechanisms in magnetic materials.

Education:

Ph.D., Materials Engineering, University of Dayton