Profiles

Theoretical

The father of Javier Tejada (1948, Castejón [Navarra]) had a bleach factory. It was there where Tejada started seeing the first experiments which, sooner or later, would wake the passion for science in him, and more specifically, for physics. He ended up graduating in physical sciences at the University of Zaragoza in 1970 and got his Ph.D. in 1975.

The physicist expanded his academic and professional background in prestigious universities from all over the World. He has left his trace at the Technische Universität of Munich (Germany), the Université Paul Sabatier of Toulouse (France), the English Universities of Birmingham and Liverpool, the Urbana Champaign of Illinois, Berkeley and San Diego of California (United States), the C.N.R.S. of Grenoble (France) and the City University of New York and Los Angeles (United States). With all these journeys and much accumulated experience he came back to Spain and settled at the University of Barcelona, where he is currently professor of condensed matter physics and director of the Grupo de Magnetismo (Magnetism Group), focused on experimental magnetism. He combines this task with the co-direction of the laboratory UBX (UB-Xerox), together with Ronald Ziolo.

And throughout this time specific interests that have given way to researches and historic findings, patents that have been increasing their prestige day by day, writings that have immortalized their wisdom and international recognition through awards and corporate affiliations.

Javier Tejada has focused and focuses his researches in quantum magnetism. In this field, the physicist can boast of being one of the discoverers of resonant tunnelling spin, finding which the prestigious magazine Nature qualified as an historic milestone. The first experimental evidence of the tunnelling of magnetization appeared in 1992. Later, in 1996, he discovered the resonant tunnelling spin, to establish its quantum coherence in 1999 and realize the quantum magnetic deflagration in 2006. From then on, there's a before and after, because the physicist is not only interested in physics as such, but also in its practical applications. No wonder that his finding has been so useful in designing and building a microwave laser prototype and rotating field devices, as well as improves the technology for the security of paper money.

Thanks to his findings, Tejada already has about 15 patents of international level, achieved through the collaboration of companies around the world. He can also say he has written 200 articles for Spanish newspapers and three books. And he can also boast about belonging to the Royal Spanish Society of Physics a, the Catalan Society of Physics a, the Science Academy of New York and the American Society of Physics.

This is the large list of Javier Tejada's merits, in many cases rewarded: Premio de Innovación Educativa from the Ministry of Education and Science (1983); doctor honoris causa by the University City of New York (1996), Fellow of the American Physical Society (2000), Premio Príncipe de Viana de la Cultura del Gobierno de Navarra (2006), and Premio Nacional de Investigación in the field of Physical Sciences, Matters and Earth handed out by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (2009).

For Javier Tejada, his task has not yet finished. For him, education and teaching are also vital for disseminating knowledge. He has learned, discovered and has marked a milestone. He now only lacks its transmission.

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