LSU Physicist Constantin Schrade to receive DOE Early Career Award

LSU physicist Constantin Schrade is among 67 early-career scientists selected nationwide for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) 2026 Early Career Research Program. The program supports outstanding scientists at U.S. universities and national laboratories during the early stages of their independent research careers.

Schrade, an assistant professor in LSU’s Department of Physics & Astronomy and a member of the Hearne Institute for Theoretical Physics, was selected for his project, “Real-Space Quantum Geometry of Altermagnetic Textures: A Route to Spin Control at Zero Magnetization.” University-based awards provide approximately $875,000 over five years. 

“Groundbreaking science begins with empowering extraordinary people,” said DOE Under Secretary for Science Dr. Darío Gil. “These 67 early career researchers represent the very best of American ingenuity. DOE is proud to invest in their vision as they push the boundaries of knowledge and cement U.S. leadership in the technologies that will define our century.”

Schrade’s research involves altermagnets, an emerging class of materials that can interact differently with electrons depending on their spin, but without producing the net magnetization of conventional magnets. That combination could be particularly useful for spintronics, which seeks to use electron spin to carry and process information and could offer new approaches to more energy-efficient computing.

The DOE Early Career Award builds on Schrade’s recent theoretical work, published in Science Advances, showing that gradual changes in an altermagnet’s microscopic magnetic pattern can steer electrons with opposite spins along different paths. The new research will investigate this mechanism more broadly and develop predictions that can be tested in real materials.

“The central idea is that an altermagnetic texture creates a different effective landscape for each spin,” Schrade said. “Electrons with opposite spins can then be bent along different paths. Our goal is to turn this geometric picture into a predictive theory for spin-transport experiments.”

Over the five-year project, Schrade and his team will use theoretical calculations and numerical simulations to understand how these magnetic patterns affect the movement of electrons. Working with materials modeling and experimental collaborators, they will identify measurable effects that could help scientists develop systems for spin-based information processing and better understand the magnetic structure of altermagnets.

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