Geetha Balakrishnan

Geetha Balakrishnan is a Professor in the Physics Department at the University of Warwick.

She has worked at Warwick since 1991. She has previously worked at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay, India (1989-1991) and also as a Research Fellow in the Physics Department at Warwick (1986-1988).

Research Interests

The growth of single crystals of superconductors, magnetic, and related materials by a variety of techniques, including a large programme of work using optical furnaces for the floating zone technique.

Also low temperature laboratory measurements and neutron scattering studies.

For more details on the research activities of Prof. Geetha Balakrishnan and the other members of the Superconductivity and Magnetism Group please visit our Research Pages.

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Current research grants:

1. EPSRC Funded: EP/Z535874/1: "Single Crystal Growth at Warwick", July 2025-2028, (PI)

2. EPSRC Funded: EP/Z534067/1: "Controlling the formation and properties of topological magnetic phenomena", March 2025-2028 , Warwick PI (joint grant with Durham University)

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Recent research grants:

EP/T005963/1 "Single Crystal Growth at Warwick" Sep 2019-Sep 2023, £634,595 (PI)

EP/N032128/1 “Skyrmionics: From Magnetic Excitations to Functioning Low-Energy Devices” Programme Grant led by Prof. Peter Hatton, Durham, July 2016-Jan 2023, £5,101,385 (Warwick PI)

EP/M028941/1 “Investigations of the physics underlying the principles of design of rare earth transition metal permanent magnets” Jan 2016-Jun 2020, £931,725 (Co-I)

EP/M028771/1 “Single Crystal Growth at Warwick” July 2015- July 2018, EPSRC, UK, £514,769 (PI)

EP/L014963/1 “Topological Insulators: A study of bulk crystalline and nanomaterials
March 2014-Aug 2017, EPSRC, UK, £616, 679 (PI)

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Selected recent publications:

(For a full list of publications please see link at the bottom of the list)

Anisotropic Skyrmion and Multi-q Spin Dynamics in Centrosymmetric Gd2PdSi3 M. Gomilsek, T. J. Hicken, M. N. Wilson, K. J. A Franke, B. M. Huddart, A. Stefančič, S. J. R. Holt, G. Balakrishnan, D. A. Mayoh, M. T. Birch, S. H. Moody, H. Luetkens, Z. Guguchia, M. T. F. Telling, P. J. Baker, S. J. Clark and T. Lancaster, Physical Review Letters 134, 046702 (2025).
A Magnon Band Analysis of GdRu2Si2 in the Field-Polarized State G. D. A. Wood, J. R. Stewart, D. A. Mayoh, J. A. M. Paddison, J. Bouaziz, S. M. Tobin, O. A. Petrenko, M. R. Lees, P. Manuel, J. B. Staunton, and G. Balakrishnan, NPJ Quantum Materials 10, 39 (2025)
Uniaxial pressure effects, phase diagram, and tricritical point in the centrosymmetric skyrmion lattice magnet GdRu2Si2, L. Gries, T. Kleinbeck, D. A. Mayoh, G. D. A. Wood, G. Balakrishnan and R. Klingeler, Physical Review B 111, 064419 (2025).
Soft X-Ray Phase Nanomicroscopy of Micrometer-Thick Magnets J. Neethirajan, B. J. Daurer, M. Di Pietro Martínez, A.; Hrabec, L. Turnbull, R. Yamamoto, M. R. Ferreira, A. Štefančič, D. A. Mayoh, G. Balakrishnan, Z. Pei, P. Xue, L. Chang, E. Ringe, R. Harrison, S. Valencia, M. Kazemian, B. Kaulich, and C. Donnelly, Physical Review X 14, 031028 (2024)
Crystal growth of the R2PdSi3 (R= rare earth) materials using the optical floating zone technique D. A. Mayoh, A. Štefančič, M.R. Lees, G. Balakrishnan, Journal of Crystal Growth 127774 (2024).
Seeding and Emergence of Composite Skyrmions in a van der Waals Magnet, L. Powalla, M. T. Birch, K. Litzius, S. Wintz, F. S. Yasin, L. A. Turnbull, F. Schulz, D. A. Mayoh, G. Balakrishnan, M. Weigand, X. Yu, K. Kern, G. Schütz, and M. Burghard, Advanced Materials 35, 2208930 (2023)

Bismuth chalcogenide topological insulators crystals grown by the optical floating zone technique, A. Guarino, R. Arumugam, R. Fittipaldi, M. Lettieri, G. Balakrishnan, A. Vecchione,
Journal of Crystal Growth 629, 127580 (2024).
Crystal growth and Hall effect of the non-centrosymmetric superconductor α-BiPd and the topological superconductor β-Bi2Pd, R. Arumugam, R. Fittipaldi, A. Guarino, D. Mayoh, A. Ubaldini, M. Lettieri, G. Avallone, A. Romano, G. Balakrishnan, A. Vecchione,
Journal of Crystal Growth 630, 127592 (2024).
Valence-state mixing and reduced magnetic moment in Fe3-δGeTe2 single crystals with varying Fe content probed by x-ray spectroscopy, D. Backes, R. Fujita, L. S. Veiga, D. A. Mayoh, G. D. A. Wood, S. S. Dhesi, G. Balakrishnan, G. van der Laan, T. Hesjedal, Nanotechnology 35, 395709 (2024).
Chemical Trends of the Bulk and Surface Termination-Dependent Electronic Structure of Metal-Intercalated Transition Metal Dichalcogenides, B. Edwards, D. A. Deaconu, P. A. E. Murgatroyd, S. Buchberger, T. Antonelli, D. Halliday, G. R. Siemann, A. Zivanovic, L. Trzaska, A. Rajan, E. A. Morales, D. A. Mayoh, A. E. Hall, R. V. Belosludov, M. D. Watson, T. K. Kim, D. Biswas, T. L. Lee, C. M. Polley, D. Carbone, M. Leandersson, G. Balakrishnan, M. S. Bahramy, P. D. C. King,
Chemistry of Materials DOI 10.1021/acs.chemmater.4c00824 (2024).
Magnetic structure, excitations, and field-induced transitions in the honeycomb lattice compound Er2Si2O7, M. Islam, N. d'Ambrumenil, D. D. Khalyavin, P. Manuel, F. Orlandi, J. Ollivier, M. C. Hatnean, G. Balakrishnan, O. A. Petrenko, Physical Review B 109, 094420 (2024).
Strain-Modulated Ferromagnetism at an Intrinsic van der Waals Heterojunction R. Fujita, G. Gurung, M. A. Mawass, A. Smekhova, F. Kronast, A. K. J. Toh, A. Soumyanarayanan, P. Ho, A. Singh, E. Heppell, D. Backes, F. Maccherozzi, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, D. A. Mayoh, G. Balakrishnan, G. van der Laan, T. Hesjedal, Advanced Functional Materials DOI 10.1002/adfm.202400552 (2024).
Quantum critical behaviour of the hyperkagome magnet Mn3CoSi, H. Yamauchi, D.P. Sari, Y. Yasui, T. Sakakura, H. Kimura, A. Nakao, T. Ohhara, T. Honda, K. Kodama, N. Igawa, K. Ikeda, K. Iida, D. Ueta, T. Yokoo, M.D. Frontzek, SX. Chi, J.A. Fernandez-Baca, K.M. Kojima, D. Arseneau, G. Morris, B. Hitti, Y.P. Cai, A. Berlie, I. Watanabe, P.T. Hsu, Y.S. Chen, M.K. Lee, A.E. Hall, G. Balakrishnan, L.J. Chang, S. Shamoto. Physical Review Research 6 (1) 013144 (2024)
Control of stripe, skyrmion and skyrmionium formation in the 2D magnet Fe3-xGeTe2 by varying composition.M.T. Birch, L. Powalla, K. Litzius, V. Nehruji, O. Hovorka, S. Wintz, F. Schulz, D.A. Mayoh, G. Balakrishnan, M. Wiegand, M. Burghard, G.Schutz.2D Materials 11 (2) 025008 (2024).
Flux-pinning mediated superconducting diode effect in NbSe2/CrGeTe3 heterostructure, Mehrnejat A, M.C. Hatnean M.C. Rosamond, N. Banerjee, G. Balakrishnan, S.E. Savelev, F.K. Dejene. 2D Materials 11 (2) 021002 (2024)
Giant valley Zeeman coupling in the surface layer of an intercalated transition metal dichalcogenide B. Edwards, O. Dowinton, A.E. Hall, P.A.E.Murgatroyd, S. Buchberger, T. Antonelli, G.-R. Siemann, A. Rajan, E. Abarca Morales, A. Zivanovic, C. Bigi, R.V. Belosludov, C.M. Polley, D. Carbone, D.A. Mayoh, G. Balakrishnan, M.S. Bahramy, and P.D.C. King, Nature Materials, (2023)
Comparative study of the magnetism in Mn3RhGe and related compound Mn3IrSi, A. E. Hall, P. Manuel, D. D. Khalyavin, F. Orlandi, D. A. Mayoh, L. J. Chang, Y. S. Chen, D. G. C. Jonas, M. R. Lees, G. Balakrishnan, Physical Review Materials 7, 114402 (2023).
Covalency, correlations, and interlayer interactions governing the magnetic and electronic structure of Mn3Si2Te6. Bigi, L Qiao, C. Liu, P. Barone, M.C. Hatnean, G.R. Siemann, B. Achinuq, D.A. Mayoh, G. Vinai, V. Polewczyk, D. dagur, F. Mazzola, P. bencok, T. Hesjedal, G. Van der Laan, W. Ren, G. Balakrishnan, S. Picozzi, P.D.C.King. Physical Review B 108 (5) 054419 (2023)
Hydrogen-impurity-induced unconventional magnetism in semiconducting molybdenum ditelluride, J. A. Krieger, D. Tay, I. P. Rusinov, S. Barua, P. K. Biswas, L. Korosec, T. Prokscha, T. Schmitt, N. B. M. Schröter, T. Shang, T. Shiroka, A. Suter, G. Balakrishnan, E. Chulkov, V. N. Strocov, Z. Salman, Physical Review Materials 7, 044414 (2023).
X-ray holographic imaging of magnetic surface spirals in FeGe lamellae L. A. Turnbull, M. T. Littlehales, M. N. Wilson, M. T. Birch, H. Popescu, N. Jaouen, J. A. T. Verezhak, G. Balakrishnan, P. D. Hatton Physical Review B 2022-08-15
Magnetism in the Néel-skyrmion host GaV4S8 under pressure T. J. Hicken, M. N. Wilson, S. J. R. Holt, R. Khassanov, M. R. Lees, R. Gupta, D. Das, G. Balakrishnan, T. Lancaster Physical Review B 2022-04-13
Singlet-triplet mixing in the order parameter of the noncentrosymmetric superconductor Ru7B3 A. S. Cameron, Y. S. Yerin, Y. V. Tymoshenko, P. Y. Portnichenko, A. S. Sukhanov, M. Ciomaga Hatnean, D. McK. Paul, G. Balakrishnan, R. Cubitt, A. Heinemann Physical Review B 2022-03-29
Comparative study of the structural and magnetic properties of Mn1/3NbS2 and Cr1/3NbS2 A. E. Hall, J. C. Loudon, P. A. Midgley, A. C. Twitchett-Harrison, S. J. R. Holt, D. A. Mayoh, J. P. Tidey, Y. Han, M. R. Lees, G. Balakrishnan Physical Review Materials 2022-02-23
Frustrated Magnet Mn3Al2Ge3O12 Garnet: Crystal Growth by the Optical Floating Zone Method, M. Islam, M. C. Hatnean, G. Balakrishnan, O. A. Petrenko, Crystals 13, 397 (2023).

Giant topological and planar Hall effect in Cr1/3NbS2 D. A. Mayoh, J. Bouaziz, A. E. Hall, J. B. Staunton, M. R. Lees, G. Balakrishnan Physical Review Research 2022-02-18

Toggle-like current-induced Bloch point dynamics of 3D skyrmion strings in a room temperature nanowire M. T. Birch, D. Cortés-Ortuño, K. Litzius, S. Wintz, F. Schulz, M. Weigand, A. Štefančič, D. A. Mayoh, G. Balakrishnan, P. D. Hatton Nature Communications 2022-06-24

Investigations of the size distribution and magnetic properties of nanoparticles of Cu2OSeO3 S J R Holt, A Štefančič, J C Loudon, M R Lees, G Balakrishnan Materials Research Express 2021-11-01

Absence of zero-field-cooled exchange bias effect in single crystalline La2−xAx CoMnO6 (A=Ca,Sr) compounds C. Macchiutti, J. R. Jesus, F. B. Carneiro, L. Bufaiçal, M. Ciomaga Hatnean, G. Balakrishnan, E. M. Bittar Physical Review Materials 2021-09-07

Emergent magnetic behavior in the frustrated Yb3Ga5O12 garnet Lise Ørduk Sandberg, Richard Edberg, Ingrid-Marie Berg Bakke, Kasper S. Pedersen, Monica Ciomaga Hatnean, Geetha Balakrishnan, Lucile Mangin-Thro, Andrew Wildes, B. Fåk, Georg Ehlers Physical Review B 2021-08-13
Field-temperature phase diagram of the enigmatic Nd2(Zr1−xTix)2O7 pyrochlore magnets M. Léger, E. Lhotel, E. Ressouche, K. Beauvois, F. Damay, C. Paulsen, A. Al-Mawla, E. Suard, M. Ciomaga Hatnean, G. Balakrishnan Physical Review B 2021-06-28

Magnetic structure investigation of the intercalated transition metal dichalcogenide V1/3NbS2 A. E. Hall, D. D. Khalyavin, P. Manuel, D. A. Mayoh, F. Orlandi, O. A. Petrenko, M. R. Lees, G. Balakrishnan Physical Review B 2021-05-25

Superconducting quantum interference in twisted van der Waals heterostructures Farrar LS, Nevil A, Lim ZJ, Balakrishnan G, Dale S and Bending S J, Nano Letters 21 6725 (2021)
Topological defect-mediated skyrmion annihilation in three dimensions M. T. Birch, D. Cortés-Ortuño, N. D. Khanh, S. Seki, A. Štefančič, G. Balakrishnan, Y. Tokura, and P. D. Hatton, Communications Physics 4, 175 (2021)
Deriving the skyrmion Hall angle from skyrmion lattice dynamics. S. R. Brearton, L. A. Turnbull, J. A. T. Verezhak, G. Balakrishnan, P. D. Hatton, G. van der Laan, and T. Hesjedal. Nature Communications 12, 2723 (2021)
Chiral singlet superconductivity in the weakly correlated metal LaPt₃P P. K. Biswas, S. K. Ghosh, J. Z. Zhao, D. A. Mayoh, N. D. Zhigadlo, X. Xu, C. Baines, A. D. Hillier, G. Balakrishnan, and M. R. Lees. Nature Communications 12, 2504 (2021)
Magnetic structure investigation of the intercalated transition metal dichalcogenide V_1/3NbS₂A. E. Hall, D. D. Khalyavin, P. Manuel, D. A. Mayoh, F. Orlandi, O. A. Petrenko, M. R. Lees, and G. Balakrishnan.Physical Review B 103, 174431 (2021).
Megahertz dynamics in skyrmion systems probed with muon-spin relaxation. T. J. Hicken, M. N. Wilson, K. J. A. Franke, B. M. Huddart, Z. Hawkhead, M. Gomilšek, S. J. Clark, F. L. Pratt, A. Štefančič, A. E. Hall, M. Ciomaga Hatnean, G. Balakrishnan, and T. Lancaster. Physical Review B 103, 024428 (2021).
Investigation of the magnetic ground state of GaV₄S₈ using powder neutron diffraction S. J. R. Holt, C. Ritter, M. R. Lees, and G. Balakrishnan. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 33 255802 (2021).
Spin Dynamics and Unconventional Coulomb Phase in Nd₂Zr₂O₇ M. Léger, E. Lhotel, M. Ciomaga Hatnean, J. Ollivier, A. R. Wildes, S. Raymond, E. Ressouche, G. Balakrishnan, and S. Petit. Physical Review Letters 126, 247201 (2021).

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Orcid full publications list:

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5890-1149

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Full list of publications: Please click on "Researcher ID" to view the list

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Write to

Department of Physics
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
United Kingdom

Contact Details

Office
P236
Telephone
+44 (0)2476573879
E-Mail
G.Balakrishnan(at)warwick.ac.uk