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Gerd Binnig

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Gerd Binnig
Binnig in 2013
Born(1947-07-20)20 July 1947(age 77)
Frankfurt am Main,Allied-occupied Germany
Alma materGoethe University Frankfurt
Known forScanning tunneling microscope
Scanning probe microscopy
Atomic force microscope
AwardsKlung Wilhelmy Science Award(1983)
EPS Europhysics Prize(1984)
King Faisal Prize(1984)
Nobel Prize in Physics(1986)
The Elliott Cresson Medal(1987)
Kavli Prize(2016)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsIBM Zurich Research Laboratory
Doctoral advisorWerner Martienssen
Eckhardt Hoenig
Doctoral studentsFranz Josef Giessibl

Gerd Binnig(German pronunciation:[ˈɡɛʁtˈbɪnɪç]ⓘ;born 20 July 1947[1]) is a German physicist. He is most famous for having won theNobel Prize in Physicsjointly withHeinrich Rohrerin 1986 for the invention of thescanning tunneling microscope.[2]

Early life and education

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Binnig was born inFrankfurt am Mainand played in the ruins of the city during his childhood. His family lived partly inFrankfurtand partly inOffenbach am Main,and he attended school in both cities. At the age of 10, he decided to become a physicist, but he soon wondered whether he had made the right choice. He concentrated more on music, playing in a band. He also started playing the violin at 15 and played in his school orchestra.[1]

Binnig studied physics at theGoethe University Frankfurt,gaining a bachelor's degree in 1973 and remaining there to do a PhD with in Werner Martienssen's group, supervised by Eckhardt Hoenig, and being awarded to him in 1978.[3]

Career

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In 1978, Binnig accepted an offer fromIBMto join theirZurichresearch group, where he worked withHeinrich Rohrer,Christoph GerberandEdmund Weibel.There they developed thescanning tunneling microscope(STM), an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic level.[4] The Nobel committee described the effect that the invention of the STM had on science, saying that "entirely new fields are opening up for the study of the structure of matter."[2]The physical principles on which the STM was based were already known before the IBM team developed the STM, but Binnig and his colleagues were the first to solve the significant experimental challenges involved in putting it into effect.[2]

The IBM Zurich team were soon recognized with a number of prizes: the German Physics Prize, the Otto Klung Prize, the Hewlett Packard Prize and the King Faisal Prize.[1] In 1986, Binnig and Rohrer shared half of theNobel Prize in Physics,the other half of the Prize was awarded toErnst Ruska.

From 1985–1988, he worked in California. He was at IBM inAlmaden Valley,and was visiting professor atStanford University.[5]

In 1985, Binnig invented theatomic force microscope(AFM)[6]and Binnig,Christoph GerberandCalvin Quatewent on to develop a working version of this new microscope for insulating surfaces.[7]

In 1987 Binnig was appointedIBM Fellow.In the same year, he started the IBM Physics group Munich, working on creativity[8]and atomic force microscopy.[9]

In 1994 Professor Gerd Binnig foundedDefinienswhich turned in the year 2000 into a commercial enterprise. The company developedCognition Network Technologyto analyze images just like the human eye and brain are capable of doing.[10]

in 2016, Binnig won theKavli Prize in Nanoscience.[11]He became a fellow of theNorwegian Academy of Science and Letters.[12]

TheBinnig and Rohrer Nanotechnology Center,an IBM-owned research facility inRüschlikon,Zurich is named after Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer.

Personal life

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In 1969, Binnig married Lore Wagler, a psychologist, and they have a daughter born inSwitzerlandand a son born in California.[1]His hobbies include reading, swimming, and golf.

References

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  1. ^abcd"Gerd Binnig – Biographical".Nobel Media AB. 1986.Retrieved1 January2014.
  2. ^abc"The Nobel Prize in Physics 1986 – Press Release".Nobel Media AB. 15 October 1986.Retrieved1 January2014.
  3. ^"Definiens Management Team – Gerd Binnig, PhD".Archived fromthe originalon 2 January 2014.Retrieved1 January2014.
  4. ^ Binnig, G.; Rohrer, H.; Gerbe, Ch; Weibe, E. (1982)."Surface Studies by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy".Physical Review Letters.49(1): 57.Bibcode:1982PhRvL..49...57B.doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.49.57.
  5. ^"Gerd Binnig".kavliprize.org.2 June 2016.Retrieved30 May2017.
  6. ^G. Binnig, "Atomic force microscope and method for imaging surfaces with atomic resolution", US Patent US4724318 (priority date 25 November 1985)
  7. ^Binnig, G.; Quate, C. F. (1986)."Atomic Force Microscope".Physical Review Letters.56(9): 930–933.Bibcode:1986PhRvL..56..930B.doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.56.930.ISSN0031-9007.PMID10033323.
  8. ^G. Binnig, "Aus dem Nichts. Über die Kreativität von Natur und Mensch", Piper (1990)
  9. ^Giessibl, F. J.;Gerber, Christoph;Binnig, G. (1991)."A low-temperature atomic force/scanning tunneling microscope for ultrahigh vacuum"(PDF).Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures.9(2). American Vacuum Society: 984–988.Bibcode:1991JVSTB...9..984G.doi:10.1116/1.585441.ISSN0734-211X.
  10. ^Health, Audacity."Team | Definiens".definiens.Archived fromthe originalon 5 June 2016.Retrieved6 June2016.
  11. ^"2016 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience | kavliprize.org".kavliprize.org.2 June 2016.Retrieved6 June2016.
  12. ^"Artikkel: Group 2: Astronomy, Physics and Geophysics".The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters(in Norwegian).Retrieved14 December2021.
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