Gerd Binnig
| Gerd Binnig | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 20 July 1947 Frankfurt am Main |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | IBM Zurich Research Laboratory |
| Alma mater | J.W. Goethe University, Frankfurt |
| Doctoral advisor | Werner Martienssen Eckhardt Hoenig |
| Doctoral students | D. P. E. Smith, Franz Josef Giessibl, Frank Ohnesorge |
| Known for | Scanning tunneling microscope, atomic force microscope |
| Notable awards | Nobel Prize in Physics (1986) The Elliott Cresson Medal (1987) |
Gerd Binnig (born 20 July 1947[1]) is a German physicist, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986 for the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope.[2]
He was born in Frankfurt am Main and played in the ruins of the city during his childhood. His family lived partly in Frankfurt and partly in Offenbach 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 the J.W. Goethe University in Frankfurt, gaining a bachelor's degree in 1973 and remaining there do a PhD with in Werner Martienssen's group, supervised by Eckhardt Hoenig.[3]
In 1969, he married Lore Wagler, a psychologist, and they have a daughter born in Switzerland and a son born in California.[1] His hobbies are reading, swimming and golf.
In 1978, he accepted an offer from IBM to join their Zürich research group, where he worked with Heinrich Rohrer, Christoph Gerber and Edmund Weibel. There they developed the scanning 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 Zürich 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 the Nobel Prize in Physics, the other half of the Prize was awarded to Ernst Ruska.
Binnig, Christoph Gerber and Calvin Quate went on to develop the atomic force microscope (AFM).[5]
In 1987 Binnig was appointed IBM Fellow. In the same year, he started the IBM Physics group Munich, working on creativity and atomic force microscopy [6]
In 1994 Professor Gerd Binnig founded Definiens which turned in the year 2000 into a commercial enterprise. Today, companies and institutions around the world use Definiens' technology to maximize the value of images and thereby enabling better decisions. Definiens currently focuses on applications for Life Sciences and Earth Sciences. In Life Sciences, Definiens' technology is used to accelerate the drug discovery, development, and diagnostics processes. In Earth Sciences, Definiens' technology enables satellite and aerial image classification and analysis with greater speed, accuracy and insight. In 2014, Definiens was acquired by Astra Zeneca for an initial consideration of $150 million.
The Binnig and Rohrer Nanotechnology Center, an IBM-owned research facility in Rüschlikon, Zurich is named after Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d "Gerd Binnig - Biographical". Nobel Media AB. 1986. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
- ^ a b c "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1986 - Press Release". Nobel Media AB. 1986-10-15. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
- ^ "Definiens Management Team - Gerd Binnig, PhD". Retrieved 2014-01-01.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 10033323.
- ^ Franz Josef Giessibl, Christoph Gerber and G. Binnig, "A low-temperature atomic force/scanning tunneling microscope for ultrahigh vacuum", J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B9, 984-988 (1991).
External links[edit]
- Pioneers in Electricity and Magnetism - Gerd Binnig National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
- Autobiography of Gerd Binnig
- Astra Zeneca acquires Definiens
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- 1947 births
- Living people
- Experimental physicists
- German Nobel laureates
- German inventors
- German physicists
- People from Frankfurt
- Nobel laureates in Physics
- Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni
- Microscopists
- Members of the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art
- Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
- IBM employees
- IBM Fellows
- Goethe University Frankfurt alumni
