Binnig & Rohrer, Paper 10 (Scientific American):
That is quite an impact for an instrument only 5 years old. It indicates the extraordinary power of the STM, of course. Nonetheless, Binnig and Rohrer might have been helped along in the negotiations within the Nobel committee (we can only speculate until the minutes will be released after 50 years, that is in 2036) by sharing the prize with Ruschka, the main developer of electron spectroscopy. Ruschka, Binnig, and Rohrer may have come to represent 20th-century material samples analysis in general, and the Nobel committee might have wanted to hurry before the 79-year old Ruschka died. The long list of utility in the Scientific American may also have played an important role, since Nobel's will specifies that the prize be given for work done in the previous year (fits Binnig and Rohrer, but not Ruschka) and that has benefited humanity the most. Arguably electron microscopy had benefited humanity already, but STM was still only at the prototype stage. For a thumbnail history of Scanning Probe Microscopy up to the current day, click here.
This page was last updated on 15 May 2001 by Arne Hessenbruch. |
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