Erwin Wilhelm Müller

Erwin Wilhelm Müller (born June 13, 1911 in Berlin ; † May 17, 1977 in Washington , USA ) was a German-American physicist . He is considered to be the first person to "see" an atom.

Career

Müller first studied physics at the Technische Hochschule Charlottenburg under Gustav Hertz and received his doctorate in 1936. Due to the turmoil of the Second World War, he did not achieve his habilitation until 1950 (also at the TU Berlin).

He held several positions at Siemens AG , at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry and, after the war, at the Free University of Berlin .

Müller achieved his first major successes with the invention of the field electron microscope in 1936. The device enabled the investigation of metal surfaces with a resolution of about 20 Å . For the first time, diffusion processes and restructuring on surfaces could be observed. Following this, researchers obtained many more insights into atomic processes on solid surfaces.

In 1947 Iwan Stranski brought him to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry (later the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society) in Berlin-Dahlem , where he constructed the first field ion microscope in 1951 that had resolutions up to 2.5 Å could deliver. For the first time, it was possible to obtain clear and sharp images of crystals in the atomic range, whereby individual atoms and their arrangement on the surface could be seen. Müller was the first person who could "see" an atom.

In 1951 he became a professor at the Free University of Berlin. In 1969 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina . Since 1975 he was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences .

Since 1952 he taught and researched at the Pennsylvania State University in the USA. Erwin Wilhelm Müller died on May 17, 1977 in Washington, DC

Honors

In 1952 he received the Carl Friedrich Gauß Medal .
In 1957 the Max Planck Society appointed him an External Scientific Member of the Fritz Haber Institute.
1964 Howard N. Potts Medal
1968 Centenary Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry
On May 3, 1968 the Free University of Berlin awarded him an honorary doctorate "in recognition of his fundamental work in the field of field emission, in particular the invention of the field electron microscope and the field ion microscope, which led to the establishment of a new, important branch of research."
In 1970 he received the Medard W. Welch Award from the American Vacuum Society .
1972 Davisson-Germer Prize of the American Physical Society .
1976 National Medal of Science

literature

Helmut Rechenberg : Müller, Erwin. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 18, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-428-00199-0 , p. 366 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Literature by and about Erwin Wilhelm Müller in the catalog of the German National Library
Erwin W. Müller, Biographical Memoirs (English)
Member entry of Erwin Müller at the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina , accessed on August 1, 2017th

Individual evidence

^ Members Directory: Erwin W. Mueller. National Academy of Engineering, accessed June 10, 2017 .

personal data
SURNAME	Müller, Erwin Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German-American physicist
DATE OF BIRTH	June 13, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH	Berlin
DATE OF DEATH	17th May 1977
Place of death	Washington , USA

[1] Members Directory: Erwin W. Mueller. National Academy of Engineering, accessed June 10, 2017 .