 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2013) |
The field-ion microscope (FIM) was invented by Müller in 1951.[1] It is a type of microscope that can be used to image the arrangement of atoms at the surface of a sharp metal tip.
On October 11, 1955, Erwin Müller and his Ph.D. student, Kanwar Bahadur (Pennsylvania State University) observed individual tungsten atoms on the surface of a sharply pointed tungsten tip by cooling it to 21 K and employing helium as the imaging gas. Müller & Bahadur were the first persons to observe individual atoms directly.[2]
- ^ Müller, Erwin W. (1951). "Das Feldionenmikroskop". Zeitschrift für Physik. 131 (8): 136–142. Bibcode:1951ZPhy..131..136M. doi:10.1007/BF01329651.
- ^ Müller, Erwin W.; Bahadur, Kanwar (1956). "Field Ionization of gases at a metal surface and the resolution of the field ion microscope". Phys. Rev. 102 (3): 624–631. Bibcode:1956PhRv..102..624M. doi:10.1103/physrev.102.624.