Alec Broers, Baron Broers

Alec Broers, Baron Broers
Born	Alec Nigel Broers (1938-09-17) September 17, 1938 Calcutta, India
Occupation(s)	Electrical engineer, academic administrator
Years active	1961–present
Known for	Electronic beam lithography, microscopy, microfabrication technologies, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge

Alec Nigel Broers, Baron Broers (born 17 September 1938) is a distinguished British electrical engineer known for his pioneering work in electronic beam lithography and microscopy, as well as his leadership roles in microfabrication technologies. In 1994, he was honored with election as an international member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Education and early life

Broers was born in Calcutta, India, and received his early education at Geelong Grammar School and Melbourne University in Australia. He later pursued further studies at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, in England.

Career

After spending nearly two decades at IBM's research and development centers in the United States, Broers returned to Cambridge in 1984 to take on the role of Professor of Electrical Engineering (1984–96) and became a Fellow of Trinity College (1985–90). Recognized as a trailblazer in nanotechnology, he held several key positions including Master of Churchill College (1990–96), Head of the Engineering Department (1993–96), and ultimately Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1996–2003).

In 1997, he delivered the MacMillan Memorial Lecture titled "The Role and Education of the Creative Engineer." He was knighted in 1998 and elevated to the peerage as a crossbench life peer in 2004 under the title Baron Broers of Cambridge. Between 2004 and 2007, he chaired the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee and served as President of the Royal Academy of Engineering from 2001 to 2006.

In September 2008, Lord Broers took over as chairman of the board for Diamond Light Source, marking a significant leadership role at the UK's most substantial scientific facility developed in over four decades.

Awards and honours

Lord Broers has been awarded more than twenty honorary degrees and fellowships by various universities and professional bodies. His memberships include Foreign Memberships in the US National Academy of Engineering, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and the American Philosophical Society. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1985 and inducted into the Royal Society in 1986. Among his accolades are the American Institute of Physics’ Prize for Industrial Applications of Physics (1982), IEEE’s Cledo Brunetti Award (1985), and the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Prince Philip Medal (2001).

Career summary

• 1938 Born on 17 September in Calcutta, India
• 1941 Relocated to Sydney, Australia
• 1944 Moved to Purley, Surrey, United Kingdom
• 1948 Settled in Melbourne, Australia; enrolled at Geelong Grammar School
• 1959 Earned BSc in physics from Melbourne University, Australia
• 1962 Received BA in electrical sciences from University of Cambridge; originally a choral scholar
• 1965 Completed PhD at University of Cambridge with a thesis on selective ion beam etching using scanning electron microscopy
• 1965 Began research career at IBM USA; served on Corporate Technical Committee
• 1977 Designated IBM Fellow by IBM’s CEO
• 1984 Appointed Professor of Electrical Engineering and Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge
• 1990 Became Master of Churchill College, Cambridge
• 1992 Took office as Head of Cambridge University Engineering Department
• 1994 Elected international member of the National Academy of Engineering
• 1995 Joined Lucas Industries as non-executive director
• 1996 Served as Vice Chancellor at University of Cambridge until 2003
• 1997 Appointed non-executive director at Vodafone
• 1998 Knighted for contributions to education; co-founded Cambridge Network alongside Hermann Hauser and David Cleevely
• 2001 Assumed presidency of The Royal Academy of Engineering
• 2004 Granted Life Peerage as Lord Broers; chaired House of Lords Science and Technology Committee
• 2005 Delivered Reith Lectures for the BBC
• 2008 Became Chairman of Diamond Light Source Ltd.
• 2009 Appointed Chairman of Bio Nano Consulting
• 2010 Led Technology Strategy Board Knowledge Transfer Network for Transport as Chairman
• 2012–2015 Chaired Judging Panel for Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering
• 2021 Presided over Parliamentary and Scientific Committee

Research

Alec Broers launched his investigative career at the University of Cambridge in 1961, focusing on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ion etching techniques under the guidance of Professor Oatley and Dr William C Nixon. Throughout his doctoral studies, he enhanced SEM resolution to approximately 10 nm by integrating a magnetic final lens and was among the first to utilize electron beams for pattern writing, facilitating the creation of nanostructures as small as 40 nm in materials compatible with microelectronics. These breakthroughs provided a foundation for significant miniaturization in electronic circuit design.

Following his tenure at Cambridge, Lord Broers dedicated nearly two decades to IBM in the United States, mainly at the Thomas J Watson Research Centre. Charged with advancing electron emitters for electron microscopes, he pioneered the first practical LaB₆ electron guns, which delivered superior brightness and extended lifespans compared to traditional tungsten filaments. Using these emitters, he developed cutting-edge SEMs capable of achieving beam sizes as fine as 0.5 nm. His research further expanded into electron beam lithography, leading to the fabrication of the earliest micron and sub-micron silicon transistors, thereby demonstrating the feasibility of reducing device dimensions.

In 1977, Broers was honored with the title of IBM Fellow, providing him with autonomy to explore sophisticated microfabrication research. He concentrated on enhancing electron beam lithography resolution and overcoming obstacles such as electron backscatter fogging by inventing thin membrane substrates that effectively eliminated this issue. These membranes allowed for the production of metal structures smaller than 10 nm and introduced the term "nanofabrication" to describe these processes. Subsequently, these membranes were applied in MEMS technologies and biomedical cantilever devices. Broers also played a role in early X-ray lithography developments utilizing similar membrane-based approaches.

Upon his return to Cambridge, Lord Broers founded a nanofabrication laboratory aimed at pushing miniaturization toward atomic-scale dimensions through innovative techniques developed during his IBM tenure. He adapted a 400 kV transmission electron microscope into a scanning mode instrument with a beam size of 0.3 nm and collaborated with Belgium's IMEC to create some of the smallest and fastest field-effect transistors available at that time.

His comprehensive investigations into nanolithography and electron microscopy are documented in Volume 231 of Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics (2024).

External sources

• The Reith lectures, 2005 by Lord Broers
• Interview with Lord Broers, Ingenia Magazine, March 2005
• Profile of Lord Broers
• Lord Broers on technology's impact, March 2005