Gerd Binnig
Gerd Binnig | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 20, 1947 Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
| Occupation | Physicist |
| Known for | Co-creation of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), atomic force microscope (AFM) |
| Notable work | Scanning tunneling microscope, atomic force microscope |
Gerd Karl Binnig (born 20 July 1947) is a physicist from Germany, widely recognized for co-creating the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). This innovation led to him and Heinrich Rohrer being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986.
Early life and education
Binnig was born in Frankfurt am Main and pursued physics at Goethe University Frankfurt. He obtained his bachelor's degree in 1973 and completed his doctoral studies in 1978 under the guidance of Werner Martienssen and Eckhardt Hoenig.
Career
In 1978, Binnig became part of the Zurich research laboratory at IBM, where he worked alongside Heinrich Rohrer, Christoph Gerber, and Edmund Weibel to invent the STM. This instrument allowed visualization of surfaces at the atomic scale, catalyzing new scientific disciplines. The IBM team received several honors for this achievement, including the German Physics Prize and King Faisal Prize. Binnig and Rohrer were jointly awarded half of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics for their contribution.
From 1985 to 1988, Binnig was stationed at IBM's Almaden research center in California and held a visiting professorship at Stanford University. During this period, in 1985, he developed the atomic force microscope (AFM) with Gerber and Calvin Quate, expanding nanoscale imaging capabilities to non-conductive materials.
Recognized as an IBM Fellow in 1987, Binnig initiated IBM’s Munich Physics group, emphasizing innovation and advancing AFM technology. In 1994, he founded Definiens, which by 2000 commercialized Cognition Network Technology—a sophisticated image analysis system inspired by human visual perception.
In 2016, Binnig was honored with the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience and inducted as a fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. The Binnig and Rohrer Nanotechnology Center in Zurich, owned by IBM, commemorates both Binnig and Rohrer.
Personal life
Binnig married psychologist Lore Wagler in 1969. They have two children: a daughter born in Switzerland and a son born in California. His personal interests include reading, swimming, and playing golf.
External links
- Pioneers in Electricity and Magnetism – Gerd Binnig National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
- including the Nobel Lecture, 8 December 1986 Scanning Tunneling Microscopy – From Birth to Adolescence
- Astra Zeneca acquires Definiens
- 1947 births
- Living people
- German experimental physicists
- German Nobel laureates
- 20th-century German inventors
- 20th-century German physicists
- Scientists from Frankfurt
- Nobel laureates in Physics
- Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni
- Microscopists
- Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
- IBM employees
- IBM Fellows
- Goethe University Frankfurt alumni
- Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
- Kavli Prize laureates in Nanoscience
- 21st-century German physicists