Heinrich Rohrer
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Heinrich Rohrer
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1986
Born: 6 June 1933, Buchs, Switzerland
Died: 16 May 2013, Wollerau, Switzerland
Affiliation at the time of the award: IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, Rüschlikon, Switzerland
Prize motivation: “for their design of the scanning tunneling microscope”
Prize share: 1/4
Work
In optical microscopes the size of objects that can be observed is limited by the wavelength of light. In 1981 Heinrich Rohrer and Gerd Binnig developed the scanning tunneling microscope, which transcends this limit. The instrument is based on an extremely thin point that passes very close to a surface. A low electrical charge is positioned between the point and the surface, and through a quantum mechanical effect, the tunnel effect, a current arises that varies with the distance from the surface. The current is registered and allows the creation of an image in which objects as small as individual atoms can be distinguished.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
