Heinrich Rohrer Facts & Worksheets

Heinrich Rohrer was a remarkable Swiss Physicist who opened humanity’s door to nanotechnology. He was the co-inventor of the scanning tunneling microscope, an invention that allowed the 3D observation of individual atoms. 

Key Facts & Information

Early Life and Education

• Heinrich Rohrer was born on June 6, 1933, in Buchs, St. Gallen, Switzerland 30 minutes after his twin sister. 
• Both his parents, Hans Heinrich Rohrer and Katharina Ganpenbein Rohrer were natives of Buchs, Switzerland and Heinrich Rohrer spent his childhood here. Just like most children in the area, Rohrer spent his time in school and on the farms. 
• In 1949, Heinrich and his family moved to Zurich, where he spent most of his teenage years. 
• As a teenager, Heinrich gravitated towards classical languages and natural sciences.
• His interest in physics began in 1951 when he did his coursework at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. 
• He majored in Physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and was mentored by prominent physicists such as Wolfgang Pauli and Paul Scherrer.
• He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 1955 and began working on earning his Ph. D.
• For his Ph. D thesis, which was supervised by Peter Grassman, he continued the work of Jörgen Lykke Olsen. He was tasked with measuring the length changes of superconductors at the magnetic-field-induced superconducting transition. 

Early Career

• After obtaining his Ph. D, he accepted a research assistant position also at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
• In the summer of the same year, he married Rose-Marie Egger. Their honeymoon brought them to the United States where he spent two years doing postdoctoral research at Rutgers University.
• While at Rutgers, he worked on superconductivity with a group under the guidance of Professor Bernie Serin. He worked on the thermal conductivity of type-II superconductors and metals.
• Two years later, he returned to Switzerland. The director of the newly established IBM Research Laboratory, Ambros Speiser, offered Rohrer a position in the facility’s Physics department.
• He spent his first years at IBM focused on Kondo systems with magnetoresistance in pulsed magnetic fields.
• His interest expanded and he began studying critical phenomena, nuclear magnetic resonance, antiferromagnetism, and surface physics.
• His interest in surface physics was one of the reasons that the scanning tunneling microscope was built.

Invention of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)

• In 1978, IBM Zurich hired Gerd Binnig, a German physicist who showed great interest in superconductivity.
• Rohrer and Binnig began collaborating due to their extensive background in superconductivity and interest in surface physics.
• One of their collaborations required them to study the details of a particular material’s atomic surface. They both realized that the tools available to them had boundaries that limited their observation capacity. 
• Upon realizing this, the two decided to build a device that would allow the observation of resolving individual atoms. 
• They began by experimenting with a quantum mechanical phenomenon known as tunneling.
• January 1979, Rohrer and Binnig submitted their first patent disclosure in what would soon be known as the STM.
• Rohrer and Binnig’s initial plan was just to construct a spectroscopic probe, however, they wanted to achieve a device that would allow clear observation.
• They got assistance from other IBM researchers such as Christoph Gerber.
• In the first few months of construction, their original draft went through multiple alterations.
• Their first trial was performed on the surface structure of a crystal of gold. It was successful as it displayed non-adjacent rows of precisely spaced atoms and broad terraces. 
• Further refinements were applied to the device. Images produced became clearer and clearer.
• In 1981, two years after they started working on creating the STM, they finally announced their invention to the public.
• Their very first published discussion was released as an IBM in-house report.
• In 1986, only 5 years after their creation, Rohrer and Binnig were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. The committee said that their invention “opened up entirely new fields for the study of the structure of matter.”
• Other than the Nobel Prize, Rohrer and Binnig were awarded the Otto Klung Prize, the Hewlett Packard Europhysics Prize, the German Physics Prize, the King Faisal Prize, and the Cresson Medal.
• The STM’s application later on expanded to various fields, even those fields outside of science.
• Rohrer’s career continued to grow as he moved upwards in IBM. He was appointed as the head of IBM Zurich’s Physics Department and became an IBM fellow.
• Despite his retirement in 1997, he still held lectures all around the world, inspiring thousands of people to continue finding innovations.
• At 79 years old, he passed away on the evening of May 16, 2013. His contributions to the field of science will forever be celebrated. 

Heinrich Rohrer Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Heinrich Rohrer across 29 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching about Heinrich Rohrer, a remarkable Swiss Physicist who opened humanity’s door to nanotechnology. He was the co-inventor of the scanning tunneling microscope, an invention that allowed the 3D observation of individual atoms.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of template and sample of activities included in this document.

1. Heinrich Rohrer Facts
2. The Search
3. What Am I?
4. Compare and Contrast
5. You’re Bluffing
6. Story Time
7. Scientific Today
8. The Perfect Match
9. From Me, For You
10. Time’s Up
11. Modern Times

Frequently Asked Question

Who was Heinrich Rohrer?

Heinrich Rohrer was a Swiss physicist who shared half of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics with Gerd Binnig for their design of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The STM was a significant breakthrough as it allowed scientists to visualize individual atoms for the first time, profoundly affecting the field of surface science.

What is the significance of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope?

The Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) is a powerful instrument that is used to image surfaces at the atomic level. It was the first instrument that allowed scientists to visualize individual atoms. The development of the STM has paved the way for a new field in nanotechnology, enabling the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules, leading to many advances in physics and materials science.

When and where was Heinrich Rohrer born?

Heinrich Rohrer was born on February 6, 1933, in Buchs, St. Gallen in Switzerland. After moving around due to his father’s work, he completed his school education in Zurich, where he later attended the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) for his university studies.

What did Heinrich Rohrer do after winning the Nobel Prize?

After winning the Nobel Prize, Rohrer continued his research in nanotechnology. He also served as a mentor to young scientists and a figurehead in the field of nanoscience. He participated in research at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory until his retirement in 1997, after which he served as a scientific consultant for various institutions.

When did Heinrich Rohrer pass away?

Heinrich Rohrer passed away on May 16, 2013, in Wollerau, Switzerland. His contributions to the field of physics and nanotechnology are remembered and celebrated in scientific communities worldwide. The legacy of his work is carried on by numerous scientists in the field who utilize and build upon the technologies he helped to pioneer.

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