Albert V. Crewe
Encyclopedia
Albert Victor Crewe was a British born American physicist
and inventor of the modern scanning transmission electron microscope
capable of taking still and motion pictures of atoms, a technology that provided new insights into atomic interaction and enabled significant advances in and had wide-reaching implications for the biomedical, semiconductor
, and computing industries.
, England
, in 1927 and grew up during World War II in a blue collar community still recovering from the worldwide depression. The family was poor and expectations were limited. He had average grades in school but passed two nationwide examinations, the first of which enabled him to become the first in his family to attend high school and the second of which allowed him to attend college. He won a military scholarship to the University of Liverpool
to pursue an undergraduate degree in physics
, which he received in 1947. He received a first class degree with high honors, which allowed him a scholarship to continue on at Liverpool for his Ph.D. At the age of 24 he was hired by the university as an instructor in physics and received his degree one year later, in 1951.
, the Lyon Jones Chair of Physics. Skinner and his team were in the process of building a synchrocyclotron accelerator and wanted to improve on existing technology by extracting the circulating beam to produce an external one, a feat which had never been accomplished. Skinner gave Crewe the responsibility for extracting the beam and he proved successful, using an innovative peeler-regenerator system. A few years later a team of physicists from the University of Chicago
, sent by Enrico Fermi
, went to Liverpool for help in solving a similar problem with the Chicago synchrocyclotron. That visit led to an invitation for Crewe to go to the University of Chicago as a visiting research associate in 1955. A year later, after he and a theoretical physicist succeeded in getting the cyclotron to work, the University of Chicago hired Crewe as an assistant professor.
In 1958 Crewe moved to the Argonne National Laboratory
, in DuPage County
, Illinois
. One of the U.S. government's oldest and largest science and engineering research laboratories, Argonne is managed for the U.S. Department of Energy by the University of Chicago. After the war, Argonne was given the mission of developing nuclear reactors for peaceful purposes. A large accelerator was being planned at Argonne, and Crewe was part of a team recruited to make sure that the machine would be state of the art. After Congress approved the machine Crewe was made director of the Particle Accelerator
Division at Argonne. When Norman Hilberry, the director of Argonne, retired in 1961, Crewe was asked to become the third director of the 5000 employee facility.
In 1964 Crewe developed the first field emission electron gun
, a new type of electron source that enabled much higher optical quality than had previously been possible. This gun, combined with inventions in electron lenses and detection, led to the development of the highest resolution microscope at that time. In 1970 his field emission scanning transmission electron microscope succeeded in taking images individual atom (though not the first, this achievement usually being credited to Erwin Muller
). In 1975 he was successful in obtaining the first motion pictures of atoms, providing new insight into atomic interaction and material formation.
There followed, during the 1980s, a series of important refining techniques. In 1980 he invented a method for the correction of spherical aberration in electron optical systems using sextupoles and, in 1996, Crewe invented a new type of focusing lens for low voltage scanning microscopes. He held 19 patents for his inventions, and had more than 275 publications, most of them concerned with electron optics and electron microscopes.
Beginning in the 1970s and continuing to the present day commercial electron microscopes were developed based on Crewe’s innovations. These systems enabled significant advances in the biomedical, pharmaceutical, and semiconductor industries.
Hitachi Corporation produced the first successful commercial version of the field emission scanning electron microscope in 1970. Crewe was a consultant to Hitachi in this effort. Since that time Hitachi has produced over 4000 field emission Scanning Electron Microscope
s. They are considered the highest resolution instruments available and cost over one million USD each to build. Today there are over 3000 field emission microscopes operational in semiconductor fabrication facilities worldwide, enabling companies like Intel and IBM to produce the latest and fastest microprocessors.
Crewe served as Dean of Physical Sciences at the University of Chicago from 1971-1981. In 1977 was named the William E. Wrather Distinguished Service Professor, and from 2002 he was the Wrather Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus. He continued to explore new methods of obtaining high resolution, and in 2003 developed a low voltage electron microscope using a dipole permanent magnet
as a lens.
in 1977 and the Distinguished Service Award of the Electron Microscope Society of America
in 1976. He became a member of the National Academy of Sciences
in 1972. In 1979 he received the Ernst Abbe Award of the New York Microscope society. In the U.K. he received the Duddell Medal
of the Institute of Physics
in 1980 and he held honorary fellowships in America, Great Britain, and China, as well as honorary degrees from several universities in America as well as from the University of Liverpool.
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
and inventor of the modern scanning transmission electron microscope
Scanning transmission electron microscopy
A scanning transmission electron microscope is a type of transmission electron microscope . As with any transmission illumination scheme, the electrons pass through a sufficiently thin specimen...
capable of taking still and motion pictures of atoms, a technology that provided new insights into atomic interaction and enabled significant advances in and had wide-reaching implications for the biomedical, semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
, and computing industries.
Early life and education
Crewe was born in BradfordBradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1927 and grew up during World War II in a blue collar community still recovering from the worldwide depression. The family was poor and expectations were limited. He had average grades in school but passed two nationwide examinations, the first of which enabled him to become the first in his family to attend high school and the second of which allowed him to attend college. He won a military scholarship to the University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
to pursue an undergraduate degree in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, which he received in 1947. He received a first class degree with high honors, which allowed him a scholarship to continue on at Liverpool for his Ph.D. At the age of 24 he was hired by the university as an instructor in physics and received his degree one year later, in 1951.
Synchrocyclotron research
At the University of Liverpool, Crewe worked with Professor SkinnerHerbert Wakefield Banks Skinner
Herbert Wakefield Banks Skinner was a British physicist.He was born in Ealing, London the only son of George Herbert, a director of the shoemaking firm of Lilley and Skinner, and Mabel Elisabeth Skinner. He was educated at Durston House School in Ealing and Rugby School. In 1919 he entered Trinity...
, the Lyon Jones Chair of Physics. Skinner and his team were in the process of building a synchrocyclotron accelerator and wanted to improve on existing technology by extracting the circulating beam to produce an external one, a feat which had never been accomplished. Skinner gave Crewe the responsibility for extracting the beam and he proved successful, using an innovative peeler-regenerator system. A few years later a team of physicists from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, sent by Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
, went to Liverpool for help in solving a similar problem with the Chicago synchrocyclotron. That visit led to an invitation for Crewe to go to the University of Chicago as a visiting research associate in 1955. A year later, after he and a theoretical physicist succeeded in getting the cyclotron to work, the University of Chicago hired Crewe as an assistant professor.
In 1958 Crewe moved to the Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...
, in DuPage County
DuPage County, Illinois
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 916,924, White Americans made up 77.9% of Dupage County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 70.5% of the population. Black Americans made up 4.6% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.3% of Dupage County's population...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. One of the U.S. government's oldest and largest science and engineering research laboratories, Argonne is managed for the U.S. Department of Energy by the University of Chicago. After the war, Argonne was given the mission of developing nuclear reactors for peaceful purposes. A large accelerator was being planned at Argonne, and Crewe was part of a team recruited to make sure that the machine would be state of the art. After Congress approved the machine Crewe was made director of the Particle Accelerator
Particle accelerator
A particle accelerator is a device that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to high speeds and to contain them in well-defined beams. An ordinary CRT television set is a simple form of accelerator. There are two basic types: electrostatic and oscillating field accelerators.In...
Division at Argonne. When Norman Hilberry, the director of Argonne, retired in 1961, Crewe was asked to become the third director of the 5000 employee facility.
Electron Microscopy
While at Argonne Crewe became interested in electron microscopy, an interest stimulated by the major biology program there. Crewe saw ways in which it would be possible to improve the images important to that work. He came up with a design for a scanning electron microscope and set up a group at Argonne to build it, getting it to function in 1963. This work became so interesting to Crewe that in 1967 he decided to leave Argonne and return to the university’s physics faculty, which had granted him a full professorship in 1963.In 1964 Crewe developed the first field emission electron gun
Field emission gun
A field emission gun is a type of electron gun in which a sharply-pointed Müller-type emitter is held at several kilovolts negative potential relative to a nearby electrode, so that there is sufficient potential gradient at the emitter surface to cause field electron emission...
, a new type of electron source that enabled much higher optical quality than had previously been possible. This gun, combined with inventions in electron lenses and detection, led to the development of the highest resolution microscope at that time. In 1970 his field emission scanning transmission electron microscope succeeded in taking images individual atom (though not the first, this achievement usually being credited to Erwin Muller
Erwin Müller
Erwin Wilhelm Müller was a German physicist who invented the Field Emission Electron Microscope , the Field Ion Microscope , and the Atom-Probe Field Ion Microscope...
). In 1975 he was successful in obtaining the first motion pictures of atoms, providing new insight into atomic interaction and material formation.
There followed, during the 1980s, a series of important refining techniques. In 1980 he invented a method for the correction of spherical aberration in electron optical systems using sextupoles and, in 1996, Crewe invented a new type of focusing lens for low voltage scanning microscopes. He held 19 patents for his inventions, and had more than 275 publications, most of them concerned with electron optics and electron microscopes.
Beginning in the 1970s and continuing to the present day commercial electron microscopes were developed based on Crewe’s innovations. These systems enabled significant advances in the biomedical, pharmaceutical, and semiconductor industries.
Hitachi Corporation produced the first successful commercial version of the field emission scanning electron microscope in 1970. Crewe was a consultant to Hitachi in this effort. Since that time Hitachi has produced over 4000 field emission Scanning Electron Microscope
Scanning electron microscope
A scanning electron microscope is a type of electron microscope that images a sample by scanning it with a high-energy beam of electrons in a raster scan pattern...
s. They are considered the highest resolution instruments available and cost over one million USD each to build. Today there are over 3000 field emission microscopes operational in semiconductor fabrication facilities worldwide, enabling companies like Intel and IBM to produce the latest and fastest microprocessors.
Crewe served as Dean of Physical Sciences at the University of Chicago from 1971-1981. In 1977 was named the William E. Wrather Distinguished Service Professor, and from 2002 he was the Wrather Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus. He continued to explore new methods of obtaining high resolution, and in 2003 developed a low voltage electron microscope using a dipole permanent magnet
Dipole magnet
A dipole magnet, in particle accelerators, is a magnet constructed to create a homogeneous magnetic field over some distance. Particle motion in that field will be circular in a plane perpendicular to the field and collinear to the direction of particle motion and free in the direction orthogonal...
as a lens.
Honors
Crewe’s distinguished scientific career and his contribution to the use of technologies for wider applications have been recognized by numerous awards. The Chicago Citizenship Council nominated him Outstanding New Citizen in 1962, and in the same year he received the Immigrants Service League’s Annual Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Science, and was named Chicago Man of the Year in Science. He won the Man of the Year Award for Industrial Research in 1970 and was awarded the Albert A. Michelson Medal from the Franklin InstituteFranklin Institute
The Franklin Institute is a museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the oldest centers of science education and development in the United States, dating to 1824. The Institute also houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.-History:On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughn Merrick and...
in 1977 and the Distinguished Service Award of the Electron Microscope Society of America
Microscopy Society of America
The Microscopy Society of America was founded in 1942 as The Electron Microscope Society of America and is a non-profit organization that provides microanalytical facilities for studies within the sciences. Currently, there are approximately 3000 members. The society holds an annual meeting, which...
in 1976. He became a member of the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
in 1972. In 1979 he received the Ernst Abbe Award of the New York Microscope society. In the U.K. he received the Duddell Medal
Duddell Medal and Prize
The Duddell Medal and Prize was a prize awarded annually by the Institute of Physics in the memory of William du Bois Duddell, the inventor of the electromagnetic oscillograph. The medal was instituted by the Council of The Physical Society in 1923. Between 1961 and 1973 the prize was awarded in...
of the Institute of Physics
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics is a scientific charity devoted to increasing the practice, understanding and application of physics. It has a worldwide membership of around 40,000....
in 1980 and he held honorary fellowships in America, Great Britain, and China, as well as honorary degrees from several universities in America as well as from the University of Liverpool.