David J. Smith
Encyclopedia
David J. Smith is a Regents' Professor of physics
at Arizona State University
. He is an Australia
n experimental physicist
and his research is focussed on using the electron microscope
to study the microstructure of different materials. He is a pioneer in high-resolution relectron microscopy technique and is very well known in his field. His interests are focused on thin films, nanostructures, novel materials and magnetism
.
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...
at Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
. He is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n experimental physicist
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 his research is focussed on using the electron microscope
Electron microscope
An electron microscope is a type of microscope that uses a beam of electrons to illuminate the specimen and produce a magnified image. Electron microscopes have a greater resolving power than a light-powered optical microscope, because electrons have wavelengths about 100,000 times shorter than...
to study the microstructure of different materials. He is a pioneer in high-resolution relectron microscopy technique and is very well known in his field. His interests are focused on thin films, nanostructures, novel materials and magnetism
Magnetism
Magnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...
.
Research areas
His basic research centers around the development of quantitative High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy, aided by computer-controlled microscope operation and image simulation, which enables direct determination of atomic structure in defective materials. His research also involves using electron-microscopy-based methods to characterize advanced materials such as semiconductor heterostructures, magnetic thin films and multilayers, and nanostructures. Semiconductor systems of interest include ternary and quaternary Group III nitride alloys for light-emitting diodes and lasers, and II-VI alloys such as mercury-cadmium telluride for detectors of infra-red radiation. Magnetic materials being studied include shape-memory alloys, as well as magnetic tunnel junctions, which are based on ferromagnet-insulator-ferromagnet combinations, that have promising applications for non-volatile, high-storage-density recording media. Off-axis electron holography is a particularly powerful approach since it permits quantitative visualization of nanoscale electric and magnetic fields, and we are using the technique to investigate the magnetization behavior and fringing fields associated with patterned nanostructures.Achievements
- 2009 Elected President - Microscopy Society of AmericaMicroscopy Society of AmericaThe 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...
- 2002 Elected Fellow - American Physical SocietyAmerican Physical SocietyThe American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
- 2000 Regents' Professorship - Arizona State UniversityArizona State UniversityArizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
- 1990 Faculty Achievement Award - Burlington Resources Foundation
- 1989 Distinguished Teaching Award - Arizona State UniversityArizona State UniversityArizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - 1986 Frontiers of Chemistry Lectureship - Case Western Reserve University
- 1985 Charles Vernon Boys Prize - Institute of Physics (UK)
- 1981 Elected Fellow Institute of Physics (UK)
- Listed American Men and Women of Science (Bowker)
Alone
- "The realization of atomic resolution with the electron microscope", Reports Progress Phys. 60, 1513-1580 (1997).
- "Progress and perspectives for atomic-resolution electron microscopy", Ultramicroscopy 108, 159-166 (2008).
- "Development of aberration-corrected electron microscopy", Microsc. Microanal. 14, 2-15 (2008).
- "Ultimate resolution in the electron microscope?", Materials Today 11 (Supp), 30-38 (2008).
Collaborations
- McCartney, M.R., Dunin-Borkowski, R.E.Rafal E. Dunin-BorkowskiProf. Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski is a British experimental physicist. He is currently Director of the Institute for Microstructure Research and the Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons in Forschungszentrum Jülich and Professor of Experimental Physics in RWTH Aachen...
, Scheinfein, M.R., Smith, D.J., Gider, S. and Parkin, S.SStuart ParkinStuart Stephen Papworth Parkin, Ph.D. is an experimental physicist, IBM Fellow and manager of the magnetoelectronics group at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California. He is also a consulting professor in the Department of Applied Physics at Stanford University and director of the...
., "Origin of magnetization decay in spin-independent tunnel junctions", Science 286, 1337-1340 (1999). - Floyd, M., Zhang, Y., Drucker, J., Smith, D.J., Tari, S. and Sivananthan, S. "Evolution of self-assembled Ge/Si (211) islands", Appl. Phys. Lett. 79, 4518-4520 (2001).
- McCartney, M.R. and Smith, D.J., "Electron holography: phase imaging with nanometer resolution", Annu. Rev. Mater. Res. 37, 729-767 (2007).