Scientist finds deep mystery, beauty in atoms
In 1989, Eigler demonstrated for the first time the ability to build structures at the atomic level. Using a scanning tunneling microscope of his own design, he and his science team spelled out the letters "IBM" with individual xenon atoms. (Photo courtesy of IBM.)
IBM’s Don Eigler told us about the moment he lives for.
We’ve been talking with nanotechnology expert Don Eigler, a fellow at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California.
In 1989, Eigler demonstrated for the first time the ability to build structures at the atomic level. Using a scanning tunneling microscope of his own design, he and his science team spelled out the letters “IBM” with individual xenon atoms.
Eigler describes himself as a “gizmologist,” someone who loves to design and build things. He’s currently working on building computer circuits at the scale of atoms. He spoke to Earth & Sky about how it feels to be a scientist.
Don Eigler: And one of the great moments for any scientist is when you have that moment of insight that takes something that you thought was complex and you suddenly say, “Wait a second, this is just nuts and bolts. I know all about nuts and bolts.” And that’s a very powerful, very exciting moment for any scientist. We live for that.
He also said that he loves asking questions about nature.
Don Eigler: Everywhere you look in the natural world, whether you look at a very grand scale, or a very small scale, you find extraordinary beauty. And the closer you look, the deeper the mystery, the deeper the beauty.
And that’s our show. Thanks today to the National Science Foundation.
Building computer circuits at the atomic scale
Our thanks to:
Donald Eigler
IBM Fellow
IBM Amaden Research Center
San Jose, CA
