Synchrotron X-rays in the Physics of Nanomaterials
Professor Ian Robinson , UCL Inaugural Lecture
Wednesday, 27 February 2008 at 4pm
Harrie Massey Lecture Theatre,
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Abstract
In this lecture I will say what brought me to UCL: the opportunity to bring the two fields of physics that I helped develop – Surface X-ray Diffraction and Coherent X-ray Diffraction – to bear on relevant applications in nanotechnology. These advances have come hand-in-hand with the development of sources of synchrotron radiation, first Brookhaven, then Argonne and now Diamond. I will demonstrate that centralisation at such facilities speeds up the development of specialised techniques in experimental physics and then passes them on to others efficiently.
Profile
His degrees are from Cambridge (Natural Science, 1976) and Harvard (Biophysics, 1981). He began work at Bell Labs in 1981, where he stayed for 11 years as a distinguished member of technical staff. He then started teaching as Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois (Urbana, USA) in 1992, after which he came to UCL in 2006. He is also a Diamond Fellow at Diamond Light Source, Oxford.
He was awarded several honours including the B. E. Warren Award of the American Crystallographic Association in 2000 and the Ted Maslen Award of the Society of Crystallographers in Australia and New Zealand in 2003.
