PUBLIC LECTURE

101 Things to do with an energetic electron

2.30 pm, Tuesday 4 September 2012
Ian Wark Lecture Theatre, CSIRO Materials Science & Engineering, Bayview Avenue Entrance, Clayton, Vic

Professor Joanne Etheridge
Director, Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy
Professor, Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University

Joanne Etheridge obtained a B.Sc (Hons) degree in theoretical physics at the University of Melbourne and a PhD in applied physics at RMIT University under the supervision of Professor A.F. Moodie FAA. She then held appointments at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy and Newnham College, initially as a postdoctoral research fellow, then as the Rosalind Franklin Research Fellow, before being awarded a University Research Fellowship by the Royal Society. She returned to Melbourne to join Monash University where she established the Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy and became its founding director. Her research interests include the development of mathematical descriptions of electron scattering in solids and the application of these to develop methods for determining the atomic structure and defect structure of materials. She also applies electron microscopy to the study of perovskite structures, nanomaterials and related functional materials.

Australian Academy of Science 2012 Lloyd Rees lecture
The Lloyd Rees series of lectures by distinguished researchers in chemical physics recognises the contributions of the late Dr A L G Rees FAA to science, industry and education.

101 Things to do with an energetic electron

Amongst his many achievements as the Chief of the CSIRO Division of Chemical Physics, Lloyd Rees established within his Division a pioneering research programme in the emerging field of electron diffraction and microscopy, coupling the development of electron scattering theory to the development of instrumentation to solve problems of scientific and industrial importance. The research achievements of that time, more than a half century ago, still have great impact today.

Since that time, there have been revolutionary advances in electron-optical instrumentation, now providing us with the ability to generate and manipulate highly stable, phase coherent electron beams that can be brought to a focal point much smaller than an atom. This is enabling the exploration of fundamental phenomena in quantum physics, electron-optics and electron-atom interactions. Furthermore, it is being applied to probe the atomic and electronic structure of matter with unprecedented spatial and energy resolution, enabling electron scattering experiments to be performed from a few atoms ‘hand-picked’ from within a specimen. These new capabilities are finding particular application in the determination of the local structure and bonding of so-called ‘nanostructured materials’, whose macroscopic properties can depend on a small number of atoms located in critical positions, such as within a quantum well, at an atomic interface or within a nanoparticle core. This talk will give an overview of these developments and their applications, including examples from the ultrahigh resolution electron microscopy and diffraction capability at Monash University.