Research-Electron Microscopy

John Venables: Electron Microscopy and Surface Physics

Introduction

As I have written elsewhere [1] and Tony Leggett has highlighted in the following article, Sussex Physics was a wonderful place to get a first "proper job". After a PhD in Cambridge and a 3-year post-doc period in Illinois, it was great to have an exciting new job to return to a beautiful part of the UK. And, although we were passionate about our Science and research in particular, Sussex was a place where many other activities, especially of an interdisciplinary nature were encouraged. But before I get started on all that, I wish to pay tribute to Ken Smith, our foundation Professor of Experimental Physics. It was Ken who appointed me to start at Sussex to start in the Autumn term of 1994. I had known Ken in Cambridge, where I demonstrated (assisted) in his Part II Physics Laboratory as a graduate student. Work on Electron Microscopy was very active in Dr. Peter Hirsch's group [2], and so I was able to get a post-doc position in the USA at a very active University. And when Sussex was founded, I was one of the scientists who was ready at that time: this is an opportunity that comes at most once in a generation, so good futune was on my side.    

I am delighted to be able to contribute a page, or some pages, about the Electron Microscopy and Surface Physics research group at Sussex. As the previous article on Particle-Solid interactions, our work can perfectly well be classified under this heading. The authors (Mike Thompson, Peter Townsend, Derek Palmer and Mike Lucas) have generously included me, John Venables, in their description, and have been able to describe what we did scientifically in certain cases.

But there is space here for elaboration and differentiation, as is required of academics: no-one can be succesful as a clone of anyone else, and that is an amazing privilege of the profession. Sussex literally gave me, and by extension all of us, a chance to do my "own thing", and I feel very grateful to have been able to take that, and build on it in my/our own way. The "our" is important of course, since without collaborators, technical help, students and especially graduate students, one can do very little in experimental physics or any other experimental science. I have been particularly fortunate in all these aspects.

One of the great possibilities offered by this Wiki form of history, is that all of these collaborators can contribute whatever they want or have time for. I am still very much in contact with one of my two first graduate students, George J. Thomas, and the other David J. Ball, can be found via a simple Google searches. Both have had distinguished careers in the US National Laboratory system, and as a Professor of Risk Management respectively.  My long-term technician, Chris Harland, who subequently got a PhD himself, and after spells in Industry, became Reader in Electronics at Sussex. I look forward to possibly remaking contact with several others via this celebration of Sussex@50. If any of you wish to elaborate on my account here, that will be wonderful.  

(to be continued shortly)

References

1. Internationalism in Science. Professorial Lecture, University of Sussex (22nd June 1992) 1-22 (J.A. Venables).

2.