David J. Smith is a

Regents' Professor Professors in the United States commonly occupy any of several positions of teaching and research within a college or university. In the U.S., the word "professor" informally refers collectively to the academic ranks of assistant professor, asso ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. He is an Australian experimental

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

and his research is focussed on using the

electron microscope An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light photons, electron microscopes have a hi ...

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 is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...

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 Tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) is a magnetoresistive effect that occurs in a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), which is a component consisting of two ferromagnets separated by a thin insulator. If the insulating layer is thin enough (typically a fe ...

, 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

* 2019 Harald Rose Distinguished Lectureship – German Microscopy Society * 2014 Helmholtz International Fellow Award * 2014 Distinguished Physical Scientist Award – Microscopy Society of America * 2013 Elected Fellow – Microscopy Society of America * 2010 Elected Fellow – Materials Research Society * 2003 Highly Cited in Materials Science – ISI Thomson Scientific * 2009 President –

Microscopy Society of America The Microscopy Society of America (MSA) 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 3 ...

* 2002 Elected Fellow –

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

* 2000 Regents' Professorship –

* 1990 Faculty Achievement Award – Burlington Resources Foundation * 1989 Distinguished Teaching Award –

, 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)

Selected publications

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., Scheinfein, M.R., Smith, D.J., Gider, S. and Parkin, S.S., "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).

References

David J. Smith's webpage at ASU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, David J. 21st-century American physicists Living people Arizona State University faculty 1948 births