Karl Manne Georg Siegbahn (; 3 December 1886 – 26 September 1978) was a Swedish

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 cau ...

who received the

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

in 1924 "for his discoveries and research in the field of

X-ray spectroscopy X-ray spectroscopy is a general term for several Spectroscopy, spectroscopic techniques for characterization of materials by using x-ray radiation. Characteristic X-ray spectroscopy When an electron from the inner shell of an atom is excited b ...

Biography

Siegbahn was born in

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

, Sweden, the son of Georg Siegbahn and his wife, Emma Zetterberg. He graduated in Stockholm 1906 and began his studies at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

in the same year. During his education he was secretarial assistant to Johannes Rydberg. In 1908 he studied at the University of Göttingen. He obtained his doctorate (PhD) at the Lund University in 1911, his thesis was titled ''Magnetische Feldmessungen'' (magnetic field measurements). He became acting professor for Rydberg when his (Rydberg's) health was failing, and succeeded him as full professor in 1920. However, in 1922 he left Lund for a professorship at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

. In 1937, Siegbahn was appointed Director of the Physics Department of the Nobel Institute of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1988 this was renamed the Manne Siegbahn Institute (MSI). The institute research groups have been reorganized since, but the name lives on in the Manne Siegbahn Laboratory hosted by

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

X-ray spectroscopy

Manne Siegbahn began his studies of X-ray spectroscopy in 1914. Initially he used the same type of

spectrometer A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure Spectrum, spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomeno ...

as Henry Moseley had done for finding the relationship between the

wavelength In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same ''phase (waves ...

of some elements and their place at the periodic system. Shortly thereafter he developed improved experimental apparatus which allowed him to make very accurate measurements of the X-ray wavelengths produced by atoms of different elements. Also, he found that several of the

spectral line A spectral line is a weaker or stronger region in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum. It may result from emission (electromagnetic radiation), emission or absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption of light in a narrow frequency ...

s that Moseley had discovered consisted of more components. By studying these components and improving the spectrometer, Siegbahn got an almost complete understanding of the

electron shell In chemistry and atomic physics, an electron shell may be thought of as an orbit that electrons follow around an atom's nucleus. The closest shell to the nucleus is called the "1 shell" (also called the "K shell"), followed by the "2 shell" (o ...

. He developed a convention for naming the different spectral lines that are characteristic to elements in X-ray spectroscopy, the

Siegbahn notation The Siegbahn notation is used in X-ray spectroscopy to name the spectral lines that are characteristic to elements. It was introduced by Manne Siegbahn. The characteristic lines in X-ray emission spectra correspond to atomic electronic transitio ...

. Siegbahn's precision measurements drove many developments in quantum theory and

atomic physics Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...

. File:Siegbahn-2.jpg, Title page to ''The Spectroscopy of X-Rays'' (1925) File:Siegbahn-7.jpg, Table of contents to ''The Spectroscopy of X-Rays'' (1925) File:Siegbahn-9.jpg, First page of ''The Spectroscopy of X-Rays'' (1925) File:Siegbahn-10.jpg, Figure from ''The Spectroscopy of X-Rays'' (1925)

Awards and honours

Siegbahn was awarded the

in 1924. He won the

Hughes Medal The Hughes Medal is a silver-gilt medal awarded by the Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. T ...

1934 and

Rumford Medal The Rumford Medal is an award bestowed by the Royal Society for "outstanding contributions in the field of physics". The award is named in honour of British scientist Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, who is noted for his works on thermody ...

1940. In 1944, he patented the Siegbahn pump. Siegbahn was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1954. There is a street, Route Siegbahn, named after Siegbahn at

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

, on the Prévessin site in France.

Personal life

Siegbahn married Karin Högbom in 1914. They had two children: Bo Siegbahn (1915–2008), a diplomat and politician, and Kai Siegbahn (1918–2007), a physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1981 for his contribution to the development of

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is a surface-sensitive quantitative spectroscopic technique that measures the very topmost 50-60 atoms, 5-10 nm of any surface. It belongs to the family of photoemission spectroscopies in which electro ...

Awards and decorations

* Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

(6 June 1947) *

(1924) *

(1934) *

(1940)

Works

*
The Spectroscopy of X-Rays
' (1925)

References

External links

* * including the Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1925 ''The X-ray Spectra and the Structure of the Atoms'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Siegbahn, Manne 1886 births 1978 deaths 20th-century Swedish physicists People from Örebro Experimental physicists Lund University alumni Nobel laureates in Physics Swedish Nobel laureates Academic staff of Uppsala University Members of the French Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Royal Society Foreign members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Spectroscopists Amanuenses Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Presidents of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala