It has recently been demonstrated that the surface atomic structure of materials can be imaged by means of Auger electrons. Angular distribution Auger microscopy (ADAM) produces subatomic resolution images of atomic structure by measuring and displaying the complete angular distribution of Auger electrons emitted from atoms near the surface of a solid material or thin film. Auger angular distributions contain the “silhouettes” of surface atoms “backlit” by emission from atoms located deeper in the solid. The locations and shapes of these silhouettes directly reveal the relative positions of atoms near the surface.

Consequently, ADAM is an exciting new technique for characterizing materials surfaces and epitaxially grown surfaces.

Auger electrons have been employed for surface elemental analysis and depth- profiling for many years. The limited escape-depth of Auger electrons makes Auger spectroscopy inherently sensitive to the surface region. Depth profiling of materials, often performed in combination with ion etching, is widely used. ADAM offers the possibility of nondestructively obtaining profiles and structural information concerning buried interfaces and can also yield images of atomic structure.

I am particularly pleased to receive the Von Hippel Award and to do so in the city of Boston. I spent 24 happy years here at the Lincoln Laboratory of MIT, and Prof. Von Hippel was one of those on campus who made a special effort to build a bridge of communication to those of us who were out on Route 128. I would like him to know that his personal encouragement and his welcome to campus life were very much appreciated. During that period, it was Prof. Von Hippel who coined the phrase “molecular engineering” to describe the whole process of materials science. So it is in his honor that I have chosen as the title of my talk, “The Molecular Engineering of Oxides.”

Back in the 1950s, I was part of the group at Lincoln Laboratory that developed the ferrite-core memory for the digital computer. This task involved an identification of the optimum ferrospinel composition and the development of a fabrication and testing process that would give a high yield of cores with acceptable physical properties. Its realization involved, as well, the development of a theoretical underetanding of the factors that determine the shape of a B-H hysteresis loop and of why an exquisite annealing procedure was required to develop controlled chemical inhomogeneities via the dynamic Jahn-Teller effect. This experience made it clear to me that there was an urgent need to build bridges between the engineer and the materials scientist.

The Physical Chemistry Cluster (PCC), located in the Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands is a cooperative entity which directs a wide range of in-depth research. Extensive collaboration within the PCC offers a broad base of expertise to every participant. The PCC is situated in the inspiring environment of the Van't Hoff Laboratory, named for the Dutch chemist who received the first Nobel prize awarded for chemistry in 1901 for his research on valence-directions and stereochemistry of the carbon atom.

The PCC is composed of a number of different bodies, with the Department of Physical Chemistry serving as the pivot point. Figure 1 shows a diagram of the PCC organization which includes the University of Amsterdam (UvA); the foundation, Chemical Research Netherlands (SON); Institute of Mass Spectrometry (IMS); the Interaction of Matter with Photons group (IMF); Faculty of Physics (UvA); Laser Application and Information Center Amsterdam (LAICA); the LAICA Laser Technology Ventures, Ltd.; and the Laser Lease Center.

The Physical Chemistry Cluster finds its roots at the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of the University of Amsterdam. The Laboratory for Physical Chemistry has an academie staff of about 18 members who cooperate with the faculty of physics of the University of Amsterdam. PCC research activities cover a broad field of physical chemistry. Here, researchers study the interaction of matter and photons to obtain information on spectroscopic properties and dynamics of excited states of isolated or clustered molecules in the gas or condensed phase.

Materials Science at Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland, has a distinguished past as well as a promising future. Trinity College published the first book on optics in English by Molyneux (1692). The work of Hamilton, Lloyd, Fitzgerald and others in the 19th century are impressive antecedents for today's research as well, which now enjoys broader horizons and new research opportunities due to major funding by the European Community (EC) and other agencies.

In the Departments of Chemistry and Pure and Applied Physics, internationally recognized research groups are pursuing materials-oriented research in laser physics and nonlinear optics, surfaces and interfaces, magnetic materials, polymers, and theoretical solid-state physics and chemistry.

The current research, described in the following two sections, has for many years resulted from close collaboration in the materials area among researchers in both departments. Common interests have led the departments to establish an honors degree course in the science of materials. The final section discusses the aims of this course.