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Erwin Wilhelm Müller (orMueller) (June 13, 1911 – May 17, 1977) was a Germanphysicist who invented theField Emission Electron Microscope (FEEM), theField Ion Microscope (FIM), and theAtom-Probe Field Ion Microscope. He and his student, Kanwar Bahadur, were the first people to experimentally observeatoms.[1]
Müller was born inBerlin, where he studied at theTechnische Hochschule in Charlottenburg (nowTechnische Universität Berlin) underGustav Hertz. He received his degree in engineering in 1935 and his doctorate in 1936. Müller worked at theSiemens Research Laboratory, where he invented the field emission microscope in 1936 that allowed resolutions of 2nanometers.
Müller married Klara Thüssing in 1939, and their only daughter Jutta was born in 1940. Due to the circumstances of war, he also worked at theStabilovolt Company.
In 1947, he was appointed to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry (renamed toFritz-Haber-Institut on the occasion of its incorporation into theMax Planck Society in 1953) byIwan N. Stranski. Here he developed the field ion microscope which, due to its resolution of 0.25 nm, was the first instrument used to observe atoms.
In 1950, he took a teaching appointment atTechnische Universität Berlin after finally having completed the requiredPrivatdozent (habilitation). In 1951, he became professor at theFree University Berlin.
Müller joined the faculty atPennsylvania State University in 1952, where he remained until his death in 1977. He co-invented theAtom-Probe Field Ion Microscope at Penn State in 1967. He died inWashington D.C.
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