Niels de Jonge, INM–Leibniz Institute for New Materials; Frances M. Ross, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center; and Chongmin Wang, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are being honored with the Materials Research Society (MRS) Innovation in Materials Characterization Award “for seminal contributions to the imaging of specimens in liquids using transmission electron microscopy, revolutionizing the direct observation of materials processes, batteries during operation, and biological structures.” They will be presented with the award at the 2016 MRS Spring Meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. The award is endowed by Toh-Ming Lu and Gwo-Ching Wang.
Each recipient has made seminal contributions to the imaging of liquids in the transmission electron microscope (TEM). Together, they have revolutionized experimental techniques for the observation of liquid-based samples and processes for the understanding of material fabrication, electrochemical cell functionality, and biological cells in their native environment.
The work of Ross, Wang, and de Jonge has allowed both open and closed cell liquid microscopy to be realized. Their practical implementations of techniques for imaging liquids in the TEM has created a new area of opportunity for others. The ability to achieve high spatial and temporal resolution when studying processes in liquids has provided unique insight into electrochemical deposition, corrosion, battery operation, and solution-phase particle synthesis, while imaging biological materials in their native environment has provided new information on whole cell structure, viruses, and macromolecular assemblies.
De Jonge is a senior group leader in innovative electron microscopy at the INM–Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Saarbrücken, Germany. He is also Honorary Professor of Experimental Physics at Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany. He received his PhD degree in natural sciences (with a specialization in biophysics) from the Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Germany. He also earned a master’s degree in experimental physics from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His research focuses on the development and application of electron microscopy of specimens in liquid, with an emphasis on biophysics and biomedical sciences. He was awarded the Innovation Award of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2007, and the Esprit de Corps community service category award at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2008. He has published 60 peer-reviewed journal articles, 18 book chapters, and presented 73 invited lectures.
Ross received her BA degree in physics and a PhD degree in materials science from the University of Cambridge, UK. Her postdoc was at AT&T Bell Laboratories, using in situ electron microscopy to study the oxidation of Si and dislocations in SiGe. She later joined IBM, building a program around a TEM equipped with in situ chemical vapor deposition, evaporation, and focused ion-beam capabilities and a UHV mass-filtered FIB/STM system. She has been a visiting scientist at Lund University and an adjunct professor at Arizona State University. She received the UK Institute of Physics Charles Vernon Boys Medal, the MRS Outstanding Young Investigator Award, and the MSA Burton Medal and holds an honorary doctorate from Lund University. She is a Fellow of APS, AAAS, MRS, MSA, and AVS. She is a co-author of more than 130 journal articles and 7 patents, and has given more than 100 invited and plenary conference talks.
Wang is a staff scientist in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He received his BSc and MSc degrees in physics from Lanzhou University in China and his PhD degree in materials science and engineering from the University of Leeds, UK. He was the recipient of the Microscopy Today Innovation Award (2012), the R&D 100 Award (2012), the Rowland Snow Award from The American Ceramic Society (1999), the PNNL Exceptional Contribution Award (2003, 2007), the PNNL Pathway to Excellence Award (2013), and the Outstanding Invention Award from the Japanese Science and Education Committee (2001). His research interests focus on the application of state-of-the-art S/TEM and spectroscopy techniques to materials characterization at high spatial resolution, especially in situ TEM techniques for energy materials. He has published 280 journal articles, authored 7 book chapters, and has given more than 50 invited and plenary conference talks.
