I am very pleased to see that my mentor and long term collaborator Alex Shluger has been awarded the David Tabor medal by the Institute of Physics

“… for the development of new theoretical models of defects at the surfaces and interfaces of insulators and mechanisms of imaging and manipulation of surface atoms and molecules using atomic force microscopy (AFM).

Professor Alexander Shluger has made seminal and wide-ranging contributions to surface and nanoscale physics.

He has developed new theoretical models of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and mechanisms of structural and chemical modification of surfaces and interfaces of insulators by electronic excitation and carrier injection.

As one of his major contributions to surface science, he pioneered using computer modelling to understand mechanisms of high-resolution AFM imaging of insulating surfaces, and developed many of the currently accepted computational methods and theories.

These theories first explained the true meaning of atomic resolution in AFM experiments in air. They have since been particularly influential in demonstrating the mechanisms of atomically resolved imaging of ionic surfaces and defects in vacuum and, recently, in liquids.”

Congratulations Alex. I learnt almost everything I know about science whilst working in your group.