Erwin Müller
Müller was born on June 13, 1911, and made his first major contribution to optics with the development of the field emission microscope, a device consisting of a sharp needle-like emitter and a fluorescent screen. It emits electrons across a surface, projecting a magnified image of its atomic structure.
Although this achievement marked a significant advancement in microscopy, Müller later surpassed it with his invention of the field ion microscope. This groundbreaking tool offered magnification up to one million times and a resolution of 0.25 nanometers, enabling Müller for the first time in history to clearly observe and capture images of individual atoms.
