Müller, Erwin Wilhelm

Erwin Wilhelm Müller, (born June 13, 1911, Berlin—died May 17, 1977, Washington, D.C.), German-U.S. physicist who originated field emission microscopy. Besides working on solid surface phenomena and gas discharge, Müller studied field electron and field ion emissions, inventing the field emission microscope (1937) and the field ion microscope (1956) which for the first time made it possible to take pictures of individual atoms.

A research physicist for certain German firms (1935–45), he joined the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry in Göttingen and then the Free University of Berlin. He finally (1951) went to the United States, becoming professor of physics at Pennsylvania State University, where he taught until his retirement in 1976. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1962.