Encounters of Prof. emer. Dr. sc.nat. Gernot Güntherodt

My late brother Hans-Joachim Güntherodt (1939 – 2014), Prof.em. of Physics at University of Basel)

I am indebted to my older brother Hans for advicing me to study Physics at ETH Zürich

Our joint highlight publication:

Observation of vacuum tunneling of spin-polarized electrons with the scanning tunneling microscope
R. Wiesendanger, H.-J. Güntherodt, G. Güntherodt, R. J. Gambino, and R. Ruf
Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 247 (1990)
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.65.247

Teachers and Advisors

Prof. Dr. Georg Busch, Laboratory for Solid State Research, ETH Zürich, whoes brilliant lectures aroused my interest in Solid State Physics (cp. „Vorlesungen über Festkörperphysik“, G. Busch und H. Schade, Birkhäuser Verlag Basel, Stuttgart 1973)

The main topic at the time were Magnetic Semiconductors such as the europium chalcogenides EuX (X = O, S, Se, Te).

**Honorary doctorates** of RWTH Aachen University conferred in 1987 to: **Prof. Dr. Georg Busch**, ETH Zürich (right), with whom I did my Diploma and PhD thesis; **Prof. Dr. Ludwig Genzel** (left), formerly at MPI for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, the father of the 2020 Nobel Laureate in Physics, Reinhard Genzel.

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Stephan von Molnár, PhD, Florida State University, Tallahassee (1994 – 2020); formerly at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY (1965 – 1993)

My manager (on Sabbatical) at IBM Research Yorktown Heights during my IBM World Trade Postdoctoral Fellowship (1974 – 1975)

His expertise comprised magneto-transport properties of magnetic and diluted magnetic semiconductors, magnetic polarons, magnetically driven insulator-metal transition, thermal properties of amorphous/crystalline solids, and magnetic nanoparticles.

My research topic at that time was besides magnetic semiconductors the insuator – metal transition in SmS and valence fluctuations in rare earth compounds.

The „IBM gang“ (San Francisco pier)

Stephan von Molnár (3rd from right), Jerry B. Torrance (4th f. right), Fred Holtzberg (3rd f. left, foregrd.) and Tom Penney (back on top right); George Sawatzky (back on top left).

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Prof. Manuel Cardona, PhD, Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart, who introduced me to the light scattering in solids (1975 – 1980)

Manuel had a worlwide outstanding expertise in semiconductor physics and in light scattering.

Colleagues & Partners

Professorships (C3) at Physics Institute IIA (1990 – 2006); (the so-called „flow-type heater“)

• Danilo Pescia, 1990-92 (from FZ Jülich / to ETH Zürich); Magnetism in 2 Dimensions

• Richard Berndt 1996-99 (from EPFL Lausanne & IBM Zürich / to CA-University of Kiel); Scanning tunneling microscopy of surface states and molecular clusters

• Laurens Molenkamp 1994-99 (from Philips Research Lab Eindhoven / to Univ. of Würzburg); Semiconductor spintronics, quantum transport and magnetooptics in 2DEGs, thermoelectrics in quantum dots. In 2007 discovery of the „Quantum Spin Hall Insulator State in HgTe Quantum Wells“.

• Bernd Büchner 2000-03 (from Univ. of Cologne / to IFW Leibniz Institute Dresden); High temperature superconductivity, Quantum spin systems

• Markus Grüninger 2004-06 (from Univ. of Cologne / to Univ. of Cologne); Collective orbital excitations in Mott-Hubbard Insulators

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Prof. J.A.C. Bland (1958 – 2007), PhD, Cavendish Laboratory and Selwyn College, Cambridge, UK

With Tony Bland we exchanged many students to carry out their Diploma/Masters thesis work in Thin Film Magnetism.

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Ivan K. Schuller (UC San Diego) and Charles M. Falco (U. Arizona): Pioneers of Metallic Superlattices research

**I.K. Schuller (left)** and **C.M. Falco (right)**

Structure and physical properties of sputtered metallic superlattices, Ivan K.Schuller and Charles M.Falco
Surface Science 113, 443 (1982)

1994 A. von Humboldt Research Award at RWTH Aachen for C.M. Falco

2002 A. von Humboldt Research Award at RWTH Aachen for I.K. Schuller

Global explanation of the Exchange Bias phenomenon
or the E(B)lephant

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Prof. Yvan Bruynseraede, Head of the Laboratory of Solid-State Physics and Magnetism (1971 – 2003), K.U. Leuven, Belgium

A fine friend for „Cross-border collaborations“ in physical properties of mesoscopic and nanoscopic systems as well as vortex structures in high temperature superconductors. 1999 – 2006 „Quantum Size Effects in Nanostructured Materials“ (Interuniversity Attraction Poles)

Conference of the European Physical Society, Condensed Matter Division, Leuven 1997

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Kyoto 2002

Peter Grünberg (RC Juelich), Albert Fert (Unité Mixte Thales, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay), Teruya Shinjo (Kyoto University), Gernot Güntherodt (RWTH Aachen) and Hartmut Zabel (Ruhr-University, Bochum).

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Stuart S. P. Parkin (MPI of Microstructure Physics, Halle (Saale); formerly at IBM Almaden Research Centre, San Jose, CA)

The somewhat other IBM Fellow! 2004 A. von Humboldt Research Award at RWTH Aachen

I happened to spend a Sabbatical at IBM Almaden Research, San Jose, CA in 2005 and later on pointed out to Stuart the talents of Claudia.

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The Honorary Doctorate was conferred to Albert Fert, Peter Grünberg and Stuart Parkin by the Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science and Natural Sciences of RWTH Aachen University on November 23, 2007.