Peter Duncumb (born 26 January 1931) is a British physicist specialising in

X-ray microscopy An X-ray microscope uses electromagnetic radiation in the soft X-ray band to produce magnified images of objects. Since X-rays penetrate most objects, there is no need to specially prepare them for X-ray microscopy observations. Unlike visible li ...

and

microanalysis Microanalysis is the chemical identification and quantitative analysis of very small amounts of chemical substances (generally less than 10 mg or 1 ml) or very small surfaces of material (generally less than 1 cm2). One of the pioneer ...

. He is best known for his contribution to the development of the first electron microprobe.

Early life and education

Duncumb was educated at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

. He earned his PhD in 1957, under the supervision of Vernon Ellis Cosslett.

Career

Duncumb worked at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

as a research fellow from 1957 until 1959. He carried out key work on the development of the scanning electron probe X-ray microanalyser, now a common tool for surface studies in most materials laboratories. His early work led to the first commercial instrument for imaging the distribution of selected chemical elements on a microscale, providing essential information for

failure analysis Failure analysis is the process of collecting and analyzing data to determine the cause of a failure, often with the goal of determining corrective actions or liability. According to Bloch and Geitner, ”machinery failures reveal a reaction chain o ...

and the development of new materials. After joining the Central Laboratories of Tube Investments in 1959, he built a second instrument, known as EMMA, combining X-ray microanalysis with

transmission electron microscopy Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a microscopy technique in which a beam of electrons is transmitted through a specimen to form an image. The specimen is most often an ultrathin section less than 100 nm thick or a suspension on a g ...

. This made possible a finer analysis of

thin film A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer (monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many ap ...

and particulate samples, and led again to commercial production. Later, he took on broader management responsibilities, retiring in 1987 after 8 years as Laboratory Director. Since 1988, he has been working as a consultant on the interpretation of

X-ray spectra X-ray spectroscopy is a general term for several spectroscopic techniques for characterization of materials by using x-ray radiation. Characteristic X-ray spectroscopy When an electron from the inner shell of an atom is excited by the energy o ...

, and on the use of

phased array In antenna theory, a phased array usually means an electronically scanned array, a computer-controlled array of antennas which creates a beam of radio waves that can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving th ...

s in

ultrasonic testing Ultrasonic testing (UT) is a family of non-destructive testing techniques based on the propagation of ultrasonic waves in the object or material tested. In most common UT applications, very short ultrasonic pulse-waves with center frequencies ...

. He also served as chairman of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

's Paul Instrument Fund. He is an honorary member of both the US and European microbeam analysis societies.

Awards and honours

In 1966, Duncumb won the Charles Vernon Boys Prize (now known as the Moseley Medal) of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...

for "the design and construction of the scanning electron probe system for localized

elemental analysis Elemental analysis is a process where a sample of some material (e.g., soil, waste or drinking water, bodily fluids, minerals, chemical compounds) is analyzed for its elemental and sometimes isotopic composition. Elemental analysis can be qualita ...

". He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1977. One or more of the preceding sentences may incorporate text from the royalsociety.org website where "all text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License." , "Intellectual property rights" In 1996, he received the Henry Clifton Sorby Award of the International Metallographic Society. The Peter Duncumb Award for Excellence in Microanalysis, awarded yearly by the Microanalysis Society since 2007, is named in his honour.

References

External links

Peter Duncumb
Eminent Cavendish Physicists, University of Cambridge {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncumb, Peter 1931 births Living people Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society British physicists