Dr. Durbin has been selected as a Presidential Young Investigator. He is active in fundamental research on x-ray superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy. In the research program for the National Science Foundation he will pursue studies to include the application of x-ray and electron dynamical diffraction phenomena to the investigation of crystal surfaces. The entire program is based on deriving structural information from the scattered x-ray and electron yields from crystal-wave field excitations, within the context of dynamical diffraction theory. By obtaining an understanding of bare crystal surfaces in vacuum, and then the structures obtained by slowly adding a different atomic species to that surface, the mechanics of epitaxial growth can be derived. This knowledge is essential for fabrication of new materials with properties engineered on an atomic scale.
