1998 M. T. Thomas Award
Sieger Recognized for Outstanding Postdoctoral Achievement
Dr. Matthew Sieger
Dr. Matthew T. Sieger has been selected as the 1998 recipient of the M. T. Thomas Award for Outstanding Postdoctoral Achievement.
Dr. Sieger was selected for his outstanding contributions to the understanding of water ice under radiation bombardment, and for theoretical and experimental investigations of electron diffraction in stimulated surface chemistry. The interaction of radiation with water ice is of fundamental importance to astrophysics, atmospheric science, and radiation biology, and is of practical concern in the storage of radioactive wastes. Dr. Sieger's laboratory measurements of low-energy electron bombardment of ice have led to an atomic-scale mechanism for oxygen formation in irradiated ice [Nature 394, 554 (1998)]. The quantitative model of oxygen formation made possible by his work helps astrophysicists understand the origin of molecular oxygen on icy outer solar system bodies, most notably the Jovian moons Ganymede and Europa, which have been observed to have thin oxygen atmospheres.
Dr. Sieger's most recent work has demonstrated the existence of quantum-mechanical interference of the incident beam in electron-stimulated desorption. He and EMSL theorist Greg Schenter have developed a multiple-scattering theory of incident beam diffraction at surfaces, and predicted a measurable impact on stimulated desorption rates. Recent experiments (Sieger, Schenter, and Orlando, Phys. Rev. Lett., submitted October 1998) have confirmed the existence of this novel effect, in agreement with theory. Measurements of diffraction in stimulated desorption have broad implications for the understanding of energetic processes in surface chemistry.
Dr. Sieger obtained a B.S. from the University of Missouri at Rolla in 1990, and M.S. (1991) and Ph.D. (1995) degrees in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He joined the EMSL Chemical Structure and Dynamics program in February 1996 as a postdoctoral fellow, working with Dr. Thomas M. Orlando, and he became a member of the EMSL staff as an associate scientist in Dr. Orlando's laboratory in September 1998.
The award will be given at a ceremony in the EMSL Auditorium at 3:30pm on February 18, 1999. Dr. Sieger will give a presentation on his research at that time. A reception will be held following the seminar.
