How did Rohrer's experimental approach influence surface science?
My approach was always to get as close as possible to the physical phenomenon itself. Rather than relying solely on complex theory, I preferred to design experiments that would reveal the behavior of surfaces directly. With the STM, we didn't start with a grand theoretical framework dictating what we should find; we simply wanted to 'look' at surfaces. The challenge was building the instrument with sufficient precision and stability to overcome vibrations and thermal drift. This hands-on, problem-solving methodology, focusing on what nature itself would show us, allowed us to push the boundaries of what was experimentally observable and profoundly changed how we study materials at the nanoscale.
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