xx Acknowledgements
knowledge in this field, but do not find their work cited. The omissions do not reflect
on the quality of their work, but are a simple consequence of the page limitations
of this book.
The final sections of this book were written during the Winter and Spring months
of 2001/2002, while I was on a sabbatical stay at the University of Antwerp (EMAT
laboratory). I would like to express my gratitude to Jef Van Landuyt, Gustaaf
Van Tendeloo, Dirk Van Dyck, and Dominique Schrijvers for their hospitality and
friendship. It was nice to return to the place where I started my undergraduate studies
in physics in 1979, and to collaborate with my former teachers. I particularly enjoyed
the help of and working with Severin Amelinckx, Ann De Belder, Andr´e De Munck,
Jan Eysermans, Philippe Geuens, Els Jordaens, Jan Neethling, Pavel Potapov, Ludo
Rossou, Freddy Schallenberg, Gertie Stoffelen, and Roger Van Ginderen.
I would like to acknowledge the Research Council of the University of Antwerp,
the National Science Foundation (NSF), and Carnegie Mellon University for pro-
viding me with financial support during the writing of this book.
I would also like to thank several of my colleagues, currently or formerly at
CMU, for their support during the many years it has taken me to complete the text:
Greg Rohrer, Tresa Pollock, David Laughlin, and Alan Cramb. In particular, I would
like to thank Tom Nuhfer, for his continuous support as supervisor of the electron
optics facility at CMU. His knowledge of the practical and technological aspects of
electron microscopy has had a tremendous influence on my understanding of the
field and, therefore, on the contents of this book. Thanks also to Cathy Rohrer, for
pointing out style and grammatical errors.
I would like to thank my editors at CUP, Tim Fishlock and Simon Capelin, for
their patience. This book has taken me longer to complete than I had originally
anticipated, and there was no pressure at all to hurry up and finish it off.
As any junior faculty member in the U.S. will know, it is not easy to combine a
family life with a demanding job as a tenure track professor at a research school,
and write a textbook during whatever spare time is left over at the end of the day.
I would like to thank my wife, Marie, for her patience and understanding during
several years of evening and weekend work; without her support I could not have
been successful in my academic career.
Last but not least, I dedicate this book to my two young children, who were
born after I started writing: Pieter, now five, and Erika, two. It has been a joy to
watch their insatiable appetite for learning new things. It is my sincere hope that
the reader of this book will experience a similar eagerness and enthusiasm to learn
about transmission electron microscopy.
Antwerpen, Belgium M.D.G.
May 27th, 2002