Rate My Professor David Aspnes

David Aspnes is a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Physics at North Carolina State University, where he joined the Department of Physics in 1992 as a Professor of Physics and was named Distinguished University Professor in 1999. He has also served as Director of Graduate Programs and Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor. Prior to his appointment at NC State, Aspnes was Head of the Interface Physics Department at Bellcore beginning in 1984 and a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill. He earned his PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1965, followed by one year of postdoctoral research at UIUC and another year at Brown University.

Aspnes is recognized for his pioneering experimental and theoretical work on optical techniques for the analysis of materials, thin films, interfaces, and structures. His contributions include the theory and practice of spectroscopic ellipsometry, a key metrology in integrated-circuit manufacturing; modulation spectroscopy; reflectance-difference spectroscopy; and applications of linear and nonlinear optics to materials and interface analysis. He established the theoretical foundation for electroreflectance, developed virtual-interface theory to determine material properties during deposition, and created the anisotropic bond model for nonlinear optics, offering insights at the atomic level. These advancements have significantly impacted semiconductor technology, epitaxial growth control, and the interpretation of optical data. Aspnes was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1998, received the Frank Isakson Prize of the American Physical Society in 1996, the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Prize for International Cooperation in 1997, the Medard W. Welch Award of the American Vacuum Society in 1998, the R. W. Wood Prize of the Optical Society of America in 1987, the 2005 Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor Award and 1996 Alumni Outstanding Research Award from NC State, the 2011 Mentor Award of the Society of Vacuum Coaters, and fellowships from the American Physical Society, Optical Society, American Vacuum Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.