| Citation | Bowen is distinguished for his contributions in applied physics and instrumentation to nanoscience and metrology. He was the first to build a portable X-ray interferometer for calibration and characterisation of measuring devices with nano/picometre precision. Subsequently he extended the principle for measuring displacements in two-dimensions, demonstrating an accuracy of better than 20 picometres.
His great forte has been in instrumenting precision tehniques for general use, particularly in the fields of surface metrology and characterisation. He was the prime mover in setting up the X-ray topography line in Daresbury, which has been operating for over a decade. He has also successfully originated the commercial production of several new types of instrument, using conventional X-ray sources, for probing surface structures to a depth of a few nanometres.
He is Director of the Centre of Nanotechnology and Microengineering at Warwick University and Engineering Director of Bede Scientific Instruments, which received a double Queen's Award in 1991 for some of the instruments for which he was responsible. |