Corporate Research Fellows (Emeritus)

2003-2015

For fundamental investigations of the structure and dynamics of materials using X-ray diffraction, including pioneering nanosecond resolution X-ray studies and the development of three-dimensional X-ray structural microscopy with submicron resolution.

Ben Larson received a B.A. in physics in 1963 from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota; an M.S. in physics from the University of North Dakota in 1965; and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Missouri in 1970. He held positions of group leader, section head, and distinguished staff scientist in the Condensed Matter Sciences Division at ORNL and is currently a member of the Materials Science and Technology Division. He has earned an international reputation as a leader in the development and application of X-ray diffraction for fundamental investigations of the properties of materials.

In 1985, Larson received the Bertram Warren Diffraction Physics Award for pioneering nanoscale time-resolved X-ray diffraction studies of pulsed-laser melting in semiconductors. He pioneered work in the use of X-ray diffuse scattering for investigating radiation-induced defects in materials and performed forefront research in inelastic X-ray scattering, determining the impact of band structure on the dynamical response of electrons in metals and strongly correlated oxides. Larson also co-developed submicron-resolution three-dimensional X-ray microscopy technology for investigating the microstructure of materials on mesoscopic length scales.

He was named a corporate fellow in 2003.