From brain and semiconductor structures

Dr. Anna Lena Eberle is a science-fiction fan as well as holding a doctorate in biology – and is now involved with brain and semiconductor structures. In this article, she tells us why she and her CV are a perfect match for ZEISS SMT.

This quest is what really motivates scientists – not just at ZEISS but everywhere in the world. It would also be a good title for my autobiography, if I ever get round to writing it. In any event, my CV is far from typical. In my research project at the Max Planck Institute, I worked on the brain, but now I'm part of a team using high-performance microscopes to work on global semiconductor manufacture.

Star Trek, Star Wars or the novels of William Gibson and Philip K. Dick: science-fiction dealing with the interplay of dystopia and utopia has always fascinated me, and particularly at the interface where humans and technology meet and coalesce. This is why I studied biology in Tübingen where I received a doctorate for my work on the supply of blood vessels in the brain, inspired by the question "How do we actually think?". Working with microscopes at the university was a real pleasure. Why? Because a microscope opens up new insights on the world. Whether I'm looking at a drop of water, a nerve cell or a microchip triggers an aesthetic "wow effect" for me and never fails to conjure up a smile on my face. My room at the university was therefore always decorated with pages taken from a certain microscope manufacturer's calendar. Adding dyes, getting the illumination right or 3D X-rays; different methods reveal different things and an image of reality is brought closer with every step. This – and at the risk of being thought perhaps "nerdy" – a love of technology and fascination with the aesthetics of the "ultra-small" brought me initially to neuroanatomy and the nuclear spin laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. But the erratic employment relationships in academia made me look for alternatives. And so, in my search for a suitable employer where I could pursue my passion, applying to ZEISS as a microscope manufacturer was an obvious choice.

Analogies and comparisons between microchip structures and the human brain abound. That these analogies and comparisons are by no means absurd is evident from the fact that we can investigate both prepared brain samples and microchips with our MultiSEM – both of which are, in fact, happening. The result is that I, as a biologist and neuroscientist, now feel at home working with semiconductors. From living tissue to artificially manufactured chip structures measured in nanometers. I never cease to be amazed at the many similarities, but also the differences. For example, even in comparison with the latest high-powered processors, the brain is still many orders of magnitude more efficient in terms of energy requirement, not to mention its superior capability and adaptability. It is no coincidence that a significant part of relevant research funding is aimed at understanding the structure of neural networks so that nature's template can be used to design processors.

From academia to the semiconductor industry. From brain structures to semiconductor structures. From biologist to product manager. What really binds the world together? We get a tiny bit closer to the answer to this question every day – and I'm one of the people working on it. It’s just brilliant. But we're also confronted with new questions every day. It's clearly too soon for me to write my autobiography. However, what I will certainly include in my biography is "Remaining curious, being courageous and abandoning supposedly predetermined (career) paths from time to time is well worth the effort, true to the Star Trek motto "to boldly go where no one has gone before". And I'm quite sure that I share this experience with many of my colleagues at ZEISS SMT.