smith returned to the department of materials where he worked as a postdoctoral research fellow with sir peter hirsch to establish a research group for metallurgical field ion microscopy. he led the oxford research group where cerezo, smith, and godfrey developed novel atom probe techniques for the direct observation of solid materials in three dimensions on the atomic scale. together with oxford colleagues, he founded a spin-out company, oxford nanoscience ltd., which is part of cameca instruments inc., manufacturer of equipment for nanotechnology research.