Laureates of the Japan Prize
The 1992 (8th) Japan Prize
Science and Technology of Material Interfaces
Contributions to the new development of the chemistry and physics of solid surfaces
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Ertl (Germany)
| Director of Fritz-Haber Institute of Max Planck Society, Honorary Professor at the Free University Berlin and at the Technical University Berlin Born in 1936 |
| Award Citation |
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Since the 1960s, Professor Ertl has developed extensive studies on the chemisorption phenomena of atoms or molecules of representative chemicals on metal surfaces, and has explained a number of important phenomena such as phase transitions in chemisorbed layers and the surface reconstruction induced by adsorption. He has also pioneered and developed the study of the dynamical aspects of chemical processes on metal surfaces in atomic and molecular level. By a series of outstanding scientific achievements in this area, he has opened up a new area of surface science, and made invaluable contributions to the development of this important and new research area in science and technology of material interfaces. |