Laureates of the Japan Prize

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Dr. Leo Esaki

1998 (14th) Japan Prize Laureate

Field
Generation and Design of New Materials Creating Novel Functions
Achievement
For the creation and realization of the concept of man-made superlattice crystals which lead to generation of new materials with useful applications
Commemorative Lecture
The Evolution of Semiconductor Superlattices
Nationality: Japan
Date of Birth: March 12 1925
Academic Degrees:
1947 B.S. in Physics, The University of Tokyo
1959 Ph.D., The University of Tokyo
Professional Career:
1947 Kobe Kogyo Corporation
1956 Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (now Sony Corporation)
1960 IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, USA
1992-Present

President, University of Tsukuba
Title: Former President, University of Tsukuba
Major Publications and Scientific Papers:
  1. L. Esaki and R.Tsu, "Superlattice and negative differential conductivity in semiconductors," IBM J.Res. Development, pp.61-65, Jan. 1970.
  2. L. Esaki, L.L. Chang, W.E. Howard and V.L. Rideout, "Transport properties of a GaAs- GaAlAs superlattice," Proc. Int. Conf. Phys. Semicond., pp.431-435, Warsaw, 1972.
  3. R. Tsu and L. Esaki, "Tunneling in a finite superlattice," Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol.22, No.11, pp.562-564, June 1973.
  4. L.L. Chang, L. Esaki and R. Tsu, "Resonant tunneling in semiconductor double barriers," Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol.24, pp.593-595, 1974.
  5. L. Esaki and L.L. Chang, "New transport phenomenon in a semiconductor superlattice," Phys. Rev. Lett., Vol.33, pp.495-498, 1974.
Major Awards:
  • Nishina Memorial Award (1959)
  • Asahi Press Award Toyo Rayon Foundation Award (1960)
  • Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Prize from IRE Stuart Ballantine Medal from the Franklin Institute (1961)
  • Japan Academy Award (1965)
  • Nobel Prize in Physics (1973)
  • Order of Culture from the Japanese Government (1974)
  • American Physical Society International Prize for New Materials (1985)
  • IEEE Medal of Honor (1991)
Membership in Academic Institutions and Societies:
  • American Physical Society
  • Physical Society of Japan
  • Member, Japan Academy (1975)
  • Foreign Associate, National Academy of Sciences, USA (1976)
  • Foreign Associate , National Academy of Engineering, USA (1977)
  • Member, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (1989)
  • Member, American Philosophical Society (1991)
  • Foreign Member, Russian Academy of Sciences (1994)
  • Honorary Foreign Member, Korean Academy of Science and Technology (1995)
  • Member, Italian National Academy of Science (1996)

( At the time of receipt of the Prize )

More about the Laureates

30 Years of Japan Prize

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