David Adler (April 13, 1935 – March 31, 1987) was an American physicist and
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
professor. In
condensed matter physics, Adler made significant contributions to the understanding of transition-metal oxides, the electronic properties of low-mobility materials, transport phenomena in
amorphous materials, metal-insulator transitions, and electronic defects in
amorphous semiconductors
Amorphous silicon (a-Si) is the non-crystalline form of silicon used for solar cells and thin-film transistors in LCDs.
Used as semiconductor material for a-Si solar cells, or thin-film silicon solar cells, it is deposited in thin films onto ...
.
Life and work
In particular, Adler was an expert on
amorphous semiconductors
Amorphous silicon (a-Si) is the non-crystalline form of silicon used for solar cells and thin-film transistors in LCDs.
Used as semiconductor material for a-Si solar cells, or thin-film silicon solar cells, it is deposited in thin films onto ...
, glassy substances that lack the precise atomic structure of semiconductor crystals. As a collaborator with
Stanford Ovshinsky and other physicists at
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., where Adler consulted, he published extensively on
solar photovoltaic
A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and c ...
energy conversion, and threshold switching and memory devices. He was also renowned for the “originality and clarity” of his review articles, which have been described as “among the clearest and best written in any field of science and technology.”
Adler was born in the Bronx to Russian immigrant parents and attended the
Bronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Sp ...
. He then received his B.S. from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1956 and his doctorate in physics from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
in 1964. At Harvard, Adler started a dissertation on
quantum field theory advised by
Julian Schwinger
Julian Seymour Schwinger (; February 12, 1918 – July 16, 1994) was a Nobel Prize winning American theoretical physicist. He is best known for his work on quantum electrodynamics (QED), in particular for developing a relativistically invariant ...
at a time when Prof. Schwinger was revolutionizing theoretical physics. But Schwinger, who has been criticized for ignoring his graduate students, lost Adler’s thesis draft, and Adler changed his research direction, completing his Ph.D. on the theory of semiconductor-to-metal transitions with
Harvey Brooks.
Next, Adler worked for a year as a research associate at the
Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) in Harwell, United Kingdom. He then became a research associate at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
(MIT) in 1965, advancing to full professor in the department of electrical engineering and computer science in 1975. During his relatively short career, Adler published almost 300 papers in technical journals and presented over 80 invited papers at scientific meetings throughout the world.
Adler played a key role in the development and operation of MIT’s
Concourse
A concourse is a place where pathways or roads meet, such as in a hotel, a convention center, a railway station, an airport terminal, a hall, or other space.
The term is not limited to places where there are literally pathways or roadways or tr ...
, a small, interdisciplinary program of studies for undergraduates. Since Adler was “regarded as one of his department’s most outstanding teachers of undergraduates” and headed up its undergraduate thesis program, MIT established in his honor the yearly David Adler Memorial Thesis Prize for Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis. This honor has since been reconfigured as the David Adler Memorial Thesis Prize for Outstanding Master's of Engineering in Electrical Engineering Thesis.
Adler was a Fellow of the
American Physical Society, which also created an annual award in his honor, the
. He served as a regional editor of the ''Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids'', an associate editor of ''Materials Research Bulletin'', and an editorial board member of the publication ''Semiconductors & Insulators''.
Adler was also well known in the physics community for his love and knowledge of fine food and world travel.
[See, e.g., Hoddeson & Garrett, pp. 156, 327 n.22.] Adler was married to biochemist Alice J. Adler for 29 years, until his death.
References
Obituary, ''N.Y. Times'', Apr. 3, 1987, p. B5
*
ttp://tech.mit.edu/V107/PDF/V107-N15.pdf Obituary, ''Tech Talk'' (MIT), Apr.3, 1987, p. 1
* Nevill Mott ''et al.'', “Obituaries: David Adler,” ''Physics Today'' (Feb. 1988), p. 106.
Marvin Silver, “David Adler (1935-1987),” ''Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids'', Vols. 97-98, Part 1 (Dec. 1987), p. ix
Selected publications
* Baryam Y., Adler D., &
Joannopoulos J., “Structure and Electronic States in Disordered Systems,” PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, Vol. 57, No. 4 (1986), pp. 467–70.
* U.S. Patent No. 4,379,943 (Apr. 12, 1983).
* Adler D., Shur M., Silver M., ''et al.'', “Threshold Switching in Chalcogenide-Glass Thin Films,” JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 51, No. 6 (1980), pp. 3289–309.
* Adler D., Henisch H., &
Mott N., “Mechanism of Threshold Switching in Amorphous Alloys,” REVIEWS OF MODERN PHYSICS, Vol. 50, No. 2 (1978), pp. 209–20.
*
Ovshinsky S. & Adler D., “Local Structure, Bonding, and Electronic Properties of Covalent Amorphous Semiconductors,” CONTEMPORARY PHYSICS, Vol. 19, No. 2 (1978), pp. 109–26.
* Adler D. &
Yoffa E., “Electronic Structure of Amorphous Semiconductors,” PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, Vol. 36, No. 20 (1976), pp. 1197–1200.
*
Kastner M., Adler D., &
Fritzsche H., “Valence-Alternation Model for Localized Gap States in Lone-Pair Semiconductors,” PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, Vol. 37, No. 22 (1976), pp. 1504–7.
* Adler D., “Mechanisms for Metal-Nonmetal Transitions in Transition Metal Oxides and Sulfides,” REVIEWS OF MODERN PHYSICS, Vol. 40, No. 4 (1968), p. 714 ff.
* Adler D. &
Brooks, H., “Theory of Semiconductor-To-Metal Transitions,” PHYSICAL REVIEW, Vol. 155, No. 3 (1967), p. 826 ff.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, David
20th-century American physicists
Theoretical physicists
1935 births
1987 deaths
Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
The Bronx High School of Science alumni
Scientists from the Bronx
Fellows of the American Physical Society