Reona Esaki (江崎 玲於奈 ''Esaki Reona'', born March 12, 1925), also known as Leo Esaki, is a Japanese physicist who shared the
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
in 1973 with
Ivar Giaever
Ivar Giaever ( no, Giæver, ; born April 5, 1929) is a Norwegian-American engineer and physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973 with Leo Esaki and Brian Josephson "for their discoveries regarding tunnelling phenomena in solids". G ...
and
Brian David Josephson
Brian David Josephson (born 4 January 1940) is a Welsh theoretical physicist and professor emeritus of physics at the University of Cambridge. Best known for his pioneering work on superconductivity and quantum tunnelling, he was awarded the Nob ...
for his work in
electron tunneling in semiconductor materials which finally led to his invention of the
Esaki diode, which exploited that phenomenon. This research was done when he was with Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (now known as
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
). He has also contributed in being a pioneer of the semiconductor
superlattice
A superlattice is a periodic structure of layers of two (or more) materials. Typically, the thickness of one layer is several nanometers. It can also refer to a lower-dimensional structure such as an array of quantum dots or quantum wells.
Disc ...
s.
Early life and education
Esaki was born in Takaida-mura, Nakakawachi-gun,
Osaka Prefecture (now part of
Higashiōsaka City) and grew up in
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...
, near by
Kyoto Imperial University
, mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture
, established =
, type = Public (National)
, endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 billion USD)
, faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff)
, administrative_staff = 3,978 (Total Staff)
, students = ...
and
Doshisha University
, mottoeng = Truth shall make you free
, tagline =
, established = Founded 1875,Chartered 1920
, vision =
, type = Private
, affiliation =
, calendar =
, endowment = €1 ...
. He first had contact with
American culture
The culture of the United States of America is primarily of Western, and European origin, yet its influences includes the cultures of Asian American, African American, Latin American, and Native American peoples and their cultures. The U ...
in . After graduating from the Third Higher School, he studied
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
at
Tokyo Imperial University
, abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
, where he had attended
Hideki Yukawa
was a Japanese theoretical physicist and the first Japanese Nobel laureate for his prediction of the pi meson, or pion.
Biography
He was born as Hideki Ogawa in Tokyo and grew up in Kyoto with two older brothers, two older sisters, and two yo ...
's course in
nuclear theory in October 1944. Also, he lived through the
Bombing of Tokyo
The was a series of firebombing air raids by the United States Army Air Force during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. Operation Meetinghouse, which was conducted on the night of 9–10 March 1945, is the single most destructive bombin ...
while he was at college.
[江崎玲於奈『限界への挑戦―私の履歴書』(日本経済新聞出版社)2007年]
Esaki received his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in 1947 and 1959, respectively, from the
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project b ...
(UTokyo).
Career
Esaki diode
From 1947 to 1960, Esaki joined Kawanishi Corporation (now
Denso Ten) and Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (now
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
). Meanwhile, American physicists
John Bardeen,
Walter Brattain
Walter Houser Brattain (; February 10, 1902 – October 13, 1987) was an American physicist at Bell Labs who, along with fellow scientists John Bardeen and William Shockley, invented the point-contact transistor in December 1947. They shared the ...
, and
William Shockley
William Bradford Shockley Jr. (February 13, 1910 – August 12, 1989) was an American physicist and inventor. He was the manager of a research group at Bell Labs that included John Bardeen and Walter Brattain. The three scientists were jointl ...
invented the
transistor
upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink).
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch ...
, which encouraged Esaki to change fields from
vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied.
The type known as ...
to heavily-doped
germanium and
silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ta ...
research in Sony. One year later, he recognized that when the PN junction width of germanium is thinned, the current-voltage characteristic is dominated by the influence of the tunnel effect and, as a result, he discovered that as the voltage is increased, the current decreases inversely, indicating negative resistance. This discovery was the first demonstration of solid tunneling effects in physics, and it was the birth of new electronic devices in electronics called
Esaki diode (or tunnel diode). He received a doctorate degree from UTokyo due to this breakthrough invention in 1959.
In 1973, Esaki was awarded the
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
for research conducted around 1958 regarding electron tunneling in solids. He became the first
Nobel laureate to receive the prize from the hands of the King
Carl XVI Gustaf.
Semiconductor superlattice
Esaki moved to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in 1960 and joined the
IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, where he became an
IBM Fellow
An IBM Fellow is an appointed position at IBM made by IBM's CEO. Typically only four to nine (eleven in 2014) IBM Fellows are appointed each year, in May or June. Fellow is the highest honor a scientist, engineer, or programmer at IBM can achiev ...
in 1967. He predicted that semiconductor
superlattices will be formed to induce a differential negative-resistance effect via an artificially one-dimensional periodic structural changes in semiconductor crystals. His unique "molecular beam epitaxy" thin-film crystal growth method can be regulated quite precisely in ultrahigh vacuum. His first paper on the semiconductor superlattice was published in 1970. A 1987 comment by Esaki regarding the original paper notes:
"The original version of the paper was rejected for publication by '' Physical Review'' on the referee's unimaginative assertion that it was 'too speculative' and involved 'no new physics.' However, this proposal was quickly accepted by the Army Research Office..."
In 1972, Esaki realized his concept of superlattices in III-V group semiconductors, later the concept influenced many fields like metals, and magnetic materials. He was awarded the
IEEE Medal of Honor "for contributions to and leadership in tunneling, semiconductor superlattices, and quantum wells" in 1991 and the
Japan Prize "for the creation and realization of the concept of man-made superlattice crystals which lead to generation of new materials with useful applications" in 1998.
Esaki's “five don’ts” rules
In 1994
Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings
The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings are annual scientific conferences held in Lindau, Bavaria, Germany, since 1951. Their aim is to bring together Nobel laureates and young scientists to foster scientific exchange between different generations, ...
, Esaki suggests a list of “five don’ts” which anyone in realizing his creative potential should follow. Two months later, the chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physics
Carl Nordling incorporated the rules in his own speech.
#Don't allow yourself to be trapped by your past experiences.
#Don't allow yourself to become overly attached to any one authority in your field – the great professor, perhaps.
#Don't hold on to what you don't need.
#Don't avoid confrontation.
#Don't forget your spirit of childhood curiosity.
Later years
In 1977, Esaki was elected as a member into the
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
for contributions to the engineering of semiconductor devices.
Esaki moved back to
Japan in 1992. Subsequently, he served as president of the
University of Tsukuba[ and Shibaura Institute of Technology. Since 2006 he is the president of Yokohama College of Pharmacy. Esaki is also the recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence, the ]Order of Culture
The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipient ...
(1974) and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (1998).
In recognition of three Nobel laureates' contributions, the bronze statues of Shin'ichirō Tomonaga
, usually cited as Sin-Itiro Tomonaga in English, was a Japanese physicist, influential in the development of quantum electrodynamics, work for which he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 along with Richard Feynman and Julian ...
, Leo Esaki, and Makoto Kobayashi were set up in the Central Park of Azuma 2 in Tsukuba City in 2015.
After the death of Yoichiro Nambu
was a Japanese-American physicist and professor at the University of Chicago. Known for his contributions to the field of theoretical physics, he was awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008 for the discovery in 1960 of the mechanism ...
in 2015, Esaki is the eldest Japanese Nobel laureate.
His daughter, Ana Esaki, is married to Craig S. Smith, former Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
bureau chief of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' and China bureau chief of ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''.
Recognition
Awards and honors
*1959 – Nishina Memorial Prize
The is the oldest and most prestigious physics award in Japan.
Information
Since 1955, the Nishina Memorial Prize has been awarded annually by the Nishina Memorial Foundation. The Foundation was established to commemorate Yoshio Nishina, who w ...
*1960 – Asahi Prize
*1961 – Stuart Ballantine Medal
{{notability, date=February 2018
The Stuart Ballantine Medal was a science and engineering award presented by the Franklin Institute, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was named after the US inventor Stuart Ballantine.
Laureates
*1947 - Geo ...
*1965 – Japan Academy Prize
*1973 – Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
*1974 – Order of Culture
The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipient ...
*1985 – James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials
*1989 – Harold Pender Award The Harold Pender Award, initiated in 1972 and named after founding Dean Harold Pender, is given by the Faculty of the School of Engineering and Applied Science of the University of Pennsylvania to an outstanding member of the engineering professi ...
*1991 – IEEE Medal of Honor
*1998 – Japan Prize
*1998 – Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun
*2001 – Honorary Doctor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Clear Water Bay Peninsula, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991 by the British Hong Kong Government, it was the territory's third institut ...
*2007 – Honorary Distinguished Professor at the National Tsing Hua University
National Tsing Hua University (NTHU; ) is a public research university in Hsinchu City, Taiwan.
National Tsing Hua University was first founded in Beijing. After the Chinese Civil War, the then-president of the university, Mei Yiqi, and othe ...
Membership in learned societies
*1960 Fellow of the American Physical Society
* Physical Society of Japan
*1975 – Member, the Japan Academy
The Japan Academy ( Japanese: 日本学士院, ''Nihon Gakushiin'') is an honorary organisation and science academy founded in 1879 to bring together leading Japanese scholars with distinguished records of scientific achievements. The Academy is ...
*1976 – Foreign Associate, National Academy of Sciences
*1977 – Foreign Associate, National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
*1989 – Member, Max Planck Society
*1991 – Member, American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
*1994 – Foreign Member, Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across ...
*1995 – Honorary Foreign Member, Korean Academy of Science and Technology
The Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) is South Korea's highest academy of science and serves as an integrated think-tank for the country's science and technology. It contributes to national development by promoting science and techn ...
*1996 – Member, Accademia dei Lincei
See also
* List of Japanese Nobel laureates
Since 1949, there have been 29 Japanese List of Nobel laureates, laureates of the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize is a Sweden-based international monetary prize. The award was established by the 1895 will and estate of Swedish chemist and inventor ...
* List of Nobel laureates affiliated with the University of Tokyo
This list of Nobel laureates by university affiliation shows the university affiliations of individual winners of the Nobel Prize since 1901 and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences since 1969. The affiliations are those at the time of th ...
References
Further reading
*Large scale integrated circuits technology: state of the art and prospects, ''proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Large Scale Integrated Circuits Technology: State of the Art and Prospects," Erice, Italy, July 15–27, 1981 ''/ edited by Leo Esaki and Giovanni Soncini (1982)
*''Highlights in condensed matter physics and future prospects'' / edited by Leo Esaki (1991)
External links
* including the Nobel Lecture, December 12, 1973 ''Long Journey into Tunnelling''
IBM record
* IEEE History Center – Leo Esaki. Retrieved July 19, 2011 fro
Leo Esaki - Engineering and Technology History Wiki
* Sony History – The Esaki Diode. Retrieved August 5, 2003 fro
Freeview video 'An Interview with Leo Esaki' by the Vega Science Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esaki, Leo
1925 births
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Fellows of the American Physical Society
IBM Fellows
IEEE Medal of Honor recipients
Japanese Nobel laureates
20th-century Japanese physicists
Japanese nanotechnologists
20th-century Japanese inventors
Kwansei Gakuin University faculty
Kyoto University faculty
Living people
Nobel laureates in Physics
People from Higashiōsaka
Semiconductor physicists
Recipients of the Order of Culture
University of Tsukuba faculty
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Engineering
University of Tokyo alumni