Richard Victor Jones (1929 – November 11, 2019) was a Professor of Applied Physics at

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 higher le ...

and a pioneer in semiconductors. He was one of the first four recruits by

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 jointly ...

to help develop technologies at

Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory was a pioneering semiconductor developer founded by William Shockley, and funded by Beckman Instruments, Inc., in 1955. It was the first high technology company in what came to be known as Silicon Valley to wo ...

Early life

Jones was a first-generation child of

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

immigrants. He attended university at

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, where he performed his thesis research on

magnetic resonance Magnetic resonance is a process by which a physical excitation (resonance) is set up via magnetism. This process was used to develop magnetic resonance imaging and Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy technology. It is also being used to ...

under Carson D. Jeffries.

Career

During the winter of 1954–1955, William Shockley decided to seek a sponsor to help him establish production of complex transistors and his own

Shockley diode The Shockley diode (named after physicist William Shockley) is a four-layer semiconductor diode, which were one of the first semiconductor devices invented. It is a PNPN diode, with alternating layers of P-type and N-type material. It is equ ...

s. He was initially supported by

Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...

, but the agreement was soon canceled by that company. After Shockley subsequently established

under the umbrella of

Beckman Instruments Beckman Coulter Inc. is a Danaher Corporation company that develops, manufactures, and markets products that simplify, automate and innovate complex biomedical testing. It operates in two industries: Diagnostics and Life Sciences. For more than ...

, he recruited William W. Happ who he knew from Raytheon. Shockley's other three initial recruits were

George Smoot Horsley George Smoot Horsley (1916 – 1992) was a physicist and pioneer in printed circuitry and semiconductors. He was one of the first four recruits by William Shockley to help develop technologies at Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory. Early life H ...

and

Leopoldo B. Valdes Leopoldo Benjamin Valdes was a pioneer in semiconductors. He was one of the first four recruits by William Shockley to help develop technologies at Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory. Career During the winter of 1954–1955, William Shockley deci ...

both of whom he knew from

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

, and Jones, who was then a new

graduate. Jones remained with Shockley for two years until 1957 when he left to teach physics at Harvard. From 1964 to 1982 he was the Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics and in 1982 he was named Robert L. Wallace Professor. Much of his teaching and research at Harvard was focused on physics information technology, including acoustical and optical signals used to process and obtain information (applied to filed such as

seismic exploration Reflection seismology (or seismic reflection) is a method of exploration geophysics that uses the principles of seismology to estimate the properties of the Earth's subsurface from reflected seismic waves. The method requires a controlled seismi ...

optical computing Optical computing or photonic computing uses light waves produced by lasers or incoherent sources for data processing, data storage or data communication for computing. For decades, photons have shown promise to enable a higher bandwidth than the ...

, medical ultrasonics and

acoustic microscopy Acoustic microscopy is microscopy that employs very high or ultra high frequency ultrasound. Acoustic microscopes operate non-destructively and penetrate most solid materials to make visible images of internal features, including defects such as ...

) wave phenomena and digital electronics. In 1960, he was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Richard Victor 1929 births 2019 deaths University of California, Berkeley alumni Harvard University faculty 20th-century American physicists 21st-century American physicists Silicon Valley people American people of Welsh descent Scientists at Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory