Radu Grigorovici
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Radu Grigorovici (November 20, 1911 – August 2, 2008) was a
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n physicist.


Biography

Radu Grigorovici was born on November 20, 1911 in Chernivtsi, being the only son of the Bucovina
Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
Gheorghe Gheorghe is a Romanian given name and surname. It is a variant of George, also a name in Romanian but with soft Gs. It may refer to: Given name * Gheorghe Adamescu * Gheorghe Albu * Gheorghe Alexandrescu * Gheorghe Andriev * Gheorghe Apostol ...
and Tatiana Grigorovici. After graduating from ''Aron Pumnul'' High School (1928) he studied at the ''
Chernivtsi University Chernivtsi National University (full name Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, uk, Чернівецький національний університет імені Юрія Федьковича) is a public university in the City o ...
'', and in 1931 he got a degree in
chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...
sciences and in 1934 a degree in
physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...
sciences. At the same university, he was then a trainer at the ''Experimental Physics Laboratory'' of Professor Eugen Bădărău. In 1936 he transferred to the Faculty of Sciences of the
University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
, where Bădărău had been called as head of the Laboratory of Molecular, Acoustic and Optical Physics. In 1938 he obtained a PhD in physical sciences with a dissertation on the disruptive potential of mercury vapor. He climbed the ranks of the university hierarchy, becoming an associate professor in 1949. Between 1947-1957 he worked in parallel in the light source industry (Lumen factory, then Electrofar), as a consulting engineer. He was forced, for political reasons, to give up his university career. He retired from research, becoming head of department (1960) and deputy scientific director (1963) at the Bucharest Institute of Physics of the RPR Academy; in 1970 the institute will be subordinated to the State Committee for Nuclear Energy. In 1973 he applied for retirement, continuing his activity as a leading part-time scientific researcher; in 1977, following a reorganization, he was transferred to the Institute of ''Physics and Materials Technology'', and after a year his employment contract was terminated. Radu Grigorovici made original contributions to the physics of electric gas discharges, flame spectral analysis, light sources, physiological and instrumental optics, size systems and physical-physiological units. At the Bucharest Institute of Physics, he organized and led a group of researchers who studied the phenomena of transport in disordered thin metal layers, explained by the band structure of the respective metals (1959-1966). But the most important results were obtained in the study of amorphous semiconductors (1964-1977). Grigorovici and collaborators studied the structure, electrical transport, optical properties and photoconductivity in amorphous layers of germanium, silicon and carbon obtained by vacuum evaporation. Based on these results, Grigorovici was the first to highlight the structural differences between amorphous and microcrystalline layers of germanium and silicon; followed by the elaboration of a structural model, completed with energy considerations. This "amorphonic model", later refined in various laboratories as a "random network model", is today practically unanimously accepted as a structural model for amorphous semiconductors and has opened new avenues in research and applications. These works brought international fame to the Grigorovici group, and to its initiator the recognition as a founding mentor of a Romanian research school in this field. The results were disseminated at international conferences and summer schools, in synthesis articles and monographs, were quoted extensively and had the appreciation of physicists of
Nevill Francis Mott Sir Nevill Francis Mott (30 September 1905 – 8 August 1996) was a British physicist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1977 for his work on the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems, especially amorphous semiconductors. ...
level. Radu Grigorovici has been co-opted in the organizing committees of numerous international congresses, in the editorial boards of specialized journals (Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Thin Solid Films, Physica Status Solidi) and in the Semiconductor Commission of the International Union of Pure Physics and Applied (1969-1975). He was elected as the full member of the
Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...
in 1990 (he was a corresponding member since 1963) and its vice-president (1990–1994). Concerned with the "''truth of life and the truth of science''",''Gânduri despre adevărul vieții și adevărul științei'', interviu realizat de Marin Aiftincă; reprodus în Radu Grigorovici: ''Bucovina între milenii: studii și documente'', pp. 19-32. he actively engaged in the regeneration of the Academy in the years following the communist dictatorship. He was an honorary member of the
Academy of Sciences of Moldova The Academy of Sciences of Moldova ( ro, Academia de Științe a Moldovei), established in 1961, is the main scientific organization of Moldova and coordinates research in all areas of science and technology. Ion Tighineanu has been the head of t ...
and an honorary doctor of the University of Bucharest. Known for his nonconformism and critical spirit, Radu Grigorovici has attracted, throughout his life, the admiration or antipathy of many. An American colleague called him "a world-renowned scientist, a
humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...
and a
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
ian." He had a permanent and intense interest in
literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
,
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
and the
art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
s. After the dismemberment of the Soviet empire, he initiated a sustained dialogue with the Romanians of Bukovina; published, in bilingual Romanian/German edition, a volume of studies and documents about Bucovina.Radu Grigorovici: ''Bucovina între milenii: studii și documente.'' He was a fine musician who, after time devoted to physics, relaxed by playing his favorite pieces from the great repertoire on the
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
. He died on August 1, 2008, in Bucharest.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grigorovici, Radu 1911 births 2008 deaths Romanian physicists Titular members of the Romanian Academy