Herbert Kroemer
Herbert Kroemer | |
|---|---|
Kroemer in 2008 | |
| Born | August 25, 1928 |
| Died | March 8, 2024 (aged 95) |
| Citizenship | Germany United States (from 2003)[1] |
| Alma mater | University of Göttingen (Diplom, Dr. phil.) |
| Known for | |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Solid-state physics |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Zur Theorie des Germaniumgleichrichters und des Transistors : Ausz. Mit 10 Fig. im Text (1953) |
| Doctoral advisor | Fritz Sauter |
Herbert Kroemer (German: [ˈhɛʁbɛʁt ˈkʁøːmɐ] ⓘ; August 25, 1928 – March 8, 2024) was a German–American solid-state physicist who, along with Zhores Alferov, received the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics "for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics."[2] He was Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research into transistors was a stepping stone to the later development of mobile phone technologies.
Education
Herbert Kroemer was born on August 25, 1928, in Weimar, Germany. His father was a civil servant, while his mother was a housewife; neither of them had a high school education. Kroemer excelled in physics at school, letting him advance faster than his peers in the subject.[3]
Kroemer received his Diplom in 1951 and his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics the following year, both from the University of Göttingen.[4] His doctoral thesis, written under Fritz Sauter, was on hot electron effects in the then-new transistor.[5]
Career and research
Kroemer worked in a number of research laboratories in Germany and the United States, and taught electrical engineering at the University of Colorado from 1968 to 1976. He joined the UCSB faculty in 1976, focusing its semiconductor research program on the emerging compound semiconductor technology rather than on mainstream silicon technology. Charles Kittel had published the successful Thermal Physics in 1969, and enlisted Kroemer to edit it for a second edition, which appeared in 1980.
He is also the author of the textbook Quantum Mechanics for Engineering, Materials Science and Applied Physics.[6]
Kroemer always preferred to work on problems that are ahead of mainstream technology, inventing the drift transistor in the 1950s and being the first to point out that advantages could be gained in various semiconductor devices by incorporating heterojunctions. Most notably, though, in 1963 he proposed the concept of the double-heterostructure laser, which is now a central concept in the field of semiconductor lasers. Kroemer became an early pioneer in molecular beam epitaxy, concentrating on applying the technology to untried new materials.
Personal life
Kroemer was an atheist.[7] He received U.S. citizenship in 2003.[1] He died on March 8, 2024, at the age of 95.[8][9][10][11]
Recognition
Memberships
| Year | Organization | Type | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | IEEE | Life Fellow | [12] |
| 1997 | National Academy of Engineering | Emeritus | [13] |
| 2003 | National Academy of Sciences | Emeritus | [14] |
Awards
| Year | Organization | Award | Citation | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | IEEE | J. J. Ebers Award | "For outstanding technical contribution to electron devices." | [15] |
| 1986 | IEEE | IEEE Jack A. Morton Award | "For pioneering the theory and device applications of semiconductor heterostructures." | [16] |
| 2000 | Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences | Nobel Prize in Physics[a] | "For developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics." | [2] |
| 2002 | IEEE | IEEE Medal of Honor | "For contributions to high-frequency transistors and hot-electron devices, especially heterostructure devices from heterostructure bipolar transistors to lasers, and their molecular beam epitaxy technology." | [17] |
See also
Notes
- ^ Awarded jointly with Zhores Alferov and Jack Kilby.
References
- ^ a b Yang, Henry T. (March 12, 2024). "Sad News – Professor Emeritus Herbert Kroemer". chancellor.ucsb.edu. University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
- ^ a b "Nobel Prize in Physics 2000". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on October 21, 2008. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
- ^ "Herbert Kroemer - Science Video Interview".
- ^ "Herbert Kroemer". American Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on October 19, 2025. Retrieved December 22, 2025.
- ^ Kroemer, Herbert (1953). Zur Theorie des Germaniumgleichrichters und des Transistors : Ausz. Mit 10 Fig. im Text (PhD). OCLC 73916980.
- ^ H. Kroemer, Quantum Mechanics, Prentice Hall (1994)
- ^ Kroemer, Herbert. "Herbert Kroemer – Science Video Interview". Interviewer: "You have no belief in a afterlife?" Kroemer: "That's correct." Interviewer: "...You don't see the evidence of a designer?" Kroemer: "No, I don't." Interviewer: "Could you say more about it?" Kroemer: "I think it's just wishful thinking."
- ^ "Nobel Laureate Herb Kroemer, 1928–2024". UC Santa Barbara Engineering. March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
- ^ "Sad News – Professor Emeritus Herbert Kroemer". UC Santa Barbara Office of the Chancellor. March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
- ^ "Nachruf: Herbert Kroemer". Der Spiegel. March 15, 2024.
- ^ "Herbert Kroemer, Nobel winner who developed laser tech, dies at 95". The Washington Post. March 28, 2024.
- ^ "Fellows - K". IEEE. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
- ^ "Dr. Herbert Kroemer". www.nae.edu. Retrieved December 22, 2025.
- ^ "Herbert Kroemer". www.nasonline.org. Archived from the original on June 24, 2025. Retrieved December 22, 2025.
- ^ "Past J.J. Ebers Award Winners - Electron Devices Society". IEEE. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
- ^ "IEEE Andrew S. Grove Award Recipients" (PDF). IEEE. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 11, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
- ^ "Herbert Kroemer". Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Archived from the original on December 6, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
External links
- Not Just Blue Sky
- Herbert Kroemer on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture 8 December 2000 Quasi-Electric Fields and Band Offsets: Teaching Electrons New Tricks
- Personal Homepage UCSB Archived 2014-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
- Freeview video Interview with Herbert Kroemer by the Vega Science Trust
- U.S. Patent 5067828 Transferred electron effective mass modulator (Herbert Kroemer)
- U.S. Patent 5013683 Method for growing tilted superlattices (Herbert Kroemer)
- Herb’s Bipolar Transistors IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. 48, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2001 PDF
- Influence of Mobility and Lifetime Variations on Drift-Field Effects in Silicon-Junction Devices PDF
- Heterostructure Bipolar Transistors and Integrated Circuits PDF