Alf Adams facts for kids

Alfred ("Alf") Rodney Adams is a British physicist born in 1939. He is famous for inventing the strained-layer quantum-well laser. These special lasers are used in many electronic devices found in homes all over the world.

Professor Adams was a Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey. There, he led a research group focused on materials and devices that use light and electricity. He is now retired and holds the title of emeritus professor. He has received several important awards for his work. In 1995, he was given the Duddell Medal and Prize. In 1996, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. Later, in 2014, he received the Rank Prize in Optoelectronics for his amazing work on these special laser structures.

Early Life and School

Alfred Adams grew up in a family that wasn't involved in academics. His grandmother had passed away from tuberculosis (TB). His father was born with TB, which meant he didn't have to go to school for medical reasons. Later, his father worked as a cobbler, a boxer, and owned a gym. Alfred's mother left school when she was only 12 years old.

During World War II, when bombs were falling in London (this was called The Blitz), Alfred was moved from his home in Hadleigh, Essex to a safer place. After taking an important exam called the eleven-plus, he went to a local technical school. He was a talented athlete there, representing Southeast Essex in both football and cricket.

University Studies

Alfred Adams chose to study physics at the University of Leicester. He picked this university partly because many others required foreign language skills, which he didn't have. He also earned his PhD at Leicester. His research was supervised by Professor Walter Eric Spear and focused on Orthorhombic crystal systems. After his PhD, he continued his physics research in Germany at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. It was there that he met and married his wife, Helga.

Career and Discoveries

After his time in Germany, Alfred Adams returned to Britain. He began working at the University of Surrey. His early research involved using Gallium arsenide crystals under very high pressure to study microwaves.

In 1980, he took a break from Surrey to work in Japan. He spent time at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he focused on semiconductor lasers.

The Strained-Layer Laser Idea

When he came back to the University of Surrey, he continued his research. One day, while walking on Bournemouth beach with his wife Helga, he had a brilliant idea. He realized that if he could stretch or "strain" semiconductor crystals, he could change how electrons moved within them. This change would make lasers much more efficient at producing light. This was the moment the idea for the strained-layer laser, also known as the strained quantum-well laser, was born!

Even though his invention is now used in almost every home around the world, he didn't patent his idea. This means he didn't make any money from this amazing technology.

Awards and Recognition

Alfred Adams has received many honors for his important contributions to physics.

In 1995, he was awarded the Duddell Medal and Prize. The next year, in 1996, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK. His nomination for the Royal Society praised his groundbreaking work. It mentioned his use of high-pressure techniques to study materials and how he showed that applying "strain" could help us understand how devices work. His ideas led to lasers that perform much better.

Since retiring from the University of Surrey, he is now an emeritus professor. This means he still holds a connection to the university even though he is retired.

In 2014, he was given the Rank Prize in Optoelectronics [ru]. This award recognized his pioneering work on the strained-layer laser structures.

In March 2014, he was featured on the BBC Radio 4 program, Professor Jim Al-Khalili's The Life Scientific. This show talks about the lives and work of important scientists.