Charles M. Lieber facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Charles M. Lieber
Born	1959 (age 65–66) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Education	Franklin & Marshall College Stanford University
Known for	Nanomaterials synthesis and assembly Nanostructure characterization Nanoelectronics and nanophotonics Nanobioelectronics
Awards	Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2012) MRS Von Hippel Award (2016)
Scientific career
Fields	Nanoscience and nanotechnology Chemistry Materials physics Neuroscience
Institutions	Harvard University Columbia University Wuhan University of Technology Tsinghua University
Doctoral students	Hongjie Dai Xiangfeng Duan Philip Kim Peidong Yang Latha Venkataraman Yi Cui
Criminal status	Convicted
Motive	Professional accolades
Conviction(s)	December 21, 2021
Criminal charge	Making false statements to authorities; filing incorrect tax returns
Penalty	Six months house arrest, $50,000 fine, back taxes
Date apprehended	January 28, 2020

Charles M. Lieber (born 1959) is an American scientist. He is known for his work in nanotechnology, which is about creating tiny materials and devices. In 2011, he was named a top chemist because of his important scientific papers.

Lieber is famous for making and studying very small materials called nanomaterials. He also helped use tiny electronic devices in biology. Many other scientists in nanoscience learned from him.

He used to be a professor at Harvard University. He has written over 400 papers for science journals. He also helped write many books about nanoscience. In 2012, he won the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, a very important award.

In December 2021, Lieber was found guilty of six charges. These included making false statements to the FBI and other government groups. He also filed incorrect tax returns. These issues were part of a government program called the China Initiative.

Lieber was on leave from Harvard after his arrest in 2020. This was due to his legal issues and a health problem. In April 2025, he became a professor at Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School in China. He also started working as an investigator at the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation.

Early Life and Education

Charles M. Lieber was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1959. When he was a child, he loved to build and take apart things like stereos and model airplanes.

He studied chemistry at Franklin & Marshall College and graduated in 1981. Then, he earned his doctorate degree in chemistry from Stanford University. He also did research at Caltech for two years.

Early in his career, Lieber became very interested in making tiny wires. He realized that if new technology came from small materials, it would need tiny wires to move information and connect devices. He believed that using very small things could lead to new technologies we cannot even imagine today.

Career Highlights

Lieber joined Columbia University in 1987 as a professor. He moved to Harvard University in 1992. At Harvard, he held a special position as a University Professor. He also became the head of Harvard's chemistry department in 2015.

Lieber's work helped create the idea of "bottom-up" nanoscience. This means building things from very small parts. He found ways to grow tiny nanowires and study them. He also showed how these tiny materials could be used in many areas. These areas include electronics, computing, light technology, energy, biology, and medicine.

Making Nanomaterials

Lieber was one of the first to explain why we should make tiny wires. He showed how to control the size and shape of these wires. This work helped create a way to grow nanowires from almost any material. He also showed how to grow nanowires with different parts, which led to new ways to use them in electronics and light technology.

Studying Nanostructures

Lieber developed special microscopes to measure the electrical and mechanical properties of tiny carbon nanotubes and nanowires. His work showed that we can make semiconductor nanowires with controlled electrical properties. This means these tiny wires can be used as building blocks for electronic devices. He also invented a way to study the chemical properties of surfaces at a very small level.

Nanoelectronics and Nanophotonics

Lieber used tiny wires to show how electricity and light behave in very small spaces. He created tiny lasers using single nanowires. He also made tiny electronic memory devices and simple computer circuits using assembled nanowires. His ideas helped lead to the use of nanowires in computer chips.

Assembling Nanostructures for Computing

Lieber found ways to put together many nanowires and nanotubes. He developed a method to arrange nanowires in parallel and crossed patterns. This was called one of the "Breakthroughs of 2001" by Science magazine. He also created a way to connect tiny nanowires to larger systems. More recently, he showed how to make a programmable nanowire logic tile and the first tiny computer.

Nanoelectronics for Biology and Medicine

Lieber showed how to use tiny electronic devices to detect proteins and viruses. He also found ways to detect cancer markers. He developed methods to make these measurements work in real body conditions. This opened the door for using these devices in healthcare.

He also created tiny electronic devices to study cells and tissues. He showed that these devices could record electrical activity from heart cells with great detail. More recently, he made tiny 3D transistors that can detect single molecules and even light inside cells.

Nanoelectronics and Brain Science

Lieber's work with tiny electronics helps us understand the brain better. He created ways to connect arrays of nanowire transistors with brain cells. This allows scientists to map brain activity with high detail. He also developed 3D sensor arrays that can mimic natural tissue. He even showed that it is possible to grow synthetic tissues that can connect with electronics in 3D.

His current work focuses on putting electronics into the brain in a way that causes very little harm. He showed that these tiny electronics can be injected into the brain with a syringe. Studies have shown that these injectable electronics cause very little reaction from the body. This idea of using tiny electronics to help treat brain diseases and injuries has gained a lot of attention. Scientific American called injectable electronics one of the top world-changing ideas in 2015.

Awards and Honors

• Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology (2001)
• NBIC Research Excellence Award in Nanotechnology (2007)
• Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2012)
• IEEE Nanotechnology Pioneer Award (2013)
• Remsen Award (2016)
• Welch Award in Chemistry (2019)

Lieber is a member of several important science groups. These include the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. He is also an elected Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Materials Research Society and the American Chemical Society. He helps edit the journal Nano Letters.

Giant Pumpkin Growing

Since 2007, Charles Lieber has grown giant pumpkins in his yard. In 2010, he won a competition with a 1,610-pound pumpkin. In 2012, his 1,770-pound pumpkin won second place and set a Massachusetts record. His 1,870-pound pumpkin in 2014 was the largest in Massachusetts that year. In 2020, he grew a 2,276-pound pumpkin, which is the biggest ever grown in Massachusetts.

See also

In Spanish: Charles Lieber para niños

• Molecular electronics
• Nanoparticle
• Self-assembly