Leo Esaki facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Leo Esaki
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Esaki in 1959
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| Born | March 12, 1925 Takaida-mura, Nakakawachi-gun, Osaka Prefecture, Empire of Japan
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| Alma mater | Tokyo Imperial University |
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| Children | 3 |
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Leo Esaki (born March 12, 1925) is a famous Japanese physicist. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973. He shared the prize with two other scientists, Ivar Giaever and Brian David Josephson.
Esaki won the award for his important work on how electrons move through materials. This led to his invention of the Esaki diode. He did this research while working at Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, which is now known as Sony. He also helped create superlattices, which are special types of semiconductor materials.
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Early Life and Education
Esaki was born in Takaida-mura, Japan, which is now part of Higashiōsaka City. He grew up in Kyoto. He went to Doshisha Junior High School and then the Third Higher School.
After that, he studied physics at Tokyo Imperial University. He learned about nuclear theory from a famous scientist named Hideki Yukawa. While at university, he experienced the Bombing of Tokyo during World War II. Esaki earned his first degree in 1947 and his PhD in 1959 from the University of Tokyo.
Career and Discoveries
The Esaki Diode
From 1947 to 1960, Esaki worked at Kawanishi Corporation and then at Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Sony). At that time, American physicists invented the transistor. This inspired Esaki to study germanium and silicon for electronics.
He found that if a part of a germanium material was made very thin, electrons could "tunnel" through it. This was a new way for electricity to flow. He discovered that as he increased the voltage, the current would actually decrease. This is called "negative resistance."
This discovery was the first time anyone showed the "tunnel effect" in solid materials. It led to a new electronic device called the Esaki diode, also known as a tunnel diode. This was the first "quantum electronic device" ever invented. Because of this amazing invention, he received his doctorate degree in 1959.
In 1973, Esaki received the Nobel Prize for his research on electron tunneling. He was the first Nobel winner to receive the prize from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Semiconductor Superlattices
In 1960, Esaki moved to the United States and joined IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center. He became an IBM Fellow in 1967.
He had an idea that he could create new materials called superlattices. These materials would have layers of different semiconductors. These layers would be so thin that they would create new electrical properties. He thought these superlattices could also show "negative resistance."
He developed a special way to grow these thin layers using a method called "molecular beam epitaxy." His first paper about semiconductor superlattices was published in 1970. At first, some people thought his idea was "too speculative." But his work was later accepted and supported.
In 1972, Esaki successfully created these superlattices. His ideas influenced many areas of physics and led to new materials. In 1991, he received the IEEE Medal of Honor. In 1998, he won the Japan Prize for creating and making superlattice crystals.
Esaki's "Five Don'ts" Rules
In 1994, Leo Esaki shared his "five don'ts" rules. He believed these rules could help anyone be more creative. Two months later, the head of the Nobel Committee for Physics mentioned these rules in his own speech.
- Don't let your past experiences hold you back.
- Don't rely too much on one expert in your field.
- Don't keep things you don't need.
- Don't be afraid to face challenges.
- Don't forget to be curious like a child.
Later Years and Recognition
Esaki returned to Japan in 1992. He served as president of the University of Tsukuba and Shibaura Institute of Technology. Since 2006, he has been the president of Yokohama College of Pharmacy.
He has received many honors, including the Order of Culture in 1974 and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun in 1998. After 2015, Esaki became the oldest living Japanese Nobel laureate.
In 2015, statues of three Nobel laureates, including Leo Esaki, were placed in Central Park in Tsukuba City. This was to honor their important contributions to science.
See also
In Spanish: Leo Esaki para niños
- List of Japanese Nobel laureates
- List of Nobel laureates affiliated with the University of Tokyo
