Leo Esaki

Japanese Physicist

Leo Esaki was born in Ōsaka, Ōsaka Prefecture, Japan on March 12th, 1925 and is the Japanese Physicist. At the age of 99, Leo Esaki biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.

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Date of Birth
March 12, 1925
Nationality
Japan
Place of Birth
Ōsaka, Ōsaka Prefecture, Japan
Age
99 years old
Zodiac Sign
Pisces
Profession
Physicist
Leo Esaki Height, Weight, Eye Color and Hair Color

At 99 years old, Leo Esaki physical status not available right now. We will update Leo Esaki's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Height
Not Available
Weight
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Hair Color
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Eye Color
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Build
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Measurements
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Leo Esaki Religion, Education, and Hobbies
Religion
Not Available
Hobbies
Not Available
Education
Tokyo Imperial University
Leo Esaki Spouse(s), Children, Affair, Parents, and Family
Spouse(s)
Masako Araki ​(m. 1959⁠–⁠1986)​, Masako Kondo ​(m. 1986)​
Children
3
Dating / Affair
Not Available
Parents
Not Available
Leo Esaki Career

From 1947 to 1960, Esaki joined Kawanishi Corporation (now Denso Ten) and Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (now Sony). Meanwhile, American physicists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley invented the transistor, which encouraged Esaki to change fields from vacuum tube to heavily-doped germanium and silicon research in Sony. One year later, he recognized that when the PN junction width of germanium is thinned, the current-voltage characteristic is dominated by the influence of the tunnel effect and, as a result, he discovered that as the voltage is increased, the current decreases inversely, indicating negative resistance. This discovery was the first demonstration of solid tunneling effects in physics, and it was the birth of new electronic devices in electronics called Esaki diode (or tunnel diode). He received a doctorate degree from UTokyo due to this breakthrough invention in 1959.

In 1973, Esaki was awarded the Nobel Prize for research conducted around 1958 regarding electron tunneling in solids. He became the first Nobel laureate to receive the prize from the hands of the King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Esaki moved to the United States in 1960 and joined the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, where he became an IBM Fellow in 1967. He predicted that semiconductor superlattices will be formed to induce a differential negative-resistance effect via an artificially one-dimensional periodic structural changes in semiconductor crystals. His unique "molecular beam epitaxy" thin-film crystal growth method can be regulated quite precisely in ultrahigh vacuum. His first paper on the semiconductor superlattice was published in 1970. A 1987 comment by Esaki regarding the original paper notes:

In 1972, Esaki realized his concept of superlattices in III-V group semiconductors, later the concept influenced many fields like metals, and magnetic materials. He was awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor "for contributions to and leadership in tunneling, semiconductor superlattices, and quantum wells" in 1991 and the Japan Prize "for the creation and realization of the concept of man-made superlattice crystals which lead to generation of new materials with useful applications" in 1998.

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