Japan Academy honor
DOI: 10.1063/1.3047597
Leo Esaki of the International Business Machines Corporation has been named one of the winners of this year’s Japan Academy award. Comprising a bronze medal and a 200 000 yen cash prize (approximately $555), the award was presented on May 18 at the Academy’s offices in Ueno, Tokyo. Dr. Esaki was honored for his invention and subsequent development of the tunnel diode, which utilizes quantum‐mechanical tunneling to surmount a potential barrier in its electric field. The device can exhibit gain at very high frequencies with great stability against temperature and other ambient variations. Its principle of operation has led to new understanding in semiconductor physics.
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