Jun Kondo
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.031411
Born on 6 February 1930, Jun Kondo is a solid-state physicist who is best known for explaining the strange electrical behavior of some metals at low temperatures. Generally the electrical resistance of a metal decreases as the temperature is reduced. But in some metals, the resistance abruptly increases at low temperature. In the mid 1960s Kondo, then at the Electrotechnical Laboratory in Japan, solved the mystery by showing that magnetic impurities can promote electron scattering at low temperature and thus increase electrical resistance. Various anomalies that arise in low-temperature metals are collectively known as the Kondo effect. Today Kondo is a fellow emeritus at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan. (Photo courtesy of AIST)
Date in History: 6 February 1930
