Alfred Stanley Barker Jr

Alfred Stanley (Stan) Barker Jr, a distinguished physicist, made many significant contributions to condensed-matter physics, with his expertise centered on optical dynamics. The result was groundbreaking studies on lattice vibrations, electrons, and surface waves in insulators and metals. In later life his attention turned to education and green-energy problems, initiating early studies on alternate energy sources and solar-energy systems. He passed away on 20 December 2022, after an extended battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Born on 18 December 1933 in Vancouver, Canada, Stan worked five long summers in the Yukon Territory as a line-crew foreman for the Yukon Telephone Company repairing damage produced by the previous winters. He was greatly influenced by that exposure to the rugged and remote environment, and it contributed to his character and work ethic.

He completed his undergraduate degree in mathematics and physics at the University of British Columbia in 1955, and he earned his MS in physics from the same institution in 1957. He then moved to California and pursued his doctoral studies in physics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he wrote his thesis on the far IR dynamics of ferroelectric phase transitions under the direction of Mike Tinkham. He received his PhD in 1962. Stan’s identification of a paraelectric soft mode, initially predicted by William Cochran in 1959, was the first experiment of its kind. Ultimately, his results appeared in the Third Edition of Charles Kittel’s Introduction to Solid State Physics.

In 1962 Stan joined the technical staff of Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, then the powerhouse in condensed-matter studies, and carried out research on a variety of topics for the next 15 years. His initial study of the IR lattice vibrational properties of corundum demonstrated a new kind of detailed analysis. Not only did he identify experimentally all the group-theory-allowed dipole active modes but also he was the first to recognize that forbidden dipole and Raman modes could be made visible by crystalline surface damage. Continued studies with other crystalline systems enabled him to generalize the optic mode analysis of Max Born and Huang Kun to low-symmetry crystal multimode cases. Here he derived a general Lyddane-Sachs-Teller (LST) relation for all such dielectric crystals. That thrust led him to his very general derivation of the LST relation, which depended only on the broad requirements of statistical mechanics.

Stan was also a very successful collaborator, always anxious to try something new, as demonstrated by his many different researches with associates. His works from 50 or 60 years ago continue to have well over 100 citations per year, demonstrating the relevance and the ongoing influence of the pioneering and experimental and theoretical studies.

In 1977 Stan’s research interest shifted to green energy. His first effort was a wind study for the Bell Labs Advanced Energy Group, which resulted in the construction of a 15-kilowatt windmill station on Block Island, off the New England coast. In 1979, with his focus now including teaching, he returned to Canada as a visiting professor of physics at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia. At the school’s Energy Institute, he initiated a program to develop and deploy wind measuring and recording instruments along the west coast of Vancouver Island to determine whether wind-energy systems would make economic sense. His complete study was published in 1986.

In the fall of 1981, Stan joined the faculty of Trinity Western University (TWU) in Langley Township, British Columbia, as a physics professor, establishing himself as a dedicated and influential member of the academic community. From 1981 to 1992, Stan served the university on a full-time basis, with a sabbatical at Cornell University in 1987–88. After 1992 he continued to contribute to TWU part-time until he retired in 1998. In 2010 he completed a memoir of his father called Executive Dad.

Stan played other TWU roles besides physics coordinator, serving on Academic Council and leading an “AV Committee.” Every Thursday the campus was treated to its two physics professors out and about the campus wearing their electrical tool belts and doing the needed diagnosis and repairs for various AV equipment, systems, and accessories.

Known for his collegiality, Stan eagerly engaged with colleagues and students, fostering an environment of collaboration and intellectual growth. He was also renowned for his playful nature and warm hospitality, regularly inviting colleagues to his home for faculty and staff dinners. His unwavering commitment to teaching, his service to the university, and his delightful personality endeared him to his colleagues and students alike.

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