Hellmut Fritzsche
Encyclopedia
Hellmut Fritzsche is a German-American solid-state
physicist.
After receiving his Diplom
from the University of Göttingen in 1952, Fritzsche went to the USA. In 1952 he earned his PhD from Purdue University
, where he in the same year became an instructor and in 1955 assistant professor. In 1957 he became an assistant professor at the University of Chicago
, where in 1963 he became a full professor and in 2004 retired. During part of his career at the U. of Chicago, he was chairman of the physics department.
Fritzsche is known for his work on the metal-insulator transition in doped semiconductors and on amorphous (non-crystalline) materials, particularly on amorphous silicon
and especially on the role of injected hydrogen in the improvement of its electronic characteristics.
Since 1967 he was vice-president and corporate board member of Energy Conversion Devices Incorporated, the development company (e.g. solar cells, batteries) of Stanford Ovshinsky, with whom Fritzsche closely collaborated on the application of amorphous materials.
In 1989 he won the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize. He has an honorary doctorate from Purdue University.
Solid-state physics
Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state physics studies how the large-scale properties of solid materials result from...
physicist.
After receiving his Diplom
Diplom
A Diplom is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Finland , Greece, Hungary, Russia, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Ukraine...
from the University of Göttingen in 1952, Fritzsche went to the USA. In 1952 he earned his PhD from Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
, where he in the same year became an instructor and in 1955 assistant professor. In 1957 he became an assistant professor at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, where in 1963 he became a full professor and in 2004 retired. During part of his career at the U. of Chicago, he was chairman of the physics department.
Fritzsche is known for his work on the metal-insulator transition in doped semiconductors and on amorphous (non-crystalline) materials, particularly on amorphous silicon
Amorphous silicon
Amorphous silicon is the non-crystalline allotropic form of silicon. It can be deposited in thin films at low temperatures onto a variety of substrates, offering some unique capabilities for a variety of electronics.-Description:...
and especially on the role of injected hydrogen in the improvement of its electronic characteristics.
Since 1967 he was vice-president and corporate board member of Energy Conversion Devices Incorporated, the development company (e.g. solar cells, batteries) of Stanford Ovshinsky, with whom Fritzsche closely collaborated on the application of amorphous materials.
In 1989 he won the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize. He has an honorary doctorate from Purdue University.
Selected writings by Fritzsche
- Editor: Amorphous Silicon and related materials, Parts A, B, World Scientific 1989
- Editor: Transport, correlation and structural defects, World Scientific 1990
- Editor with David Adler: Localization and metal-insulator transitions, Plenum Press 1985 (Vol. 3 a Festschrift for Nevill Francis MottNevill Francis MottSir Nevill Francis Mott, CH, FRS was an English physicist. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1977 for his work on the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems, especially amorphous semiconductors. The award was shared with Philip W. Anderson and J. H...
) - Electronic phenomena in amorphous semiconductors, Annual Review of Material Science, Vol.2, 1972, pp. 697–744
- Editor with Brian Schwartz: Stanford R. Ovshinsky - the science and technology of an American genius, World Scientific 2008