Thomas Ebbesen
Encyclopedia
Thomas Ebbesen is a Norwegian physical chemist, currently professor at the University of Strasbourg
in France, known for his pioneering work in nanoscience.
Thomas Ebbesen received his bachelors from Oberlin College
, and a PhD from Pierre and Marie Curie University
in Paris in the field of photo-physical chemistry. He then worked at the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory before joining the NEC
Fundamental Research Laboratories in Japan in 1988 where his research shifted first to novel carbon materials such as fullerenes (C60), graphene and carbon nanotubes. After discovering how to mass produce carbon nanotubes, he and his colleagues measured many of their unique features such as their mechanical and wetting properties. For his pioneering and extensive contribution to the field of carbon nanotubes, he shared the 2001 EuroPhysics Prize with Sumio Iijima
, Cees Dekker and Paul McEuen
.
While working at NEC, Ebbesen discovered a major new optical phenomenon. He found that, contrary to the then accepted theory, it was possible to transmit light extremely efficiently through subwavelength holes milled in opaque metal films under certain conditions. The phenomenon, known as extraordinary optical transmission, involves surface plasmons. It has raised fundamental questions and is finding applications in broad variety of areas from chemistry to opto-electronics. Ebbesen has received several awards for the discovery of the extraordinary optical transmission such as the 2005 France Telecom Prize of the French Academy of Sciences and the 2009 Quantum Electronics and Optics Prize of the European Physics Society.
In 1999, Thomas Ebbesen joined ISIS founded by Jean-Marie Lehn
at the University of Strasbourg
. He is currently the director of ISIS and of the International Center for Frontier Research in Chemistry. He is a member of the Institut Universitaire de France and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
University of Strasbourg
The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....
in France, known for his pioneering work in nanoscience.
Thomas Ebbesen received his bachelors from Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, and a PhD from Pierre and Marie Curie University
Pierre and Marie Curie University
The Paris VI University , or the Pierre and Marie Curie University , is a university located on the Jussieu Campus in the Latin Quarter of the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France....
in Paris in the field of photo-physical chemistry. He then worked at the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory before joining the NEC
NEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
Fundamental Research Laboratories in Japan in 1988 where his research shifted first to novel carbon materials such as fullerenes (C60), graphene and carbon nanotubes. After discovering how to mass produce carbon nanotubes, he and his colleagues measured many of their unique features such as their mechanical and wetting properties. For his pioneering and extensive contribution to the field of carbon nanotubes, he shared the 2001 EuroPhysics Prize with Sumio Iijima
Sumio Iijima
Sumio Iijima is a Japanese physicist, often cited as the discoverer of carbon nanotubes. Although carbon nanotubes had been observed prior to his "discovery", Iijima's 1991 paper generated unprecedented interest in the carbon nanostructures and has since fueled intense research in the area of...
, Cees Dekker and Paul McEuen
Paul McEuen
Paul McEuen is an American physicist. He received his B.S. in engineering physics at the University of Oklahoma , and his Ph.D. in applied physics at Yale University . After postdoctoral work at MIT , he became a professor at the University of California, Berkeley...
.
While working at NEC, Ebbesen discovered a major new optical phenomenon. He found that, contrary to the then accepted theory, it was possible to transmit light extremely efficiently through subwavelength holes milled in opaque metal films under certain conditions. The phenomenon, known as extraordinary optical transmission, involves surface plasmons. It has raised fundamental questions and is finding applications in broad variety of areas from chemistry to opto-electronics. Ebbesen has received several awards for the discovery of the extraordinary optical transmission such as the 2005 France Telecom Prize of the French Academy of Sciences and the 2009 Quantum Electronics and Optics Prize of the European Physics Society.
In 1999, Thomas Ebbesen joined ISIS founded by Jean-Marie Lehn
Jean-Marie Lehn
Jean-Marie Lehn is a French chemist. He received the Nobel Prize together with Donald Cram and Charles Pedersen in 1987 for his work in Chemistry, particularly his synthesis of the cryptands...
at the University of Strasbourg
University of Strasbourg
The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....
. He is currently the director of ISIS and of the International Center for Frontier Research in Chemistry. He is a member of the Institut Universitaire de France and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
Awards
- NEC Research Prize 1992
- Randers Prize 2001
- Agilent EuroPhysics Prize 2001
- Prix France Telecom 2005
- Tomassoni Prize 2009
- Scola Physica Romana Medal 2009
- Quantum Electronics and Optics Prize 2009
- Dr. Scient. H.C., University of Southern Danemark 2009