Alferov Nobel Prize winner. Nobel laureate Zhores Alferov: "Education should be free"

Technique and Internet 04.09.2019

Technique and Internet

Why Russian scientists do not receive Nobel Prizes, should teachers be engaged in science, is it worth evaluating scientists by publications, and why are digitalization and cryptocurrencies dangerous?

— Zhores Ivanovich, four months have passed since Alexander Sergeev headed the RAS. In the elections, you supported another candidate, Gennady Krasnikov. How do you assess the work of the new leadership of the Academy?

- First of all, I want to say that no matter who we choose, the new head of the Academy of Sciences would still have to work extremely hard for a very simple reason. The successful development of science is possible only under one condition. Science must first of all be in demand by the economy and society. This is the main thing. If science is in demand by the economy and society, then even the government, the political leadership can make very big mistakes. As an example of a mistake that caused enormous damage to the development of our science, our biology, I can name the Lysenko session of 1948, the movement against modern genetics and what was then called Mendelism-Morganism. This was the biggest mistake, but even at that time it was somehow managed to be corrected.

Of course, many areas, including the economy, were politicized in vain, and everything was brought too far under the requirements of Marxism-Leninism. With all this, the main condition was fulfilled: our economy and society needed science. And so it developed successfully. The Academy of Sciences of the USSR was recognized throughout the world as the largest and leading scientific organization. Presidents of the Academy Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov, Alexander Nikolayevich Nesmeyanov, the best president in the history of the Academy Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh, Anatoly Petrovich Alexandrov were famous scientists and made a huge contribution to science. I can name their biggest scientific achievements even today. Sergei Ivanovich Vavilov, had he lived a little longer, would have become a Nobel laureate. Aleksandrov's work on degaussing ships preserved our fleet during the war, and after the war he was the creator of our atomic fleet. Nesmeyanov and Keldysh are the creators of a number of new areas of science. Further, Gury Marchuk and Yury Osipov did a lot to save the Academy. And then the worst happened. The entire high-tech economy of the country, created by the sweat and blood of many generations, was destroyed. And as a result, science has ceased to be in demand by the economy and society.

Of course, the Academy took a huge hit in 2013. Branch science perished because high-tech industries perished. Higher education science financially sat on economic contracts with industry. We somehow kept the RAS at the expense of the budget, but it was impossible to merge the RAS, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Academy of Medical Sciences together. It was impossible to create such a gigantic Academy right away. Then it was accepted new law of the Russian Academy of Sciences, organized by the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations. Scientists develop science, and everything on which this science is done was taken away from scientists. Of course, there were also crimes, in many institutes premises were rented out. But it was necessary to fight specifically with these things, and not take everything away from the Academy. The most reasonable thing would be to transfer, as in the thirties, the entire economy of the Academy to the Administration of the Academy of Sciences, with the appointment of the head of the Academy's affairs administration coordinated with the Government.

As for the new leadership, I can say that Alexander Mikhailovich Sergeev is a good physicist, he certainly has good work in physics. He has an endlessly difficult job. The government and the leadership of the country must understand a simple thing: only on the basis of modern scientific research can we return to the country both new technologies and new companies. I was recently informed of terrible figures about who and how owns our largest companies. I don't know how things actually stand, but I'm afraid that in some respects we are today in the position of 1913, when so many highly developed industrial technologies were in the hands of Western companies and Western countries.

— You often talk about the lack of demand for science by the economy and society. With the economy, everything is more or less clear, many say that we do not have full cycle"fundamental - search - applied science". But why did society not need science?

- So it is not there precisely because science is not in demand by the economy. As a result of major practical mistakes, as a result, I admit it, of the treacherous activities of some groups in the late 80s and early 90s, we found ourselves in a situation where there really were empty shelves, there was an economic crisis. Although, generally speaking, this was not the case in the 60s and 70s. In the 80s, there was even such a joke that the shelves in stores were empty, and everyone had full refrigerators at home. When discussing the problems of economics, I recommend, among other things, to my fellow physicists to read an article by the greatest physicist and scientist of the 20th century and, in my opinion, the greatest scientist of all time, Albert Einstein. In May 1949, he published an article entitled "Why socialism?". At the very beginning of this article, he wrote that physicists have every right to evaluate the economy and economic development, because these are actually new forms of development, which modern economists cannot evaluate, because they know only the economy of the capitalist period. One of the fundamental conclusions of this article by Einstein is that, first, capitalism legally has the right to take from each other and rob each other. The mass of people who own property begins to take it away and does it not in violation of the law, but according to the law.

Secondly, Einstein emphasizes that the capitalist society gives birth to the oligarchy and oligarchs, which it is impossible to fight with democratic methods. He also notes that capitalism not only brings such a terrible economy and legal interception of property from each other, but also causes great damage to the education system, where young people are brought up in the spirit of "how to be the first to grab". He saw a way out only in socialism and a planned economy. Einstein considered them the cardinal road of human development. But he warned that even under a planned economy it is possible to create such conditions for the enslavement of the individual, under which everything else will seem like freedom.

The second thing, which, from my point of view, is the main one, is that there is no other way out for our country than to create new technologies based on scientific research and companies that are not available in the West. At the same time, we must understand that we must develop education. I do this at my small university. There are 200 schoolchildren, 240 bachelor students, 150 master students, 40 graduate students. We teach physics, mathematics, programming, the basics of biology and medicine, condensed matter physics, of course, and our heterostructures, their application in electronics. It is difficult for the children, but in the end they study well. Science is created from the synthesis of close areas, as it was before, is now and will be in the future. The win here can only be if you can train and correctly guess these directions. And a real scientist should always teach. There may be exceptions, but as a rule he should teach.

- And university professors should be engaged in scientific work?

- And the teacher should be engaged in scientific work. This is what we do at the university. If a person has a penchant for teaching, he may have a smaller volume research work. But it is necessary to do both. As for education, it should be free, and this was our achievement in Soviet time. How can you take money for this and give an advantage to people not at all for their abilities?

— Zhores Ivanovich, a couple more questions about the current activities of the Academy. Now FASO is evaluating the performance of scientific institutions and divides them into three categories. What do you think about it?

— Negatively. As well as the work on the distribution of scientists by class and by level, depending on how many publications they have and in which journals. I can say that I would be in a very weak group if I were judged by the publications for which I received the Nobel Prize. For example, in St. Petersburg there are institutes in the field of physiology and biomedical research. How can one compare, say, the Institute of Physiology named after I.P. Pavlov and the Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry named after I.M. Sechenov? These are different institutes, with different areas of physiology research. That you separate the institutions that belong to the same branch different categories, there is nothing good. There may be some grievances, the struggle between institutions is unclear for what.

- But the one who falls into the first category will receive more money than the one who ends up in the second.

- I was from February 1989 to December last year the chairman of the St. Petersburg Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Prior to the creation of FASO, the institutes were part of departments and at the same time their work was supervised by our presidium, we organized the interaction of academic institutions with industry institutes and universities. Then, as a result of the reform, it was decided that such centers were not needed. The St. Petersburg Scientific Center remained, but already as a budgetary scientific institution, as a small scientific institute. Last December, Mr. Kotyukov fired me from the post of chairman of the center without even saying "thank you". In our Academy, generally speaking, this is not accepted. I will survive this calmly, but I am talking about this in order to demonstrate the style of work of the head of FANO.

— Now the Duma is actively discussing a new law on science. The Ministry of Education and Science actively defends this law, the Russian Academy of Sciences, on the contrary, opposes it. What do you think of this law?

— I do not think that it is necessary to change the current law on science, adopted in 1996. There is nothing wrong with him, he responded to the changes that have taken place in the country. And instead of a new law, new amendments should have been adopted, which are dictated by the current state of the economy and cannot be dispensed with.

Let's move on to the Nobel Prizes. For 15 years, Russian scientists, if you do not take into account Andrey Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, have not received a single award. You mentioned several times that, say, latest awards in chemistry were presented as research in the field of biochemistry, but we do not have such a class of work. Are there any studies and scientists in Russia now who could receive the Nobel Prize?

– I can’t immediately name the Nobel-level works performed in Russia by Russian scientists, neither in physics, nor in chemistry, nor in physiology or medicine. Geim and Novoselov are great, they have a good work on graphene, but it is completely done abroad. Our last Nobel Prize was awarded in 2003 to Vitaly Ginzburg and Alexei Abrikosov for their work on the theory of superconductivity in the 1950s. I received the Nobel Prize for work done in the late 60s.

We often say that the Nobel Committee did not award prizes to our scientists, although there were worthy works. First of all, I would like to note that all the Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry were awarded to scientists from three institutes: FIAN, Phystech and Physical Problems, there were real world-class scientific schools. Probably, the discovery of electron paramagnetic resonance by Yevgeny Zavoisky and the outstanding work on semiconductor optics, including the prediction and discovery of the "exciton" by Yakov Frenkel, Yevgeny Gross and Leonid Keldysh, probably "did not have time" to receive the Nobel Prize.

— You say that among scientists living in Russia there is no one to award Nobel Prizes. Should the state return those who went to work abroad? Are government programs necessary?

- First of all, I do not say anything about the awarding of Nobel Prizes and I have no right to talk about it. Those who have left and are successfully working abroad, as a rule, already have family, friends and a position there. They will come to us if they are paid a lot of money, do the work on a grant and go back. Those who did not succeed there, they are not needed here either.

“But there are successful scientists who come back themselves. For example, crystallographer Artem Oganov, who successfully worked in the USA, China, and then returned to Russia. And, according to him, he lives here very well.

“Scientists can come individually, but introduce a program for the return of our scientists who have gone abroad… I would not do that. I repeat, the one who was successful there will come to us only for a big grant and leave again. The one who could not do anything there is not needed here either. So no government program is needed. First of all, it is necessary to change the level of salaries for scientific workers. Because today they are very low.

- The leaders of FANO and the Ministry of Education and Science usually answer that those who want to earn decent money, and so earn. There are grants and programs for this. And those who do not really want to earn, get their 15 thousand.

- You can earn money in different ways. There are scientists who receive five grants for the same work from different grant holders. And there are many such people. Yes, they make money, but how? When a person receives five grants for one job, he is a crook. There are major scientific projects in which we must participate in order to advance science. In Soviet times, we could afford to participate in a number of large projects. Today, participation in such projects must be approached extremely carefully. In many cases it is much more profitable to take part in a Western project than to do it here. These decisions should be made by the Academy of Sciences.

In my opinion, it is also wrong that the Kurchatov Institute, a good scientific institute, has become a second scientific center, trying to play the role a la the Academy of Sciences. When the Kurchatov Institute began to include institutions that had nothing to do with its profile. We know why this is being done. Look at how much money there is for a researcher at the Kurchatov Institute and at the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Is it right? And if you try to name the largest scientific achievements, then neither the Russian Academy of Sciences nor the Kurchatov Institute has anything to brag about. The RAS has even more grounds for such boasting.

“Now the digitalization of science, education, everything in the world is gaining momentum. Everyone is discussing blockchain, cryptocurrencies. What do you think of it? How will the face of science and the scientist change?

- First of all, researchers, including the creators of the digital economy and digitalization, should approach this matter very carefully. From my point of view, a big team of crooks is starting to work. Need to figure it out. Cryptocurrencies are a prime example of a team of crooks. Today, unfortunately, the principle of receiving large additional funds, not necessarily for worthy projects, is becoming popular among scientists. And in digitalization, this can happen even more often than in other areas.

Zhores Alferov is a living legend of Russian science. A scientist whose discoveries became the basis for the creation of modern electronic devices. Our world is no longer imaginable without lasers, semiconductors, LEDs and fiber optic networks. All this became available to mankind thanks to the inventions of Zhores Alferov and the young scientists he brought up.

The merits of the Russian (in the past - Soviet) physicist are highly noted in all corners of the Earth and even in space. Asteroid (3884) Alferov bears the name of the laureate Nobel Prize, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and honorary member of international scientific communities.

Childhood and youth

The childhood of the scientist fell on difficult years. The world has changed a lot since the youngest son was born in the family of communists Ivan Karpovich Alferov and Anna Vladimirovna Rosenblum. The parents named their eldest son Marx (he died in last days Korsun-Shevchenkovsky battle), and the youngest was named in honor of Jean Zhores, the leader of the French socialists.

Zhores Alferov's family: parents and brother

Born on March 15, 1930 in Vitebsk, the child managed to travel around the construction sites of Stalingrad, Novosibirsk, Barnaul and Syasstroy with his parents before the war. If the Alferov family had stayed in Belarus, then world science could have suffered a huge loss without ever knowing about him. The nationality of Anna Rosenblum would have caused the death of both mother and son at the hands of the Nazis.

During the Second World War, the family lived in the Sverdlovsk region, but the future scientist did not have a chance to study normally at school at that time. However, upon his return to Minsk, Zhores quickly made up for lost time. Finished school with a gold medal. Now this school is called Gymnasium No. 42 and bears the name of a famous student.

Physics teacher Yakov Borisovich Meltserzon noticed the young man's abilities and recommended him to enter the energy department of the Belarusian Polytechnic University. Having decided on the range of scientific interests, Alferov transferred to LETI. In 1952 he began his scientific career.

The science

The graduate dreamed of working at the Phystech under the guidance of Abram Fedorovich Ioffe. The Physico-Technical Institute was a legend in the post-war period. It was jokingly called "Joffe's kindergarten" - it was there that young people grew up, and. There, Zhores Ivanovich became part of the team that created the first Soviet transistors.

Transistors became the topic for the Ph.D. thesis of a young scientist. Subsequently, Zhores Ivanovich switched to the study of heterostructures (artificial crystals) and the movement of light and other types of radiation in them. In his laboratory, they worked with lasers, already in 1970 they created the world's first solar batteries there. They were equipped with satellites, they supplied electricity to the Mir orbital station.

Classes in applied science went in parallel with teaching work. Zhores Ivanovich wrote books and articles. He headed the department of optoelectronics and personally selected students. Schoolchildren keen on physics attended his annual lecture courses "Physics and Life".

Now at the Academic University, whose permanent rector is Zhores Alferov, there is a lyceum "Physico-Technical School". The lyceum is the lower level of a scientific and educational institution, which also includes a powerful research center. The academician sees the future of Russian science in lyceum students.

“The future of Russia is science and technology, not the sale of raw materials. And the future of the country is not with the oligarchs, but with one of my students.”

This quote from public speaking Zhores Ivanovich reveals the scientist's belief in the victory of an inquisitive mind over the desire for enrichment.

Personal life

Perhaps the first scientific successes of the scientist contributed to the failure in his personal life. The first marriage of Zhores Ivanovich broke up with a scandal. The beautiful wife, with the help of influential Georgian relatives, sued her husband's Leningrad apartment during the divorce. Only a motorcycle and a folding bed remained in Alferov’s property, on which he spent the night in the laboratory. The rupture of relations led to the complete loss of the father-daughter relationship.

The second scientist married only in 1967, and this marriage has stood the test of time. Together with Tamara Darskaya, Zhores raised her daughter Irina and their common son Ivan. The birth of a son coincided with another event in his biography - receiving the Lenin Prize. The children have grown up a long time ago, Zhores Ivanovich managed to become a grandfather. He has two grandsons and a granddaughter.

Last years

The authority of the scientist in world science is based on more than 500 scientific papers and almost a hundred inventions. But the activity of the Nobel laureate was not limited to physics. In the summer of 2017, within the walls of Samara University, the academician gave an open lecture on the topic: “Albert Einstein, socialism and modern world”, where he revealed the issues of interaction between scientists and rulers.

In his speeches, the scientist called the state of science in Russia horrendous and defended the rights of the Russian Academy of Sciences to self-government and decent funding. The scientist believed that the state should provide citizens with free healthcare, education and housing, otherwise this structure is useless.

Zhores Ivanovich was directly involved in government. Back in 1989, he was elected People's Deputy of the USSR from the Academy of Sciences. Since then, the academician has been constantly elected to the Russian Duma, actively defending the interests of scientists and ordinary citizens.

In August 2017, Forbes magazine included Zhores Alferov in the top 100 most influential Russians of the last century. Despite his considerable age, the Nobel laureate looked cheerful and self-confident in videos and photos.

Death

March 2, 2019 Zhores Alferov at the age of 88. As the head physician of the hospital told reporters Russian Academy Sci. Oleg Chagunava, the cause of death of the Nobel laureate was acute cardiopulmonary failure. On the eve of Alferov, he was observed by doctors for several months complaining of hypertension.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation took over the organization of the funeral of the famous physicist.

Awards and achievements

1959 - Order of the Badge of Honor
1971 - Stuart Ballantyne Medal (USA)
1972 - Lenin Prize
1975 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor
1978 - Hewlett-Packard Prize (European Physical Society)
1980 - Order of the October Revolution
1984 - USSR State Prize
1986 - Order of Lenin
1987 - Heinrich Welker Gold Medal (GaAs Symposium)
1989 - Karpinsky Prize (Germany)
1993 - XLIX Mendeleev reader
1996 - A. F. Ioffe Prize (RAS)
1998 - Honorary Doctor of St. Petersburg State Unitary Enterprise
1999 - Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree
1999 - Demidov Prize (Scientific Demidov Foundation)
1999 - A. S. Popov Gold Medal (RAS)
2000 - Nobel Prize (Sweden)
2000 - Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree
2000 - Nick Holonyak Award (Optical Society of America)
2001 - Order of Francysk Skaryna (Belarus)
2001 - Kyoto Prize (Japan)
2001 - V. I. Vernadsky Prize (Ukraine)
2001 - Prize "Russian National Olympus". Title "Legend Man"
2002 - State Prize of the Russian Federation
2002 - SPIE Gold Medal
2002 - Golden Plate Award (USA)
2003 - Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class (Ukraine)
2005 - Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st class
2005 - International Energy Prize "Global Energy"
2008 - Title and medal of Honorary Professor of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
2009 - Order of Friendship of Peoples (Belarus)
2010 - Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree
2010 - Medal "For contribution to the development of nanoscience and nanotechnology" from UNESCO
2011 - Title "Honorary Doctor of the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University"
2013 - International Prize Carl Boer
2015 - Order of Alexander Nevsky
2015 - Gold medal named after Nizami Ganjavi (Azerbaijan)
2015 - Title "Honorary Professor of MIET"

Zhores Ivanovich Alferov (born March 15, 1930) is an outstanding Russian physicist, Nobel Prize winner in 2000.

Until that day, Russian scientists have owned eight Nobel Prizes, the same number, for example, as the Danes (Nikolai Semyonov - Prize in Chemistry for 1956; Ilya Frank, Igor Tamm, Pavel Cherenkov - Prize in Physics for 1958; Lev Landau - 1962; Alexander Prokhorov, Nikolai Basov - 1964; Pyotr Kapitsa - 1978). And now - the success of Alferov.

True, even here it was not so much without a fly in the ointment, but not without a small psychological splinter: Zhores Ivanovich, paired with Herbert Kroemer, will share the prize of $ 1 million in half with Jack Kilby. By decision of the Nobel Committee, Alferov and Kilby were awarded the Nobel Prize (one for two) for "work on obtaining semiconductor structures that can be used for ultrafast computers." (It is curious that the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1958 also had to be divided between the Soviet physicists Pavel Cherenkov and Ilya Frank, and for 1964 between, again, the Soviet physicists Alexander Prokhorov and Nikolai Basov.) Another American, an employee of the corporation " Texas Instruments, Jack Kilby, awarded for his work in the field of integrated circuits.

So, who is he, the new Russian Nobel laureate?

Zhores Ivanovich Alferov was born in the Belarusian city of Vitebsk. After 1935 the family moved to the Urals. In the city of Turinsk, A. went to school from the fifth to the eighth grades. On May 9, 1945, his father, Ivan Karpovich Alferov, was assigned to Minsk, where A. graduated from the men's high school No. 42 with a gold medal. He became a student of the Faculty of Electronic Engineering (FET) of the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute (LETI) named after. IN AND. Ulyanov on the advice of the school teacher of physics, Yakov Borisovich Meltserzon.

In his third year, A. went to work in the vacuum laboratory of Professor B.P. Kozyrev. There he began experimental work under the guidance of Natalia Nikolaevna Sozina. From his student years, A. attracted other students to participate in scientific research. So, in 1950, semiconductors became the main business of his life.

In 1953, after graduating from LETI, A. was hired by the Physico-Technical Institute. A.F. Ioffe to the laboratory of V.M. Tuchkevich. In the first half of the 1950s, the institute was given the task of creating domestic semiconductor devices for implementation in the domestic industry. The laboratory was faced with the task of obtaining single crystals of pure germanium and creating planar diodes and triodes on its basis. With the participation of A. developed the first domestic transistors and germanium power devices. For the complex of work carried out in 1959, A. received the first government award, he defended his Ph.D. thesis, which summed up the ten-year work.

After that, before Zh.I. Alferov raised the question of choosing a further direction of research. The accumulated experience allowed him to move on to the development own theme. In those years, the idea of using heterojunctions in semiconductor technology was put forward. The creation of perfect structures based on them could lead to a qualitative leap in physics and technology.

At that time, in many journal publications and at various scientific conferences, it was repeatedly said that there were no prospects for carrying out work in this direction, since. numerous attempts to implement devices based on heterojunctions did not lead to practical results. The reason for the failures lay in the difficulty of creating a transition close to ideal, identifying and obtaining the necessary heteropairs.

But this did not stop Zhores Ivanovich. He based his technological research on epitaxial methods, which make it possible to control such fundamental parameters of a semiconductor as the band gap, electron affinity, effective mass of current carriers, refractive index, etc. within a single single crystal.

GaAs and AlAs were suitable for an ideal heterojunction, but the latter oxidized almost instantly in air. So, it was necessary to choose another partner. And he was found right there, at the institute, in the laboratory headed by N.A. Goryunova. It turned out to be a ternary AIGaAs compound. This is how the GaAs/AIGaAs heteropair, now widely known in the world of microelectronics, was determined. Zh.I. Alferov and his collaborators not only created heterostructures in the AlAs - GaAs system, close in their properties to the ideal model, but also the world's first semiconductor heterolaser operating in a continuous mode at room temperature.

Discovery of Zh.I. Alferov ideal heterojunctions and new physical phenomena- "superinjection", electronic and optical confinement in heterostructures - also made it possible to radically improve the parameters of most known semiconductor devices and create fundamentally new ones, especially promising for use in optical and quantum electronics. New stage studies of heterojunctions in semiconductors Zhores Ivanovich summarized in his doctoral dissertation, which he successfully defended in 1970.

The works of Zh.I. Alferov were duly appreciated by international and domestic science. In 1971, the Franklin Institute (USA) awarded him the prestigious Ballantyne Medal, called the "Small Nobel Prize" and established to reward best work in the field of physics. Then comes the most high reward USSR - Lenin Prize (1972).

Using the developed by Zh.I. Alferov in the 70s of the technology of highly efficient, radiation-resistant solar cells based on AIGaAs / GaAs heterostructures in Russia (for the first time in the world) organized a large-scale production of heterostructural solar cells for space batteries. One of them, installed in 1986 on the Mir space station, worked in orbit for the entire period of operation without a significant decrease in power.

On the basis of those proposed in 1970 by Zh.I. Alferov and his collaborators of ideal transitions in multicomponent InGaAsP compounds have created semiconductor lasers operating in a much wider spectral region than lasers in the AIGaAs system. They found wide application as radiation sources in long-range fiber-optic communication lines.

In the early 90s, one of the main areas of work carried out under the leadership of Zh.I. Alferov, is getting and studying the properties of low-dimensional nanostructures: quantum wires and quantum dots.

In 1993...1994, for the first time in the world, heterolasers based on structures with quantum dots - "artificial atoms" were realized. In 1995 Zh.I. Alferov and his collaborators demonstrate for the first time an injection quantum dot heterolaser operating in a continuous mode at room temperature. It has become fundamentally important to expand the spectral range of lasers using quantum dots on GaAs substrates. Thus, the studies of Zh.I. Alferov laid the foundations for a fundamentally new electronics based on heterostructures with a very wide range of applications, known today as “zone engineering”.

The award has found a hero

In one of his numerous interviews (1984) to a correspondent's question: “According to rumors, you have now been nominated for the Nobel Prize. Isn't it a shame that you didn't get it? Zhores Ivanovich replied: “I heard that they had been introduced more than once. Practice shows that either it is given to a rhinestone after opening (in my case, this is the mid-70s), or already in old age. So it was with P.L. Kapitsa. So, I still have everything ahead of me.”

Here Zhores Ivanovich made a mistake. As they say, the award found the hero before the onset of old age. On October 10, 2000, all Russian television programs announced the award of Zh.I. Alferov Nobel Prize in Physics for 2000.

Modern information systems must meet two simple but fundamental requirements: to be fast so that a large amount of information can be transferred in a short period of time, and compact to fit in the office, at home, in a briefcase or pocket.

With their discoveries, the 2000 Nobel laureates in physics created the basis for such modern technology. Zhores I. Alferov and Herbert Kremer discovered and developed fast opto- and microelectronic components, which are created on the basis of multilayer semiconductor heterostructures.

Heterolasers transmit and heteroreceivers receive information streams via fiber-optic communication lines. Heterolasers can also be found in CD players, label decoders, laser pointers, and many other devices.

Based on heterostructures, high-power, high-performance light-emitting diodes have been created that are used in displays, brake lights in cars, and traffic lights. In heterostructural solar batteries, which are widely used in space and ground energy, record-breaking efficiency of converting solar energy into electrical energy has been achieved.

Jack Kilby was awarded for his contribution to the discovery and development of integrated circuits, thanks to which microelectronics began to develop rapidly, which, along with optoelectronics, is the basis of all modern technology.

Teacher, educate a student...

In 1973, A., with the support of the rector of LETI A.A. Vavilov, organized the basic department of optoelectronics (EO) at the Faculty of Electronic Engineering of the Physico-Technical Institute. A.F. Ioffe.

In an incredibly short time Zh.I. Alferov is ashamed of B.P. Zakharchenei and other scientists of the Physicotechnical Institute developed a curriculum for the training of engineers in the new department. It provided for the training of first and second year students within the walls of LETI, since the level of physical and mathematical training at FET was high and created a good foundation for studying special disciplines, which, starting from the third year, were read by the scientists of the Physicotechnical Institute on its territory. In the same place, using the latest technological and analytical equipment, laboratory workshops were carried out, as well as course and diploma projects under the guidance of teachers of the basic department.

Admission of students for the first year in the amount of 25 people was carried out through entrance exams, and the recruitment of groups for the second and third courses for studying at the Department of OE took place from students studying at the Faculty of Economics and the Department of Dielectrics and Semiconductors of the Faculty of Electrophysics. The commission for the selection of students was headed by Zhores Ivanovich. Of the approximately 250 students enrolled in each course, 25 of the best were selected. On September 15, 1973, classes began for students of the second and third courses. For this, an excellent teaching staff was selected.

Zh.I. Alferov is very great attention paid and pays to the formation of a contingent of first-year students. On his initiative, in the first years of the department's work, annual schools "Physics and Life" were held during the spring school holidays. Its listeners were students of the graduating classes of schools in Leningrad. On the recommendation of teachers of physics and mathematics, the most gifted students were invited to take part in the work of this school. Thus, a group of 30 ... 40 people was recruited. They were housed in the institute's pioneer camp "Star". All expenses related to accommodation, meals and services for schoolchildren were covered by our university.

All of its lecturers, led by Zh.I. Alferov. Everything was solemn and very homely. Zhores Ivanovich gave the first lecture. He spoke so fascinatingly about physics, electronics, heterostructures that everyone listened to him as if spellbound. But even after the lecture, communication between Zh.I. Alferova with the guys. Surrounded by them, he walked around the camp, played snowballs, fooled around. How informally he treated this "event" is evidenced by the fact that on these trips Zhores Ivanovich took his wife Tamara Georgievna and son Vanya ...

The results of the work of the school were not slow to tell. In 1977, the first graduation of engineers in the department of OE took place, the number of graduates who received honors degrees at the faculty doubled. One group of students of this department gave as many "red" diplomas as the other seven groups.

In 1988, Zh.I. Alferov organized the Faculty of Physics and Technology at the Polytechnic Institute.

The next logical step was to combine these structures under one roof. To implement this idea Zh.I. Alferov started in the early 90s. At the same time, he did not just build the building of the Scientific and Educational Center, he laid the foundation for the future revival of the country ... And on September 1, 1999, the building of the Scientific and Educational Center (REC) went into operation.

On that stands and will stand the Russian land ...

Alferov always remains himself. In dealing with ministers and students, directors of enterprises and ordinary people, he is equally equal. It does not adapt to the first, does not rise above the second, but always defends its point of view with conviction.

Zh.I. Alferov is always busy. His work schedule is scheduled a month in advance, and the weekly work cycle is as follows: Monday morning - Phystech (he is its director), the afternoon - St. Petersburg Scientific Center (he is chairman); Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - Moscow (he is a member of the State Duma and vice-president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, besides, numerous issues need to be resolved in the ministries) or St. Petersburg (also issues above their heads); Friday morning - Phystech, afternoon - Research and Education Center (Director). These are only large strokes, and between them - scientific work, management of the department of OE at ETU and the Faculty of Physics and Technology at TU, lecturing, participation in conferences. Do not count everything!

Our laureate is an excellent lecturer and storyteller. It is no coincidence that all the news agencies of the world noted Alferov's Nobel lecture, which he read at English language without outline and with its inherent brilliance.

When presenting the Nobel Prizes, there is a tradition when at the banquet, which is arranged by the King of Sweden in honor of the Nobel Laureates (at which there are over a thousand guests), only one laureate from each "nomination" is given the floor. In 2000, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three people: Zh.I. Alferov, Herbert Kremer and Jack Kilby. So the last two persuaded Zhores Ivanovich to speak at this banquet. And he fulfilled this request brilliantly, successfully beating our Russian habit of doing “one favorite thing” for three in his word.

In his book "Physics and Life" Zh.I. Alferov, in particular, writes: “Everything that has been created by mankind has been created thanks to science. And if our country is destined to be a great power, then it will not be thanks to nuclear weapons or Western investment, not thanks to faith in God or the President, but thanks to the work of its people, faith in knowledge, in science, thanks to the preservation and development of scientific potential and education.

As a ten-year-old boy, I read a wonderful book by Veniamin Kaverin "Two Captains". And all my subsequent life I followed the principle of its protagonist Sanya Grigoriev: "Fight and seek, find and not give up." True, it is very important to understand what you are doing.”

– 1978). And now - the success of Alferov.

So, who is he, the new Russian Nobel laureate?

Zhores Ivanovich Alferov was born in the Belarusian city of Vitebsk. After 1935 the family moved to the Urals. In the city of Turinsk, A. went to school from the fifth to the eighth grades. On May 9, 1945, his father, Ivan Karpovich Alferov, was assigned to Minsk, where A. graduated from the male secondary school No. 42 with a gold medal. He became a student of the Faculty of Electronic Engineering (FET) of the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute (LETI) named after. IN AND. Ulyanov on the advice of the school teacher of physics, Yakov Borisovich Meltserzon.

After that, before Zh.I. Alferov raised the question of choosing a further direction of research. The accumulated experience allowed him to move on to developing his own theme. In those years, the idea of using heterojunctions in semiconductor technology was put forward. The creation of perfect structures based on them could lead to a qualitative leap in physics and technology.

Discovery of Zh.I. Alferov ideal heterojunctions and new physical phenomena - "superinjection", electronic and optical confinement in heterostructures - also made it possible to radically improve the parameters of most known semiconductor devices and create fundamentally new ones, especially promising for applications in optical and quantum electronics. Zhores Ivanovich summarized the new stage of research on heterojunctions in semiconductors in his doctoral dissertation, which he successfully defended in 1970.

The works of Zh.I. Alferov were duly appreciated by international and domestic science. In 1971, the Franklin Institute (USA) awarded him the prestigious Ballantyne Medal, called the "small Nobel Prize" and established to reward the best work in the field of physics. This is followed by the highest award of the USSR - the Lenin Prize (1972).

On the basis of those proposed in 1970 by Zh.I. Alferov and his collaborators of ideal transitions in multicomponent InGaAsP compounds have created semiconductor lasers operating in a much wider spectral region than lasers in the AIGaAs system. They have found wide application as radiation sources in long-distance fiber-optic communication lines.

The award has found a hero

With their discoveries, the 2000 Nobel Laureates in Physics created the basis for such modern technology. Zhores I. Alferov and Herbert Kremer discovered and developed fast opto- and microelectronic components, which are created on the basis of multilayer semiconductor heterostructures.

Teacher, educate a student...

Zh.I. Alferov paid and continues to pay great attention to the formation of a contingent of first-year students. On his initiative, in the first years of the department's work, annual schools "Physics and Life" were held during the spring school holidays. Its listeners were students of the graduating classes of schools in Leningrad. On the recommendation of teachers of physics and mathematics, the most gifted students were invited to take part in the work of this school. Thus, a group of 30 ... 40 people was recruited. They were housed in the institute's pioneer camp "Star". All expenses related to accommodation, meals and services for schoolchildren were covered by our university.

In 1988, Zh.I. Alferov organized the Faculty of Physics and Technology at the Polytechnic Institute.

On that stands and will stand the Russian land ...

Zh.I. Alferov is always busy. His work schedule is scheduled a month in advance, and the weekly work cycle is as follows: Monday morning - Phystech (he is its director), the afternoon - St. Petersburg Scientific Center (he is chairman); Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - Moscow (he is a member of the State Duma and vice-president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, besides, numerous issues need to be resolved in the ministries) or St. Petersburg (also issues above their heads); Friday morning - Phystech, afternoon - Research and Education Center (Director). These are only major touches, and between them - scientific work, leadership of the Department of OE at ETU and the Faculty of Physics and Technology at TU, lecturing, participation in conferences. Do not count everything!

Our laureate is an excellent lecturer and storyteller. It is no coincidence that all the news agencies of the world noted Alferov's Nobel lecture, which he read in English without an outline and with its inherent brilliance.

In his book "Physics and Life" Zh.I. Alferov, in particular, writes: “Everything that has been created by mankind has been created thanks to science. And if our country is destined to be a great power, then it will be so not thanks to nuclear weapons or Western investments, not thanks to faith in God or the President, but thanks to the work of its people, faith in knowledge, in science, thanks to the preservation and development of scientific potential and education.

Born March 15, 1930 in Vitebsk in the family of Ivan Karpovich and Anna Vladimirovna Alferov, natives of Belarus. The father of an eighteen-year-old boy came to St. Petersburg in 1912. He worked as a loader in the port, a laborer at an envelope factory, a worker at the Lessner plant (later the Karl Marx Plant). In World War I, he rose to the rank of non-commissioned officer of the Life Guards, becoming a Knight of St. George.

In September 1917, I.K. Alferov joined the Bolshevik Party and remained faithful to the ideals chosen in his youth for the rest of his life. This, in particular, is evidenced by the bitter words of Zhores Ivanovich himself: “I am happy that my parents did not live to see this time” (1994). During the Civil War, I.K. Alferov commanded a cavalry regiment of the Red Army, met with V.I. Lenin, L.D. Trotsky, B.B. Dumenko. After graduating from the Industrial Academy in 1935, he went from factory director to trust head: Stalingrad, Novosibirsk, Barnaul, Syasstroy (near Leningrad), Turinsk (Sverdlovsk region, war years), Minsk (after the war). Ivan Karpovich was characterized by internal decency and intolerance to indiscriminate condemnation of people.

Anna Vladimirovna had a clear mind and great worldly wisdom, largely inherited by her son. She worked in the library, headed the council of social women.

Zh.I. Alferov with his parents, Anna Vladimirovna and Ivan Karpovich (1954).

The couple, like most people of that generation, firmly believed in revolutionary ideas. Then there was a fashion to give children sonorous revolutionary names. Younger son became Zhores in honor of the French revolutionary Jean Zhores, and the eldest became Marx, in honor of the founder of scientific communism. Zhores and Marx were director's children, which means that it was necessary to be an example both in studies and in public life.

The Moloch of repression bypassed the Alferov family, but the war took its toll. Marks Alferov finished school on June 21, 1941 in Syasstroy. He entered the Ural Industrial Institute at the Faculty of Energy, but studied for only a few weeks, and then decided that it was his duty to defend the Motherland. Stalingrad, Kharkov, Kursk Bulge, severe head wound. In October 1943, he spent three days with his family in Sverdlovsk, when he returned to the front after the hospital. And these three days, front-line stories of his older brother, his passionate youthful faith in the power of science and engineering, Zhores remembered for a lifetime. Guards junior lieutenant Marks Ivanovich Alferov died in battle in the “second Stalingrad” - that was the name of the Korsun-Shevchenko operation then.

In 1956 Zhores came to Ukraine to find his brother's grave. In Kyiv, on the street, he unexpectedly met his colleague B.P. Zakharchenya, who later became one of his closest friends. We agreed to go together. We bought tickets for the boat and the very next day we were sailing down the Dnieper to Kanev in a double cabin. We found the village of Khilki, near which Marx Alferov furiously repelled an attempt by selected German divisions get out of the Korsun-Shevchenko "boiler". They found a mass grave with a white plaster soldier on a pedestal, rising above the lushly overgrown grass, in which simple flowers were interspersed, which are usually planted on Russian graves: marigolds, pansies, forget-me-nots.

In the destroyed Minsk, Zhores studied at the only at that time Russian male secondary school No. 42, where there was a wonderful physics teacher - Yakov Borisovich Meltserzon. There was no physics classroom at school, but Yakov Borisovich, who was in love with physics, knew how to convey to his students his attitude to his favorite subject, so they never played naughty in a rather hooligan class. Zhores, amazed by the story of Yakov Borisovich about the operation of a cathode oscilloscope and the principles of radar, went in 1947 to study in Leningrad, at the Electrotechnical Institute, although his gold medal opened up the possibility of entering any institute without exams. Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute (LETI) im. V.I. Ulyanov (Lenin) was an institution with a unique name: it mentions both the real surname and the party nickname of a person whose part of the population former USSR now he doesn’t really respect it (nowadays it is St. Petersburg State Electrotechnical University).

The foundation of science at LETI, which played an outstanding role in the development of domestic electronics and radio engineering, was laid by such "whales" as Alexander Popov, Heinrich Graftio, Axel Berg, Mikhail Shatelen. Zhores Ivanovich, according to him, was very lucky with the first supervisor. In the third year, considering that mathematics and theoretical disciplines are easy, and "hands" need to learn a lot, he went to work in the vacuum laboratory of Professor B.P. Kozyrev. There, having begun experimental work in 1950 under the guidance of Natalia Nikolaevna Sozina, who had recently defended her thesis on the study of semiconductor photodetectors in the IR region of the spectrum, Zh.I. Alferov first encountered semiconductors, which became the main business of his life. The first monograph on the physics of semiconductors studied was the book by F.F. In December 1952, distribution took place. Zh.I. Alferov dreamed of the Fiztekh, headed by Abram Fedorovich Ioffe, whose monograph "Basic Concepts of Modern Physics" became a reference book for the young scientist. During the distribution, there were three vacancies, and one went to Zh.I. Alferov. Zhores Ivanovich wrote much later that his happy life in science was predetermined precisely by this distribution. In a letter to his parents in Minsk, he told about the great happiness that fell to him to work at the Ioffe Institute. Zhores did not yet know that two months earlier Abram Fedorovich was forced to leave the institute he had created, where he had been director for more than 30 years.

Systematic studies of semiconductors at the Physico-Technical Institute began as early as the 1930s. last century. In 1932 V.P.Zhuze and B.V.Kurchatov investigated intrinsic and impurity conductivity of semiconductors. In the same year, A.F. Ioffe and Ya.I. Frenkel created a theory of current rectification at a metal-semiconductor contact, based on the phenomenon of tunneling. In 1931 and 1936 Ya.I. Frenkel published his famous works, in which he predicted the existence of excitons in semiconductors, introducing this term itself and developing the theory of excitons. First diffusion theory of rectifier p–n-transition, which became the basis of the theory p–n-transition by V. Shockley, was published by B.I. Davydov in 1939. At the initiative of A.F. At the Physicotechnical Institute, studies of intermetallic compounds began.

On January 30, 1953, Zh.I. Alferov began to work with a new supervisor, at that time the head of the sector, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences Vladimir Maksimovich Tuchkevich. A very important task was set before a small team of the sector: the creation of the first domestic germanium diodes and transistors with p–n junctions (see "Physics" No. 40/2000, V.V. Randoshkin. Transistor). The theme "Plane" was entrusted by the government in parallel to four institutes: FIAN and FTI at the Academy of Sciences, TsNII-108 - the main radar institute of the Ministry of Defense in Moscow at that time (headed by Academician A.I. Berg) - and NII-17 - the head Institute of Electronic Technology in Fryazino, near Moscow.

Phystech in 1953, by today's standards, was a small institute. Zh.I. Alferov received a pass number 429 (which meant the number of all employees of the institute at that time). Then most of the famous physics and technology specialists went to Moscow to I.V. Kurchatov and to other newly created "atomic" centers. The "semiconductor elite" went with A.F. Ioffe to the newly organized semiconductor laboratory at the presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Only D.N. Nasledov, B.T. Kolomiets and V.M. Tuchkevich remained at the FTI from the “older” generation of “semiconductors”.

The new director of the LPTI, academician A.P. Komar, is far from in the best way behaved in relation to his predecessor, but in the development of the institute he chose a completely reasonable strategy. The main attention was paid to the support of works on the creation of a qualitatively new semiconductor electronics, space research (high-velocity gas dynamics and high-temperature coatings - Yu.A. Dunaev) and the development of methods for the separation of light isotopes for hydrogen weapons(B.P. Konstantinov). Purely fundamental research was not forgotten either: it was at this time that the exciton was experimentally discovered (E.F. Gross), the foundations of the kinetic theory of strength were created (S.N. Zhurkov), work began on the physics of atomic collisions (V.M. Dukelsky, K. .V. Fedorenko). A brilliant report by E.F. Gross on the discovery of the exciton was made at the first Semiconductor Seminar for Zh.I. Alferov at the Phystech in February 1953. their first steps.

The directorate of the Institute of Physics and Technology was well aware of the need to attract young people to science, and each incoming young specialist was interviewed by the directorate. It was at this time that the future members of the USSR Academy of Sciences B.P. Zakharchenya, A.A. Kaplinsky, E.P. Mazets, V.V.

At Phystech, Zh.I. Alferov very quickly supplemented his engineering and technical education with a physical education and became a highly qualified specialist in quantum physics of semiconductor devices. The main thing was the work in the laboratory - Alferov was lucky to be a participant in the birth of Soviet semiconductor electronics. Zhores Ivanovich, as a relic, keeps his laboratory journal of that time with a record of the creation by him on March 5, 1953 of the first Soviet transistor with p–n-transition. Today one can be surprised how a very small team of very young employees under the leadership of V.M. Tuchkevich developed the basics of technology and metrology of transistor electronics within a few months: A.A. transistors with parameters at the level of the best world samples; In this work, to which the team devoted itself with all the passion of youth and consciousness of the highest responsibility to the country, the formation of a young scientist proceeded very quickly and effectively, understanding the significance of technology not only for the creation of new electronic devices, but also for physical research, the role and significance of "small" , at first glance, the details in the experiment, the need to understand the "simple" foundations before putting forward "highly scientific" explanations for unsuccessful results.

Already in May 1953, the first Soviet transistor receivers were demonstrated to the "high authorities", and in October a government commission accepted the work in Moscow. Physicotechnical Institute, Lebedev Physical Institute and TsNII-108, using different methods of designing and manufacturing technologies for transistors, successfully solved the problem, and only NII-17, blindly copying well-known American samples, failed the work. True, the first semiconductor institute in the country, NII-35, created on the basis of one of his laboratories, was entrusted with the development of industrial technology for transistors and diodes with p–n-transitions, with which they successfully coped.

In subsequent years, the small team of "semiconductors" of the PTI noticeably expanded, and in a very short time, the first Soviet germanium power rectifiers, germanium photodiodes and silicon solar cells were created in the laboratory of the doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, professor V.M. Tuchkevich, the behavior of impurities in germanium and silicon.

In May 1958, Zh.I. Alferov was approached by Anatoly Petrovich Alexandrov, the future president of the USSR Academy of Sciences, with a request to develop semiconductor devices for the first Soviet nuclear submarine. To solve this problem, fundamentally new technology and design of germanium valves were needed. The Deputy Chairman of the Government of the USSR Dmitry Fyodorovich Ustinov personally (!) called the junior researcher. I had to settle directly in the laboratory for two months, and the work was successfully completed in record time: already in October 1958, the devices were on the submarine. For Zhores Ivanovich, even today, the first order received in 1959 for this work is one of the most valuable awards!

Zh.I. Alferov after the presentation of the government award for work commissioned by the USSR Navy

The installation of valves was associated with numerous trips to Severodvinsk. When the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy came to the “acceptance of the topic” and was informed that new germanium valves were now on the submarines, the admiral frowned and asked irritably: “Well, there weren’t any domestic ones?”

In Kirovo-Chepetsk, where the efforts of many employees of the Physicotechnical Institute were working on the separation of lithium isotopes in order to create a hydrogen bomb, Zhores met many remarkable people and vividly described them. B. Zakharchenya remembered such a story about Boris Petrovich Zverev - the bison of the "defense industry" of Stalin's times, the chief engineer of the plant. During the war, in its most difficult time, he led an enterprise engaged in the electrolytic production of aluminum. In the technological process, molasses was used, which was stored in a huge vat right in the workshop. Hungry workers plundered it. Boris Petrovich called the workers to a meeting, delivered a heartfelt speech, then went up the stairs to top edge vat, unbuttoned his pants and urinated in front of everyone into a vat of molasses. This did not affect the technology, but no one was stealing molasses. Zhores was greatly amused by this purely Russian solution of the problem.

For successful work, Zh.I. Alferov was regularly encouraged by cash prizes, and soon received the title of senior researcher. In 1961, he defended his Ph.D. thesis, devoted mainly to the development and research of high-power germanium and partly silicon rectifiers. Note that in these devices, as in all previously created semiconductor devices, unique physical properties p–n-transition - an artificially created impurity distribution in a semiconductor single crystal, in which in one part of the crystal the charge carriers are negatively charged electrons, and in the other - positively charged quasiparticles, "holes" (Latin n and p just mean negative and positive). Since only the type of conductivity differs, and the substance is the same, p–n- the transition can be called homotransition.

Thanks to p–n-transition in crystals succeeded in injecting electrons and holes, and a simple combination of two p–n-transitions made it possible to implement single-crystal amplifiers with good parameters - transistors. The structures with one p–n-transition (diodes and photocells), two p–n-transitions (transistors) and three p–n-transitions (thyristors). All further development of semiconductor electronics followed the path of studying single-crystal structures based on germanium, silicon, semiconductor compounds of the type A III B V (elements III and V of groups of the Periodic Table of Mendeleev). The improvement of the properties of devices proceeded mainly along the path of improving the methods of forming p–n transitions and use of new materials. Replacing germanium with silicon made it possible to raise the operating temperature of devices and create high-voltage diodes and thyristors. Advances in the technology of obtaining gallium arsenide and other optical semiconductors have led to the creation of semiconductor lasers, high-performance light sources and photocells. Combinations of diodes and transistors on a single single-crystal silicon substrate became the basis of integrated circuits, on which the development of electronic computers was based. Miniature, and then microelectronic devices, created mainly on crystalline silicon, literally swept away vacuum tubes, making it possible to reduce the size of devices by hundreds and thousands of times. Suffice it to recall the old computers, which occupied huge premises, and their modern equivalent, a laptop - a computer that resembles a small attaché case, or "diplomat", as it is called in Russia.

But the enterprising, lively mind of Zh.I. Alferov was looking for his way in science. And he was found, despite the extremely difficult life situation. After a lightning-fast first marriage, he had to divorce just as quickly, losing his apartment. As a result of scandals arranged by a ferocious mother-in-law in the party committee of the institute, Zhores settled in the basement room of an old Fiztekhov house.

One of the conclusions of the Ph.D. thesis was that p–n-transition in a semiconductor homogeneous in composition ( homostructure) cannot provide optimal parameters for many devices. It became clear that further progress is connected with the creation p–n- transition at the boundary of semiconductors with different chemical composition ( heterostructures).

In this regard, immediately after the appearance of the first work, which described the operation of a semiconductor laser on a homostructure in gallium arsenide, Zh.I. Alferov put forward the idea of using heterostructures. The filed application for the issuance of a copyright certificate for this invention, according to the laws of that time, was classified. Only after the publication of a similar idea by G. Kremer in the United States, the secrecy was reduced to the level of "confidential use", but the author's certificate was published only many years later.

Homojunction lasers were inefficient due to high optical and electrical losses. The threshold currents were very high, and generation was carried out only at low temperatures. In his article, G.Kroemer proposed to use double heterostructures for the spatial limitation of carriers in the active region. He suggested that "using a pair of heterojunction injectors, lasing can be implemented in many indirect-gap semiconductors and improved in direct-gap ones." In the copyright certificate of Zh.I. Alferov, the possibility of obtaining high density injected carriers and population inversion using "double" injection. It was pointed out that homojunction lasers can provide "continuous lasing at high temperatures”, besides, it is possible “to increase the radiating surface and use new materials to obtain radiation in various regions of the spectrum”.

Initially, the theory developed much faster than the practical implementation of devices. In 1966, Zh.I. Alferov formulated general principles control of electronic and light fluxes in heterostructures. To avoid classification, only rectifiers were mentioned in the title of the article, although the same principles applied to semiconductor lasers. He predicted that the density of injected carriers could be many orders of magnitude higher (the "superinjection" effect).

The idea of using a heterojunction was put forward at the dawn of the development of electronics. Already in the first patent related to transistors on p–n-transition, W. Shockley proposed to use a wide-gap emitter to obtain one-sided injection. Important theoretical results at an early stage in the study of heterostructures were obtained by H. Kroemer, who introduced the concepts of quasi-electric and quasi-magnetic fields in a smooth heterojunction and assumed an extremely high injection efficiency of heterojunctions compared to homojunctions. At the same time, various proposals for the use of heterojunctions in solar cells appeared.

So, the implementation of a heterojunction opened up the possibility of creating more efficient devices for electronics and reducing the size of devices literally to atomic scales. However, many people dissuaded Zh.I. Alferov from engaging in heterojunctions, including V.M. Tuchkevich, who later repeatedly recalled this in speeches and toasts, emphasizing the courage of Zhores Ivanovich and the gift to foresee the development of spiders. At that time, there was general skepticism about the creation of an "ideal" heterojunction, especially with theoretically predictable injection properties. And in the pioneering work of R.L. Andersen on the study of epitaxial ([taxis] means arrangement in order, building) of the Ge–GaAs transition with coinciding lattice constants, there was no evidence of the injection of nonequilibrium carriers in heterostructures.

The maximum effect was expected when using heterojunctions between the semiconductor serving as the active region of the device and a wider-gap semiconductor. At that time, GaP–GaAs and AlAs–GaAs systems were considered as the most promising. For "compatibility", these materials first of all had to satisfy the most important condition: to have close values of the crystal lattice constant.

The fact is that numerous attempts to implement a heterojunction were unsuccessful: after all, not only the sizes of the elementary cells of the crystal lattices of semiconductors that make up the junction should practically coincide, but their thermal, electrical, crystal chemical properties should also be similar, as well as their crystal and band structures.

Such a heteropair could not be found. And Zh.I. Alferov undertook this seemingly hopeless case. The desired heterojunction, as it turned out, could be formed by epitaxial growth, when one single crystal (or rather, its single-crystal film) was grown on the surface of another single crystal literally layer by layer - one single-crystal layer after another. To our time, many methods of such cultivation have been developed. These are the very high technologies that ensure not only the prosperity of electronic companies, but also the comfortable existence of entire countries.

B.P. Zakharchenya recalled that the small working room of Zh.I. Alferov was all littered with rolls of graph paper, on which the tireless Zhores Ivanovich drew composition-property diagrams of multiphase semiconductor compounds from morning to evening in search of mating crystal lattices. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) and aluminum arsenide (AlAs) were suitable for the ideal heterojunction, but the latter oxidized instantly in air, and its use seemed out of the question. However, nature is generous with unexpected gifts, you just need to pick up the keys to its pantries, and not engage in rough hacking, which was called for by the slogan "We cannot wait for favors from nature, it is our task to take them from her." Such keys have already been picked up by Nina Alexandrovna Goryunova, a remarkable specialist in semiconductor chemistry, a physicist at the Physicotechnical Institute, who presented the world with the famous A III B V compounds. She also worked on more complex triple compounds. Zhores Ivanovich always treated Nina Aleksandrovna's talent with great reverence and immediately understood her outstanding role in science.

Initially, an attempt was made to create a GaP 0.15 As 0.85 –GaAs double heterostructure. And it was grown by vapor phase epitaxy, and a laser was formed on it. However, due to a slight discrepancy between the lattice constants, it, like homojunction lasers, could only operate at liquid nitrogen temperature. It became clear to Zh.I. Alferov that it would not be possible to realize the potential advantages of double heterostructures in this way.

Directly with Zhores Ivanovich worked one of the students of Goryunova, Dmitry Tretyakov, a talented scientist with a bohemian soul in its unique Russian version. The author of hundreds of papers, who educated many candidates and doctors of sciences, the winner of the Lenin Prize - the highest recognition of creative merit at that time - did not defend any dissertation. He informed Zhores Ivanovich that aluminum arsenide, which is unstable in itself, is absolutely stable in the ternary compound AlGaAs, the so-called solid solution. This was evidenced by the crystals of this solid solution grown by cooling from the melt by Alexander Borshchevsky, also a student of N.A. Goryunova, and kept in his table for several years. Approximately in this way, in 1967, the GaAs–AlGaAs heteropair, which has now become a classic in the world of microelectronics, was found.

The study of phase diagrams, growth kinetics in this system, as well as the creation of a modified method of liquid-phase epitaxy suitable for growing heterostructures, soon led to the creation of a lattice-matched heterostructure. Zh.I. Alferov recalled: “When we published the first work on this topic, we were happy to consider ourselves the first to discover a unique, in fact ideal, lattice-matched system for GaAs.” However, almost simultaneously (with a delay of a month!) and independently, the Al x Ga 1– x As-GaAs was obtained in the USA by employees of the company IBM.

Since then, the realization of the main advantages of heterostructures has gone rapidly. First of all, the unique injection properties of wide-gap emitters and the superinjection effect were experimentally confirmed, stimulated emission in double heterostructures was demonstrated, and the band structure of the Al heterojunction was established. x Ga 1– x As, the luminescent properties and diffusion of carriers in a smooth heterojunction, as well as extremely interesting features of the current flow through the heterojunction, for example, diagonal tunneling-recombination transitions directly between holes from the narrow-gap and electrons from the wide-gap components of the heterojunction, have been carefully studied.

At the same time, the main advantages of heterostructures were realized by the group of Zh.I. Alferov:

– in low-threshold lasers based on double heterostructures operating at room temperature;

– in high-performance LEDs based on single and double heterostructures;

– in solar cells based on heterostructures;

– in bipolar transistors based on heterostructures;

- in thyristor p–n–p–n heterostructures.

If the ability to control the type of semiconductor conductivity by doping with various impurities and the idea of injecting nonequilibrium charge carriers were the seeds from which semiconductor electronics grew, then heterostructures made it possible to solve a much more general problem of controlling the fundamental parameters of semiconductor crystals and devices, such as the band gap , effective masses of charge carriers and their mobility, refractive index, electronic energy spectrum, etc.

The idea of semiconductor lasers on p–n-transition, experimental observation of effective radiative recombination in p–n- GaAs-based structure with the possibility of stimulated emission and the creation of lasers and light-emitting diodes on p–n-junctions were the grains from which semiconductor optoelectronics began to grow.

In 1967, Zhores Ivanovich was elected head of the department of the Physicotechnical Institute. At the same time, for the first time, he went on a short scientific trip to England, where only theoretical aspects of the physics of heterostructures were discussed, since his British colleagues considered experimental studies unpromising. Although the splendidly equipped laboratories had every opportunity for experimental research, the British did not even think about what they could do. Zhores Ivanovich, with a clear conscience, spent time getting acquainted with the architectural and artistic monuments in London. It was impossible to return without wedding gifts, so I had to visit the "museums material culture”- luxurious compared to Soviet Western stores.

The bride was Tamara Darskaya, daughter of the actor of the Voronezh Musical Comedy Theater Georgy Darsky. She worked in Khimki near Moscow in the space company of Academician VPGlushko. The wedding took place in the restaurant "Roof" in the hotel "European" - at that time it was quite affordable for a candidate of sciences. The family budget also allowed weekly flights on the Leningrad-Moscow route and back (even a student on a scholarship could fly a Tu-104 once or twice a month, since a ticket cost only 11 rubles at the then official rate of 65 kopecks per dollar). Six months later, the couple nevertheless decided that it was better for Tamara Georgievna to move to Leningrad.

And already in 1968, on one of the floors of the "polymer" building of the Physicotechnical Institute, where V.M. Tuchkevich's laboratory was located in those years, the world's first heterolaser was "generated". After that, Zh.I. Alferov said to B.P. Zakharchene: “Borya, I am heterojunction of all semiconductor microelectronics!” In 1968–1969 Zh.I. Alferov's group practically implemented all the main ideas of controlling electronic and light fluxes in classical heterostructures based on the GaAs–AlAs system and showed the advantages of heterostructures in semiconductor devices (lasers, LEDs, solar batteries and transistors). Of course, the most important was the creation of low-threshold lasers operating at room temperature on a double heterostructure, proposed by Zh.I. Alferov back in 1963. American competitors (M.B. Panish and I. Hayashi from Bell Telephone, G.Kressel from RCA), who were aware of the potential advantages of double heterostructures, did not dare to implement them and used homostructures in lasers. Since 1968, a very tough competition really began, primarily with three laboratories of well-known American companies: Bell Telephone, IBM and RCA.

The report of Zh.I. Alferov at the International Conference on Luminescence in Newark (USA) in August 1969, in which the parameters of low-threshold lasers operating at room temperature on double heterostructures, made an impression of an exploding bomb on the American colleagues. Professor Ya. Pankov from RCA, just half an hour before the report, informed Zhores Ivanovich that, unfortunately, there was no permission for his visit to the firm, immediately after the report he discovered that it had been received. Zh.I. Alferov did not deny himself the pleasure of answering that now he has no time, since IBM and Bell Telephone have already been invited to visit their laboratories even before the report. After that, as I. Hayashi wrote, in Bell Telephone redoubled efforts to develop lasers based on double heterostructures.

Seminar in Bell Telephone, inspection of laboratories and discussion (and the American colleagues obviously did not hide, counting on reciprocity, technological details, structures and devices) quite clearly showed the advantages and disadvantages of the LPTI developments. The soon-to-be-ensued rivalry to achieve continuous operation of lasers at room temperature was at the time a rare example of open competition between laboratories from two antagonistic great powers. Zh.I. Alferov with his colleagues won this competition, having outstripped the group of M. Panish from Bell Telephone!

In 1970, Zh.I. Alferov and his colleagues Efim Portnoy, Dmitry Tretyakov, Dmitry Garbuzov, Vyacheslav Andreev, Vladimir Korolkov created the first semiconductor heterolaser operating in a continuous mode at room temperature. Regardless of the cw lasing regime in lasers based on double heterostructures (with a diamond heat sink), Itsuo Hayashi and Morton Panish reported in an article sent to press only a month later. CW lasing at the Phystech was implemented in lasers with stripe geometry, which were created using photolithography, with the lasers mounted on silver-coated copper heat sinks. The lowest threshold current density at room temperature was 940 A/cm 2 for wide lasers and 2.7 kA/cm 2 for stripe lasers. The implementation of such a generation mode caused an explosion of interest. At the beginning of 1971, many universities and industrial laboratories in the USA, USSR, Great Britain, Japan, Brazil and Poland began to study heterostructures and devices based on them.

A great contribution to the understanding of electronic processes in heterolasers was made by the theorist Rudolf Kazarinov. The generation time of the first laser was short. Zhores Ivanovich admitted that he was just long enough to measure the parameters necessary for the article. Extending the service life of lasers was a rather difficult matter, but it was successfully solved by the efforts of physicists and technologists. Now the owners of CD players are mostly unaware that sound and video information is read by a semiconductor heterolaser. Such lasers are used in many optoelectronic devices, but primarily in fiber-optic communication devices and various telecommunication systems. It is difficult to imagine our life without heterostructural light-emitting diodes and bipolar transistors, without low noise transistors with high electron mobility for high-frequency applications, including, in particular, satellite television systems. Following the heterojunction laser, many other devices were created, up to solar energy converters.

The importance of obtaining a continuous mode of operation of lasers on double heterojunctions at room temperature is primarily due to the fact that an optical fiber with low losses was created at the same time. This led to the birth and rapid development of fiber-optic communication systems. In 1971, these works were marked by the award of the first international award to Zh.I. Alferov - the Ballantyne Gold Medal of the Franklin Institute in the USA. The special value of this medal, as noted by Zhores Ivanovich, lies in the fact that the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia also awarded medals to other Soviet scientists: in 1944 to Academician P.L. Kapitsa, in 1974 to Academician N.N. 1981 to Academician A.D. Sakharov. It is a great honor to be in such a company.

The awarding of the Ballantyne medal to Zhores Ivanovich has a backstory associated with his friend. One of the first physicists in 1963 came to the USA B.P. Zakharchenya. He flew around almost all of America, met with such luminaries as Richard Feynman, Karl Anderson, Leo Szilard, John Bardeen, William Fairbank, Arthur Shavlov. At the University of Illinois, B.P. Zakharchenya met Nick Holonyak, the creator of the first efficient LED based on gallium arsenide-phosphide, which emits light in the visible region of the spectrum. Nick Holonyak is one of the greatest American scientists, a student of John Bardeen, the world's only two-time Nobel Prize winner in the same specialty (physics). He recently received an award as one of the founders of a new direction in science and technology - optoelectronics.

Nick Holonyak was born in the United States, where his father, a simple miner, emigrated from Galicia before the October Revolution. He brilliantly graduated from the University of Illinois, and his name is inscribed in golden letters on a special "Honor Board" of this university. B.P. Zakharchenya recalled: “A snow-white shirt, a bow tie, a short haircut in the fashion of the 60s and, finally, a sports figure (he lifted the barbell) made him a typical American. This impression was further strengthened when Nick spoke in his native American language. But suddenly he switched to the language of his father, and there was nothing left of the American gentleman. It was not Russian, but an amazing mixture of Russian and Rusyn (close to Ukrainian), flavored with salty miner jokes and strong peasant expressions learned from parents. At the same time, Professor Holonyak laughed very contagiously, turning into a mischievous Rusyn guy before our eyes.

Back in 1963, showing B.P. Zakharchene under a microscope a miniature LED that shone brightly green, Professor Holonyak said: “Look, Boris, at my light. Nex Time tell me there at your institute, maybe someone who wants to come here to Illinois from your lads. I will teach him how to be svetla.”

From left to right: Zh.I.Alferov, John Bardeen, V.M.Tuchkevich, Nick Holonyak (University of Illinois, Urbana, 1974)

Seven years later, Zhores Alferov came to Nick Holonyak's laboratory (being already familiar with him, in 1967 Holonyak visited Alferov's laboratory at the Physicotechnical Institute). Zhores Ivanovich was not the kind of "lad" who needed to learn to "robyt light." I could teach myself. His visit was very successful: at that time the Franklin Institute was just awarding another Ballantyne medal for the best work in physics. Lasers were all the rage, and the new heterolaser, which held great practical promise, attracted particular attention. There were competitors, but the publications of the Alferov group were the first. Support for the work of Soviet physicists by such authorities as John Bardeen and Nick Holonyak certainly influenced the decision of the commission. It is very important in any business to be in the right place and at the right time. If Zhores Ivanovich had not been in the States then, it is possible that this medal would have gone to competitors, although he was the first. It is known that "ranks are given by people, but people can be deceived." Many American scientists were involved in this story, for whom Alferov's reports on the first laser based on a double heterostructure were a complete surprise.

Alferov and Holonyak became close friends. In the process of various contacts (visits, letters, seminars, telephone conversations), which play an important role in the work and life of everyone, they regularly discuss problems of semiconductor and electronics physics, as well as life aspects.

The heterostructure Al x Ga 1– x As was subsequently infinitely expanded by multicomponent solid solutions - first theoretically, then experimentally (the most striking example is InGaAsP).

Space station "Mir" with solar panels based on heterostructures

One of the first successful applications of heterostructures in our country was the use of solar cells in space research. Solar cells based on heterostructures were created by Zh.I. Alferov and co-workers back in 1970. The technology was transferred to NPO Kvant, and solar cells based on GaAlAs were installed on many domestic satellites. When the Americans published their first work, Soviet solar batteries were already flying on satellites. They were deployed industrial production, and their 15-year operation at the Mir station brilliantly proved the advantages of these structures in space. And although the forecast of a sharp decrease in the cost of one watt of electric power based on semiconductor solar batteries has not yet materialized, in space, solar batteries based on the heterostructure of A III B V compounds are by far the most efficient source of energy.

There were enough obstacles in the way of Zhores Alferov. As usual, our special services of the 70s. they did not like his numerous foreign awards, and they tried not to let him go abroad to international scientific conferences. There were envious people who tried to intercept the case and wipe Zhores Ivanovich from fame and the means necessary to continue and improve the experiment. But his enterprise, lightning-fast reaction and clear mind helped to overcome all these obstacles. Accompanied and "Lady Luck".

1972 was a particularly happy year. Zh.I.Alferov and his students-colleagues V.M.Andreev, D.Z.Garbuzov, V.I.Korolkov and D.N.Tretyakov were awarded the Lenin Prize. Unfortunately, due to purely formal circumstances and ministerial games, R.F.Kazarinov and E.L.Portnoy were deprived of this well-deserved award. In the same year, Zh.I. Alferov was elected to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

On the day the Lenin Prize was awarded, Zh.I. Alferov was in Moscow and called home to report this joyful event, but the phone did not answer. He called his parents (since 1963 they lived in Leningrad) and joyfully told his father that his son was a Lenin Prize winner, and in response he heard: “What is your Lenin Prize? Our grandson was born! The birth of Vanya Alferov was, of course, the greatest joy of 1972.

Further development of semiconductor lasers was also associated with the creation of a distributed feedback laser proposed by Zh.I. Alferov in 1971 and realized several years later at the Physicotechnical Institute.

The idea of stimulated emission in superlattices, expressed at the same time by R.F.Kazarinov and R.A.Suris, was implemented a quarter of a century later in Bell Telephone. Studies of superlattices, begun by Zh.I. Alferov and co-authors in 1970, unfortunately, developed rapidly only in the West. Work on quantum wells and short-period superlattices in a short time led to the birth of a new field of quantum physics solid body– physics of low-dimensional electronic systems. The apogee of these works is currently the study of zero-dimensional structures - quantum dots. Works in this direction, carried out by the second and third generations of Zh.I. Alferov's students: P.S. Kopyev, N.N. Ledentsov, V.M. N.N. Ledentsov became the youngest corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Semiconductor heterostructures, especially binary ones, including quantum wells, wires, and dots, are now being studied by two-thirds of research groups working in the field of semiconductor physics.

In 1987, Zh.I. Alferov was elected Director of the Physicotechnical Institute, in 1989 - Chairman of the Presidium of the Leningrad Scientific Center of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in April 1990 - Vice-President of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Subsequently, he was re-elected to these posts already in the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The main thing for Zh.I. Alferov in recent years was the preservation of the Academy of Sciences as the highest and unique scientific and educational structure in Russia. They wanted to destroy it in the 20s. as a "legacy of the totalitarian tsarist regime", and in the 90s. – as a “legacy of the totalitarian Soviet regime”. To preserve it, Zh.I. Alferov agreed to become a deputy in the State Duma of the last three convocations. He wrote: “For the sake of this great cause, we sometimes made compromises with the authorities, but not with our conscience. Everything that mankind has created, it has created thanks to science. And if our country is destined to be a great power, then it will be so not thanks to nuclear weapons or Western investments, not thanks to faith in God or in the president, but thanks to the work of its people, faith in knowledge, in science, thanks to the preservation and development of scientific potential and education." Television broadcasts of meetings of the State Duma have repeatedly testified to Zh.I. Alferov's remarkable socio-political temperament and keen interest in the prosperity of the country as a whole and science in particular.

Among other scientific awards of Zh.I.Alferov, we note the Hewlett-Packard Prize of the European Physical Society, the State Prize of the USSR, the Welker Medal; Karpinsky Prize, established in Germany. Zh.I. Alferov is a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a foreign member of the National Academy of Engineering and the US Academy of Sciences, a member of many other foreign academies.

Being vice-president of the Academy of Sciences and a deputy of the State Duma, Zh.I. Alferov does not forget that as a scientist he grew up within the walls of the famous Physico-Technical Institute, founded in Petrograd in 1918 by the outstanding Russian physicist and science organizer Abram Fedorovich Ioffe. This institute gave the physical sciences a bright constellation of world-renowned scientists. It was at Phystech that N.N. Semyonov carried out research on chain reactions, which later won the Nobel Prize. Outstanding physicists I.V.Kurchatov, A.P.Aleksandrov, Yu.B.Khariton and B.P.Konstantinov worked here, whose contribution to the solution of the atomic problem in our country cannot be overestimated. Talented experimenters - Nobel laureate P.L. Kapitsa and G.V. Kurdyumov, theoretical physicists of the rarest talent - G. A. Godov, Ya. The name of the Institute will always be associated with the names of one of the founders of the modern theory of condensed matter, Ya.I.

Zh.I. Alferov, to the best of his ability, contributes to the development of Phystech. The Physical-Technical School was opened at the Institute of Physics and Technology and the process of creating specialized educational departments on the basis of the institute was continued. (The first department of this kind, the Department of Optoelectronics, was established at LETI back in 1973.) On the basis of the already existing and newly organized basic departments, the Faculty of Physics and Technology was created at the Polytechnic Institute in 1988. The development of the academic system of education in St. Petersburg was reflected in the creation of the Faculty of Medicine at the University and the integrated Scientific and Educational Center of the Physicotechnical Institute, which brought together schoolchildren, students and scientists in one beautiful building, which can rightly be called the Palace of Knowledge. Using the possibilities of the State Duma for wide communication with influential people, Zh.I. Alferov "knocked out" money for the creation of the Scientific and Educational Center from each prime minister (and they change so often). The first, most significant contribution was made by VS Chernomyrdin. Now the huge building of this center, built by Turkish workers, flaunts near the Fiztekh, clearly showing what an enterprising person obsessed with a noble idea is capable of.

Since childhood, Zhores Ivanovich has been accustomed to performing in front of a wide audience. B.P. Zakharchenya recalls his stories about the resounding success that he gained by reading from the stage almost in preschool age M. Zoshchenko's story “The Aristocrat”: “I, my brothers, do not like women who are in hats. If a woman is wearing a hat, if the stockings on her are fildecos ... "

As a ten-year-old boy, Zhores Alferov read the wonderful book by Veniamin Kaverin “Two Captains” and for the rest of his life follows the principle of its protagonist Sanya Grigoriev: “Fight and seek, find and not give up!”

Who is he - "free" or "free"?

The Swedish king presents Zh.I. Alferov with the Nobel Prize

Compiled
V.V.RANDOSHKIN

according to materials:

Alferov Zh.I. Physics and life. - St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2000.

Alferov Zh.I. Double heterostructures: Concept and applications in physics, electronics and technology. – Uspekhi fizicheskikh nauk, 2002, v. 172, no. 9.

Science and humanity. International Yearbook. - M., 1976.