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Men of Physics: Karl Lark-Horovitz. Pioneer in Solid State Physics PDF

292 Pages·1969·10.156 MB·English
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FRONTISPIECE: Photograph of oil painting of Karl Lark-Horovitz executed in 1954 by Mr. Raymond Breinin, then of Chicago, now in New York—commissioned by colleagues, friends, and former students of K. L-H. MEN OF PHYSICS KARL LARK-HOROVITZ Pioneer in Solid State Physics BY V. A. JOHNSON Professor of Physics, Purdue University PERGAMON PRESS OXFORD · LONDON · EDINBURGH · NEW YORK TORONTO · SYDNEY · PARIS · BRAUNSCHWEIG PERGAMON PRESS LTD., Headington Hill Hall, Oxford 4 & 5 Fitzroy Square, London W.l PERGAMON PRESS (SCOTLAND) LTD., 2 & 3 Teviot Place, Edinburgh 1 PERGAMON PRESS INC., Maxwell House, Fairview Park, Elmsford, New York 10523 PERGAMON OF CANADA LTD., 207 Queen's Quay West, Toronto 1 PERGAMON PRESS (AUST.) PTY. LTD., 19a Boundary Street, Rushcutters Bay, N.S.W. 2011, Australia PERGAMON PRESS S.A.R.L., 24 rue des fooles, Paris 5e VIEWEG & SOHN GMBH, Burgplatz 1, Braunschweig Copyright © 1969 Pergamon Press Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Pergamon Press Ltd. First edition 1969 Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 77-91464 Printed in Great Britain by A. Wheaton & Co., Exeter This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise disposed of without the publisher's consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. 08 006580 5 (flexicover) 08 006581 3 (hard cover) Preface UP TO December 1941, Karl Lark-Horovitz was known to his colleagues in the United States and abroad for important work in structure determination by X-ray and electron diffraction methods, for his vigorous pursuit of knowledge in the then-young field of experimental nuclear physics, and for his herculean efforts in creating a significant graduate programme and research effort at Purdue University during the preceding decade. In January 1942 he was invited by H. M. James, who acted as a representative of the Radiation Laboratory (operated for the U.S. Government by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), to participate in the war research effort by carrying out for the Radiation Laboratory certain investigations related to the improve­ ment of radar techniques and devices. Lark-Horovitz agreed to do this by working on "crystals". Furthermore, he suggested that he and his associates concentrate, at least initially, on the element germanium by studying its physical properties and its use in devices, especially rectifiers. During the next three years Lark- Horovitz and the members of his Purdue group achieved the production of high-purity germanium, learned how to control the electrical behaviour of germanium specimens by the syste­ matic addition of properly chosen impurities, interpreted the observed electrical and thermoelectric behaviour of germanium, and applied their knowledge to the improvement of devices used in radar. The war-stimulated research carried out at Purdue University, along with related studies made at a number of other U.S. universities, several industrial laboratories, and certain labora­ tories in Great Britain, strongly stimulated the growth of the field vii VÜi PREFACE that came to be called solid state physics. After 1945 this field expanded explosively, both in terms of numbers of physicists involved and in variety of problems investigated. Upon the cessation of World War II hostilities, Lark-Horovitz chose to continue and extend his studies of germanium and other semiconducting materials. He initiated research on the effects of radiation upon the behaviour of semiconductors. His world-wide reputation as a solid state physicist was greatly enhanced by these radiation studies. Quite appropriately, the bulk of his publica­ tions reproduced in this volume deals with this topic. It was my privilege to be a graduate student at Purdue during the 1930's and thus to participate in a small way in the building of the department. I was selected by Lark-Horovitz in 1942 to join the group studying the characteristics of germanium and other semiconductors. From then on until 1958 I was fortunate in having the opportunity to collaborate with him on a number of investigations in solid state physics. Much of the material in Part 1 is derived from my personal knowledge of the events described. I have also had the privilege of drawing on the material gathered by four of my colleagues for an informal memorial meeting held in April 1958. I thank Professors H. Y. Fan, D. J. Tendam, I. Walerstein, and H. J. Yearian for their courtesy in allowing me to quote from their remarks on this occasion. I also thank Professor H. M. James for his permission to quote from a memorial statement that he prepared. Professor R. W. Lefler has been very helpful in providing material pertaining to Lark- Horovitz's service on the American Association for the Advance­ ment of Science Cooperative Committee. I also thank these gentlemen for their suggestions during the course of preparation of the manuscript, and I also acknowledge the encouragement given by Professor R. W. King, the present Head of the Purdue Physics Department, and appreciate receiving his permission to draw material from the files of the Department. Finally, Mrs. Betty Lark-Horovitz, who has read the entire manuscript, offered a number of cogent suggestions for its PREFACE IX improvement. She has also supplied some details of the early life of her late husband. I also express my appreciation to Mrs. S. Louisa Spencer for her assistance in the preparation of the manuscript. West Lafayette, Indiana VIVIAN A. JOHNSON I Introduction KARL LARK-HOROVITZ was a latter-day Renaissance man, a man of many parts, a man with tremendous impatience and unbounded enthusiasm in his eager search for knowledge. No field of intellec­ tual or artistic endeavour failed to capture a share of his interest and attention. The breadth of his viewpoint and range of his education enabled him to achieve professional success which may be classified into four fields: (i) research in the wide variety of sub- fields of physics in which he personally participated, (ii) the crea­ tion of a highly regarded graduate programme in physics at Purdue University, a feat involving both the acquisition of facilities in the face of tremendous difficulties and the stimulation of young physicists to develop their own talents to the utmost, (iii) service to the educational system of the entire United States by his active participation in the creation, development, and fruition of the AAASt Cooperative Committee on the Teaching of Science and Mathematics, and, finally, (iv) his personal efforts and achievements in the renascence and unfolding of the field now known as solid state physics. He was born Karl Horovitz in Vienna, Austria, on July 20, 1892, the son of Moritz and Adele Horovitz. His father, a noted dermatologist, pursued scholarly interests in fields as divergent as botany and the works of the Roman poet Horace. With such a family background, it is not surprising that the young Karl attended the humanistic high school rather than the engineering one. He entered the University of Vienna in 1911 and pursued studies in chemistry, physiology, physics, and pre-Socratic t American Association for the Advancement of Science. 3 4 MEN OF PHYSICS! LARK-HOROVITZ philosophy. His studies were interrupted for four years by service as an officer in the Signal Corps of the Austrian Army and recuperation from wounds received in service. He married on July 26, 1916. His wife, Betty, is still living. In 1919 Horovitz returned to the University of Vienna and received his Ph.D. degree in physics later that year. The develop­ ment of his productive professional career will be taken up in the ensuing chapters. One of his fields of scientific interest was the physics and chemistry of glass. He also had an avocational interest in glass and other ceramics, acquired a personal collection of fine quality, and responded most willingly to the many invitations to discourse on the history and technique of glass-making at a "popular" level. He had a considerable knowledge of music and played the violin and viola. In his early years at Purdue University he organized a string quartet which played regularly. He was a member of one chamber music group or another from that time until he was forced out of participation by the demands of his war-time activities in research and education. Those fortunate enough to meet him readily became aware of his ability as a conversationalist and his solid acquaintance with literature, art, history, and politics. Most impressive of all his attributes was his complete devotion to science. Professor H. Y. Fan, colleague and friend of Karl Lark-Horovitz, spokef about this characteristic as follows: "We have all seen his bad humour at times. Perhaps he was loaded down with uninteresting work, such as problems of administration. When you came into his office he would be frowning, but as soon as you began to explain to him the research problem that puzzled you at the moment, or to describe some interesting result just obtained, you immediately saw the sign of interest reflected in his eyes. He never became impatient when a problem of real scientific interest was discussed. This devotion to science enabled him to be a strong administrator, because he felt compelled in the interest of science to attend personally to various t Quotation from words spoken in April 1958 at an informal memorial meeting. INTRODUCTION 5 phases of departmental affairs, and to be at the same time an active research worker in a very true sense of the word. You may have seen him talking on the telephone to people in the administra­ tion building, or long-distance to some one in Washington, talking about all sorts of things, but the moment he put down the phone he would pick up the trend and continue the discussion of the research problem as if there had been no interruption. This could come about only because he was really interested in the physics he was discussing with you." The family name was changed in 1926 from Horovitz to Lark- Horovitz. In doing this, Karl Lark-Horovitz linked his wife's name as an artist-print-maker to his own, a change that was the result of a definite wish on his part. Later, he wanted his children to carry on the name of Lark only. Karl and Betty Lark-Horovitz had two children, a daughter, Caroline Betty, and a son, Karl Gordon, born in the United States in 1929 and 1930, respectively. Karl Gordon, like his father, is a scientist. He and his wife, Cynthia Thompson Lark, are engaged in research in the field of molecular biology, in which they have published widely. Karl Lark-Horovitz died, of a heart attack, on April 14, 1958, while at work in his office in the Physics Building of Purdue University. π The Early Years (1914-1928) KARL HOROVITZ'S first publication! appeared in 1914, during his student years at Vienna. It dealt with the historical development of the physical concepts of relativity, a topic consistent with his lifelong interest in the history of science. Two more papers were prepared before his studies were interrupted by World War I. These are indicative of his bent to explore in newly opened fields. In this case Fritz Paneth and he used radioactive materials (ThB, ThC, Po, and Ra) contained in solutions of various acids and bases to study adsorption by a number of different salts. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1919 Dr. Horovitz stayed on at the University of Vienna until 1925 in a position combining research and teaching. His first project combined his interests in physics and physiology and led to a series of papers on the physics of image formation by the human eye. In particular, he described the influence of physical phenomena on visual acuity and the apparent image size (Selection 1 of Part 2). Horovitz also carried out a study resembling his earlier work with Paneth in that radioactive materials were used in the investi­ gation of a physical process. He used ThB and ThC to study the structure and surface characteristics of platinum crystals. His final work at Vienna was concerned with electrochemistry, primarily the electrode functions and other electromotive proper­ ties of glasses. "It was in 1925 that Karl Horovitz was awarded an International Research Fellowship by the Rockefeller Board. $ This was the t A complete list of publications is given at the end of Part I. t Quotation from words spoken by Prof. I. Walerstein of Purdue University in April 1958. Walerstein was at Toronto during Lark-Horovitz's stay there. 6

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