Walter H. Schottky

Walter H. Schottky
Schottky, c. 1920
Born
Walter Hans Schottky

23 July 1886 (1886-07-23)
Died4 March 1976 (1976-03-05) (aged 89)
NationalityGerman
Alma materUniversity of Berlin
Known forSchottky diode
Schottky effect
Schottky barrier
Schottky defect
Schottky anomaly
Schottky–Mott rule
Mott–Schottky equation
Mott–Schottky plot
Band bending
Screen-grid vacuum tube
Ribbon microphone
Ribbon loudspeaker
Theory of field emission
Shot noise
Solid state ionics
Time-symmetric interpretations of quantum mechanics
AwardsHughes medal (1936)
Werner von Siemens Ring (1964)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysicist
Institutions
Thesis Zur relativtheoretischen Energetik und Dynamik (1912)
Doctoral advisorMax Planck
Heinrich Rubens
Notable studentsWerner Hartmann

Walter Hans Schottky (23 July 1886 – 4 March 1976) was a German physicist who played a major early role in developing the theory of electron and ion emission phenomena,[2] invented the screen-grid vacuum tube in 1915 while working at Siemens,[3] co-invented the ribbon microphone and ribbon loudspeaker along with Dr. Erwin Gerlach in 1924[4] and later made many significant contributions in the areas of semiconductor devices, technical physics and technology.

The Schottky effect (a thermionic emission, important for vacuum tube technology), the Schottky diode (where the depletion layer occurring in it is called the Schottky barrier), the Schottky vacancies (or Schottky defects), the Schottky anomaly (a peak value of the heat capacity) and the Mott-Schottky equation (also Langmuir-Schottky space charge law) were named after him. He conducted research on electrical noise mechanisms (shot noise), space charge, especially in electron tubes, and the barrier layer in semiconductors, which were important for the development of copper oxide rectifiers and transistors.

  1. ^ "Schottky, Walter Hans" (in German). Deutsche Biographie. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  2. ^ Welker, Heinrich (June 1976). "Walter Schottky". Physics Today. 29 (6): 63–64. Bibcode:1976PhT....29f..63W. doi:10.1063/1.3023533.
  3. ^ Taylord, Leonard. "Vacuum Tubes". University of Maryland. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Historically Speaking". Hifi World. April 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2012.