Clarence Melvin Zener

Clarence Melvin Zener (born December 1, 1905 in Indianapolis , Indiana , † July 2, 1993 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania ) was an American physicist and electrical engineer .

Scientific work

In 1934, Zener postulated the theory that a high electric field strength in solids can lead to electrons bound in the valence band entering the conduction band . This postulate explains the Zener effect named after him , microplasmas and in some cases also the tunnel effect . Also named after him is the Zener diode in the field of electronics, which uses the Zener effect for breakdown voltages below approx. 5 V. The analytical formula for the transition amplitude in a quantum mechanical two-state system for the non-adiabatic change of the Hamilton operator, which was derived from Zener among others , is now usually referred to as the Landau-Zener formula .

Awards (selection)

In 1935, Zener became a Fellow of the American Physical Society , and in 1959 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences . For his services to rheology , he received the Bingham Medal in 1957 . The Zener body used to describe viscoelasticity is named after him.

Zener received the Von Hippel Award in 1982.

In 1985 he received the ICIFUAS Prize of the International Conference on Internal Friction and Ultrasonic Attenuation in Solids (ICIFUAS), which has been named after him as the Zener Prize (or Zener Gold Medal) since 1993 .

family

Clarence Zener was the younger brother of the psychologist Karl Zener .

Web links

Member Directory: Clarence Zener. National Academy of Sciences, accessed December 3, 2015 (Biographical Memoir by John B. Goodenough).

Individual evidence

↑ Wert, Charles: Obituary: Clarence Zener Archived from the original on October 6, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Physics Today . 47, No. 2, February 1994, pp. 117-118. bibcode : 1994PhT .... 47b.117W . doi : 10.1063 / 1.2808418 . Retrieved October 3, 2014. @1@ 2

↑ Clarence Zener: Non-Adiabatic Crossing of Energy Levels . In: Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A . tape 137 , 1932, pp. 696 , JSTOR : 96038 .

^ List of Bingham Medalists. The Society of Rheology, accessed February 23, 2018 .

↑ Von Hippel Award Recipients. Materials Research Society , accessed February 23, 2018 .

^ Zener Medal Award. (pdf) (No longer available online.) In: Program book of the 18th edition of the International Conference on Internal Friction and Mechanical Spectroscopy (ICIFMS-18). P. 9 , archived from the original on February 24, 2018 ; accessed on February 23, 2018 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ The New York Times (ed.): Dr. Karl Zener, DUKE Professor . September 28, 1964 (English, online ).

personal data
SURNAME	Zener, Clarence Melvin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American physicist and electrical engineer
DATE OF BIRTH	December 1, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH	Indianapolis , Indiana , United States
DATE OF DEATH	2nd July 1993
Place of death	Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , United States

[1] Wert, Charles: Obituary: Clarence Zener Archived from the original on October 6, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Physics Today . 47, No. 2, February 1994, pp. 117-118. bibcode : 1994PhT .... 47b.117W . doi : 10.1063 / 1.2808418 . Retrieved October 3, 2014. @1@ 2

[2] Clarence Zener: Non-Adiabatic Crossing of Energy Levels . In: Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A . tape 137 , 1932, pp. 696 , JSTOR : 96038 .

[3] List of Bingham Medalists. The Society of Rheology, accessed February 23, 2018 .

[4] Von Hippel Award Recipients. Materials Research Society , accessed February 23, 2018 .

[5] Zener Medal Award. (pdf) (No longer available online.) In: Program book of the 18th edition of the International Conference on Internal Friction and Mechanical Spectroscopy (ICIFMS-18). P. 9 , archived from the original on February 24, 2018 ; accessed on February 23, 2018 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[6] The New York Times (ed.): Dr. Karl Zener, DUKE Professor . September 28, 1964 (English, online ).