Founder of Chinese Solid State Physics and Semiconductor Physics: Huang Kun丨History of Science

Huang Kun and Yang Zhenning

1992, at the 90th birthday celebration dinner of Mr. Zhou Peiyuan, the three Musketeers during the Southwest United University: Yang Zhenning (right) , Zhang Shoulian (middle) and Huang Kun (left) reunited with three old friends, leaving a precious group photo.

In 1944, Huang Kun graduated from Southwest Associated University as a graduate student and was admitted by the "Boxer Indemnity" student in the UK. According to the regulations for publicly-funded students studying in the United Kingdom under the Geng Fund, any school in the UK and which scientist chooses to be a mentor can be volunteered by the person and then approved by the recipient. At that time, a British professor donated a large number of Science books published in the UK. Huang Kun was very interested in these books and most of them read them. It was a British scientist named Mott that caught his attention. Mote wrote three books: "The Collision Theory of Atoms" , "Electronic Theory of Metals and Alloys", "Electronic Processes in Ionic Crystals." These three monographs cover three very different fields. The publication of each monograph marks the birth of a discipline. This Huang Kun felt that the scientist’s knowledge was very profound, and decided to go to the University of Bristol to be a PhD student of Professor Mott.

In August 1945, Kun Huang finally became a graduate student of Mott at the University of Bristol, and he was also second. The first doctoral student recruited by Mott after the end of World War II. Mott, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977 for the electronic structure of disordered systems, was a very young professor at the time, but he was already internationally renowned Solid state physicist. Awarded the University of Bristol in March 1947 PhD degree. After that, he worked as a researcher in the Department of Physics, University of Edinburgh, and the Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Liverpool.

In the 1940s, Huang Kun (second from left in the front row) took a group photo with colleagues when he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Liverpool in the UK (Li Aifu, the first from right in the front row)

Scientific Research-In order to build a scientific paradise, he rushed for a whole life

Huang Kun's scientific achievements have been highly praised by the international academic community, and have also been recognized by the motherland and the people. In 1951, Huang Kun returned to his beloved motherland with a passion for revitalizing China and serving the motherland. He taught at the Department of Physics of Peking University and later served as the director and honorary director of the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1955, Huang Kun, who was only 36 years old, was elected a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the youngest of all members at that time. Since the reform and opening up, Huang Kun has been elected as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1980), a member of the Third World Academy of Sciences (1985), and a member of the International Association for Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Semiconductor Committee (1985—1988). In recognition of his outstanding achievements and contributions in the field of solid state physics, Huang Kun won the 2001 National Highest Science and Technology Award.

1. The Chinese name

has been written many times in the world of theoretical physics. Huang Kun is a famous physicist, the founder and authority of lattice dynamics, and the pioneer of phonon physics. His name is associated with the theory of multiphonon transition, X-ray diffuse scattering theory, and the long-wave phenomenological equation of lattice vibration. He has made many pioneering contributions to solid state physics and has written Chinese names many times in the field of theoretical physics in the world.

"Yellow-diffuse scattering". In the 1940s, Huang Kun proposed the theory that the impurity defects in solids lead to X-ray scattering, which has been confirmed and applied by foreign scholars since the 1960s. This scattering has been named "yellow-diffuse scattering" internationally. Using Huang Kun's diffuse scattering theory, the structure of point defects in the crystal can be derived from the diffuse scattering of X-rays, such as the displacement field distribution, symmetry, and size. This method has become a special X-ray technique for studying microscopic defects in crystals.

Huang Kun and the discoverer of the "Yellow-Diffuse Scattering" experiment, Dr. H. Peis I from Germany, are discussing the

"Yellow-Ries Theory". In 1950, he collaborated with his wife Iv Rees (Li Aifu) to propose the quantum theory of multiphonon radiation and non-radiative transition for the first time, which is useful for understanding the optical and electrical properties of crystals and the influence of impurities and defects on the photoelectric properties These aspects have important guiding significance. This theory was confirmed by experiments in the 1960s and became the Huang-Rhys theory ("Huang-Rhys theory") internationally. The S factor in the theory is called the Huang-Rhys factor. The famous paper "F-center light absorption and non-radiation transition theory" co-authored by him and his wife has been cited more than 1300 times since 1965, and has become one of the classic documents in this field.

In 1952, Huang Kun took a photo with Li Aifu who had just arrived in China (this is also their wedding photo)

"Yellow Equation". In 1951, Huang Kun first proposed the coupling oscillation mode of phonons and electromagnetic waves in crystals. The equation of motion proposed was called the "Huang equation" internationally. Using this set of equations, Huang Kun first introduced the new concept of electromagnetic wave and transverse optical vibration coupled mode, which was later called polarization excimer. This prediction was confirmed by the international Raman scattering experiment in 1963. His paper entitled "On the Interaction of Radiation Field and Ion Crystal" was evaluated as a milestone in the field by the First International Polarimetric Conference. Later, the concept of polarization excimer was widely extended to other special element excitation and electromagnetic wave coupling modes.

In 1951, Huang Kun worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Liverpool

"Crystal Dynamics Theory". In 1954, Huang Kun, who was only 35 years old, and Professor Born, a world-renowned scientist, Nobel Prize winner, co-authored "Crystal Dynamics Theory", published by Oxford University Press, and became the basic theoretical work of this branch. The first system monograph on lattice dynamics is also a must-read book for scientists in this field. Even today, nearly half a century later, Oxford University Press has also included it in the "Oxford Classics of Physics Series" ".

"Lattice Dynamics Theory" published by Oxford Press in 1954 and the Chinese translation published by Peking University Press

Huang Kun also authored "Solid State Physics""Science", co-authored "Semiconductor Physics" with Xie Xide, and made a very important contribution to the teaching of general physics, solid state physics and semiconductors in colleges and universities.

2. Working hard for the development of semiconductor physics and technology in China

In September 1975, when Deng Xiaoping presided over the work of the State Council, he pointed out when listening to the work report of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: "An old scientist (referring to Huang Kun) is a semiconductor, Peking University Ask him to change to another profession, he won’t. The Institute of Semiconductors of the Academy of Sciences asked him to give an academic report, and the feedback was very good. He said it was part-time research." The secretary of , , and a deputy director of logistics. This is called a troika.” This instruction of Comrade Deng Xiaoping and was implemented in 1977.

In October 1977, the State Council’s approval for the appointment of Huang Kun and his comrades

In 1977, Huang Kun was transferred to the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as the director. After nearly 20 years of silence in the international physics community, he was 60 years old and he became active again. , Began the second active period of research career. For more than ten years, he has cooperated with young colleagues and has made new achievements in the theory of multiphonon transition and quantum well superlattice theory. With him as the academic leader, the Institute of Semiconductors established the State Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Superlattices in my country, which created and developed my country's research work in this new field of materials science and solid state physics. As M. Cardona, an internationally renowned solid-state physicist and former director of the German Max Planck Institute for Solid State Physics, described: "He is like the modern phoenix Nirvana, flying from the ashes and becoming a world leader. A solid-state physicist.” Huang Kun is busy with the post of director, hurrying to invest in scientific research. In 1983, he re-researched the difficult problems that appeared in the international multiphonon non-radiation transition theory. Huang Kun proved that after eliminating the inconsistency brought about by the Condon approximation, the adiabatic approximation and static coupling are equivalent. The multi-phonon model of the non-radiation transition theory he proposed further developed the non-radiation transition theory.

In April 1978, Director Huang Kun participated in the National Science Conference and discussed with Wang Shouwu and Lin Lanying, deputy directors

198. In 7 years, he and Zhu Bangfen began to study the problem of lattice vibration in quantum wells. They clarified the reasons for the contradiction between the original theory and the experiment. , Proposed and developed a systematic theory on the optical vibration of semiconductor superlattices. This theoretical discovery is called the "Huang-Zhu Model" by the international academic community. The "Huang-Zhu Model" has attracted widespread international attention, which has triggered a series of theoretical and experimental research work, which has strongly promoted the in-depth development of this research field. The "Huang-Zhu Model" has been included in many foreign monographs and postgraduate textbooks as a must-read document in this field. Huang and Zhu have been invited to international and national academic conferences to give special lectures more than once. Zhu Bangfen’s invited lectures at the 20th International Conference on Semiconductor Physics and the 5th International Conference on Superlattice Microstructures and Microdevices are the first time that a Chinese scholar has been specially invited to a series of international academic conferences with the highest academic level in this field. report.

The two authors of the "Huang-Zhu Model" are discussing the problem

198. Since then, Huang Kun has co-published "Adiabatic Approximation and Static Coupling Theory of Non-Radiative Transitions" and other papers, which have solved the international problems for more than two decades. Difficult problems in the development of this theory. After the 1980s, Huang Kun vigorously promoted the study of superlattices in our country. He put forward guiding opinions as early as 1985: the significance of semiconductor superlattices will be compared with the invention of semiconductor transistors. Under his advocacy, the corresponding major projects of the State and the Academy of Sciences were established, and the State Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Superlattices was established. He has made important contributions to breaking the embargo imposed by Western countries on my country's molecular beam epitaxy technology, and promoting the growth and research of my country's superlattice materials, device development, and the industrialization of optoelectronic devices, enabling my country to catch up in a very short time. Has reached the international advanced level. In March 2001, he and five other academicians jointly called for the urgent deployment of basic research on nano-quantum structures, quantum devices and their integrated technologies in the “Science Times”, and rose to meet the battle for nanotechnology.

198In 6 years, Huang Kun, Lin Lanying, and two Chinese Academy of Sciences deans Fang Yi and Lu Jiaxi who visited the Institute of Semiconductors talked with

. The martyrs are in their twilight years. Huang Kun, made outstanding scientific contributions in his youth. He became a world-renowned scientist as early as the 1950s. In his middle age, he devoted himself to the education of the motherland, and after 60 years of age, he climbed back to the peak of world science. He is over eighty years old, suffering from Parkinson's disease, and still goes to work every morning at the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Until the last moment of his life, he was still fighting on the front line of scientific research, working hard for the development of science and technology in the motherland. His life is a life of hard work, a life of exploration, a life of struggle, and a life of selfless dedication to the country. In more than 80 years of life, Huang Kun has built monuments in the field of solid-state physics with his rigor and innovation, with his diligence and frankness, and won the respect of the world.

educating people-in order to cast tomorrow's pillars, he fought to the end of his life

Huang Kun is also an outstanding educator. He is committed to scientific research and education in condensed matter physics, and is known for his diligence, rigor, strict self-discipline and tireless teaching. Huang Kun has been engaged in physics teaching for a long time. He is a pioneer of my country's solid-state physics and semiconductor physics. He has trained a large number of Chinese physicists and semiconductor technology experts. Under Huang Kun's precepts and deeds, Huang Kun's graduate students and assistants have grown into the backbone of many education and scientific research institutions in my country, and they have provoked the backbone in the scientific research and teaching of solid physics. From the teaching of "Solid State Physics" and "Semiconductor Physics" to the five-school joint semiconductor specialization, he has trained several generations of talents for China's solid state physics and semiconductor industry, and participated in the formulation of my country's twelve-year science and technology development vision . Just as Mr. Yang Zhenning said: "China's semiconductors are Huang Kun's disciples and grandchildren!" Among them, Gan Zizhao, Qin Guogang, Xia Jianbai, and Li Shushen were elected as academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In 2002, Huang Kun, Academician Zheng Houzhi (first from left) and Academician Xia Jianbai (first from right) were discussing work

1989, at a dinner to congratulate Huang Kun on his 70th birthday. From left, Zhu Bangfen, Qin Guogang, Zheng Houzhi, Gan Zizhao, Li Aifu, Huang Kun, Han Ruqi, Zhong Zhantian

At the end of 1951, Huang Kun returned to China with enthusiasm for the construction of New China. After returning to China, he immediately went to Peking University as a professor in the Department of Physics, and began his 26-year teaching career at Peking University.

In the 1950s, he served as a professor in the Department of Physics of Peking University and laid the foundation for the teaching of solid state physics and semiconductor physics in New China. The three courses of "University Physics", "Solid State Physics" and "Semiconductor Physics" taught by him have attracted a large number of young students and guided them into the field of solid state physics and semiconductors. At that time, no matter at home or abroad, there were only monographs on "Solid State Physics" and no textbooks for reference.

In 1953, Huang Kun first offered a solid theory course for graduate students, mainly focusing on lattice dynamics and solid electronic theory. In the autumn of the same year, the Department of Physics of Peking University established specialized teaching and research sections for solid-state physics, optics, radio electronics, and theoretical physics. Huang Kun was appointed as the director of the Specialized Teaching and Research Office of Solid State Physics. He also suggested that solid-state physics should be listed as a basic course in secondary school, as the most significant reform in the physics professional curriculum, in order to catch up with the development of contemporary science and technology.

In the fall of 1960, solid-state physics formally became a basic course for physics majors, and this course was generally offered among undergraduates at Peking University. All this has condensed a lot of hard work and hard work of Huang Kun, and became the pioneer of solid physics education in my country's colleges and universities.

Huang Kun handwriting

Huang Kun has personally taught solid-state physics and semiconductor physics at Peking University for many years, and he attaches great importance to the quality of teaching materials. He has always believed that lecture notes must explain scientific issues clearly and concretely, and basic concepts and theoretical explanations must be precise. He has written "Solid State Physics" on the basis of improving lectures for many years and "Semiconductor Physics" co-authored with Xie Xide are textbooks compiled by himself without a blueprint. Both of these books are well-known for their thorough and incisive explanations, and have become a must-read for Chinese students and researchers in solid-state physics and semiconductor physics for a long time.

"Solid State Physics"

"Half"Conductor Physics"

The two pioneers of China's semiconductor physics-Huang Kun and Xie Xide

Huang Kun led the construction of the Solid State Physics Teaching and Research Office and the Semiconductor Physics Teaching and Research Office of Peking University, which has made outstanding achievements in the cultivation of China's semiconductor science and technology backbone. contribution.