JUN-ICHI NISHIZAWA
Jun-ichi Nishizawa (M'57-SM'62-F'69), was born in Sendai, Japan on September 12, 1926. He received a B.S. degree in 1948 and a Doctor of Engineering degree in 1960 from Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.Following a year as a Research Assistant, he became an Associate Professor in 1954, a Professor in 1962, and a Director in 1983 at the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, where he served a term until 1985. Jun-ichi Nishizawa was the President of Tohoku University from 1990 to 1996, and currently, he is Emeritus Professor of Tohoku University. Jun-ichi Nishizawa has been the Director of the Semiconductor Research Institute in Sendai since 1968. He became a member of the Japan Academy in 1995.
His main work has involved the inventions of p-i-n diodes and p-n-i-p (n-p-i-n) transistors in cooperation with p-i-n photodiodes (1950), ion implantation (1950), avalanche photodiodes (1952), semiconductor injection lasers (1957), solid-state focusing optical fibers (1964), and transit time effect negative-resistance diodes (1954), including the avalanche injection and the tunnel injection (1958), hyperabrupt variable capacitance diodes (1959), semiconductor inductance (1957), static induction transistor (SIT) (1950, 1971), etc.
At present, he is carrying out work specializing in the development of static induction transistors to high-frequency and high-power devices, the high-speed thyristor, and the high-speed and low power dissipation integrated circuit, and growth methods of III-V compound semiconductors: a temperature different method under controlled vapor pressure (TDM-CVP) giving rise to high-efficiency LED and long-life laser diodes based on silicon perfect crystal technology by lattice constant compensation. He also originated electroepitaxy (1995), photoepitaxy (1961) and molecular layer epitaxy (MLE) (1984). He discovered the avalanche effect in semiconductors and explained the backward character of the p-n junction by this effect (1953).
Jun-ichi Nishizawa has also received the following prestigious awards and conferments: Directors Award of Japanese Science and Technology Agency (1965), Invention Prize by the Emperor (1966), Matsunaga Memorial Award (1969), Directors Award of Japanese Science and Technology Agency (1970), Okochi Memorial Technology Prize (1971), Japan Academy Prize (1974), Science and Technology Merits Award (1975), Purple Ribbon Medal conferred from Japanese Government (1975), Achievement Award from Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers of Japan (1975), Okochi Memorial Technology Prize (1980), Director Award of Patent Agency (1980), Person of Cultural Merits (Bunka-Korosha), conferred from Japanese Government (1983), Jack A. Morton Award from Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, U.S.A.), Distinguished Merits Award from Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers of Japan (1984), Honorary Citizen of Sendai City (1984), Asahi Prize form Asahi Press (1985), Honda Prize from Honda Foundation (International Prize ) (1986), An Honorary Doctor's degree of Natural Science from Humboldt University, Berlin (1989), The International Organization of Crystal Growth (IOCG) Laudise Prize (1989), Power Conversion and Intelligent Motion (PCIM) Award (1989), The Order of Cultural Merits (Bunka-Kunsho) conferred from Japanese Emperor (1989), The First Honorary Citizen of Miyagi Prefecture (1990), The Harushige Inoue Award (1993), 1993 Kenneth J. Button Prize from International Conference on Infrared and Millimeter Waves (1993), and The Okawa Prize (1996).