Klaus von Klitzing (, born 28 June 1943, Schroda) is a German physicist, known for discovery of the integer quantum Hall effect, for which he was awarded the 1985

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

Education

In 1962, Klitzing passed the

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen ye ...

at the Artland-Gymnasium in Quakenbrück, Germany, before studying physics at the

Braunschweig University of Technology Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

, where he received his diploma in 1969. He continued his studies at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

at the chair of Gottfried Landwehr, completing his PhD thesis entitled ''Galvanomagnetic Properties of Tellurium in Strong Magnetic Fields'' in 1972, and gaining

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

in 1978.

Research and career

During his career Klitzing has worked at the

Clarendon Laboratory The Clarendon Laboratory, located on Parks Road within the Science Area in Oxford, England (not to be confused with the Clarendon Building, also in Oxford), is part of the Department of Physics at Oxford University. It houses the atomic and ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and the Grenoble High Magnetic Field Laboratory in France (now LNCMI), where he continued to work until becoming a professor at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied science, applied and Natural sci ...

in 1980. He has been a director of the

Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research The Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung'') was founded in 1969 and is one of the 82 Max Planck Institutes of the Max Planck Society. It is located on a campus in Stuttgart, togeth ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

since 1985. The von Klitzing constant, ''R''_K = '' h''/ e² = is named in honor of Klaus von Klitzing's discovery of the

quantum Hall effect The quantum Hall effect (or integer quantum Hall effect) is a quantized version of the Hall effect which is observed in two-dimensional electron systems subjected to low temperatures and strong magnetic fields, in which the Hall resistance exh ...

, and is listed in the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...

''Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty''. The inverse of the constant is equal to half the value of the

conductance quantum The conductance quantum, denoted by the symbol , is the quantized unit of electrical conductance. It is defined by the elementary charge ''e'' and Planck constant ''h'' as: :G_0 = \frac = It appears when measuring the conductance of a quantum po ...

. More recently, Klitzing's research focuses on the properties of low-dimensional electronic systems, typically in low

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

s and in high

magnetic field A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to ...

Honours and awards

Von Klitzing has won numerous awards and honours including: * 1981

Walter Schottky Prize The Walter Schottky Prize is a scientific prize awarded by the German Physical Society for outstanding research work of young academics in the field of solid-state physics. Since 1973 the prize is generally awarded annually. The endowment of the pr ...

* 1982 EPS Europhysics Prize * 1982

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

Prize * 1985

* 1985 Directorate for life at the

* 1986 Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

* 1986

Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg (german: link=no, Verdienstorden des Landes Baden-Württemberg) is the highest award of the German State of Baden-Württemberg. Established 26 November 1974, it was originally called the Medal of Merit of Bad ...

* 1988 Honorary Doctorate from the Technical University of Karl-Marx-Stadt * 1988

Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art The Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art (german: Bayerischer Maximiliansorden für Wissenschaft und Kunst, links=no) was first established on 28 November 1853 by King Maximilian II von Bayern. It is awarded to acknowledge and reward exc ...

* 1988 Dirac Medal * 1992 Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) from the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

* 1999 Honorary Member of the

German Physical Society The German Physical Society (German: , DPG) is the oldest organisation of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,547, as of 2019, making it the largest physics society in the world. It holds an annual conference () and multiple ...

* 2003 Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) * 2005

Carl Friedrich Gauss Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; german: Gauß ; la, Carolus Fridericus Gauss; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to many fields in mathematics and science. Sometimes refer ...

Medal of the Brunswick Scientific Society * 2006 Honorary Doctorate of the

University of Oldenburg The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (german: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg) is a university located in Oldenburg, Germany. It is one of the most important and highly regarded educational facilities in northwestern German ...

* 2007 Member of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

* 2007 Member of the

Pontifical Academy of Sciences The Pontifical Academy of Sciences ( it, Pontificia accademia delle scienze, la, Pontificia Academia Scientiarum) is a scientific academy of the Vatican City, established in 1936 by Pope Pius XI. Its aim is to promote the progress of the mat ...

* 2009

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian ...

* 2012 Distinguished Affiliated Professor at the

* 2016 Honoris Causa Doctorate of the Universidad Nacional de San Martín * 2019

Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts Pour may refer to these people: * Kour Pour (born 1987), British artist of part-Iranian descent * Mehdi Niyayesh Pour (born 1992), Iranian footballer * Mojtaba Mobini Pour (born 1991), Iranian footballer * Pouya Jalili Pour (born 1976), Iranian si ...

* Professor von Klitzing Strasse in Quakenbrück and Klaus von Klitzing Strasse in

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

are named after von Klitzing *2019 Fray International Sustainability Award given at SIPS 2019 by FLOGEN Star Outreach

References

External links

* * including the Nobel Lecture, 9 December 1985 ''The Quantized Hall Effect'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Klitzing, Klaus Von 1943 births Living people People from Środa Wielkopolska University of Würzburg alumni Technical University of Braunschweig alumni Technical University of Munich faculty Semiconductor physicists Nobel laureates in Physics 21st-century German physicists German Nobel laureates Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Foreign Members of the Royal Society Max Planck Society people Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) 20th-century German physicists Max Planck Institute directors Fellows of the American Physical Society