was a Japanese

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

, known for his explanation of the Kikuchi lines that show up in

diffraction Diffraction is the deviation of waves from straight-line propagation without any change in their energy due to an obstacle or through an aperture. The diffracting object or aperture effectively becomes a secondary source of the Wave propagation ...

patterns of diffusely scattered

electrons The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...

. Kikuchi's research was recorded in the official

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

selection meeting minutes of the 1930s.

Biography

Seishi Kikuchi was born and grew up in Tokyo. He graduated in 1926 from

Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...

. In 1928, Kikuchi and

Shoji Nishikawa Shōji Nishikawa (Japanese: 西川正治, ''Nishikawa Shōji'', 5 December 1884 – 5 January 1952) was a Japanese physicist and a founding father of crystallography in Japan. Education and career Nishikawa was born in 1884 in Hachiōji, Tokyo ...

observed and gave a theoretical explanation of the

electron backscatter diffraction Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique used to study the Crystallography, crystallographic structure of materials. EBSD is carried out in a scanning electron microscope equipped with an EBSD d ...

pattern from a

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

cleavage face.T. Maitland and S. Sitzman, “Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) Technique and Materials Characterization Examples,” in W. Zhou and Z.L. Wang, eds., ''Scanning Microscopy for Nanotechnology: Techniques and Applications, 2007 Edition'', Springer (2007), , p 41-75. In 1929, he went to Germany as a student and stayed at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

and

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. In 1934, he was appointed as professor at Osaka Imperial University and directed the construction of Japan's first DC high voltage Cockcroft-Walton accelerator. In 1955, he was appointed as the first director of the Institute of Nuclear Research at the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

, and successfully presided over the completion of the variable energy

cyclotron A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. Lawrence, Ernest O. ''Method and apparatus for the acceleration of ions'', filed: Januar ...

. Between 1959 and 1964, he was chairman of the

Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute () (JAERI) is a former semi-governmental organization that existed for the purpose of further nuclear power in Japan. It was created in June 1956 by the Atomic Energy Basic Law. It merged with Japan Nucl ...

References

Japanese nuclear physicists Japanese physicists 1902 births 1974 deaths Scientists from Tokyo University of Tokyo alumni Academic staff of the University of Tokyo Academic staff of Osaka University Recipients of the Order of Culture Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class Riken personnel Leipzig University alumni {{physicist-stub