Prof. Jagadishwar Mahanty Distinguished Lecture Series in Physics

The third Lecture in the series will be delivered by

Professor B. M. Arora

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
on
Semiconductor Nanostructures

Date: 12.04.2007 (Thursday), Venue: L-6

Time: 05:15 PM (Tea will be served at 05:00 PM)

ABSTRACT

Rapid advances have occurred in semiconductor science and  technology ever since Esaki and Tsu proposed in 1969 that a one dimensional periodic heterostructure, called superlattice would exhibit  Bloch oscillations and act as source of high frequency oscillations. The proposal led to the invention of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) for synthesis of hetero-layers of high crystalline perfection and subatomic thickness precision.  Experimental demonstration of quantum well energy levels by Dingle and coworkers in 1974 gave rise to several quantum well  devices: QW lasers, modulation doped transistors, and a class of devices based on inter-subband transitions for infrared sources and detectors. Currently, there is considerable activity to use quantum dots for improved performance. Added to this is the emergence of III-nitrides for optical and electronic devices. In this lecture, I shall trace some of these developments.

About the speaker

Professor B.M. Arora had early education in Amritsar. He did B.Tech in Electronics and Communication from IIT Kharagpur in 1965 and PhD in

Electrical Engineering from University of Illinois, Urbana , USA in 1972. His early work was on Plasma Display Panel and then he switched to semiconductor materials and devices. Professor Arora joined Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1972, where he is currently senior Professor in the Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science.

At TIFR, Professor Arora has been involved in research on various facets of III-V compound semiconductors. Since 1990, he has worked on low dimensional structures of III-V compounds and Optoelectronic devices

Prof. Jagadishwar  Mahanty Lecture Series  in Physics

Prof. Jagdishwar  Mahanty Lecture Series  in Physics has been instituted by Dr. Siddharth Mahanty in memory of his father, Prof. Jagdishwar Mahanty, who was a faculty member of the Physics Department at IIT Kanpur from 1961-1972. He made important contributions to Condensed Matter Physics, particularly, to the study of many body physics, lattice dynamics, van-der-Waals interactions and electronic structure of solids.

          Prof. Mahanty was born on 20th July 1932 in Puri. After his M. Sc. In Physics from Calcutta University he worked for several years at the National Physical Laboratory. In 1956, he went to the University of Maryland, USA for his doctoral degree. After completing his Ph.D. in 1960 he joined Panjab University, Chandigarh and subsequently joined the Physics department of IIT Kanpur in 1961. He was instrumental in shaping the Physics department during its infancy.  He was Head of the Physics department from  1967 to 1972.  In 1971, Prof. Mahanty decided to concentrate on his own research and gave up the administrative responsibility. In 1972, he joined the prestigious Australian National University. He retired from the University in July 1995 due to ill health.

          Prof. Mahanty was an excellent physicist with a very modest and kind personality. His helpful nature to both students and colleagues was a great asset of his character. He was a warm and caring person who is greatly missed by his family and friends.