Af Ioffe short biography. Physicist Ioffe Abram Fedorovich: biography. Brief biography of Abram Fedorovich Iofe
- Russian physicist who made many fundamental discoveries and conducted a huge amount of research, including in the field of electronics. He conducted research on the properties of semiconductor materials, discovered the rectifying property of the metal-insulator transition, later explained using the theory of the tunneling effect, and suggested the possibility of converting light into electric current.
Abram Fedorovich was born October 14, 1880 in the city of Romny, Poltava province (now Poltava region, Ukraine) in a merchant's family. Since Abram's father was a fairly wealthy man, he did not stint to give a good education to his son. In 1897 Ioffe receives his secondary education at a real school in his hometown. In 1902 he graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology and entered the University of Munich in Germany. In Munich, he works under the direction of Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen himself. Wilhelm Konrad, seeing the diligence and not anyhow what talent of the student, is trying to persuade Abram to stay in Munich and continue his scientific activity, but Joffe turned out to be a patriot of his country. After graduation in 1906 After receiving his Ph.D. degree, he returned to Russia.
In Russia, Ioffe gets a job as a robot at the Polytechnic Institute. In 1911 he experimentally determines the magnitude of the electron charge by the same method as Robert Milliken (in electrical and gravitational fields the metal particles were balanced). Due to the fact that Ioffe published his work only two years later, the fame of the discovery of measuring the electron charge went to an American physicist. In addition to determining the charge, Ioffe proved the reality of the existence of electrons independently of matter, investigated the magnetic effect of the flow of electrons, and proved the static nature of the emission of electrons under an external photoelectric effect.
In 1913 Abram Fedorovich defended his master's thesis, and two years later his doctoral dissertation in physics, which was the study of the elastic and electrical properties of quartz. During from 1916 to 1923 he is actively studying the mechanism of electrical conductivity of various crystals. In 1923 it was on the initiative of Ioffe that basic research and studying the properties of completely new materials at that time - semiconductors. The first work in this area was carried out with the direct participation of a Russian physicist and concerned the analysis of electrical phenomena between a semiconductor and a metal. He discovered the rectifying property of the metal-semiconductor transition, which was substantiated only 40 years later using the theory of the tunneling effect.
Investigating the photoelectric effect in semiconductors, Ioffe expressed a rather bold idea at that time that in a similar way it would be possible to convert the energy of light into electricity... This became a prerequisite in the future for the creation of photovoltaic generators, and in particular silicon converters, subsequently used in the composition of solar panels. Together with his students, Abram Fedorovich creates a semiconductor classification system, as well as a method for determining their main electrical and physical properties... In particular, the study of their thermoelectric properties, subsequently became the basis for the creation of semiconductor thermoelectric refrigerators, which are widely used all over the world in the fields of radio electronics, instrument making and space biology.
Abram Fedorovich Ioffe made a huge contribution to the formation and development of physics and electronics. He was a member of many Academies of Sciences (Berlin and Götingen, American, Italian), as well as an honorary member of many universities around the world. He has received numerous awards for his achievements and research. Died Abram Fedorovich October 14, 1960.
Abram Fedorovich Ioffe
In 1897 he graduated from a real school. The main emphasis there was on memorization, and not on understanding of subjects, nevertheless, Ioffe studied well. However, after graduating from college, he still could not enter the university - then only gymnasiums gave such a right.
Ioffe entered the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology.
Physics, which was of great interest to Ioffe, was read at the institute by Professor N.A.Gezekhus. Ioffe soon realized that his hopes of learning real modern physics, and most importantly, experiment, were unlikely to come true. The conditions of the institute simply did not allow this. Carried away by the study of the nature of odor, Ioffe began attending the school of physiologists, which was headed by P.F. Lesgaft, but soon he was asked not to take a place in the school, which obviously could be needed by someone more than a student of a technological institute.
In 1902, Ioffe graduated from the institute, and a year later went on his first business trip abroad.
In Munich, Ioffe worked for three years in the laboratory of the famous discoverer x-rays by physicist V. Roentgen. At the same time, physicists Ernst Wagner, Rudolf Ladenburg, Arnold Sommerfeld, Peter Debye, Max von Laue and others worked in Munich. Communication with them gave Joffe a lot. But what gave Ioffe most of all was his constant communication with Roentgen. The German scientist was not only an outstanding physicist, but also an outstanding teacher. The first Nobel laureate was able to notice and develop the abilities of his students. For example, he never interfered in the experiments carried out by Ioffe, but always tightly controlled them and skillfully criticized one or another technique. After one particularly successful experiment with radium, Roentgen even offered Ioffe to work in his office, which could be regarded as a direct confession.
In 1905, Ioffe defended his dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
In August 1906 he returned to Russia.
Ioffe's departure greatly offended Roentgen, who by that time had achieved permanent place for a young Russian scientist on the staff of his laboratory. Moreover, Roentgen nominated Ioffe for the post of professor at the University of Munich. However, Joffe did not want to stay in Germany. He tried to do everything to restore the old relationship with the teacher. He succeeded.
In Russia, Ioffe was able to get a job only as a freelance laboratory assistant at the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. There he went all the way from laboratory assistant to professor. Having decided to engage in physical experiments, Ioffe met with full understanding and support from the head of the Department of Physics VV Skobeltsyn. Soon a group of young physicists began to gather around Ioffe himself.
In 1908 Ioffe was elected assistant professor of the Mining Institute. At the same time, he lectured at the courses of PF Lesgaft.
In 1913, Ioffe completed a series of works on measuring the electron charge with an external photoelectric effect and proved the statistical nature of the elementary photoeffect. Ioffe's work “Elementary photoelectric effect. The magnetic field of cathode rays "was awarded the honorary academic prize named after. S. L. Ivanova.
In the same year, Ioffe became a professor at the Petrograd (later Leningrad) Polytechnic Institute, where he worked for thirty-five years.
His close friendship with the Dutch physicist Ehrenfest had an undoubted influence on the scientific formation of Ioffe. Ehrenfest's scientific works have always dealt with the main problems of new physics - statistical mechanics, the quantum nature of light, and the like. At the same time, Ehrenfest possessed a rare gift of persuasion. After living in St. Petersburg for some time (he was married to a Russian), Ehrenfest organized a physics seminar, which gave a lot to all its participants. Ehrenfest's seminar was attended by employees and students of the Polytechnic Institute and St. Petersburg University, among them were P. Kapitsa, N. Semenov, J. Frenkel, J. Dorfman, P. Lukirsky. Ehrenfest was able to explain the most difficult problems not only clearly, but also with humor.
Physicists have always been humorous.
A few years later, when Ehrenfest had already returned to Holland, Ioffe, while visiting him, watched the following scene. Joffe, Ehrenfest, and Bohr sat on the sofa, while the physicist Pauli, out of indestructible habit, paced the room from corner to corner. Tired of his strolls, Bohr said: "Wolfgang, stop walking, it annoys me." Pauli was surprised: "What, exactly, Nils, annoys you?" Bohr, who differed in his manner very accurately, but at the same time was slow enough to formulate his thoughts, thought, then instead of him Ehrenfest replied: "It annoys the moment when you, Wolfgang, come back."
Ioffe created the first school of Soviet physicists.
His famous seminar was attended by a variety of scientists - A.I. Alikhanov, I.V. Kurchatov, P.L. Kapitsa, N.N. Semenov, L.A. Artsimovich, I.K. Kikoin, V.N.Kondratyev, Yu.B. Khariton, A.P. Aleksandrov, G.V. Kurdyumov, Ya.I. Frenkel, Ya.G. Dorfman, A.I. Leipunsky, P.I. Lukirsky, A.K. Walter, K. D. Sinelnikov, A. R. Regel, L. S. Stilbans. They all considered themselves to be Ioffe's disciples.
In 1918 Ioffe was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. At the same time, on his initiative, a special physical and technical department was created at the Roentgenological and Radiological Institute, which was later reorganized into the Leningrad Physicotechnical Institute. In 1919, Ioffe created the Physics and Mechanics Department at the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute. In subsequent years, on the basis of these centers, an extensive network of scientific research institutes of a physical profile was created - in Kharkov, in Dnepropetrovsk, in Sverdlovsk, in Tomsk.
In 1920, Ioffe was elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
The times were tough.
As Professor BN Menshutkin recalled: “... they gave out to the population 50 r a day ... often completely inedible; this portion was sometimes replaced 100 r natural oats. Dinner in the dining room usually consisted of herbal soup, not cooked long enough, and a small rusty herring. This was joined by a wood-burning crisis with the onset of cold weather, and, like the previous one, the winter of 1918/1919 found the institute (we are talking about the new Physico-Technical Institute, just created by Ioffe) without any fuel supply; the building of the institute was not heated at all. It was only tolerable in the professor's house, in the residential wings of the chemical pavilion, and in the few wooden houses equipped with stove heating. The lack of firewood and was caused by the order of the Council to conduct classes with students until November 15. In this and the next winter, those vast pine forests that surrounded our institute were all cut down for fuel; the name of the area Sosnovka remained as a memory of the past ”.
They worked anyway, because the thirst for knowledge won everything.
Most characteristic features scientific method Ioffe was the clarity of the formulation of the upcoming experiment, the accuracy and simplicity of the concept, the ability to approach any engineering experiment, and, finally, the ability in my own way to look at the studied physical phenomenon, often quite differently from what their predecessors looked. Without scientists like Ioffe, science would soon come to a standstill. Possessing a real gift of a teacher, Ioffe, already in the twenties, widely promoted modern physics.
“One of the most boring lessons at school was physics lessons,” physicist Ya. G. Dorfman recalled his childhood years. - It seemed that somewhere once there lived an extinct breed of great physicists - Newton, Pascal, Boyle, Gay-Lussac, Ohm and others. All their lives they wrote laws and built a complete building of physics, created a set of laws. At this, the development of physics stopped, and we, schoolchildren, had only to memorize the laws and systems of units and look at the phenomena, the inner nature of which remained incomprehensible and hidden. And we, without any enthusiasm, without any enthusiasm, swallowed pieces of this dead physics. "
Ioffe surprised Dorfman.
Ioffe, in front of his students, boldly broke the established notions.
“I came to the first lecture of Professor AF Ioffe with great excitement,” Dorfman recalled. - I suddenly learned that, in addition to school physics, there is microphysics, physics of electrons, protons, alpha particles and atomic nuclei. It was amazing not only for me, but also for the majority of those present, as I managed to notice. I felt the feeling of a man who had slept for a century and suddenly woke up. "
Ioffe left behind a classic work in physics solid, electrical properties of dielectrics. He made a particularly significant contribution to the physics and technology of semiconductors. Hardly anyone can imagine modern technology and science without semiconductors, these substances, the conductivity of which is too low to be considered metals, and too high to be considered dielectrics. But in the early thirties, when Ioffe took up the study of semiconductors, many physicists were very skeptical about the topic. Despite the fact that most of the periodic table was filled with substances of this class, semiconductors at that time were considered a completely unpromising material - they were, so to speak, too academic a topic, as later nuclear physics. Having carefully studied a number of semiconductors, Ioffe found that their electrical properties are strongly influenced by impurities, which in the widest range change the conductivity and sign of current carriers. This allowed the scientist to formulate the idea of the nature of semiconductor properties and opened the way to the creation of the latest semiconductor materials.
Ioffe was the first to recognize the promise of nuclear physics.
He literally insisted that research on this topic should be included in the plan of scientific work of the Institute of Physics and Technology. He was not at all embarrassed by the fact that Rutherford himself, the founder of nuclear physics, considered at that time the atomic nucleus not as a source of energy, but rather as a grave for it.
“In 1936, a general meeting of the Academy of Sciences was held in Moscow to discuss scientific activities LPTI, headed by Abram Fedorovich Ioffe, - later recalled academician Kikoin. - At this meeting, Abram Fedorovich made a corresponding report. The physicists who participated in the discussion of the report sharply criticized the activities of the institute and Abram Fedorovich Ioffe himself. I think that Abram Fedorovich was very upset by the bias of the speakers, among whom were his students. All the speeches sounded very biased. Those participants of the meeting who could speak out with an objective positive assessment of the activities of the institute were not given the floor (the author of these lines was among those).
Time has shown how unfair this criticism was.
In particular, Abram Fedorovich was criticized for developing research in nuclear physics at the institute, which, according to the speakers, did not promise practical applications even in the distant future. For the same reasons, he was criticized for the development of work in the field of semiconductor physics. It is now clear to everyone how wrong Abram Fedorovich's critics were, how ridiculous their argumentation was. The current generation should pay tribute to the scientific perspicacity of Abram Fedorovich Ioffe, which allowed him to timely formulate and pose such urgent problems as the physics of the atomic nucleus and the physics of semiconductors - the foundations of the scientific and technological revolution. "
From 1926 to 1929, Ioffe served as vice-president of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Since 1930 he edited the "Journal of Applied Physics" and the physical part of the "Journal of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society", and later - "Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics" and "Journal of Technical Physics". Since 1960, he is the director of the Agrophysical Institute of the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences named after V.I. V.I. Lenin (Leningrad). Since 1941 - Chairman of the Commission on military equipment at the Leningrad City Committee of the CPSU. From 1942 to 1945 - Vice-President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician-Secretary of the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Chairman of the Naval and Military Engineering Commissions at the Leningrad City Committee of the CPSU. By the way, in the difficult year of 1942, Ioffe was awarded the State Prize for research in the field of semiconductors, which until recently were considered not promising.
From 1945 to 1952 Ioffe was a member of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
In 1952, he organized the Semiconductor Laboratory, which was later transformed into the Institute of Semiconductors of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
In 1955 he received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
No less than Academician Ioffe was proud of the fact that a year before the organization of the Laboratory of Guides, he received a special prize from the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences for the development of a collective farm radio, which immediately went into mass production.
For his scientific merits, Ioffe was elected a full member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, an honorary doctor of law at the University of California, an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Boston (USA), a member of the International Committee of Solvay (Belgium), an honorary doctor of the Sorbonne (Paris), an honorary doctor of the Polytechnic Institute in Groze (Austria), Honorary Doctor of the University of Bucharest and the Chinese Physical Society, Corresponding Member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, member of the French Physical Society, Indian Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina Academy of Sciences in Halle (GDR), Italian Academy of Sciences, and many other scientific institutions and societies.
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“Chief Academician Ioffe has proved that sports and prevention will replace cognac and coffee!” - these lines from the song of Vladimir Vysotsky, perhaps, are capable of misleading a person who is not very familiar with physical science. Among the works - numerous works! - Abram Fedorovich Ioffe never found a place to study the properties of coffee and cognac. However, it would be very interesting to know the opinion of Ioffe himself on this score.
As a rule, scientists are presented as very strict and serious people. Portraits of just such, respectable and elderly people look at the reader from the pages of textbooks and encyclopedias. But Ioffe argued that a scientist should have not only intelligence and knowledge, but also imagination, intuition and a well-developed imagination. And he himself was a living embodiment of this idea. Mildness of character did not prevent him from being an outstanding organizer - he created his own physics school, whose representatives later became stars of the first magnitude in physics. Ioffe's students are Nobel laureates Peter Leonidovich Kapitsa, Nikolai Nikolaevich Semyonov, Lev Davidovich Landau, Igor Evgenievich Tamm, academicians Abram Isakovich Alikhanov, Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov and many more honored and famous people. On the initiative of Ioffe, large physical and technical institutes were created in Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Yekaterinburg, Tomsk.
"Father of Soviet physics" or, as his students often called him, "Papa Ioffe" - what else can be added to these unofficial, but much explanatory titles? However, something must be added without fail.
One of the physical problems that interested Ioffe as a researcher was the study of semiconductors. For the first time, Russian physicist Oleg Losev drew attention to these unusual materials in 1922. Joffe was the first to start them systematic study... He found out that these are semiconductors - a special class of crystals with many remarkable properties. Together with his student Ya.I. Frenkel, he carried out one of the first works in this area in the early 1930s. Later, Ioffe came to the idea that semiconductors can be used to convert radiation energy into electrical energy. This idea was embodied in the form of "solar cells", which are now equipped with both spacecraft and conventional calculators. Ioffe was also able to find an application for the thermoelectric properties of semiconductors, at his institute they developed a whole series of refrigerators operating on this principle. In the kitchen, such refrigerators are not often found - they are expensive, but they have found application in some areas of chemistry and medicine, as well as in small portable cooling devices and refrigerators.
Semiconductor research, picked up by Western laboratories in the 40s, changed the world beyond recognition. Computers, cell phones, automotive and industrial automation are all based on semiconductor technology. It was she who made up the prosperity of Silicon Valley, which it would be more correct to call Silicon Valley or even Sand, because today semiconductors are made from quartz rock, practically sand. After all, sand is the same silicon oxide, SiO2, if anyone has forgotten the school chemistry course.
Here is a quote from Ioffe's interview with the magazine Vokrug Sveta in 1931: “One of the main issues of technology is energy ... Undoubtedly, the continuously incoming solar energy should play a big role ... Plants use 6% of the energy of the sun's rays , meanwhile, chemical and photochemical techniques can use solar energy in much higher limits - up to 92-95% ”.
Are Joffe's words relevant for today? Judge for yourself: since 2007 all new houses in Spain have been equipped with solar panels, since 2008 in the German city of Marburg the fine for the lack of such an installation on the roof is 1000 euros. In 2012, the largest solar power plant with 5 thousand megawatts will appear in South Africa, the volume of investments is estimated at three dozen billion dollars.
However, Ioffe's research was not limited to semiconductors - he also measured the charge of an electron, a little late relative to Robert Millikan, who received the Nobel Prize in 1923 for this experiment. Studied the nature of light, electrical and mechanical properties solids. In his youth, from 1903, he worked in the Roentgen laboratory in Munich, and in 1906 he rejected the offer to stay and returned to Russia. Ioffe is one of the most famous Russian scientists abroad, honorary doctor of the University of California, Sorbonne, Graz. In November 1960, the name Ioffe was given to the Physics and Technology Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
By the way, I wonder if there are still scientists who got into the lyrics of popular songs?
Ioffe Abram Fedorovich (1880-1960) - Russian Soviet physicist, one of the founders of the Soviet physics school, pioneer of semiconductor research, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. "The father of Soviet physics" or, as his students often called him, "Papa Ioffe."
Born into a Jewish family of a merchant of the second guild. He received his secondary education in a real school in the city of Romny, Poltava province. In 1902 he graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology. In 1905 he graduated from the University of Munich in Germany, where he worked under the direction of V. K. Roentgen and received a Ph.D. From 1906 he worked at the Polytechnic Institute.
In 1911 he accepted Lutheranism to marry a non-Jewish woman.
Since 1918 - Corresponding Member, and since 1920 - Full Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1921 he became director of the Physico-Technical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, created on the basis of the department and now named after him.
In December 1950, during the campaign against cosmopolitanism, Ioffe was removed from the post of director and removed from the Academic Council of the Institute. In 1952 he headed the semiconductor laboratory of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1954, the Institute of Semiconductors of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR was organized on the basis of the laboratory.
A campaign to combat cosmopolitanism in physics has also begun. The name Ioffe was mentioned more and more often among the "rootless". In October 1950, the President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, SI Vavilov, summoned him and, after a lengthy conversation, suggested resigning from the post of director of the LPTI. Abram Fedorovich wrote a statement asking to be relieved of his post of director and transferred to the head of the laboratory at the same institute. On December 8, 1950, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences approved this decision and appointed A.P. Komar as director of LPTI.
However, the situation at the institute remained difficult. The new leadership openly opposed Ioffe, and although he felt the moral support of his friends and colleagues during all the difficult times, his position at times turned out to be unbearable.
The greatest merit of AF Ioffe is the founding of a unique physics school, which made it possible to bring Soviet physics to the world level.
Joffe never clashed with the authorities. Moreover, he always emphasized his loyalty and even loyalty to the system. This gave him the opportunity to occupy major administrative posts in science and directly influence state policy in this area. But the authorities felt that in spirit he was a stranger to them. He could not be trusted like, say, Academician A.V. Topchiev or Minister S.V. Kaftanov, who without reasoning zealously supported any political or ideological campaign. First, Ioffe previously worked in Munich, at Roentgen, and absorbed the spirit of classical science, independent of nothing but truth. Therefore, he was considered "difficult to manage", always had his own opinion and was not afraid to express it openly. Secondly, Abram Fedorovich, although he was a member of the CPSU since 1942, did not actively participate in elected party bodies and political events. Well, and thirdly, Ioffe was a Jew, and the authorities, especially during the years of the struggle against cosmopolitanism, "forgot" about the fifth point only when they had no choice - without the help of Jewish scientists it was difficult to solve the most important defense tasks ... Let us recall at least the atomic problem or the problem of creating missile weapons.
IOFFE ABRAM FEDOROVICH
(born in 1880 - died in 1960)
Soviet physicist, organizer of physics research in the USSR, teacher. Academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1916), the Russian Academy of Sciences (1920), the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (in 1942–1945 its vice-president), Honored Scientist of the RSFSR (1933), Hero of Socialist Labor (1955). Founder and head (1918-1951) of the Physico-Technical Department of the State Roentgenological and Radiological Institute, Director of the Physico-Technical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute of Semiconductors of the USSR Academy of Sciences (since 1955). The main works are devoted to solid state physics. His work laid the foundation for the physics and technology of semiconductors. The head of a large school of physicists. Laureate of the Stalin Prize (1942) and Lenin Prize (1961, posthumously). Author of the biographical book "Meetings with Physicists".
When it comes to Abram Fedorovich Ioffe, one gets the impression that most of the major Russian physicists of the middle of the 20th century were, directly or indirectly, the students of this St. Petersburg academician. Although he was not a Nobel laureate, his contribution to physics and to the creation of the national scientific school of physicists is enormous. He practically created a school comparable in level with the schools of E. Rutherford in Cambridge and M. Born in Göttingen. Famous Soviet physicists emerged from the Ioffe school, many of whom themselves became the founders of their own schools: academicians A.P. Aleksandrov, A.I. Alikhanov, L.A. Artsimovich, P.L. Kapitsa, B.P. Konstantinov, G. V. Kurdyumov, I. V. Kurchatov, P. I. Lukirsky, I. V. Obreimov, N. N. Semenov, Yu. B. Khariton; Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR Ya. I. Frenkel, Academicians of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR A.K. Walter, V.E. Lashkarev, A.I. Leipunsky, KD Sinelnikov and many others. Among scientists he was called “the father of Soviet physics” or even “Pope Ioffe”. In many ways, the successes of Soviet physics were predetermined by his personal qualities - a great talent of an experimental physicist, outstanding organizational skills, the ability to quickly and accurately navigate the complex problems of new physics that was being born at that time, his amazing instinct for the new, which allowed him already in the 1920s years to understand the importance of nuclear physics, and in the 1930s - the physics of semiconductors and polymers. An extremely important quality of the all-round gifted personality of Ioffe was the gift of the Teacher and the highest responsibility of Ioffe to the country where physics was in its infancy. He raised physicists of a new type - people "physically thinking" who could quickly understand the essence of new, unexpectedly arising problems before them, and not just well know the whole theory and practice of certain established technical issues.
Abram Fedorovich was born on October 29, 1880 in Romny, Poltava province, in the family of a merchant of the 2nd guild. Since there was no gymnasium in a small town, and there was only a men's real school, he entered it. It is noteworthy that SP Timoshenko, later a major mechanic, turned out to be Ioffe's classmate. Abram became interested in physics while still in college. He often emphasized that this happened not due to the influence of teachers, but rather in spite of: the level of teaching at the school was very low. A gifted young man dreamed of entering a university, but, as you know, before the revolution, to enter universities, it was necessary to know the ancient languages that were taught only in gymnasiums. Therefore, after graduating from a real school, Ioffe opted for the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, where, in his opinion, it was most possible to learn physics. Outstanding scientists, in particular, I. I. Borgman, N. A. Gezekhus, B. L. Rosing taught at this institute. Along with physics, Ioffe worked a lot in the field of its biological applications, which was more than unusual in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, and was also engaged in purely engineering work, mainly during his summer practice.
In 1902, a graduate of the Technological Institute, having secured recommendations, went to Munich to gain experience in setting up an experiment to test the resonant theory of smell and sense of smell that he had created during his years of study at the school. In those years, the best experimental physicist VK Roentgen, according to the St. Petersburg professors, worked there. At first, Abram was a trainee and lived on his own funds, and then he got a job as an assistant. A fruitful and most trusting relationship has developed between the Nobel Prize laureate and the novice physicist. During the years of work in the laboratory of Roentgen (1903-1906), Ioffe conducted a number of major studies, among which was an experiment to determine the "energy power" of radium, work on the mechanical and electrical properties of crystals, etc. These studies consolidated his reputation as a physicist, deeply thinking about mechanisms of the processes studied by him and with exceptional accuracy conducting experiments, expanding the concept of atomic-electronic phenomena in solids. Already in his doctoral dissertation, performed in the Roentgen laboratory in Munich, Ioffe showed the skill of an experimenter and solved the important at that time issue of elastic aftereffect in crystals, for which he was awarded the degree of doctor with the highest distinction.
In 1906, Abram Fedorovich, refusing Roentgen's flattering offer to stay to continue his research and teaching work at the University of Munich, returned to Russia and got a job as a senior laboratory assistant at the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. In 1906-1917, in the physics laboratory of the institute, Ioffe performed brilliant work on confirming Einstein's quantum theory of the external photoelectric effect, proving the granular nature of the electron charge, and determining the magnetic field of cathode rays. In 1913, after defending his master's thesis, he became an extraordinary professor, and in 1915, having defended his doctoral dissertation, he became a professor in the department of general physics at his institute. For research on the elastic and electrical properties of quartz and some other crystals, the Academy of Sciences in 1914 awarded him the S. A. Ivanova.
In addition to these important studies, Ioffe was engaged in theoretical developments in the field of thermal radiation, in which the classical studies of M. Planck were further developed. And the results of studies on the electrical conductivity of ionic crystals (co-authored with M.V. Milovidova-Kirpicheva) were subsequently, after the end of the First World War, brilliantly reported by him at the Solvay Congress of 1924 and, having caused a lively discussion from its famous participants, received them full recognition. Along with intensive research work, Abram Fedorovich devoted a lot of time and effort to teaching. He lectured not only at the Polytechnic Institute, but also at P. Lesgaft's well-known courses in the city, at the Mining Institute and at the university. However, the most important thing in this activity of Ioffe was the organization in 1916 of a seminar on new physics at the Polytechnic Institute. It was during these years that Ioffe - first a participant and then a leader of the seminar - developed that wonderful style of conducting this kind of meetings, which made him well-known and characterized him as the head of the school. Ioffe's seminar at the Polytechnic Institute is rightfully considered the most important center in the field of crystal physics.
In October 1918, on the initiative of Ioffe, a physical and technical department was created at the X-ray and Radiological Institute (reorganized soon into the Physicotechnical Institute), and a year later - the Physics and Mechanics Department at the Polytechnic Institute, the dean of which he was also more than 30 years. The creation of the Physicotechnical Institute later gave rise to an extensive network of scientific research institutes of the physical profile (15 subsidiary institutes, including the physicotechnical institutes in Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Tomsk, etc.).
A broad outlook and ability of foresight, an outstanding talent of a scientist and organizer allowed Ioffe to carry out a reform of physics in the USSR, educate a large detachment of physicists, and show the importance of physics for technology and the national economy. Until 1954, Ioffe was director of the Physico-Technical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and then headed the Institute of Semiconductors of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
The scientific work of AF Ioffe in the 1920s was focused on the study of the mechanical and electronic properties of solids; from the beginning of the 1930s, nuclear physics became one of the main directions. The scientist quickly appreciated its future role in the further progress of science and technology. Therefore, nuclear physics has become a part of the work of the Physicotechnical Institute. At the same time, its own scientific work Ioffe focused on another problem - the problem of the physics of semiconductors as new materials for electronics. He created a method for determining the main parameters characterizing the properties of semiconductors, and a classification system for these materials (1931-1940). These works served as a prerequisite for the development of new areas of semiconductor technology - the creation of thermo- and photoelectric generators and refrigeration devices. In the late 1930s, Ioffe proposed a mechanism for rectifying current in semiconductors, which found application in the production of diodes, and put forward the idea of plasma thermoelectricity. All these works were distinguished by phenomenal scrupulousness and accuracy, as well as a constant desire to bring all the observed effects into a single harmonious scheme - features that were absorbed by all the students of the Ioffe school.
However, the life of a prominent physicist was not cloudless. All the methods of moral terror, with the help of which the authorities tried to excommunicate many prominent scientists from science, were reflected in his fate. True, Ioffe never clashed with the authorities, always emphasized his loyalty and even loyalty to the system, which gave him the opportunity to occupy major administrative posts in science and directly influence state policy in this area. But the authorities felt that in spirit he was alien to them: firstly, he worked in Munich and absorbed the spirit of classical science, independent of anything but truth. Therefore, he was considered "difficult to manage", always had his own opinion and was not afraid to express it openly. Secondly, Abram Fedorovich, although he was a member of the CPSU since 1942, did not actively participate in political events. Well, and thirdly, Ioffe was a Jew, and the authorities, especially during the years of the struggle against cosmopolitanism, "forgot" about the fifth point only when they had no choice - without the help of Jewish scientists it was difficult to solve the most important defense tasks ... So, during the war years, Ioffe participated in the construction of radar installations in Leningrad, during the evacuation in Kazan, he was the chairman of the Naval and Military Engineering Commissions.
We should remember at least the atomic problem or the problem of creating missile weapons. Back in the winter of 1920, in cold and hungry Petrograd, the Atomic Commission was created, in which AF Ioffe was also directly involved. He considered it necessary to carry out investigations of the atom quickly and intensively and to place work on atomic physics in special conditions. Center scientific research became the X-ray Institute, and later the Physico-Technical Institute, headed by him. A galaxy of talented researchers united around him. The famous Leningrad Physicotechnical Institute, which today bears the name of Academician Ioffe, was called by different names: “Parnassus of New Physics”, and “Mighty Handful”, and even “Papa Ioffe's Kindergarten”. Academician IK Kikoin recalls: “It really was Kindergarten- in the sense that the main force, the main army of the institute's employees, were students of 1, 2, 3 courses. They did science at the Physico-Technical Institute, which means that they did science - physics - in the country as well. But the garden must also bear fruit. This kindergarten from Phystech has borne fruit, and, I would say, good results. For example, Soviet atomic technology, atomic energy is the fruit of the very garden that Abram Fedorovich Ioffe planted and raised. "
The academician had a special nose not only for talent, but he could even predict in which direction this or that scientist would be able to show his best side. Thus, Abram Fedorovich contributed to the reorientation of IV Kurchatov in the early 1930s from ferroelectric to nuclear issues. And when in the years of the Great Patriotic War Ioffe, as an unsurpassed scientist-organizer, was offered to lead this direction, he again nominated Kurchatov, who in that difficult 1943 was not yet an academician, but served in the navy, dealing with the disposal of German mines and developing a method for demagnetizing warships.
Many physicists owe their growth and career to Ioffe, but there were plenty of envious people. Particularly zealous were colleagues at the Academy - Academician V. F. Mitkevich and Corresponding Member A. A. Maksimov. The latter did not spare the paper to prove that Abram Fedorovich was "an irresponsible Soviet citizen." He wrote on the pages of the magazine Under the Banner of Marxism: "The self-praise of Academician AF Ioffe, who ascribes to himself the merit belonging to the entire collective of Soviet physicists and achieved under the leadership of the party and government, is a style of boasting, sensation, exaggeration, and outright eyewash." He was echoed by Professor of the Physics Department of Moscow State University A. K. Timiryazev: “We must hope that the Soviet public will fully reveal where the enemies are and where the friends of Soviet physics are, and will appreciate the slanderous statements of Acad. Ioffe ". It was a direct call for reprisals. But Joffe was not arrested then or later. Apparently, his high international authority and his generally loyal position in relation to the authorities saved him from repression. Nevertheless, the clouds were gathering, especially in the midst of the campaign to combat "rootless cosmopolitanism." The name Ioffe was mentioned more and more often among the “rootless”. In October 1950, the President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, SI Vavilov, summoned him and, after a lengthy conversation, offered to leave the post of director of the LPTI. Abram Fedorovich wrote a statement asking to be relieved of his post of director and transferred to the head of the laboratory at the same institute. On December 8, 1950, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences approved this decision and appointed A.P. Komar as director of the LPTI.
However, the situation at the institute remained difficult. The new leadership openly treated Ioffe, and although he felt the moral support of his friends and colleagues during all the difficult times, his position at times became unbearable. The atmosphere in which Ioffe lived and worked at that time is well conveyed by the history of the discussion of his book "Basic Concepts modern physics"(1949). This was the first post-war book in which the foundations of modern physics were quite popular and clearly stated: the theory of relativity, statistical, atomic and nuclear physics. Readers received it well, and the first scientific reviews were very favorable. But as soon as the rumor spread that Ioffe was removed from the post of director of the institute, devastating reviews appeared in special journals almost simultaneously, which pointed to "very large ideological breakdowns" (and this is in a book on physics!) And a discrepancy between problems with "dialectical materialism" ... Naturally, Ioffe came up with the traditional admission of mistakes. From the standpoint of today, his speech could be considered unprincipled, but who knows what feelings the disgraced academician felt in those days, what defense tactics he chose?
Ioffe was forced to leave the institute altogether. The Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences organized a special semiconductor laboratory for him, allocated staff and premises. In 1950, the scientist developed a theory, on the basis of which the requirements were formulated for semiconductor materials used in thermopiles and ensuring the maximum value of their efficiency. Following this, in 1951, L. S. Stilbans, under the leadership of A. F. Ioffe and Yu. P. Maslakovts, developed the world's first refrigerator. This was the beginning of the development of a new field of technology - thermoelectric cooling. Corresponding refrigerators and thermostats are now widely used all over the world to solve a number of problems in radio electronics, instrument making, medicine, space biology and other fields of science and technology.
If you try to compile a list of scientific and civil achievements of Abram Fedorovich, then it will take more than one page. He is the author of numerous monographs, articles, textbooks and a number of memoirs. His last organizational brainchild was the creation of the Institute of Semiconductors of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. And since 1954, the number of publications of the eminent scientist in scientific journals, reflecting his scientific activity, has increased dramatically. His performance could not but cause surprise and admiration. No wonder one of AF Ioffe's books on thermoelectricity was called “The Bible on thermoelectricity”. Abram Fedorovich was a member of many academies of sciences: Göttingen (1924), Berlin (1928), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1929), honorary member of the German Academy of Sciences "Leopoldina" (1958), Italian Academy of Sciences (1959), honorary doctor of the University of California (1928 ), Sorbonne (1945), Universities of Graz (1948), Bucharest and Munich (1955). He was twice awarded the USSR State Prize (1942, 1961 - posthumously) and was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1955).
Abram Fedorovich died on October 14, 1960, two weeks before his 80th birthday, and was buried at Literatorskie Mostki. The name of the outstanding physicist is immortalized not only in his deeds and in the memory of grateful descendants, but also in the name of his favorite brainchild - the P.I. A. B. Ioffe, in front of the building of which there is a monument to its creator - “Pope Ioffe”.
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A. F. Ioffe, A. I. Alikhanov and I. V. Kurchatov, 1933.
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