Alferov, Zhores Ivanovich (1930– )

Russian physicist who with German physicist Herbert Kroemer and US electrical engineer Jack S Kilby shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2000 for their contributions to the field of information and communication technology. Alferov played a leading role in the development of semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed electronics applications and optoelectronics (the branch of electronics concerned with the development of devices that respond to both electrons and photons).

In 1963, Alferov proposed the principle behind the construction of a laser made from heterostructured semiconductor components, independently of Herbert Kroemer. Heterostructured semiconductors, such as gallium arsenide, are made up from alternating thin layers of semiconducting materials. In 1969, Alferov produced the first heterostructure to have clear borders between the different layers, which enabled the development of semiconductor lasers that could be used at room temperature. Semiconductor lasers are commonly used in compact disc players and bar code readers and to pass information down fibre optic cables.

Alferov was born in Vitsyebsk, Belarus (formerly Vitebsk, USSR). He joined A F Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute, St Petersburg, Russia, in 1953 and became director of the institute in 1987. In 1989 he became vice-president of the Russian Academy of Sciences.