born Aug. 25, 1928, Weimar, Ger.
German physicist.
He received a Ph.D. (1952) from Georg August University in Göttingen and later moved to the U.S., where he taught at several institutions. In 1957 he carried out theoretical calculations showing that a heterostructure transistor, which is made from several materials, would be superior to a conventional transistor, which is made from only one kind of material. His theory was later confirmed and led to the development of numerous electronic components that had a significant influence on communications technology and computers. He shared the 2000 Nobel Prize for Physics with Zhores Alferov and Jack S. Kilby .