Klaus von Klitzing

Klaus von Klitzing
Born	28 June 1943 (1943-06-28) Schroda, Reichsgau Posen, Germany (present-day Poland)
Nationality	German
Fields	Physics
Known for	Quantum Hall effect
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in Physics (1985)

Klaus von Klitzing (28 June 1943 in Schroda) is a German physicist known for discovery of the integer quantum Hall Effect, for which he was awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physics.

In 1962, von Klitzing passed the Abitur at Artland Gymnasium in Quakenbrück, Germany, before studying physics at the Braunschweig University of Technology, where he received his diploma in 1969. He continued his studies at the University of Würzburg, completing his PhD thesis Galvanomagnetic Properties of Tellurium in Strong Magnetic Fields in 1972, and habilitation in 1978. This work was performed at the Clarendon Laboratory in Oxford and the Grenoble High Magnetic Field Laboratory in France, where he continued to work until becoming a professor at the Technical University of Munich in 1980. Von Klitzing has been a director of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart since 1985.

The von Klitzing constant, R_K = h/e² = 25,812.807449(86) Ω, is named in honor of von Klitzing's discovery of the quantum Hall effect, and is listed in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty. The inverse of the von Klitzing constant is equal to half that of the conductance quantum value.

Today, von Klitzing's research focuses on the properties of low-dimensional electronic systems, typically in low temperatures and in high magnetic fields.

External links

• Nobel e-museum, Klaus von Klitzing - Curriculum Vitae
• Klaus von Klitzing - Photo & short Bio
• Artland Gymnasium Quakenbrück
• Homepage of von Klitzing's department at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
• K. von Klitzing, G. Dorda, M. Pepper (1980). "New Method for High-Accuracy Determination of the Fine-Structure Constant Based on Quantized Hall". Physical Review Letters 45 (6): 494–497. Bibcode 1980PhRvL..45..494K. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.45.494. 
• Original article on the Quantum Hall Effect: K. v. Klitzing, G. Dorda, and M. Pepper; Phys. Rev. Lett. 45, 494-497 (1980).
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• NIST Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty