Remembering Zhores Alferov

Zhores Alferov was awarded one quarter of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Herbert Kroemer and Jack Kilby for his work in semiconductor heterostructures. Alferov and his team developed the first heterostructure electronic device in 1966, which proved a significant advance over the previous semiconductors composed of one kind of material. This paved the way for progress in fiberoptic communication and development of communication satellites, cellular telephones, bar code readers and other products. Alferov’s work was done in the Soviet Union almost simultaneously with similar work done independently at research centers in the United States.