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Oleg Losev

Oleg Vladimirovich Losev
Олег Владимирович Лосев

Born May 10, 1903
Tver, Russia
Died January 22, 1942
Leningrad, Russia
Residence Nizhny, Leningrad
Citizenship Russia, Soviet Union
Fields Physics, electrical engineering
Institutions Nizhniy-Novgorod Radio Laboratory (NRL), Central Radio Laboratory (TSRL, Leningrad), Leningrad Physicotechnical Institute, First Leningrad Medical Institute
Known for Inventions, radio, LEDs

Oleg Vladimirovich Losev (Russian: Олег Владимирович Лосев) (May 10, 1903 - January 22, 1942) was a scientist and inventor.[1][2] He was born to a high-ranking family in Imperial Russia. He published a number of papers and patents during his short career. His observations of LEDs languished for half a century before being recognized in the late 20th and early 21st century. In 1907, H. J. Round made a very brief report (only 2 paragraphs) in Electrical World regarding light coming from SiC by electrical excitation.[3] Losev's papers provided much more detailed information than Round.

Contents

Light-emitting diodes

In course of his work as a radio technician, he noticed that diodes used in radio receivers emitted light when current was passed through them. In 1927, Losev published details in a Russian journal of the first-ever light-emitting diode.

In the period of 1924 and 1941, he published a number of articles detailing the function of a device that he developed, which would generate light via electroluminescence when electrons fall to a lower energy level. For example, he published an important paper in Philosophical Magazine. [4]

In 1951, Kurt Lehovec et al. published an important paper in Physical Review. Losev's papers were cited but his name appeared as Lossew. Kurt Lehovec's theoretical explanation is much better than Losev's. [5]

Both Round and Losev experimented with SiC which was used as a radio detector in the early days of wireless. However, SiC is an indirect bandgap semiconductor and so inefficient as a material for light-emitting diode. GaN is a direct bandgap semiconductor and so expected to be the more efficient material. The light from even modern SiC LED is somewhat faint but the light from InGaN LED can be dazzlingly bright. Thus neither Round's nor Losev's pioneering work, even if it had been continued, was likely to lead to a practical success.

In the April 2007 issue of Nature Photonics, Nikolay Zheludev gives credit to Losev for inventing the LED. [6][7] Specifically, Losev patented the "Light Relay" [8] and foresaw its use in telecommunications.

Unfortunately, before this device could be developed, the Second World War intervened, and Losev died in 1942 during The Siege of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), at the age of 39.

Other contributions

He also worked with oscillating crystals in radio.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b М. А. Новиков (2004). "Олег Владимирович Лосев — пионер полупроводниковой электроники" (PDF). Физика Твердого Тела 46 (1): 5–9. http://www.ioffe.ru/journals/ftt/2004/01/p5-9.pdf. Retrieved 2008-01-01. Lay summary – Babelfish translation: "Oleg Vladimirovich Losev - Pioneer of the Semiconductor Electronics" in Solid State Physics'. 
  2. ^ Available in English in: M. A. Novikov (January 2004) "Oleg Vladimirovich Losev: Pioneer of Semiconductor Electronics," Physics of the Solid State, vol. 46, no. 1, page 1-4.
  3. ^ Henry Joseph Round (9 February 1907) "A note on carborundum," Electrical World, vol. 49, page 309. The text of this note is reproduced in full on Wikipedia's entry: H. J. Round .
  4. ^ O.V. Lossev (November 1928). "Luminous carborundum detector and detection effect and oscillations with crystals". Philosophical Magazine 5: 1024–1044. 
  5. ^ K. Lehovec, C.A. Accardo and E. Jamgochian (1951-08-01). "Injected light emission of silicon carbide crystals". Physical Review 83 (3): 603–608. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.83.603. 
  6. ^ Nikolay Zheludev (2007). "The life and times of the LED — a 100-year history". Nature Photonics 1 (4): 189–192. doi:10.1038/nphoton.2007.34. http://www.orc.soton.ac.uk/fileadmin/downloads/100_years_of_optoelectronics__2_.pdf. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 
  7. ^ Tom Simonite (2007-04-11). "The LED – older than we thought". NewScientist Blogs. http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2007/04/led-older-than-we-thought.html. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 
  8. ^ Soviet patent #12191 granted in 1929

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