K. Alex Müller
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
K. Alexander Müller
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1987
Born: 20 April 1927, Basel, Switzerland
Died: 9 January 2023, Zurich, Switzerland
Affiliation at the time of the award: IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, Rüschlikon, Switzerland
Prize motivation: “for their important break-through in the discovery of superconductivity in ceramic materials”
Prize share: 1/2
Work
When certain metals are cooled to extremely low temperatures, they become superconductors, conducting electrical current entirely without resistance. However, very low temperatures, just a few degrees above absolute zero, are required for this phenomenon to occur. In 1986 Alex Müller and Georg Bednorz discovered that a material composed of copper oxide with lantanum and barium additives became superconducting at a significantly higher temperature than previously tested materials. This sparked extensive research into similar materials.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
