Frank J. Low
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank James Low (born Mobile, Alabama, 23 November 1933) is a solid state physicist who become a leader in the new field of infrared astronomy, after inventing the gallium doped germanium bolometer in 1961. This detector extended the range of the observable spectrum to much longer wavelengths.
His undergraduate studies in physics were at Yale University and he obtained his PhD in physics from Rice University in 1959.
He has worked at Rice University and at the University of Arizona. He is also the president of Infrared Laboratories, Inc., which he founded in 1967 to make infrared detectors and cryostats for observatories and infrared microscopes as well.
He proposed and joined the international project to build the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) which made the first survey of the infrared sky from space in 1983. He also developed instrumentation for the Spitzer Space Telescope.
[edit] Honors
Awards
- Rumford Prize (1986)
- Helen Warner Prize (1968)
- Joseph Weber Award (2003)
- Karl G. Jansky Lectureship (2006)
- Bruce Medal (2006)
Named after him
- Kleinmann-Low Nebula (with Douglas E. Kleinmann)
- Asteroid 12142 Franklow
[edit] External links
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