Herbert J. Zeiger (b. 16 March 1925 in the Bronx, New York City, United States; d. 14 January 2011[1]) was an American physicist and co-developer of the first maser.[2]

Zeiger graduated from the City College of New York with a bachelor's degree in 1944, and Columbia University with a master's degree in 1948 and a doctorate in 1952. From 1953 until his retirement in 1990, he conducted research at the Lincoln Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[citation needed] He lived most recently in Newton, Mass., and then in Dedham, Mass. He is buried in West Roxbury.[1]

In addition to the physics behind the maser and laser, Zeiger dealt with solid-state physics, semiconductor physics, and molecular physics.[citation needed]

Between 1953-54, he worked alongside Charles H. Townes and James P. Gordon, who was then a PhD student of Townes, at Columbia University to develop the first maser.[2]

In 1966, Zeiger became a Fellow of the American Physical Society.[3] He and Gordon were the recipients of the first Charles Hard Townes Award in 1981, "For [their] contributions to the successful operations of the first quantum-electronics device, the ammonia maser".[4]

He was married to Hanna Bloom and had three children: Joel Zeiger, Susan Zeiger Katz, and Judith Zeiger McNulty.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Herbert Zeiger Obituary - Boston, MA | Boston Globe". Legacy.com. Boston Globe - accessed online through Legacy.com, a subsidiary of Ancestry.com. 15 Jan 2011. Retrieved 30 Sep 2019.
  2. ^ a b Gordon, James; Zeiger, Herbert; Townes, Charles (15 Aug 1955). "The Maser - New Type of Microwave Amplifier, Frequency Standard, and Spectrometer". Physical Review. 99 (4). American Physical Society: 1264–1274. Bibcode:1955PhRv...99.1264G. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.99.1264.
  3. ^ "APS Fellow Archive". APS. American Physical Society. 2019. Retrieved 30 Sep 2019.
  4. ^ "Charles Hard Townes Award". OSA. The Optical Society. 2019. Retrieved 30 Sep 2019.