Draft:Donald S. Bethune

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Donald Stimson Bethune, Jr
Bethune in 2024
Born (1948-07-02) 2 July 1948 (age 77)
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Alma materStanford University (B.S.)
University of California Berkeley (Ph.D.)
Known forwork on nonlinear optics, early work on fullerenes, discovering a catalytic path for producing single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), developing a single-photon detector for telecom wavelengths, inventing an autocompensating fiberoptic quantum cryptography system
AwardsSee below
Scientific career
Fieldslasers, nonlinear optics, carbon materials, batteries, quantum information, quantum computing
Institutions

Donald Stimson Bethune, Jr (July 2, 1948 -), more often Donald S. Bethune, is an American physicist, inventor, and former Research Staff Member in the IBM Research Division. He is known for his work in nonlinear optics, Li-air battery research, and quantum cryptography, and is a key figure in the field of carbon materials, most notably for early work on fullerenes and metallofullerenes and the independent co-discovery of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and a catalytic method using a transition metal for their production.[1][2] He retired from IBM Research in December 2022 after a 45-year career.

Early Life and Education

Bethune was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to parents Anne Norton Hattoon (October 21, 1925 - January 3, 2011) and Donald Stimson Bethune, M.D. (August 31, 1918 - May 5, 1963). He graduated in 1966 from Palo Verde High School in Tucson, Arizona, received his B.S. in Physics from Stanford University in 1970, and earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1977, supported in part by a National Defense Education Act graduate fellowship. At Berkeley he did experimental work in nonlinear optics in the group of Yuen-Ron Shen, building and using dye lasers to carry out nonlinear optical experiments on semiconductor crystals and atomic vapors. His dissertation was titled "Optical Quadrupole Sum-Frequency Generation in Sodium Vapor."

Professional record

Career and Research

Bethune began his professional career in 1977 in IBM Research at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, as a postdoc working with Peter P. Sorokin on laser spectroscopy and nonlinear optical effects in alkali metal vapors. Several notable innovations came out of that work:

  • a device used in dye laser systems to generate high-quality beams that became known as the Bethune dye cell;[3][4][5]
  • Time-Resolved Infrared Spectral Photography (TRISP), which uses stimulated Raman scattering and nonlinear optical mixing to generate a short-duration broadband infrared beam from a pulsed broadband visible laser beam, passes the infrared through a sample, and uses the inverse process to shift the infrared beam, now carrying the infrared absorption spectrum of the sample, back into the visible where it can be recorded using visible light sensors or photographic plates.[6][7][8]

In 1983, he transferred to the IBM San Jose Research Laboratory, which moved to a new building and was renamed the IBM Almaden Research Center in 1986. He worked with Alan Luntz to measure infrared absorption spectra of molecules on surfaces in an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) environment,[9] designing and building an infrared laser system capable of generating infrared beams with wavelength tunable between 1.4 and 22 μm.[10]

In the late 1980s Bethune became interested in clusters. After hearing about the recent discovery of carbon fullerenes, he began experimental work with Gerard Meijer to produce and study them. Following their initial success in making solid fullerene samples,[11] other scientists at IBM quickly joined the effort. The most impactful contributions to the fullerene and related carbon allotrope fields by Bethune and his colleagues included:

  • presenting the first public report of data on solid fullerene samples at the 5th International Symposium on Small Particles and Inorganic Clusters (ISSPIC-5) in Konstanz, Germany on September 11, 1990, where Bethune showed mass spectra[11] and Raman spectra[12] of sublimed solid C60 thin-films and related them to the vibrational spectrum calculated for the truncated icosahedral structure of Buckminsterfullerene;[13][14]
  • exploiting NMR techniques to confirm the symmetry of C60, measure its two bond lengths, demonstrate that at room temperature the balls rotate in the solid, and determine how the rotation slows as they are cooled;[15][16]
  • imaging fullerenes sublimed onto a gold surface using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to image C60 molecules on the surface. Those images,[17] and STM images made by J.L. Wragg et al.,[18] were the first microscopic images of fullerene molecules and were published back-to-back in Nature.
  • using arc-synthesis to produce metallofullerenes[19][20] such as LaC82 and Sc3C82, and reporting the first electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of those species;[21][22]
  • discovering in 1993 that cobalt, co-vaporized with carbon in a helium atmosphere, can catalyze the formation of single-wall carbon nanotubes.[1][2] This discovery, together with the independent and simultaneous discovery by Iijima and Ichihashi of SWNTs catalyzed by another transition metal, iron,[23] triggered worldwide research efforts to efficiently produce, characterize, and find applications for SWNTs.[24][25][26][27][28]

His later research included:

  • co-inventing an autocompensating fiberoptic quantum cryptography system[29][30][31] and a novel method for detecting single photons at telecom wavelengths for that system;[32][33][34]
  • designing and building sensitive instrumentation for elucidating Li-air battery chemistry;[35]
  • identifying key materials for novel ultrahigh-density semiconductor memory devices;[36]
  • doing major design work on a high-performance robotic optical storage system.[37]

Over his career he was an inventor on more than 25 granted US patents in the fields of optics, optical harmonic generation, laser spectroscopy, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, quantum cryptography, single-photon detection, semiconductor memories, and optical-disc storage and retrieval systems. A reasonably complete list of his publications can be found at Google Scholar for Donald S. Bethune.[38]

Awards and Honors

  • Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2001 recipient, Division of Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics Fellowship, "For contributing to our understanding of fullerenes, including spectroscopy that confirmed the fullerene structure of carbon clusters, and for synthesizing metallofullerenes and single wall carbon nanotubes."
  • James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials[39] (2002): Awarded jointly to Donald S. Bethune and Sumio Iijima by the American Physical Society (APS), "For the discovery and development of single-wall carbon nanotubes, which can behave like metals or semiconductors, can conduct electricity better than copper, can transmit heat better than diamond, and rank among the strongest materials known".
  • The Carbon Medal (2004): Awarded by the American Carbon Society[40] to Donald S. Bethune, Sumio Iijima, and Morinobu Endo "For outstanding contributions to the discovery of, and early synthesis work on carbon nanotubes".
  • Bethune was one of the panelists who gave presentations and joined in discussions about the future of carbon at the Carbon Medal Ceremony session of Carbon 2016, the 2016 American Carbon Society Annual Meeting.[41]

Personal

He married Ann Rendall Bethune in 1976. They have five children: Benjamin, Michael, Steven, Caitlin, and Marieke.

References

  1. 1 2 Bethune, D. S. et al. (17 June 1993). "Cobalt-catalysed growth of carbon nanotubes with single-atomic-layer walls", Nature. 363: 605-607. https://doi.org/10.1038/363605a0
  2. 1 2 US patent 5424054, Donald S. Bethune, et al., "Carbon fibers and method for their production", issued 13 June 1995
  3. ↑ Wang, J.-K.; Siegal, Y.; Lü, C.; Mazur, E. (1 July 1992). "Generation of dual-wavelength, synchronized, tunable, high energy, femtosecond laser pulses with nearly perfect gaussian spatial profile," Optics Communications 91(1–2): 77-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-4018(92)90104-Y.
  4. ↑ Bethune, D. S. (1 June 1981). "Dye cell design for high-power low-divergence excimer-pumped dye lasers." Applied Optics 20(11): 1897–1899. https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.20.001897
  5. ↑ US patent 4380076, Donald S. Bethune, "Apparatus for four side transverse irradiation of a region", issued 12 April 1983
  6. ↑ Bethune, D. S.; Lankard, J. R.; Sorokin, P. P. (1 April 1979). "Time-resolved infrared spectral photography," Optics Letters 4(3): 103–105. https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.4.000103
  7. ↑ Bethune, D.S.; Lankard, J.R.; Loy, M.M.T.; Sorokin, P.P. (September 1979). "Time-resolved infrared spectral photography: a new technique," IBM Journal of Research and Development, 23(5): 556 - 575. https://doi.org/10.1147/rd.235.0556
  8. ↑ US patent 4243881, Donald S. Bethune, et al., "Time-resolved infrared spectral photography", issued 6 January 1981
  9. ↑ Bethune, D.S.; Williams, M.D.; Luntz, A.C. (1 March 1988) "Laser IR polarization spectroscopy at surfaces." J. Chem. Phys. 88(5): 3322–3330. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.453926
  10. ↑ Bethune, D.S.; Luntz, A.C. (June 1986). "A laser infrared source of nanosecond pulses tunable from 1.4 to 22 μm". Appl. Phys. B 40: 107–113. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00694784
  11. 1 2 Meijer, G.J.M.; Bethune, D.S. (1 December 1990) "Laser deposition of carbon clusters on surfaces: A new approach to the study of Fullerenes". J. Chem. Phys. 93(11): 7800–7802. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.459360
  12. ↑ Bethune, D.S.; Meijer, G.J.M.; Tang, W.C.; Rosen, H.J. (9 November 1990). "The vibrational Raman spectra of purified solid films of C60 and C70". Chemical Physics Letters 174(3–4): 219-222. ISSN 0009-2614, https://doi.org/10.1016/0009-2614(90)85335-A.
  13. ↑ Baggott, Jim (5 January 1995). Perfect Symmetry: The Accidental Discovery of Buckminsterfullerene (First ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 326. ISBN 978-0198557906.
  14. ↑ Aldersey-Williams, Hugh (9 August 1995). The Most Beautiful Molecule: The Discovery of the Buckyball (1st ed.). Wiley. p. 340. ISBN 978-0471109389.
  15. ↑ Johnson, R.D.; Bethune, D.S.; Yannoni, C.S. (1 March 1992). "Fullerene structure and dynamics: a magnetic resonance potpourri". Acc. Chem. Res. 25(3): 169-175. https://doi.org/10.1021/ar00015a011
  16. ↑ Johnson, R.D.; Yannoni, C.S.; Dorn, H.C.; Salem, J.R.; Bethune, D.S. (6 Mar 1992). "C60 Rotation in the Solid State: Dynamics of a Faceted Spherical Top," Science 255(5049): 1235-1238. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.255.5049.1235
  17. ↑ Wilson, R.J.; Meijer, G.; Bethune, D.S.; Johnson, R.D.; Chambliss, D.D.; de Vries, M.S.; Hunziker, H.E.; Wendt, H.R. (1990). "Imaging C60 clusters on a surface using a scanning tunnelling microscope," Nature 348: 621–622. https://doi.org/10.1038/348621a0
  18. ↑ Wragg, J.L.; Chamberlain J.E.; White, H.W.; Krätschmer, W.; Huffman, D.R. (1990). 'Scanning tunnelling microscopy of solid C60/C70," Nature 348: 623–624. https://doi.org/10.1038/348623a0
  19. ↑ Bethune, D.S.; Johnson, R.D.; Salem, J.R.; de Vries, M.S.; Yannoni, C.S. (11 November 1993). "Atoms in carbon cages: the structure and properties of endohedral fullerenes," Nature 366: 123–128. https://doi.org/10.1038/366123a0
  20. ↑ Popov, Alexey A.; Yang, Shangfeng; Dunsch, Lothar (2 May 2013). "Endohedral Fullerenes," Chemical Reviews 113(8): 5989-6113. https://doi.org/10.1021/cr300297r ResearchGate link
  21. ↑ Johnson, R.D.; de Vries, M.S.; Salem, J.; Bethune, D.S.; Yannoni, C.S. (16 January 1992). "Electron paramagnetic resonance studies of lanthanum-containing C82". Nature 355: 239–240. https://doi.org/10.1038/355239a0
  22. ↑ Yannoni, C.S.; Hoinkis, M.; de Vries, M.S.; Bethune, D.S.; Salem, J.R.; Crowder, M.S.; Johnson, R.D. (22 May 1992). "Scandium Clusters in Fullerene Cages". Science 256(5060): 1191-1192. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.256.5060.1191
  23. ↑ Iijima, S.; Ichihashi, T. (17 June 1993). "Single-shell carbon nanotubes of 1-nm diameter'" Nature 363: 603–605. https://doi.org/10.1038/363603a0
  24. ↑ Harris, Peter J. F. (18 October 2001). Carbon Nanotubes and Related Structures: New Materials for the Twenty-first Century. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00533-3.
  25. ↑ Colbert, D. T.; Smalley, R. E. (31 January 2002). "Past, Present and Future of Fullerene Nanotubes: Buckytubes". In Ōsawa, E. (ed.). Perspectives of Fullerene Nanotechnology. Dordrecht: Springer. doi:10.1007/0-306-47621-5_1. ISBN 978-0-7923-7174-8.
  26. ↑ Curl, Robert F.; Weisman, R. Bruce (6 December 2007). Editorial: "Biography of Richard Errett Smalley," J. Physical Chem. C 111(48): 17653-17655. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jp0748922
  27. ↑ Ball, P. (18 July 1996) "The perfect nanotube." Nature 382: 207–208. https://doi.org/10.1038/382207a0
  28. ↑ "Carbon nanotube uses, from batteries to drug delivery".
  29. ↑ US patent 6188768, Donald S. Bethune and William P. Risk, "Autocompensating quantum cryptographic key distribution system based on polarization splitting of light", issued 13 February 2002
  30. ↑ Bethune, D.S.; Risk, W.P. (March 2000). "An autocompensating fiber-optic quantum cryptography system based on polarization splitting of light", IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics 36(3): 340-347. https://doi.org/10.1109/3.825881.
  31. ↑ Bethune, D.S.; Risk, W.P. (12 July 2002) New J. Phys. 4(42): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/4/1/342
  32. ↑ Bethune, D. S.; Risk, W.P.; Pabst, G.W. (15 June 2004). "A high-performance integrated single-photon detector for telecom wavelengths". J. Modern Optics, 51(9–10): 1359–1368. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500340408235278
  33. ↑ US patent 6218657, Donald S. Bethune, et al., "System for gated detection of optical pulses containing a small number of photons using an avalanche photodiode", issued 17 April 2001
  34. ↑ Gisin, N.; Ribordy, G.; Tittel, W.; Zbinden, H. (8 March 2002). "Quantum cryptography," Rev. Mod. Phys. 74(1): 145-195. https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/RevModPhys.74.145
  35. ↑ McCloskey, B.D.; Bethune, D.S.; Shelby, R.M.; Girishkumar, G.; Luntz, A.C. (May 19, 2011). "Solvents' Critical Role in Nonaqueous Lithium–Oxygen Battery Electrochemistry", J. Physical Chemistry Letters 2(10): 1161-1166. https://doi.org/10.1021/jz200352v
  36. ↑ US patent 9812638, Donald S. Bethune et al., "Backend of Line (BEOL) Compatible High Current Density Access Device for High Density Arrays", issued 17 November 2017
  37. ↑ US patent 9741389, David J. Altknecht et al., "High Performance Robotic Optical Storage System", issued 22 August 2017
  38. ↑ "Google Scholar".
  39. ↑ https://www.aps.org/funding-recognition/prize/james-mcgroddy
  40. ↑ https://www.americancarbonsociety.org/
  41. ↑ Carbon 2016 (10-15 July 2016, Penn State University) Carbon Medal Ceremony, featuring Carbon Medal recipients Robert Curl, Midred Dresselhaus, Donald Bethune, Moribundo Endo, Konstantin Novoselov and Harry Kroto (via video. Sadly, Prof. Kroto died April 30, 2016 just before the meeting).