Professor NOH Tae Won of SNU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy was awarded the 2011 Korea Best Scientist Award.

The Korea Best Scientist Award is a prestigious award that has recognized Korea’s best scientists and engineers since 1963. The Ministry of Education Science and Technology and the KOFST (The Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies) selects the most distinguished Korean scholars in science and technology and awards them for reaching the highest level in their fields. This year, Professor Noh, Professor PAEK Kee Yoeup (Chungbuk National University Department of Horticulture Science), and Professor PARK Seung-Jung (Ulsan University Department of Medicine) were awarded and received 270 million won as a prize.

Professor Noh was recognized for his achievements in defining the fundamental mechanisms for physical reactions that occur in metal oxides. He has exploited novel physical phenomena in complex oxide interfaces which do not exist in nature. Since the atomic interactions at the oxide interfaces can induce unique physical phenomena, research on these interfacial phenomena and controlling the atoms at the interface can lead to the development of brand new electronic devices based on oxide materials. By controlling the arrangement of the atoms in the oxide interface efficiently, current limits of semiconductors, semiconductor-based electronic devices and green alternative energy devices can be overcome.

Professor Noh developed the original technology for a metal oxide semiconductor which is a promising alternative to current silicon semiconductors. By explaining the physical events that happen on metal oxide interfaces systematically, Professor Noh is recognized to have raised Korea’s condensed matter physics to a higher level.

Due to the significance of his work, Professor Noh was nominated as a National Honor Scientist in 2010. He has published more than 300 SCI papers which have been cited over 7000 times. This is a record for domestic physics research. Especially, his paper, published in Nature in 1999, on developing alternative fatigue-free memory devices to overcome FRAM (ferroelectric random access memories) fatigue problems, was cited more than 1300 times. Professor Noh says that “While conducting research on metal oxides I feel a great happiness. As a scientist, I was fortunate to have been able to study a subject that I like and can do well for over twenty years.”

Written by Eunju Jang, SNU English Editor, ejjang1025@snu.ac.kr   ?
Reviewed by Eli Park Sorensen, SNU Professor of Liberal Studies
Proofread by Brett Johnson, SNU English Editor, morningcalm2@gmail.com