Clarence Zener

Clarence Melvin Zener ( born December 1, 1905 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, † July 15, 1993 ) was an American physicist and electrical engineer.

He postulated, 1934, the theory that a high electric field strength can result in solids to that bound in the valence electrons move in the conduction band. This postulate explains named after him Zener effect, micro- plasmas and partially also the tunnel effect. Also named after him is the Zener diode, which exploits the Zener effect.

For his contribution to the rheology he received in 1957 the Bingham Medal. The Zener - body for the description of viscoelasticity is named after him.

Zener was honored in 1982 with the Von Hippel Award.