Tuchkevich, Vladimir Maksimovich

Born Dec. 16 (29), 1904, in the village of Ianoutsy, in what is now Chernovtsy Oblast. Soviet physicist. Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1970; corresponding member, 1968); member of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR since 1971. Member of the CPSU since 1952.

After graduating from the University of Kiev in 1928, Tuchke-vich joined the staff of the Ukrainian Meteorological Institute. He was on the staff of the All-Ukrainian Institute of Roentgenology from 1931 to 1935 and the Leningrad X-ray Institute from 1935 to 1936. He joined the staff of the Leningrad Physicotechnical Institute in 1936 and became the director of the institute in 1967. In the same period, Tuchkevich taught at the Kharkov Electrical Engineering Institute from 1931 to 1935 and at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute from 1935 to 1960.

Tuchkevich’s main works deal with the physics of semiconductors and the development of semiconductor devices. He used his own pulse technique to study the kinetics and capacitive properties of copper oxide, selenium, and copper sulfide rectifiers. He obtained pure single crystals of germanium and developed junction transistors and diodes. Together with other scientists, Tuchkevich laid the foundations for the production of semiconductor power rectifiers and semiconductor rectifying units; for this work, he received the Lenin Prize in 1966. Tuchkevich also devised an X-ray dosimeter. He helped develop a system for demagnetizing ships and received the State Prize of the USSR in 1942 for this achievement. Tuchkevich has been awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and various medals.