Materials scientist Janet Tate wins Lifetime Achievement in Science Award

A lifelong journey in physics and education

After graduating with a B.S. Honors from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in 1981, Tate used a Fulbright Fellowship to pursue her M.S. and Ph.D. in physics at Stanford University.

“I like that physics explains how things happen. It imposes an order, puts general principles behind different phenomena and connects things,” she said. “And often, you go down a path that seems very focused and specialized, but when you get to the end, you realize that it’s connected to other things, as well. And sometimes, making that connection is just as much fun as the journey itself.”

Tate joined the College of Science in 1989, focusing broadly on energy-related materials, including superconductors and semiconductors. Superconductors, which allow electricity to flow with no resistance at very low temperatures, are ideal for high-efficiency applications like MRI magnets. In contrast, semiconductors have controllable conductivity and are used in electronic devices like smartphones and computers. Tate’s research focused on the thin-film version of these materials, which have the potential to help make renewable energy and energy systems more efficient and productive.

“Once you’ve got those materials, how far can you push the limits? How do they behave? What are the different ways that you can implement them? So not studying the fundamentals of superconductivity, but more the applications of what can be done,” she said.

Initially, Tate’s contributions to physics research focused on high-temperature superconductors. But, towards the end of her career, she turned her attention to creating transparent semiconductors, which exhibit both electrical and optical properties that help to solve problems such as efficient solar energy conversion and light emission.

Her work played a critical role in Oregon State’s invention of the transparent oxide transistor, the breakthrough technology behind the Retina 5K displays in many of today’s cutting-edge Apple products. Internationally recognized for advancing this field, Tate established herself as a leader in basic research and transformative technology.

“If you put together a whole lot of different kinds of transparent materials that would do the job of a transistor and make all of that transparent, then you could put the circuitry on a window where you could then make things like heads-up displays,” she explained.

This idea led to a project that bridged her passion for multidisciplinary research and teaching.

Alongside Emeritus Professors Doug Keszler, John Wagner and a team of students and postdocs, Tate studied compounds with semiconductor properties such as barium copper sulfide fluoride. They showed that this class of semiconductors has a higher controllable p-type conductivity, making them useful for transparent electronics or solar cells. P-type conductivity occurs when a semiconductor material has an abundance of holes (positive charge carriers) created by the absence of electrons, allowing for efficient electrical conduction.

“I consider my collaborations with Janet — colleague and friend — to be both highlights and catalytic turning points in my scientific career. She and her students consistently brought deep insights into the physics of our many joint discoveries,” said Keszler, who recently sold his spinout Inpria for ½ billion.

Tate also participated in an Energy Frontier Research Center, collaborating with scientists from the National Renewable Energy Lab, Harvard, MIT and other institutions. The group studied metastable materials — materials that are not necessarily in their ground state.

Since 2000, Tate has published more than 30 peer-reviewed research articles, presented results at 12 conferences and contributed one book chapter on p-type transparent conductors. Her research has been bolstered by more than $7 million in grants from organizations such as the National Science Foundation, the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, Hewlett-Packard, Oregon State University and others.

Her colleagues have recognized her scientific impact by presenting her with numerous prestigious awards including the nationally prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and the College of Science’s Milton Harris Award in Basic Research. In 2014, she was one of seven international scientists and former Technical University of Munich research alumni who were awarded the title of “TUM Ambassador.” Tate was also the second female faculty member to receive the Gilfillan Award from the College of Science.

Inspiring the next generation

Her scientific prowess is not the only reason she has received recognition. Tate was named the inaugural endowed Dr. Russ and Dolores Gorman Faculty Scholar for her contributions to interdisciplinary research that has a direct impact on society. And in 2002, she was honored with the College’s Frederick H. Horne Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching Science, recognizing her significant contributions in the classroom.

When asked what she’s most proud of in her career, she doesn’t pick a discovery from the lab.

“To be honest, I am most proud of the students that came from my research lab. When I was cleaning up my office and looking through the old lab books, I was just amazed by all of the work that they had done, the lab notebooks, the graphs, the papers they wrote, and all the successes they have had since leaving my lab. I think I am definitely most proud of that,” she said.

Teaching has always been near and dear to her heart. Her love for education drove her to improve the physics curriculum at Oregon State. Along with two other faculty members, she helped reform the junior and senior physics curriculum through the Paradigms in Physics group in 1997. The program transformed physics education by organizing the curriculum into modular, thematic courses with a focus on active learning. This approach improves student engagement and understanding of core concepts, and contributed to nationwide reforms in undergraduate physics education.

“We had many, many meetings and fun times trying to put it all together. I always looked forward to the time of day when I had to put everything down and go into the classroom and talk with the students and find out how they thought and learn new things with them,” Tate said.

She has also held leadership roles within the American Physical Society, serving on the Committee for Education, and the Committee on Careers and Professional Development. The APS is the national representative for more than 50,000 industrial and academic physicists in the U.S. In 2015, she was named an APS Fellow, a designation awarded to about 0.5% of APS members. The society recognized her contributions “to structural, transport and optical properties of a wide variety of electronic and superconducting materials.”

Under her leadership, the Careers and Professional Development committee increased industrial participation in career events, developed online resources and engaged in strategic planning for new efforts such as the APS Local Links program. This program is a networking group designed to bring together students, postdocs, and physicists in industry, academic and national labs to build mutually beneficial relationships.

Additionally, passionate about increasing the representation of women in physics, Tate served on the National Organization Committee of the APS Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) and was the co-organizer of the 2016 Oregon State University CUWiP.

Finding beauty in the little things and joy in her students, Janet Tate has left an undeniable mark on the College of Science and the field of materials physics.