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{{Short description|Indian physicist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Biswa Ranjan Nag
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1932|10|1|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Comilla]], [[Chittagong division]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|4|6|1932|10|1|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], India
| residence =
| nationality = [[Indian nationality|Indian]]
| fields = {{ublist | [[Semiconductor physics]] }}
| workplaces = {{ublist | [[University of Calcutta]] }}
| alma_mater = {{ublist | [[Presidency College, Calcutta|Presidency College]] | [[Rajabazar Science College]] | [[University of Calcutta]] | [[University of Wisconsin]] }}
| doctoral_advisor = {{ublist | Arun K. Choudhury }}
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = Studies on [[semiconductors]]
| awards = {{ublist| 1964 [[British Institution of Radio Engineers|BIRE]] J. C. Bose Memorial Prize | 1974 [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]] | 1993 [[Indian National Science Academy|INSA]] Materials Science Prize }}
}}
'''Biswa Ranjan Nag''' (1 October 1932 – 6 April 2004) was an Indian physicist and the [[Sisir Kumar Mitra]] chair professor at [[Rajabazar Science College]], [[University of Calcutta]]. Known for his research in [[semiconductor physics]], Nag was an elected fellow of [[Indian National Science Academy]] and [[Indian Academy of Sciences]]. The [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]], the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology]], one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Physical Sciences in 1974.<ref name="View Bhatnagar Awardees">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/AwardeeList.aspx | title=View Bhatnagar Awardees | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | date=2016 | access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref>{{Refn|group=note|Long link – please select award year to see details}}

== Biography ==
[[File:The Calcutta University by Francis Frith.jpg|thumb|220px|upright=1|left|Nag completed his master's degree and served as faculty in [[University of Calcutta]]'s Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics (IRE).]]
Born on 1 October 1932 to Sailabala and Satyaranjan Nag at [[Comilla]], a city along the [[Dhaka-Chittagong Highway]] in the undivided [[Bengal]] of the [[British India]] (presently in Bangladesh), B. R. Nag did his graduate studies at [[Presidency College, Calcutta]] during 1949–51 and earned a master's degree in technology (M.Tech.) from the Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics (IRE) at the [[Rajabazar Science College]] campus of the [[University of Calcutta]] in 1954.<ref name="B. R. Nag - Obituary">{{Cite web |url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/jun102004/1565.pdf |title=B. R. Nag – Obituary |date=2004 |publisher=Current Science}}</ref> He started his career in 1956 as a faculty member at IRE and simultaneously pursued doctoral studies, mentored by Arun K. Choudhury. In between, he spent one year at [[University of Wisconsin]] obtaining an MS in 1959. Mr. Nag returned to Calcutta to resume his doctoral work, and earned his PhD in 1961. Continuing his teaching career, he became a full professor in 1968.<ref name="Proceedings of the International Conference on Computers and Devices for Communication">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YcJv1XzIWSMC&pg=PR19 |title=Proceedings of the International Conference on Computers and Devices for Communication |publisher=Allied Publishers |year=1998 |isbn=978-81-7023-767-9 |pages=19–}}</ref> Further research which earned him a [[Doctor of Science]] degree from Calcutta University in 1972.<ref name="Deceased fellow">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/detail/N78-0496 |title=Deceased fellow |date=2017 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy}}</ref> He served out his regular academic career at the university and continued his association past his superannuation in 1997 as its Sisir Kumar Mitra professor.<ref name="Codec History">{{Cite web |url=http://www.codec-rpe.org/codechistory.html |title=Codec History |date=2017 |publisher=CODEC 2012}}</ref> In between, he also served as a Commonwealth Visiting Professor at [[Bangor, Gwynedd]].<ref name="Deceased fellow" />

Nag was married to Mridula Roy Choudhury and the couple had two children, Biswadeep and Mriduchanda. He died on 6 April 2004 in Kolkata, at the age of 71.<ref name="B. R. Nag - Obituary" />

== Legacy ==
[[File:Silicon.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Silicon]] crystals, a common semiconducting material]]
Nag's work focused on semiconductors and it helped in widening our understanding of the electrical [[transport phenomena]] in those high [[electrical resistance|electrical resistant]] solids.<ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee">{{Cite web |url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/content/Detail.aspx?AID=322 |title=Brief Profile of the Awardee |date=2017 |publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize}}</ref> During his early years at Calcutta University, he led a group of students who were engaged in the studies on microwave measurements of semiconductor properties and did advanced research on [[Gunn effect]] and [[microwave radiation]].<ref name="B. R. Nag - Obituary" /> He demonstrated the temperature independence of [[Two-dimensional electron gas]] and its ''alloy scattering limited mobility'' which was a first time discovery.<ref name="Deceased fellow" /><ref name="Alloy scattering limited mobility of two-dimensional electron gas formed in In0.53Ga0.47As">{{Cite journal |last=P.K. Basu, B.R. Nag |title=Alloy scattering limited mobility of two-dimensional electron gas formed in In0.53Ga0.47As |journal=Surface Science |date=1984 |volume=142 |issue=1–3 |pages=256–259 |doi=10.1016/0039-6028(84)90317-0|bibcode = 1984SurSc.142..256B }}</ref> His studies revealed the non-parabolic nature of electron energy dispersion in narrow [[quantum well]]s and this modified the theory of ''interface roughness scattering limited mobility for Quantum Wells with finite barrier height and Well width''. [[Epitaxy#Liquid-phase|Liquid phase Epitaxy]] Semiconducting III–V compounds, [[acousto-electric effect]] and free carrier absorption, [[Gini ratio]] and [[Coefficient of thermal expansion|Si coefficient]] related to hot-electron galvanomagnetic transport were some of the other areas of his research.<ref name="B. R. Nag - Obituary" /> He contributed to the development of electron transport theory related to semiconductors and developed a [[Monte Carlo method]] for the computation of coefficients related to velocity correlation, diffusion and noise parameters.<ref name="Proceedings of the International Conference on Computers and Devices for Communication" /> His body of work is reported to have relevance to the fields of [[microwave communications]] and [[radar]], especially in the development of microwave semiconductor devices.<ref name="Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners">{{cite web | url=http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | title=Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners | publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | date=1999 | access-date=14 April 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043957/http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | archive-date=4 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles{{Refn|group=note|Please see ''Selected bibliography'' section}} and the article repository of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] has listed 190 of them.<ref name="Browse by Fellow">{{Cite web |url=http://repository.ias.ac.in/view/fellows/Nag=3ABiswaranjan=3A=3A.html |title=Browse by Fellow |date=2017 |publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences}}</ref> He authored three monographs, ''Theory of electrical transport in semiconductors'',<ref name="Nag1972">{{cite book|author=B. R. Nag|title=Theory of electrical transport in semiconductors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=peANAQAAIAAJ|year=1972|publisher=Pergamon Press|isbn=9780080168029}}</ref> ''Physics of Quantum Well Devices''<ref name="Nag2006">{{cite book|author=B.R. Nag|title=Physics of Quantum Well Devices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=797pBwAAQBAJ|date=11 April 2006|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-0-306-47127-8}}</ref> and ''Electron Transport in Compound Semiconductors''<ref name="Nag2012">{{cite book|author=B.R. Nag|title=Electron Transport in Compound Semiconductors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nq3oCAAAQBAJ|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-642-81416-7}}</ref> of which the last mentioned is reported to be a significant reference text for researchers.<ref name="B. R. Nag - Obituary" /> He also contributed chapters to books published by others<ref name="(India)1968">{{cite book|author=Institution of Engineers (India)|title=Journal of the Institution of Engineers (India)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UVBQAAAAYAAJ|date=July 1968|publisher=The Institution}}</ref><ref name="Lal2012">{{cite book|author=K. Lal|title=Synthesis, Crystal Growth and Characterization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1f14AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA426|date=2 December 2012|publisher=Elsevier Science|isbn=978-0-08-098469-8|pages=426–}}</ref><ref name="Division1967">{{cite book|author=Institution of Engineers (India). Metallurgy & Material Science Division|title=Journal of the Institution of Engineers (India). Part MM, Mining & Metallurgy Division|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bz4nAQAAMAAJ|year=1967|publisher=The Institution}}</ref> and his work has drawn citations in a number of books.<ref name="Nalwa2001">{{cite book|author=Hari Singh Nalwa|title=Handbook of Thin Films, Five-Volume Set|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-WzXVaKctIC&pg=PA492|date=17 November 2001|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-08-053324-7|pages=492–}}</ref><ref name="Böer2014">{{cite book|author=Karl W. Böer|title=Handbook of the Physics of Thin-Film Solar Cells|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cki3BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA826|date=23 April 2014|publisher=Springer Science & Business|isbn=978-3-642-36748-9|pages=826–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Proceedings of the International Conference on Computers and Devices for Communication|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YcJv1XzIWSMC&pg=PA19|year=1998|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=978-81-7023-767-9|pages=19–}}</ref><ref name="GhatakBhattacharya2014">{{cite book|author1=Kamakhya P. Ghatak|author2=Sitangshu Bhattacharya|title=Heavily-Doped 2D-Quantized Structures and the Einstein Relation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fVIqBAAAQBAJ&pg=PR17|date=30 July 2014|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-08380-3|pages=17–}}</ref><ref name="GhatakBhattacharya2008">{{cite book|author1=Kamakhya Prasad Ghatak|author2=Sitangshu Bhattacharya|author3=Debashis De|title=Einstein Relation in Compound Semiconductors and Their Nanostructures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wfEVLbxwUjcC&pg=PA9|date=16 November 2008|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-540-79557-5|pages=9–}}</ref>

== Awards and honors ==
Nag, a founder fellow of the [[Indian National Academy of Engineering]],<ref name="B. R. Nag - Obituary" /> received the J. C. Bose Memorial Prize of the [[British Institution of Radio Engineers]] in 1964.<ref name="Proceedings of the International Conference on Computers and Devices for Communication" /> The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]], one of the highest Indian science awards in 1974.<ref name="CSIR list of Awardees">{{Cite web |url=http://www.csir.res.in/careeraward/prize-winner-indexdiscipline-wise |title=CSIR list of Awardees |date=2017 |publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research}}</ref> He was selected for the [[Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship]] in 1975<ref name="List of Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows">{{Cite web |url=http://www.jnmf.in/flist.html |title=List of Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows |date=2017 |publisher=Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund}}</ref> and the [[Indian National Science Academy]] elected him as a fellow in 1978;<ref name="INSA Year Book 2016">{{Cite web |url=http://www.insaindia.res.in/pdf/YearBook_2016.pdf |title=INSA Year Book 2016 |date=2017 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=14 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104001952/http://www.insaindia.res.in/pdf/YearBook_2016.pdf |archive-date=4 November 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the academy would honor him again in 1993 with the INSA Prize for Materials Science.<ref name="INSA Prize for Materials Science">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#mete |title=INSA Prize for Materials Science |date=2017 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy}}</ref> He became an elected fellow of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]].<ref name="Fellow profile">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Nag,_Prof._Biswaranjan |title=Fellow profile |date=2017 |publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences}}</ref> The department of radio physics and electronics of the University of Calcutta instituted an annual conference, ''International Conference on Computers and devices for Communication (CODEC)'', in his honor in 1998, a year after Nag retired from academic service.<ref name="Codec History" />

== Selected bibliography ==
=== Books ===
* {{cite book|author=B. R. Nag|title=Theory of electrical transport in semiconductors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=peANAQAAIAAJ|year=1972|publisher=[[Pergamon Press]]|isbn=9780080168029}}
* {{cite book|author=B.R. Nag|title=Physics of Quantum Well Devices|date=11 April 2006|publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]]|isbn=978-0-306-47127-8}}
{{cite book|author=B.R. Nag|title=Electron Transport in Compound Semiconductors|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-642-81416-7}}

=== Chapters ===
* {{cite book|author=Institution of Engineers (India). Metallurgy & Material Science Division|title=Journal of the Institution of Engineers (India). Part MM, Mining & Metallurgy Division|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bz4nAQAAMAAJ|year=1967|publisher=[[The Institution]]}}
* {{cite book|author=Institution of Engineers (India)|title=Journal of the Institution of Engineers (India)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UVBQAAAAYAAJ|date=July 1968|publisher=The Institution}}
* {{cite book|author=K. Lal|title=Synthesis, Crystal Growth and Characterization|date=2 December 2012|publisher=[[Elsevier Science]]|isbn=978-0-08-098469-8|pages=426–}}

=== Articles ===
* {{Cite journal |last=P. K. Basu, B. R. Nag |title=Alloy scattering limited mobility of two-dimensional electron gas formed in In0.53Ga0.47As |journal=[[Surface Science]] |date=1984 |volume=142 |issue=1–3 |pages=256–259 |doi=10.1016/0039-6028(84)90317-0|bibcode = 1984SurSc.142..256B }}
* {{Cite journal |last=B. R. Nag, Sanghamitra Mukhopadhyay |title=Polar Optic Phonon Scattering Limited-Mobility in Narrow Quantum Wells |journal=[[Japanese Journal of Applied Physics]] |date=1992 |volume=31 |issue=3287 |pages=3287–3291 |doi=10.1143/JJAP.31.3287|bibcode = 1992JaJAP..31.3287N }}
* {{Cite journal |last=B. R. Nag |title=Ga0.47 In0.53 As—The material for high-speed devices |journal=Pramana |date=1994 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=411–421 |doi=10.1007/BF02846585|bibcode = 1984Prama..23..411N |s2cid=118182971 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Nag, B. R. |title=An empirical relation between the melting point and the direct bandgap of semiconducting compounds |journal=Journal of Electronic Materials |date=1997 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=70–72 |doi=10.1007/s11664-997-0090-z|bibcode = 1997JEMat..26...70N |s2cid=59477276 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=K. P. Ghatak, B. R. Nag |title=A simple theoretical analysis of the Einstein relation in ultrathin films of bismuth under quantizing magnetic field |journal=[[Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids]] |date=1998 |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=411–415 |doi=10.1016/S0022-3697(97)00196-0|bibcode = 1998JPCS...59..411G }}
* {{Cite journal |last=B. R. Nag, Madhumita Das |title=Scattering potential for interface roughness scattering |journal=[[Applied Surface Science]] |date=2001 |volume=182 |issue=3–4 |pages=357–360 |doi=10.1016/S0169-4332(01)00448-2|bibcode = 2001ApSS..182..357N }}
* {{Cite journal |last=B. R. Nag |title=Electron mobility in indium nitride |journal=[[Journal of Crystal Growth]] |date=2004 |volume=269 |issue=1 |pages=35–40 |doi=10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2004.05.031|bibcode = 2004JCrGr.269...35N }}

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Phonon]]
* [[List of semiconductor materials]]
* [[Einstein relation (kinetic theory)]]
* [[Electron mobility]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=note|2}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite book|author1=Kamakhya Prasad Ghatak|author2=Sitangshu Bhattacharya|title=Thermoelectric Power in Nanostructured Materials: Strong Magnetic Fields|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fN0I6f1XyJgC&pg=PR5|date=20 July 2010|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-642-10571-5|pages=5–}}
* {{Cite book |title=Electron Transport in Compound Semiconductors |date=2017 |journal=Table of Contents|volume = 11|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-81416-7 |series = Springer Series in Solid-State Sciences|isbn = 978-3-642-81418-1|last1=Nag |first1=B.R }}

{{SSBPST recipients in Physical Science}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nag, Biswa Ranjan}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Comilla]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian physicists]]
[[Category:Indian technology writers]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta faculty]]
[[Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Medical Science]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Academy of Engineering]]
[[Category:Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows]]
[[Category:Bengali scientists]]
[[Category:Indian crystallographers]]

Biswa Ranjan Nag - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 11:51, 14 August 2023