Dr. Karl Alexander Müller was a pioneering Swiss physicist whose groundbreaking work revolutionized the field of superconductivity and earned him the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physics. Born in Basel on April 20, 1927, he received his doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in 1958, establishing the foundation for his distinguished career in solid-state physics. Following his doctoral studies, Müller joined the Battelle Memorial Institute in Geneva, where he became manager of the magnetic resonance group and later a lecturer at the University of Zurich. In 1963, he accepted a position at the IBM Zürich Research Laboratory, where he would spend the majority of his career, eventually becoming department manager in 1972 and earning the prestigious distinction of IBM Fellow in 1982.
Dr. Müller's most significant contribution came in 1986 when, alongside J. Georg Bednorz, he discovered the first high-temperature superconductor, achieving superconductivity in a barium-lanthanum-copper oxide compound at 35 K, a remarkable 12 degrees higher than the previous record. This breakthrough, accomplished through Müller's visionary focus on ceramic oxide compounds rather than traditional metal alloys, fundamentally transformed the field of superconductivity research by demonstrating that much higher critical temperatures were possible. The discovery shattered theoretical expectations and launched a global research effort that rapidly produced copper oxide superconductors with critical temperatures approaching -110 degrees Celsius, enabling practical cooling with liquid nitrogen rather than expensive liquid helium. Müller's insight to explore ceramic materials as superconductors represented a paradigm shift that opened entirely new avenues for electrical transmission, medical imaging, and numerous other applications requiring zero-resistance conductivity.
The impact of Müller's work was immediately recognized when he and Bednorz received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1987, remarkably just one year after their discovery was published. His research initiated what became known as the 'high-temperature superconductor revolution,' leading to widespread applications in power stations, transformers, medical technology, and microelectronics that continue to evolve today. Notably, Müller began this transformative research relatively late in his career, at age 56, demonstrating that scientific breakthroughs can emerge from seasoned researchers with deep expertise and unconventional thinking. Dr. Müller passed away on January 9, 2023, leaving behind a legacy that continues to influence materials science and condensed matter physics, with his discovery remaining one of the most significant advances in twentieth-century physics that has enabled numerous technological applications benefiting society worldwide.
