Along with his colleagues E. A. Taft and Jean Dickey, he studied the photoelectric emission of electrons from semiconductors and discovered the phenomenon of exciton-induced photoemission in potassium iodide.
In 1955, he received the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize of the American Physical Society for his work.
[2] While at General Electric, he began to research the photoelectric effect, which causes matter to emit electrons when exposed to some types of electromagnetic radiation.
Called "F-Centers," these defects absorb visible and ultraviolet light, coloring the crystals at photon energies where they are usually transparent.
Additionally, the absorption of visible radiation can free trapped electrons inside the crystal and produce photoconductivity.
Deeper into the ultraviolet spectrum, however, potassium iodide has a strong absorption line due to the formation of chargeless particles called excitons.