The Walter Schottky Prize is the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft's highest award for outstanding research work in solid-state physics. Since 1973 the prize is annually awarded. The endowment of the prize with 15,000 euros is supported by Siemens AG and Infineon Technologies and is the most important German prize in solid-state physics. Walter Schottky (1886-1976) was a pioneer of electronics. He was a professor for theoretical physics but made great contributions to experimental physics. Already in the initial years of electronics Schottky contributed crucially to the development of vacuum tube technology. In addition, Schottky's contributions made their greatest mark in semiconductor electronics as evidenced by the relevant text books and reflected in such terms as Schottky diode, Schottky defects or Schottky barrier.
