Leo Esaki

Reona Esaki (江崎 玲於奈 "Esaki Reona", born March 12, 1925), also known as Leo Esaki, is a Japanese physicist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973 with Ivar Giaever and Brian David Josephson. He won the prize for his discovery of the phenomenon of electron tunneling. 
He is known for his invention of the Esaki diode, which exploited that phenomenon. This research was done when he was with Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (now known as Sony). He has also contributed in being a pioneer of the semiconductor superlattice while he was with IBM.
Esaki was born on March 12, 1925 in Osaka, Japan. He studied at the University of Tokyo.