was a Japanese physicist

Physicist

A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

, known for his explanation of the Kikuchi lines

Kikuchi line

Kikuchi lines pair up to form bands in electron diffraction from single crystal specimens, there to serve as "roads in orientation-space" for microscopists not sure what they are looking at. In transmission electron microscopes, they are easily seen in diffraction from regions of the specimen thick...

 that show up in diffraction

Diffraction

Diffraction refers to various phenomena which occur when a wave encounters an obstacle. Italian scientist Francesco Maria Grimaldi coined the word "diffraction" and was the first to record accurate observations of the phenomenon in 1665...

 patterns of diffusely scattered electrons.

Biography

Seishi Kikuchi was born and grew up in Tokyo. He graduated in 1926 from Tokyo Imperial University.

In 1928, he observed and gave a theoretical explanation of the electron diffraction pattern from a thin mica

Mica

The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...

 film. In 1929, he went to Germany as a student. In 1934, he was appointed as professor at Osaka Imperial University

Osaka University

, or , is a major national university located in Osaka, Japan. It is the sixth oldest university in Japan as the Osaka Prefectural Medical College, and formerly one of the Imperial Universities of Japan...

 and directed the construction of Japan's first DC high voltage Cockcroft-Walton accelerator.

In 1955, he was appointed as the first director of the Institute of Nuclear Research at the University of Tokyo

University of Tokyo

, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...

, and successfully presided over the completion of the variable energy cyclotron

Cyclotron

In technology, a cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator. In physics, the cyclotron frequency or gyrofrequency is the frequency of a charged particle moving perpendicularly to the direction of a uniform magnetic field, i.e. a magnetic field of constant magnitude and direction...

.

Between 1959 and 1964, he was chairman of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute

Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute

The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute is a former semi-governmental organization that existed for the purpose of further nuclear power in Japan. It was created June 1956 by the Atomic Energy Basic Law...

.