ICTP Prize Winner 1990

The ICTP Prize in honour of C.V. Raman (India), Nobel Laureate 1930, in the fields of Solid State, Atomic and Molecular Physics was awarded to José Luis Morán-López, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Mexico, in recognition of his contributions to the field of Solid State Physics. The scientific production and the range of interests of Morán-López are impressive and span many fields of Solid State theory. The physics of surfaces, however, is his main theme. He has studied in depth the problem of surface segregation and ordering; examined surface effects on stepped surfaces and the surface effects attached to first-order bulk phase transitions. But the most important contributions of Morán-López refer to magnetism, especially to surface magnetism, on which he is one of the leading world experts. In 1987, for example, he presented a very interesting discovery of a surface first-order phase transition in ferromagnets. More recently, Prof. Morán-López has extended his interest to two subjects of enormous topical interest: quasicrystals (and Fibonacci chains) and High-Tc superconductivity, with remarkable results.