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He won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physics for (in the words of the committee) "his investigations on the properties of matter at low temperatures which led, inter alia, to the production of liquid helium".
In 1908 Onnes was the first physicist who made this liquefaction of helium possible. For this purpose he founded a cryogenics lab, in 1904. Here he managed, using the Joule-Thomson effect, to lower the temperature to less than one degree above the absolute minimum (0,9°K). By then this was by far the coldest place on earth.
Among his other achievements is the discovery (in 1911) of superconductivity of pure metals ( mercuryMercury also called quicksilver is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Hg ( L. hydrargyrum and atomic number 80. A heavy, silvery, transition metal, mercury is one of only two elements that are liquid at room temperature (the othe, tinThe word tin is often used to mean a can, even if it does not contain any tin metal. Tin is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Sn ( L. Stannum and atomic number 50. This silvery, malleable poor metal that is not easily oxidized i and leadFor the "lead" in news writing, see news style. Lead is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Pb ( L. Plumbum and atomic number 82. A soft, heavy, toxic and malleable poor metal, lead has a dull gray appearance and is bluish white w) at very low temperatures.
He was born in GroningenGroningen is a municipality and a city in the north of the Netherlands, and the capital of the Groningen province. The city is seen as the most important city of the northernmost provinces of the Netherlands. The city is also known as Stad (City) and Groo, Netherlands and studied under studied under Robert BunsenRobert Wilhelm Bunsen ( 31st March, 1811 16th August, 1899) was a German chemist. He perfected the burner that was named after him, invented by British chemist/physicist Michael Faraday, and worked on emission spectroscopy of heated elements. Bunsen was t and Gustav KirchhoffGustav Robert Kirchhoff ( March 12, 1824 October 17, 1887), a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects. He coined the term "black bod at the University of Heidelberg. From 1882 to 1923 he served as professor of experimental physicsExperimental physics is the part of physics that deals with experiments and observations, unlike theoretical physics. at the University of Leiden.
He died in Leiden.
The instruments Onnes devised for his experiments can still be seen at the Boerhave museum in Leiden. see below
His student and successor as director of the lab Willem Hendrik Keesom was the first person who was able to solidify helium, in 1926.