Dawon Kahng | |
|---|---|
| 강대원 | |
 | |
| Born | (1931-05-04)May 4, 1931[1] |
| Died | May 13, 1992(1992-05-13) (aged 61)[2] |
| Citizenship | South Korean (renounced) United States |
| Occupation | Electrical engineer |
| Known for | MOSFET (MOS transistor) PMOS andNMOS Schottky diode Nanolayer-base transistor Floating-gate MOSFET Floating-gate memory Reprogrammable ROM |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 강대원 |
| Hanja | 姜大元 |
| RR | Gang Daewon |
| MR | Kang Taewŏn |
Dawon Kahng (Korean:강대원; May 4, 1931 – May 13, 1992) was a Korean-American electrical engineer and inventor, known for his work insolid-state electronics. He is best known for inventing theMOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor, or MOS transistor), along with his colleagueMohamed Atalla, in 1959. Kahng and Atalla developed both thePMOS andNMOS processes for MOSFETsemiconductor device fabrication. The MOSFET is the most widely used type oftransistor, and the basic element in most modernelectronic equipment.
Kahng and Atalla later proposed the concept of the MOSintegrated circuit, and they did pioneering work onSchottky diodes andnanolayer-basetransistors in the early 1960s. Kahng then invented thefloating-gate MOSFET (FGMOS) withSimon Min Sze in 1967. Kahng and Sze proposed that FGMOS could be used asfloating-gatememory cells fornon-volatile memory (NVM) and reprogrammableread-only memory (ROM), which became the basis forEPROM (erasableprogrammable ROM),EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable ROM) andflash memory technologies. Kahng was inducted into theNational Inventors Hall of Fame in 2009.
Dawon Kahng was born on May 4, 1931, inKeijō,Keiki-dō,Korea, Empire of Japan (nowSeoul, South Korea). He studied physics atSeoul National University in South Korea, and immigrated to theUnited States in 1955 to attendOhio State University, where he received a doctorate in electrical engineering in 1959.[3]
He was a researcher atBell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, and he inventedMOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor), which is the basic element in most of today's electronic equipment, withMohamed Atalla in 1959.[4] Theyfabricated bothPMOS andNMOS devices with a20 μm process.[5]
Extending their work on MOS technology, Kahng and Atalla next did pioneering work onhot carrier devices, which used what would later be called aSchottky barrier.[6] TheSchottky diode, also known as the Schottky-barrier diode, was theorized for years, but was first practically realized as a result of the work of Kahng and Atalla during 1960–1961.[7] They published their results in 1962 and called their device the "hot electron" triode structure with semiconductor-metal emitter.[8] The Schottky diode went on to assume a prominent role inmixer applications.[7] They later conducted further research on high-frequency Schottky diodes.[citation needed]
In 1962, Kahng and Atalla proposed and demonstrated an earlymetalnanolayer-basetransistor. This device has a metallic layer withnanometric thickness sandwiched between two semiconducting layers, with the metal forming the base and the semiconductors forming the emitter and collector. With its low resistance and short transit times in the thin metallic nanolayer base, the device was capable of high operationfrequency compared tobipolar transistors. Their pioneering work involved depositing metal layers (the base) on top ofsingle crystalsemiconductor substrates (the collector), with the emitter being acrystalline semiconductor piece with a top or a blunt corner pressed against the metallic layer (the point contact). They depositedgold (Au)thin films with a thickness of10 nm onn-typegermanium (n-Ge), while the point contact was n-type silicon (n-Si).[9]
Along with his colleagueSimon Min Sze, he invented thefloating-gate MOSFET, which they first reported in 1967.[10] They also invented thefloating-gatememory cell, the foundation for many forms ofsemiconductor memory devices. He invented floating-gatenon-volatile memory in 1967, and proposed that the floating gate of an MOS semiconductor device could be used for the cell of a reprogrammable ROM, which became the basis forEPROM (erasableprogrammable ROM),[11]EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable ROM) andflash memory technologies. He also conducted research onferro-electric semiconductors and luminous materials, and made important contributions to the field ofelectroluminescence.[citation needed]
After retiring from Bell Laboratories, he became the founding president of theNEC Research Institute in New Jersey. He was a fellow of the IEEE and a fellow of the Bell Laboratories. He was also a recipient of theStuart Ballantine Medal of theFranklin Institute and the Distinguished Alumnus Award of theOhio State University College of Engineering. He died of complications following emergency surgery for a ruptured aortic aneurysm in 1992.[2]
Kahng andMohamed Atalla were awarded theStuart Ballantine Medal at the 1975Franklin Institute Awards, for their invention of the MOSFET.[12][13] In 2009, Kahng was inducted into theNational Inventors Hall of Fame.[14] In 2014, the 1959 invention of the MOSFET was included on thelist of IEEE milestones in electronics.[15]
Three scientists were named recipients of the Franklin lnstitute's Stuart Ballantine Medal in 1975 [...] Martin M. Atalla, president of Atalla Technovations in California, and Dawon Kahng of Bell Laboratories were chosen "for their contributions to semiconductor silicon-silicon dioxide technology, and for the development of the MOS insulated gate, field-effect transistor.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
