– Biography:
– Born on May 4, 1931, in Keijō, Chōsen (today Seoul, South Korea).
– Studied physics at Seoul National University in South Korea.
– Immigrated to the U.S. in 1955 to attend Ohio State University.
– Invented the MOSFET with Mohamed Atalla at Bell Labs in 1959.
– Pioneered work on hot carrier devices and Schottky diodes.
– Inventions and Contributions:
– Invented the MOSFET with Mohamed Atalla in 1959.
– Developed both PMOS and NMOS processes for MOSFET fabrication.
– Proposed the concept of the MOS integrated circuit.
– Invented the floating-gate MOSFET (FGMOS) with Simon Min Sze in 1967.
– Conducted research on non-volatile memory and flash memory technologies.
– Schottky Diodes and Nanolayer-Base Transistors:
– Developed the Schottky diode with Mohamed Atalla in 1960–1961.
– Proposed and demonstrated a metal nanolayer-base transistor in 1962.
– Worked on high-frequency Schottky diodes.
– Deposited gold thin films on n-type germanium for transistor development.
– Made contributions to the field of electroluminescence.
– Awards and Honors:
– Received the Stuart Ballantine Medal at the 1975 Franklin Institute Awards.
– Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2009.
– The 1959 invention of the MOSFET was included on the list of IEEE milestones in electronics in 2014.
– References:
– Received the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Ohio State University College of Engineering.
– Became the founding president of the NEC Research Institute in New Jersey.
– Was a fellow of the IEEE and Bell Laboratories.
– Passed away in 1992 due to complications from emergency surgery.
– Contributions to semiconductor technology recognized by various organizations and publications.
Dawon Kahng (Korean: 강대원; May 4, 1931 – May 13, 1992) was a Korean-American electrical engineer and inventor, known for his work in solid-state electronics. He is best known for inventing the MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor, or MOS transistor), along with his colleague Mohamed Atalla, in 1959. Kahng and Atalla developed both the PMOS and NMOS processes for MOSFET semiconductor device fabrication. The MOSFET is the most widely used type of transistor, and the basic element in most modern electronic equipment.
Dawon Kahng | |
|---|---|
| 강대원 | |
| Born | May 4, 1931 |
| Died | May 13, 1992 (aged 61) |
| Citizenship | South Korean (renounced) United States |
| Occupation | Electrical engineer |
| Known for | MOSFET (MOS transistor) PMOS and NMOS Schottky diode Nanolayer-base transistor Floating-gate MOSFET Floating-gate memory Reprogrammable ROM |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 강대원 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Gang Dae-won |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kang Daewŏn |
Kahng and Atalla later proposed the concept of the MOS integrated circuit, and they did pioneering work on Schottky diodes and nanolayer-base transistors in the early 1960s. Kahng then invented the floating-gate MOSFET (FGMOS) with Simon Min Sze in 1967. Kahng and Sze proposed that FGMOS could be used as floating-gate memory cells for non-volatile memory (NVM) and reprogrammable read-only memory (ROM), which became the basis for EPROM (erasable programmable ROM), EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable ROM) and flash memory technologies. Kahng was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2009.
