Harvey C. Nathanson
Encyclopedia
Harvey C. Nathanson is an American electrical engineer who invented the first MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) device of the type now found in consumer products ranging from cellular phones to digital projectors.
MEMS devices, which are made using integrated circuit
fabrication techniques, are composed of small moving mechanical elements that generally range from 1 to 100 micrometres (0.001 to 0.1 mm) in size. Typical MEMS devices include the accelerometers found in automobile airbags and video game controllers, and piezoelectric mechanisms
used in inkjet printers.
Nathanson conceived the first MEMS device in 1965 to serve as a tuner for microelectronic radios. It was developed with Robert A. Wickstrom and William E. Newell at Westinghouse
Research Labs in Pittsburgh, PA., and patented as a Microelectric Frequency Selective Apparatus.
A refined version of the device was subsequently patented as the Resonant Gate Transistor.
In his work developing similar devices, Nathanson pioneered a method of batch fabrication in which layers of insulators and metal on silicon wafers are shaped and undercut through the use of masks and sacrificial layers, a process that would later become a mainstay of MEMS manufacturing.
In 1973 he patented the use of millions of microscopically small moving mirrors to create a video display of the type now found in digital projectors.
In 2000 Nathanson was awarded the Millennium Medal by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for "outstanding contributions to the Society and to the field of electron devices."
A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University
, he holds more than 50 patents in the field of solid-state electronics.
MEMS devices, which are made using integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
fabrication techniques, are composed of small moving mechanical elements that generally range from 1 to 100 micrometres (0.001 to 0.1 mm) in size. Typical MEMS devices include the accelerometers found in automobile airbags and video game controllers, and piezoelectric mechanisms
Piezoelectricity
Piezoelectricity is the charge which accumulates in certain solid materials in response to applied mechanical stress. The word piezoelectricity means electricity resulting from pressure...
used in inkjet printers.
Nathanson conceived the first MEMS device in 1965 to serve as a tuner for microelectronic radios. It was developed with Robert A. Wickstrom and William E. Newell at Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
Research Labs in Pittsburgh, PA., and patented as a Microelectric Frequency Selective Apparatus.
A refined version of the device was subsequently patented as the Resonant Gate Transistor.
In his work developing similar devices, Nathanson pioneered a method of batch fabrication in which layers of insulators and metal on silicon wafers are shaped and undercut through the use of masks and sacrificial layers, a process that would later become a mainstay of MEMS manufacturing.
In 1973 he patented the use of millions of microscopically small moving mirrors to create a video display of the type now found in digital projectors.
In 2000 Nathanson was awarded the Millennium Medal by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for "outstanding contributions to the Society and to the field of electron devices."
A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
, he holds more than 50 patents in the field of solid-state electronics.