Dawon Kahng facts for kids

Dawon Kahng (Korean: 강대원; May 4, 1931 – May 13, 1992) was a brilliant Korean-American engineer and inventor. He is famous for his work in solid-state electronics, which is about making electronic devices from solid materials.

He is best known for inventing the MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor). He created this important device with his colleague Mohamed Atalla in 1959. The MOSFET is the most common type of transistor. It is a basic part of almost all modern electronic equipment, like your phone or computer.

Kahng and Atalla also worked on the idea of the MOS integrated circuit. They did early work on Schottky diodes and tiny nanolayer-base transistors. Later, Kahng invented the floating-gate MOSFET (FGMOS) with Simon Min Sze in 1967. This invention led to important types of non-volatile memory, like flash memory. Flash memory is what saves your photos and files on your phone or camera.

In 2009, Dawon Kahng was honored by being added to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Biography

Dawon Kahng was born on May 4, 1931, in Keijō, which is now Seoul, South Korea. He studied physics at Seoul National University. In 1955, he moved to the United States. He then earned a special degree in electrical engineering from Ohio State University in 1959.

After his studies, he became a researcher at Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey. It was there, in 1959, that he and Mohamed Atalla invented the MOSFET. This invention changed electronics forever. The MOSFET is a tiny switch that controls electric current. It's found in almost every electronic device today.

The MOSFET was invented by Kahng and his colleague Mohamed Atalla at Bell Labs in 1959.

Kahng and Atalla also worked on other important devices. They did early research on Schottky diodes. These diodes are special electronic parts that help control electricity in circuits. Their work helped make these diodes practical for use.

In 1962, Kahng and Atalla also created a very early transistor using a super thin metal layer. This device was very fast. It showed how tiny layers of material could be used to make advanced electronics.

Along with his colleague Simon Min Sze, Dawon Kahng invented the floating-gate MOSFET in 1967. This was a huge step forward for computer memory. They realized that this new type of transistor could store information even when the power was off. This idea became the basis for non-volatile memory.

This invention led to the development of EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory. These are the types of memory that keep your data safe in devices like USB drives, solid-state drives (SSDs), and smartphones.

After he retired from Bell Laboratories, Dawon Kahng became the first president of the NEC Research Institute in New Jersey. He was recognized for his amazing contributions to science and engineering. He passed away in 1992 after surgery.

Awards and Honors

Dawon Kahng and Mohamed Atalla received the Stuart Ballantine Medal in 1975. This award was given for their invention of the MOSFET. In 2009, Kahng was honored by being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 2014, the invention of the MOSFET in 1959 was recognized as an IEEE Milestone in electronics.