Simon Min Sze, or Shi Min (; 21 March 1936 – 6 November 2023), was a Taiwanese-American

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. He is best known for inventing the floating-gate MOSFET with Korean electrical engineer

Dawon Kahng Dawon Kahng (; 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 transisto ...

in 1967.

Early life and education

Simon Min Sze was born in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

, and grew up in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. After graduating from the

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

in 1957, he received a master's degree from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1960 and a doctorate from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1963.

Career and research

Sze worked for

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...

until 1990, after which he returned to

and joined the faculty of National Chiao Tung University. He is well known for his work in

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

, including his 1967 invention (with

) of the floating-gate transistor, now widely used in non-volatile semiconductor memory devices. He wrote and edited many books, including ''Physics of Semiconductor Devices'', one of the most-cited texts in its field.

Death

Simon Sze died on 6 November 2023, at the age of 87.

Recognition

*1977:

IEEE Fellow , the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and ot ...

*1991: J. J. Ebers Award *1994: Academician of

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

, Taiwan *1995: Member of

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

, United States *1998: Foreign Member of

Chinese Academy of Engineering The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences a ...

, China *2010: Tenured Chair Professor, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan *2014: Honorary Chair Professor,

National Taiwan University of Science and Technology The National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (abbreviated as NTUST or TaiwanTech) is a public university located in Taipei, Taiwan. TaiwanTech was established in 1974 as the National Taiwan Institute of Technology (), the first and ...

, Taiwan *2017:

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

Celebrated Member *2021: The Future Science Prize, China *2022:

Asian Scientist 100 The Asian Scientist 100 is an annually published list of 100 prize-winning Asian researchers, academicians, innovators and business leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region and a range of scientific disciplines. Recipients "must have received ...

, ''

Asian Scientist ''Asian Scientist'' is an English language science and technology magazine published in Singapore. History and profile ''Asian Scientist'' was launched as a blog in March 2011 by Juliana Chan. The blog's popularity eventually led to a partnersh ...

Bibliography

* ''Physics of Semiconductor Devices'', S. M. Sze. New York: Wiley, 1969, ; 2nd ed., 1981, ; 3rd ed., with Kwok K. Ng, 2006, . * ''Nonvolatile Memories: Materials, Devices and Applications'' 2-volume set, Tseung-Yuen Tseng and Simon M. Sze. Los Angeles: American Scientific Publishers, 2012; . * ''Semiconductor Devices: Physics and Technology'', S. M. Sze. New York: Wiley, 1985; 2nd ed., 2001, ; 3rd ed., 2012, . * ''VLSI Technology'', ed. S. M. Sze. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983, ; 2nd ed., 1988, . * ''Modern Semiconductor Device Physics'', ed. S. M. Sze. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1998, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sze, Simon 1936 births 2023 deaths American electrical engineers American people of Taiwanese descent National Taiwan University alumni Scientists at Bell Labs American people of Chinese descent Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering 20th-century Chinese inventors Engineers from Jiangsu Taiwanese people from Jiangsu Scientists from Nanjing University of Washington alumni Stanford University alumni Academic staff of the National Chiao Tung University Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Members of Academia Sinica Fellows of the IEEE