Bernard S. Meyerson
- Associated organizations
- IBM
- Fields of study
- Transistors
- Awards
- IEEE Ernst Weber Managerial Leadership Award
Biography
A role model of engineering leadership and excellence, Bernard Meyerson is best-known for his innovative approach to solving a persistent problem in growth and control of Si/SiGe heterostructures, which led to a new era of silicon germanium-based product development.
Beginning in 1983, Dr. Meyerson attached the long-standing problem of reducing the temperature required to achieve epitaxial films of high electrical quility, since typical temperatures of more than 1000 degrees celsius were recognized as ultimately limiting the future miniaturization of device features. His pioneering efforts ultimately led to a factor of two reduction in growth temperatures.
The technique he employed, now widely known as the Ultra-High Vacuum/Chemical Vapor Deposition technique, prevents germanium from separating from the silicon, and keeps dopants from diffusing from where they were placed. This opened vast, new application fields for silicon-based heterostructure devices.
After leading the groundbreaking research in Si/SiGe technology, Dr. Meyerson played a key role persistently advocating its further development and deployment. He has put together a CMOS compatible SiGe heterojuction bipolar transistor foundry service IBM that plays a leading role in the industrial application SiGe technology. The project has been a technical and commercial success and has been expanded into its own business unit.
Dr. Meyerson earned a B.S. in physics magna cum laude from the City College of the City University of New York, and earned a Ph.D. in physics from the same school in 1981. He joined the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center as a postdoctoral fellow in 1981, and has been there since. After holding several positions he is currently an IBM Fellow and the Director of the Telecom Technologies Department.
The many honors Dr. Meyerson has received include the 1999 Distinguished Inventor of the Year Award presented by (IPO) Intellectual Property Owners Association, (USA), the Materials Research Society Medal, The Electrochemical Society's Electronics Division Award, and two IBM Outstanding Innovation Awards. He was named and IBM Fellow, which is IBM's highest technical honor, in 1992 and in 1994, he was designated on of only twenty-five IBM Master Inventors.
Dr. Meyerson has been published close to two hundred time and holds over 30 patents. He is a member of the IEEE, the Electronic Materials Committee of the Materials Society; the American Physical Society, and the Electrochemical Society.
