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When Bernie Meyerson dropped a piece of silicon nearly 17 years ago, little did he know he was about to rewrite science history.
While cleaning that dropped piece of silicon, Meyerson noticed it reacted much differently than it should, according to descriptions in the textbooks. His subsequent experiments proved that assumptions about silicon, held for more than 30 years, were actually incorrect. Meyerson’s resulting work in silicon germanium technology -- SiGe for short -- has given new life to the future of chip technology.
Meyerson's groundbreaking research in growing crystal silicon layers at very low temperatures opened a new door in the quest for faster and more efficient chips. By shortening the chip development process and replacing more expensive and exotic materials with SiGe, Meyerson’s team created smaller and faster chips at a lower price, critical features for successful wireless products.
Meyerson’s pioneering SiGe work made IBM the leading chip provider for the telecommunications industry, and helped form alliances with such giants as Tektronix, Hughes Electronics, National Semiconductor, Northern Telecom and Harris Semiconductor. This industry is estimated to be worth $1.8 billion annually by the year 2005.
Meyerson, once a cabinetmaker, mixes his entrepreneurial spirit, a broad scientific knowledge base, and sales savvy to effect a style as unconventional as his background. With a Ph.D. in physics from New York’s City College, more than 180 published papers and over 40 patents, Meyerson's work with SiGe is helping to turn the vision of pervasive computing into reality.
Published Papers and Honors (Highlights):
"Hi Speed Silicon Germanium Electronics," B.S. Meyerson, Scientific American, March 1994, vol. 270.iii pp. 42-47.
"Bistable Conditions for Low Temperature Silicon Epitaxy," B.S. Meyerson, K. Uram, F. Himpsel, Applied Physics Letter, 1990, vol. 57 p.1034.
"Low Temperature Epitaxy by Ultra High Vacuum Chemical Vapor Deposition," B.S. Meyerson, Applied Physics Letter, 1986, vol. 48 p.797.
1994 IBM Master Inventor
1997 Inventor of the Year, Eastern NY Property Law Association (ENYIPLA)
1998 Finalist -- US Inventor of the Year, Patent and Trademark Office of the USA
1999 IEEE Ernst Weber Engineering Leadership Recognition Award
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How does the thinking of today’s technologists differ from those 10 years ago?
People have continually predicted the death of silicon technology -- that it will somehow magically run out of speed. However, in recent years, the entire semiconductor industry has gone from "no it won’t work," to "no we don’t need it," to "we better do it yesterday."
How do you see your area of research changing people’s views of technology?
My job in this business is both scientist and SiGe evangelist. If you know you're right, then you just keep at it. You evangelize; you don't win by beating people over the head with a club. We have an expression: Data wins.
How will you see your job change 20 years from now?
We’ll start to see a tremendous shift in emphasis to what I call intelligent design. We’ll start to see computers that will actually design chips as opposed to people who design chips with the aid of computers.
How will technology affect our lives in the future?
Just as people now take electricity as a given, we'll soon have the same expectations of data. Data will become a utility. It will just be there. Right now it’s this big deal where you bring home your laptop, hook it up, deal with backup, etc. This will all go away one day. People will expect data to be available to them whenever, wherever.
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