Harvey C. Nathanson

{{Short description|American electrical engineer (1936–2019)}}

Image:First mems device.jpg device.]]

Harvey C. Nathanson (October 22, 1936 – November 22, 2019) was an American electrical engineer who, with engineer Robert A. Wickstrom, invented the first MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) device of the type now found in products ranging from iPhones to automobiles.

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 smartphones and video game controllers, and the gyroscopes used in automobiles and wearables.

Nathanson and Wickstrom conceived the first MEMS device in 1965 to serve as a tuner for microelectronic radios.{{cite web | url = http://aip.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1063/1.1754323 | title = A Resonant-Gate Silicon Surface Transistor with High-Q Band-Pass Properties | accessdate = 25 December 2010 | date = 15 August 1965 | work = Applied Physics Letters}} It was developed also with William E. Newell at Westinghouse Research Labs in Pittsburgh, PA., and patented as a Microelectric Frequency Selective Apparatus.{{US patent reference | number = 3413573 | y = 1968 | m = 11 | d = 26 | inventor = Nathanson et al | title = Microelectronic frequency selective apparatus with vibratory member and means responsive thereto}}

A refined version of the device was subsequently patented as the Resonant Gate Transistor.{{US patent reference | number = 3590343 | y = 1971 | m = 6 | d = 29 | inventor = Nathanson et al | title = Resonant gate transistor with fixed position electronically floating gate electrode in addition to resonant member}}

In their work developing similar devices, Nathanson, Wickstrom and team 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.{{cite web | url = http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/mems/overview.php | title = MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) | accessdate = 25 December 2010 | date = October 2001 | work = ProQuest}}

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.{{US patent reference | number = 3746911 | y = 1973 | m = 7 | d = 17 | inventor = Nathanson et al | title = Electrostatically deflectable light valves for projection displays}}

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."{{cite web | url = http://eds.ieee.org/eds-millennium-medal-winners.html | title = IEEE EDS Millennium Medal Winners | accessdate = 25 December 2010 | date = 5 August 2010 | work = IEEE Electron Devices Society | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150913015417/http://eds.ieee.org/eds-millennium-medal-winners.html | archive-date = 13 September 2015 | url-status = dead }}

A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, he holds more than 50 patents in the field of solid-state electronics.{{cite web | url = https://patents.google.com/?inventor=Harvey+C+Nathanson&oq=inventor:(Harvey+C+Nathanson) | title = Harvey C. Nathanson patents | accessdate = 14 August 2020 | work = Google Patents}}