IEEE Awards Booklet - 2016 - 12

2016 ieee medals

IEEE Robert N. Noyce Medal

IEEE Dennis J. Picard Medal for
Radar Technologies and Applications

Sponsored by the Raytheon Company

takuo sugano

nadav levanon

For contributions to and leadership in
the research and development of the
science and technology of semiconductor
devices

For contributions to radar signal design
and analysis, pulse compression, and
signal processing

Takuo Sugano has dedicated his career to strengthening the understanding of semiconductor materials to enable progress in developing advanced silicon-based electronic devices and the continued
growth of the industry. During the 1960s, he tackled instability
issues in silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors
(MOSFETs) caused by sodium contamination. Using radio-activation analysis, Sugano demonstrated the physical mechanism of
prevention of sodium ions from moving in the dielectric, leading
to more stability and enabling more reliable and high-performance
MOSFETs. Assuming that chemical bonds between silicon and
oxygen or silicon at silicon dioxide-silicon interfaces are stretched,
he also proposed a novel model on the origin of the U-shaped
energy distribution of density of trap state at silicon dioxide-silicon
interfaces. His work on electron transport in the silicon inversion
layer highlighted the effect of surface quantization of carriers in
MOSFET channels at room temperature to improve the dynamic
characteristics of silicon MOSFETs. The resulting improvement
in performance helped move the commercial application of silicon MOSFETs beyond personal calculators. To further improve
MOSFET reliability, Sugano then focused his efforts on electron
and hole trapping in silicon dioxide films that were thermally
grown in an ultra-dry or conventional oxidizing atmosphere on
the surface of silicon substrates and the generation of interface trap
states by electron or hole injection. Also important to increasing
the understanding of semiconductor materials was Sugano's role in
establishment of a class-100 clean room in 1975 at the University
of Tokyo at a time when clean rooms were not popular at universities. Sugano has also made pioneering contributions to III-V
semiconductors, superconducting ( Josephson junction) devices,
and single-electron transistors. He developed an anodic oxidation
process for III/V compound semiconductors in inductively coupled plasma and demonstrated its usefulness for fabricating gallium
arsenide insulated-gate FETs. He also has made important contributions to plasma processes for fabrication of silicon large-scale
integrated circuits, including plasma etching, plasma cleaning, and
plasma oxidation.
An IEEE Life Fellow and recipient of the Person of Cultural
Merit award (2006) from the government of Japan, Sugano is a
Professor Emeritus with the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

With a central research theme of waveform design and analysis,
Nadav Levanon is considered one of the world's foremost experts
on radar theory and practice with many contributions to techniques that have become fundamental practices in radar signal
processing. Levanon is most known for his development of the
periodic ambiguity function (PAF), which is an important extension of Woodward's ambiguity function. PAF is the main tool
for analyzing and designing continuous-wave radar waveforms
and periodic pulsed waveforms. Levanon's early work on multicarrier waveforms for radar provides waveform variability and
separability, which are of concern to advanced multiple-input,
multiple output (MIMO) coding and are explored by the radar
community. His recent work on noncoherent pulse compression
has enabled coding concepts normally used in coherent radar to
be applied to noncoherent radar such as laser radar. Making use
of the laser's natural on-off keying technique, these radars can
operate using extremely low-peak optical power, which is important for low-cost operation and stealth applications. Levanon
designed and built his first radar during 1968-69 as part of his
Ph.D thesis. Hundreds of these balloon-borne radar altimeters
flew for months on meteorological balloons that provided data
used to enhance the early Antarctic ice elevation maps. His radar
was later adapted for aircrafts as the Sperry AA100 Radar Altimeter. He also headed a team that developed the first bird-borne
beacon for the ARGOS satellite tracking system that was used to
locate and gather information on migrating birds. Levanon also
developed the user location concept of Qualcomm's GLOBALSTAR satellite communication system. Levanon's Radar Principles
(Wiley, 1988) and Radar Signals (Wiley, 2004) are important books
in the field that have educated two generations of radar students
and experts.
An IEEE Life Fellow and Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Levanon is a Professor Emeritus of the
Faculty of Engineering with Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Scope: For exceptional contributions to the microelectronics industry.

Scope: For outstanding accomplishments in advancing the fields
of radar technologies and their applications.

12 | 2016 IEEE AWARDS BooKLET

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Awards Booklet - 2016