PROFILBARU.COM

Hermann Gummel
Hermann Gummel
Born	Hermann Karl Gummel; 5 July 1923; Hanover, Hanover, Prussia, Germany
Died	5 September 2022 (aged 99); New Jersey, United States
Alma mater	Philipps University; Syracuse University
Known for	Gummel–Poon model
Awards	David Sarnoff Award (1983); National Academy of Engineering (1985); Phil Kaufman Award (1994)
	Scientific career
Fields	Semiconductor devices
Institutions	Bell Laboratories
Doctoral advisor	Melvin Lax

Hermann K. Gummel (6 July 1923 – 5 September 2022) was a German physicist and pioneer in the semiconductor industry.^[1]^[2]

The son of Hans and Charlotte Gummel, he was the middle of their three children, Bärbel and Achi being respectively his older sister and his younger brother.^[2] Grown up in very turbulent times in Nazi Germany, after graduating from high school, he was enlisted as a radio operator for the Germany Army in World War II.^[2] As a soldier, he was wounded by shrapnel and taken prisoner during the D Day.^[2] After being brought to Scotland as a war prisoner, the compassionate care of the doctors and medical staff avoided his leg amputation:^[2] he was always grateful for this, thought he suffered pain in his leg for the rest of his life.^[2]

Gummel received his Diplom degree in physics from Philipps University (Marburg, Germany) in 1952. He received his M.S. (1952) and Ph.D. (1957) degrees in theoretical semiconductor physics from Syracuse University.^[3] In Marburg met and fall in love with Erika Reich, who eventually become his wife.^[2] Gummel joined Bell Laboratories in 1956; his doctoral advisor, Melvin Lax, had moved from Syracuse University to Bell the previous year.^[4]

At Bell, Gummel made important contributions to the design and simulation of the semiconductor devices used throughout modern electronics. Among the most important of his contributions are the Gummel–Poon model which made accurate simulation of bipolar transistors possible and which was central to the development of the SPICE program; Gummel's method, used to solve the equations for the detailed behavior of individual bipolar transistors,; and the Gummel plot, used to characterize bipolar transistors. Gummel also created one of the first personal workstations, based on HP minicomputers and Tektronix terminals and used for VLSI design and layout, and MOTIS, the first MOS timing simulator and the basis of "fast SPICE" programs.^[5]

In 1983, Gummel received the David Sarnoff Award "for contributions and leadership in device analysis and development of computer-aided design tools for semiconductor devices and circuits".^[6] In 1985, Gummel was elected to the United States National Academy of Engineering for "contributions and leadership in the analysis and computer-aided design of semiconductor devices and circuits.".^[7] In 1994, he was the first recipient of Phil Kaufman Award.^[8]

Gummel died on 5 September 2022, at the age of 99.^[1]^[2]

Selected bibliography

Gummel, Hermann; Lax, Melvin (1957). "Thermal capture of electrons in silicon". Annals of Physics. 2 (1): 28–56. Bibcode:1957AnPhy...2...28G. doi:10.1016/0003-4916(57)90034-9.
Gummel, H. K.; Poon, H. C. (May 1970). "An integral charge control model of bipolar transistors". Bell Syst. Tech. J. 49 (5): 827–852. doi:10.1002/j.1538-7305.1970.tb01803.x.
Gummel, H. K.; Chawla, Basant R.; Kozak, Paul (December 1975). "MOTIS-An MOS Timing Simulator". IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems. CAS-22 (12): 901–910. doi:10.1109/TCS.1975.1084003.

References

^ ^a ^b "Hermann K. Gummel Obituary". IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Nagel, Laurence W. (January 2023), "In Memory of Hermann K. Gummel" (PDF), IEEE Electron Devices Society Newsletter, 30 (1): 49–50{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link).
^ "Contributors to this issue". Bell System Technical Journal. 40: 349. January 1961. doi:10.1002/j.1538-7305.1961.tb03989.x. Retrieved 11 September 2022. Author biography for the article "Margin considerations for an Esaki diode-resistor or gate" in the same issue.
^ Birman, Joseph L.; Cummins, Herman Z. (2005). "Melvin Lax". Biographical Memoirs Vol. 87 (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. pp. 3–25.
^ Newton, A. Richard (6 November 1994). "Presentation of the 1994 Phil Kaufman Award to Dr. Hermann K. Gummel". Archived from the original on 5 October 2012.
^ "IEEE David Sarnoff Award Recipients" (PDF). IEEE. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
^ "Dr. Hermann K. Gummel". National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
^ "Hermann K. Gummel: 1994 Phil Kaufman Award Honoree". Electronic Design Automation Companies (EDAC). 9 November 1994. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011.