Frank Wanlass
Encyclopedia
Frank Marion Wanlass was an electrical engineer. He obtained his PhD from the University of Utah. He invented CMOS
logic
circuits in 1963 while working at Fairchild Semiconductor
. He was given U.S. patent #3,356,858 for "Low Stand-By Power Complementary Field Effect Circuitry" in 1967.
In 1964, Wanlass moved to General Microelectronics
(GMe), where he made the first commercial MOS
integrated circuits, and a year later to General Instrument
Microelectronics Division in New York,
where he developed four-phase logic
.
He was also remembered for his contribution to solving threshold voltage stability in MOS transistors due to sodium ion drift.
In 1991, Wanlass was awarded the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Award.
CMOS
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor is a technology for constructing integrated circuits. CMOS technology is used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital logic circuits...
logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
circuits in 1963 while working at Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. is an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957, it was a pioneer in transistor and integrated circuit manufacturing...
. He was given U.S. patent #3,356,858 for "Low Stand-By Power Complementary Field Effect Circuitry" in 1967.
In 1964, Wanlass moved to General Microelectronics
General Microelectronics
General Microelectronics was an American semiconductor company in the 1960s.With Frank Wanlass as director of research and engineering, GMe was the first company to design, fabricate, and sell MOS integrated circuits, small-scale integrated chips for NASA satellites. GMe was a 1964 startup that...
(GMe), where he made the first commercial MOS
MOSFET
The metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor is a transistor used for amplifying or switching electronic signals. The basic principle of this kind of transistor was first patented by Julius Edgar Lilienfeld in 1925...
integrated circuits, and a year later to General Instrument
General Instrument
General Instrument was an electronics manufacturer based in Horsham, PA specializing in semiconductors and cable television equipment. The company was active until 1997, when it split into which was later acquired by Vishay Intertechnology in 2001, CommScope and NextLevel Systems General...
Microelectronics Division in New York,
where he developed four-phase logic
Four-phase logic
Four-phase logic is a type of, and design methodology for, dynamic logic; it enabled non-specialist engineers to design quite complex ICs, using either PMOS or NMOS processes.-History:R. K...
.
He was also remembered for his contribution to solving threshold voltage stability in MOS transistors due to sodium ion drift.
In 1991, Wanlass was awarded the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Award.