The Grainger College of Engineering

Al F. Tasch, Jr.

Al F. Tasch, Jr.
Al F. Tasch, Jr.
To Al F. Tasch, Jr. for contributions to semiconductor materials, processes, and devices.

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Cockrell, Family Regents Chair of Engineering, Department of Electical and Computer Engineering, University of Texas, Austin, Texas

  • BS, Physics, 1963, University of Texas
  • MS, Physics, 1965, University of Illinois
  • PhD, Physics, 1969, University of Illinois

Al Tasch's doctoral thesis research at UIUC on impurities in silicon was the pioneering work that led to widely known deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLST) approach for characterizing impurities in semiconductors. Upon graduation in 1969, he joined Texas Instruments, Inc., where he did pioneering work in infrared detectors, MOS dynamic memories, silicon-on-insulator, and scaled MOS transistors, he joined Motorola, Inc., in 1982 to start-up a new MOS integrated circuit manufacturing facility. His success led to two rapid promotions; director of the Advanced Products Research and Development Laboratory in 1984 and vice president of the Technical Staff in 1985.

In 1986, Tasch was appointed professor and Cockrell Family Regents Chair in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas. At UT, he initiated a research and educational program to improve the understanding and modeling of ion implantation in silicon. It now ranks as one of the top two programs in the world. He and his students have developed new and comprehensive models that predict the behavior of ion-implanted species in silicon devices, which is of fundamental importance to producing advanced ultra large-scale integrates circuits. He also established an MOS device modeling and analysis research and education program, which has become known worldwide. Numerous process and device models have been successfully transferred to many semiconductor manufacturers. In addition to his research, Tasch contributed to the establishment of SEMATECH and helped create the initial technology roadmaps used by SEMATECH and its member companies. Many of his innovations have been adopted as standard techniques and technologies by the integrated circuits industry as well as academia.

His contributions are recognized with numerous awards. These include election to the National Academy of Engineering, selection as an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow and Texas Instrument Fellow, and recipient of the J. J. Ebers Award from the IEEE Electron Devices Society. He received the Technical Excellence Award from the Semiconductor Research Corporation. Most recently, the University of Texas awarded him the Billy and Calude Hocott Distinguished Centennial Engineering Research Award.

Current as of 1997.