Werner Hartmann (physicist)

For other uses, see Werner Hartmann (disambiguation).
Werner Hartmann
Werner Hartmann (1912–1988) c. 1964
Born(1912-01-30)30 January 1912
Berlin, Germany
Died8 March 1988(1988-03-08) (aged 76)
Dresden, Saxony, Germany
Resting placeLoschwitz Cemetery, Dresden
NationalityGerman
Citizenship Germany
Alma materTechnical University of Berlin
Technical University of Dresden
Known forSoviet program of nuclear weapons
AwardsNational Prize of the GDR (1958)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsZentrum VEB
Institute G in Russia
Siemens AG
Fernseh GmbH
Thesis Elektrische Untersuchungen an oxydischen Halbleitern.  (1957)
Doctoral advisorGustav Ludwig Hertz
Other academic advisorsWalter H. Schottky

Werner Hartmann (German: [ˈvɛʁnɐ ˈhaʁtman]; 30 January 1912 – 8 March 1988) was a German physicist who introduced the microelectronics and the semiconductor technology in Eastern Europe.

At the end of the World War II, Hartmann was taken into the Soviet custody and held in Russia where he was one of many German nuclear physicists in the Soviet program of nuclear weapons. Upon his reparations to Germany in 1955, Hartmann was one of many who helped establish the electronics industry in Germany when he founded the Zentrum in Dresden.

In 1974, he became a subject of controversy when the investigations on suspected espionage was launched by the German internal security agency, the Stasi but all charges were dropped later on. The Werner-Hartmann-Preis für Chipdesign is an industrial award given in Hartmann's honor for achievement in the field of semiconductors.

Early life

Werner Hartmann was born in Friedenau, which is a neighborhood in Berlin, on January 30, 1912.: xx [1] Hartmann entered to attend the Technical University of Berlin and graduated with bachelors' degree in physics which he studied under Walter Schottky and Gustav Hertz who remained his lifelong teacher.[2][3]

Career

In 1935, Hartmann found an employment with Siemens AG and was a research associate of Gustav Hertz who had him worked on a semiconductor technology.[2] In 1937, he began work at Fernseh GmbH; his work there made him exempt from military service with the German Wehrmacht during the World War II.[2][4][5][6]

In Russia

At the close of the World War II, the Soviet Union had special search teams operating in Austria and Germany, especially in Berlin, to identify and "requisition" equipment, materiel, intellectual property, and personnel useful to the Soviet program of nuclear weapons. The Russian exploitation teams were operating under the Soviet operative, Avraami Zavenyagin, who was leading the Russian Alsos mission. These teams were composed of scientific staff members, in NKVD officer's uniforms, from the program's only laboratory, Laboratory No. 2, in Moscow. In mid-May 1945, the Russian physicists Georgy Flerov and Lev Artsimovich, in NKVD colonel's uniforms, compelled Karl Zimmer to take them to the location of Nikolaus Riehl and his staff, who had evacuated their Auergesellschaft AG facilities to west of Berlin, hoping to be in an area occupied by the American or British military forces; Riehl was the scientific director for Auergesellschaft and involved in support of the Uranium Club from its earlier times. Riehl was taken in Soviet custody and initially held in search team's facility in Friedrichshagen neighborhood of Berlin for a week before being flown to Russia to head a group, at the Plant No. 12 in Ehlektrostal’ (Электросталь), [7]) which was tasked with industrializing the production of reactor-grade uranium.[8][9]

During this time, German physicist, Manfred von Ardenne, director of his private laboratory Forschungslaboratorium für Elektronenphysik (lit. Research Laboratory for Electron Physics),[10] Gustav Hertz, Nobel laureate and director of Research Laboratory II at Siemens, Peter Adolf Thiessen, ordinarius professor at the University of Berlin and director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie in Dahlem, and Max Volmer, ordinarius professor and director of the Physical Chemistry Institute at the Technical University of Berlin, had made a pact. The pact was a pledge that whoever first made contact with the Russians would speak for the rest. The objectives of their pact were threefold:

  • Prevent plunder of their institutes,
  • Continue their work with minimal interruption, and
  • Protect themselves from prosecution for any political acts of the past.[11]

Before the end of World War II, Thiessen, a member of the Nazi Party, had Communist contacts.[12] On 27 April 1945, Thiessen arrived at von Ardenne's institute in an armored vehicle with a major of the Soviet Army, who was also a leading Soviet chemist.[13] All four of the pact members were taken to the Soviet Union along with colleagues from their institutes. Hertz was made head of Institute G, in Agudseri (Agudzery),[14][15] about 10 km southeast of Sukhumi and a suburb of Gul’rips (Gulrip’shi). Topics assigned to Gustav Hertz's Institute G included:

  • Separation of isotopes by diffusion in a flow of inert gases, for which Gustav Hertz was the leader,
  • Development of a condensation pump, for which Justus Mühlenpfordt was the leader,
  • Design and build a mass spectrometer for determining the isotopic composition of uranium, for which Werner Schütze was the leader,
  • Development of frameless (ceramic) diffusion partitions for filters, for which Reinhold Reichmann was the leader, and
  • Development of a theory of stability and control of a diffusion cascade, for which Heinz Barwich was the leader.[16][17]

Barwich had been deputy to Hertz at Siemens.[18] Other members of Institute G were Werner Schütze,[19] Karl-Franz Zühlke,[20] and Werner Hartmann. Von Ardenne was made head of Institute A,[21][22] in Sinop,[14][15] a suburb of Sukhumi. Volmer went to the Nauchno-Issledovatel’skij Institut-9 (NII-9, Scientific Research Institute No. 9),[23] in Moscow; he was given a design bureau to work on the production of heavy water.[24] At Institute A, Thiessen became leader for developing techniques for manufacturing porous barriers for isotope separation.[25]

The importance of certain scientists and their staffs to the Soviet atomic bomb project was underscored by their being flown to the Soviet Union shortly after the fall of Berlin, announced by the Russians on 2 May 1945. For example, Manfred von Ardenne and his staff were flown to Moscow on 21 May and Nikolaus Riehl and his staff were flown to Moscow on 9 July. Hartmann was flown there on 13 June and worked on the electromagnetism in Agudseri (Agudzery), at Institute G, directed by Gustav Hertz.[4][5][6]

In Germany

In preparation for release from the Soviet Union, it was standard practice to put German scientists into quarantine for a few years if they worked on the Soviet program of nuclear weapons.[26] Once these talented and capable scientists arrived in the Germany (GDR, German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR)), they were plied with high salaries, honors, and good positions as inducements to keep them in the Germany for maintenance of information security (counterintelligence) and both technological and economic development of the country.[27]

Hartmann released from the Soviet Union in March 1955, and he went to the East Germany.[5] There, Hartmann demonstrated his scientific and managerial talents in a number of ways, including the founding of an institute which became a leading institute for microelectronics in the entire Soviet Bloc. However, his apolitical nature was the start of a problem for him in the Soviet Union and it followed him into Germany and magnified under the ruling Party there.[28]

In 1955, Hartmann founded and became the director of the Volkseigener Betrieb Vakutronik Dresden (VEB Dresden, Dresden Vakutronik People's Enterprise); later, it became the Volkseigener Betrieb Rundfunk-und-Fernmeldewesen Meßelektronik Dresden (VEB RFT Meßelektronik Dresden, Dresden Radio and Telecommunications Technology Measurements Electronics People's Enterprise).[2][5][29][30]

In order to teach at a German university, one had to have a doctorate as well as complete Habilitation; Hartmann entered in the doctoral program and completed the doctoral program in physics, in 1957, at the Technical University of Dresden (TU Dresden).[31], where he then also became a professor of Nuclear Electrical Physics. From 1956 and 1957, the TU Dresden had on the faculty other notable German scientists who had returned from working on the Soviet nuclear program, including Heinz Barwich (Institute G), Heinz Pose and Ernst Rexer (Laboratory V), and Josef Schintlmeister (Laboratory of Measuring Instruments.[17])[2][5][30][32]

In 1959 and 1970, Hartmann was awarded the Nationalpreis.[4][5][33]

In 1961, Hartmann founded the Arbeitsstelle für Molekularelektronik Dresden (AME, Dresden Office for Microelectronics; 1969 renamed in AMD), which became a leading institute for microelectronics in the entire Soviet Bloc. Hartmann's AMD is not to be confused with AMD Saxony, which is a facility belonging to the American company Advanced Micro Devices.[2][5][29] In 1987, Hartmann's institute was recently renamed in Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden. ZMD produced the GDR's first 1-megabyte DRAM U61000 in 1988 and is today a fabless semiconductor company named ZMDI

Espionage controversy

Hartmann's grave at Loschwitz Cemetery in Dresden

Hartmann had been under surveillance in the Soviet Union, since 1947, for his "anti-Soviet statements and attitudes." After his return to Germany, he was the subject of the intelligence investigation Tablette (Tablet). Hartmann's reading of foreign scientific journals, as well as his management style, brought suspicion on him and accusations of introducing “managerial methods of capitalist countries.” From his apolitical nature, he disliked the way the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED, Socialist Unity Party of Germany – the ruling party in the GDR) characterized and split the German people into two categories, either “party members” or “non-members”. This resulted in allegations of “non-political conformity” and “disloyalty to the SED”, a direct result from the SED's suspicious view of members of the industrial elite who were not members of the Party. Furthermore, it was even alleged that he spent too much time writing scientific articles. In 1966, he fought receipt of a Soviet security clearance, as he feared this would limit his travel in and scientific contact with the West. In 1974, Hartmann was an object of the security investigation Molekül (Molecule) by the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS, Ministry for State Security) – the Stasi.[2][5][28]

In 1974, Hartmann was removed from his positions, significantly downgraded in position, salary (84% cut), and pension rights, and sent to work as a staff scientist at the VEB Spurenmetalle Freiberg. He was repeatedly taken in for lengthy interrogations during the period 1974 to 1976, and he was threatened with trial for “economic crimes.” However, no trial was to take place.[2][5][28] Hartmann retired in 1977.[2] Hartmann died in Dresden on 8 March 1988, due to complications after prostate surgery.[5][28]

Honors

  • National Prize – 1959 and 1970[4][5][33]
  • The Werner-Hartmann-Preis für Chipdesign (Werner Hartmann Prize for Chip Design) is awarded by the Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden (ZMD, Dresden Center for Microelectronics)[5][34]

Notes

  1. ^ Augustine, Dolores L. (2007). Red Prometheus: Engineering and Dictatorship in East Germany, 1945-1990. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-01236-2. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Professor Werner Hartmann - Triumph und Niederlage des Begründers der DDR-Mikroelektronik" (in German). Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  3. ^ Dieckmann (2002). "Part 3". Die Zeit. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  4. ^ a b c d Dieckmann (2002). "Part 4". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Dresdens Aufstieg Chipmetropole: Werner Hartmann im Porträt" (in German). Sachsen LG. September 2005. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  6. ^ a b Augustine, 2007, 11-12.
  7. ^ ”Электросталь” is sometimes transliterated as “Elektrostal”. A one-to-one transliteration scheme transliterates the Cyrillic letter “Э” as “Eh”, which distinguishes it from that for the Cyrillic letter “Е” given as “E”. Transliterations often also drop the soft sign “ь”.
  8. ^ Riehl and Seitz, 1996, 71-72.
  9. ^ Oleynikov, 2000, 7.
  10. ^ "Zur Ehrung von Manfred von Ardenne" (in German). Sachsen auf Draht. Archived from the original on 2008-01-24. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  11. ^ Heinemann-Grüder, 2002, 44.
  12. ^ Hentschel, 1996, Appendix F; see the entry for Thiessen.
  13. ^ Oleynikov, 2000, 5.
  14. ^ a b Oleynikov, 2000, 11-12.
  15. ^ a b Naimark, 1995, 213.
  16. ^ Oleynikov, 2000, 12-13 and 18.
  17. ^ a b Kruglov, 2002, 131.
  18. ^ Naimark, 1995, 209.
  19. ^ Oleynikov, 2000, 13 and 18.
  20. ^ Maddrell, 2006, 179-180.
  21. ^ Goals of Manfred von Ardennne’s Institute A included:
    • Electromagnetic separation of isotopes, for which von Ardenne was the leader,
    • Techniques for manufacturing porous barriers for isotope separation, for which Peter Adolf Thiessen was the leader, and
    • Molecular techniques for separation of uranium isotopes, for which Max Steenbeck was the leader.
    In his first meeting with Lavrentij Beria, von Ardenne was asked to participate in building the bomb, but von Ardenne quickly realized that participation would prohibit his repatriation to Germany, so he suggested isotope enrichment as an objective, which was agreed to. By the end of the 1940s, nearly 300 Germans were working at the institute, and they were not the total work force. See Oleynikov, 2000, 10-11.
  22. ^ Institute A was used as the basis for the Sukhumi Physical-Technical Institute. See Oleynikov, 2000, 12.
  23. ^ Today, NII-9 is the Bochvar All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Inorganic Materials, Bochvar VNIINM. See Oleynikov, 2000, 4.
  24. ^ Oleynikov, 2000, 13.
  25. ^ Oleynikov, 2000, 11.
  26. ^ Riehl and Seitz, 1996, 137-139.
  27. ^ Maddrell, 2006, 176-181.
  28. ^ a b c d Augustine, 2007, 178-189.
  29. ^ a b "Elektronik in Dresden. Eine Chronik.".
  30. ^ a b Dieckmann (2002). "Part 5". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  31. ^ Werner Hartmann (1956). "Habilitationsschrift: Kernphikalische Messgeräte" (PDF). Technische Hochschule Dresden. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  32. ^ "Technische Hochschule Dresden" (PDF) (in German). Physik und Physiker. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  33. ^ a b Augustine stated that Hartmann won the National Prize twice: See Augustine, 2007, 184.
  34. ^ Dieckmann (2002). "Part 16". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 2008-01-17.

References

  • Ardenne, Manfred von Erinnerungen, fortgeschrieben. Ein Forscherleben im Jahrhundert des Wandels der Wissenschaften und politischen Systeme. (Droste, 1997)
  • Augustine, Dolores L. Red Prometheus: Engineering and Dictatorship in East Germany, 1945-1990 (MIT, 2007)
  • Dieckmann, Christop (2002). "Vernichtung eines Unpolitischen", "Die Zeit" PDF or HTML. Retrieved on 2008-01-17.
  • Kruglov, Arkadii The History of the Soviet Atomic Industry (Taylor and Francis, 2002)
  • Maddrell, Paul "Spying on Science: Western Intelligence in Divided Germany 1945–1961" (Oxford, 2006) ISBN 0-19-926750-2
  • Naimark, Norman M. The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949 (Belknap, 1995)
  • Oleynikov, Pavel V. German Scientists in the Soviet Atomic Project, The Nonproliferation Review Volume 7, Number 2, 1 – 30 (2000). The author has been a group leader at the Institute of Technical Physics of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center in Snezhinsk (Chelyabinsk-70).
  • Riehl, Nikolaus and Frederick Seitz Stalin’s Captive: Nikolaus Riehl and the Soviet Race for the Bomb (American Chemical Society and the Chemical Heritage Foundations, 1996) ISBN 0-8412-3310-1.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Werner Hartmann.