28) Argument over Ion Implantation

  
Ion implantation equipment in Hitachi’s 64K-bit DRAM production line


As the capacity of DRAMs increased, ultra-expensive manufacturing equipment such as ion implantation equipment was introduced in semiconductor factories. The photograph is from Hitachi's 64K-bit DRAM production line in the early 1980s.

Ion implantation systems gained a high profile in Japan since JDRC(Research Development Corporation of Japan) chose and focused on ion implantation technology as a major challenge in 1968. Two groups - Susumu Namba, a senior researcher at RIKEN and also a processor at Osaka University teamed with Hitachi, and Tadatsugu Ito, a processor at Waseda University with Toshiba - were organized and they intensively conducted research and development toward practical application. This is the story behind the devolvement of ion implantation technology in Japan.

In a story from Namba, when he made a presentation on the situation of Ion implantation technology development in US at the 132nd Committee of JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science), "Application of Charged Beams in Industrial Science" , there came out many negative arguments such as "large ions cannot enter deep into the crystal," and “if they do enter, the crystal will be destroyed and the technology can never serve for practical use. "

Later, Namba and I were invited and visited Taiwan. When discussing on the future of nanotechnology in Taiwan , professor Namba said "In the beginning, ten out of ten people were not in favor of implantation technology". I still remember this comment made by him. (provided by Hitachi. Ltd.)

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