[No. 22] Seiji Samukawa

During my university days, I belonged to the non-hardball baseball club, the Keio Blue and Reds (KBR), and was so absorbed in club activities that I neglected my studies. I spent all four years of my university life immersed in baseball, and with many events like the Waseda-Keio rivalry, I had a truly enjoyable time as a student. In the summer of my sophomore year, I did a three-month homestay in Boston, USA, to study English, immersing myself in a different culture. Through my interactions with Americans, I also experienced overcoming the language barrier. Although I didn't study much, I believe it was during this time that I developed social skills, an international perspective, and courage.

From the beginning, I had decided on Professor Ryo Sakata's laboratory. This was because his "Materials Science" class was very easy to understand and interesting even for a poor student like me, which sparked my interest in semiconductors. In the Sakata Laboratory, I worked with Yasuhiro Nagai (now at NTT), who was a second-year master's student at the time, and we were engrossed in developing an apparatus for measuring the adhesion of thin films. I am proud that we were able to create a high-precision measurement apparatus with what I considered a rather novel idea. This was my first exposure to research, and I discovered the joy of creating things.

When I was about to graduate after four years of undergraduate study, I felt very satisfied with my university life and wanted to start contributing to society quickly, so I did not go on to graduate school (though I later regretted not studying a bit more) and joined NEC Corporation in 1981. I was assigned to the Semiconductor Division. The theme I encountered there was microfabrication technology using plasma. At that time, plasma processes were just being introduced into the manufacturing process for advanced memory devices like 16-kbit DRAM. I became very interested in plasma processing technology (plasma etching technology), for which there were still few engineers, and I volunteered for that theme. With no supervisor to guide me, I was put in charge of equipment development and became engrossed in building equipment with manufacturers. It was then that I became fascinated by the fun of plasma etching equipment. Almost every week, I circulated experiment reports throughout the entire semiconductor business group and actively engaged in discussions with people from the Research Centers and Institutes, other business divisions, and the development headquarters. After that, I was involved in transferring the developed equipment to mass-production factories and launching advanced mass-production lines, which further deepened my interest in plasma.

These activities attracted attention within the semiconductor group, and in 1989, I was transferred and ordered to develop a high-precision, next-generation plasma etching system (for 64-Mbit DRAM) at the ULSI Device Development Laboratories. At the ULSI Device Development Laboratories, I turned new ideas inspired by my experience launching mass-production factories into equipment one after another, developing a plasma etching system that was then a world first. These results were presented at international conferences and covered by newspapers and television. Furthermore, because my direct supervisor was someone who encouraged academic papers, at the age of 30, I learned to write a paper in English for the first time in my life. Being a simple person, I immediately found writing papers enjoyable and wrote English papers nonstop, without taking Saturdays or Sundays off (even though I already had a family and children), reaching a total of 16 academic papers in English over two years. For this achievement, at the age of 32, I was awarded a Ph.D. in Engineering from Keio University. My mentor, Professor Sakata, was very pleased.

Good things tend to happen when you work desperately. The Director of the Microelectronics Research Laboratories in the NEC R&D Group, who had been watching this series of R&D work, approached me, leading to my transfer to the NEC Tsukuba Research Laboratories in 1992. There had been no precedent for a transfer from a business division to the Tsukuba Research Laboratories, so it was the first time someone had moved "upstream" from "downstream." I think this provided a fair amount of inspiration to the young engineers within the company. These Tsukuba Research Laboratories had an atmosphere similar to a university or a national research institute, and I was able to conduct joint research with researchers from all over the world. Determined to seize this opportunity, I immersed myself in research without rest, producing one innovative research result after another with novel ideas. As a result, I gained recognition in the academic community, gave numerous invited lectures, and received academic awards. Through these research activities, my desire to test my own abilities in a wider world grew stronger, and I began to think about moving to a university.

Just then, I had the opportunity to apply to Tohoku University, which is one of the most active research institutions in the field of electronic devices, and I was appointed as a professor in July 2000. Although I was starting from scratch, after five years my laboratory has grown to a total of 22 members, including staff and students (5 doctoral, 4 master's, and 7 undergraduate), and we now have around 10 pieces of experimental equipment. Currently, while building on plasma and beam technologies, I am trying to expand my research area to the fusion of nanotechnology and biotechnology. I believe I have been able to walk this path because I have tackled everything with a positive and determined attitude and have never forgotten my feeling of "Hoon-Kansha" (gratitude and giving back) for the support of those around me. I now feel very fortunate to be in a position to teach this to the young people who will lead the next generation. And I want to continue pursuing my dreams and taking on new challenges.