A Longing for Knowledge

When we encounter the unknown, we want to understand it. This is the first step toward research and the motivation that drives young people to pursue it.

Around the turn of the last millennium, as science and technology rapidly advanced toward the advent of the ubiquitous era, a series of archaeological discoveries also pushed back the history of science and technology into the past. It became clear that 3,000 years ago, the Jomon and Yayoi people interacted to cultivate the seeds of Japanese culture. The 5,000-year-old Iceman, who suddenly appeared before us in the southern European Alps, was dressed in surprisingly elaborate clothing, sparking our romantic imagination. Science and technology, born and nurtured from the daily activities of humankind, have continued to develop to the present day over a long period of time, with many twists and turns, but without ever ceasing their progress.

In the last quarter of the 20th century, Si-LSI technology developed dramatically, and we have been enjoying the silicon age. Our desires continue to expand endlessly in pursuit of the ubiquitous era. In this dream era being built on silicon chips, one of the key players in this science and technology is plasma processing technology, which uses plasma—the fourth state of matter—as a tool to perform nanometer-scale ultra-fine processing on Si. I am taking steps into uncharted territory by developing VicAddress, a predictive CAD system originating from Keio University. This system designs unique plasmas based on the quantum properties of source atoms and molecules to estimate top-down nano-fabrication (Plasma Electronics: Applications in Microelectronic Device Fabrication (Taylor & Francis), http://www.mkbe.elec.keio.ac.jp).

I share with my students the importance and joy of thinking based on one's own skills (knowledge system) without being constrained by established theories when encountering unknown challenges. Through this approach, I have supervised more than 20 doctoral graduates.

Fig. Video of plasma etching by VicAddress (predictive CAD)

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