寒川 誠二

Joined NEC in 1981 after graduating in Instrumentation Engineering from Keio University. Worked on the research and development of ultra-precise plasma etching processes for ULSI devices. Promoted to Principal Researcher in Microelectronics Laboratory, R&D Group NEC Corporation. Obtained a Ph.D. in Instrumentation Engineering from Keio University in 1992. Prof Samukawa, early in his career at NEC in Japan, recognized the importance of developing plasma processing technologies that mitigated process related device damage. His first major contribution addressed the requirement for ultralow plasma potentials and electron temperatures along with superior species flux uniformity to reduce damage. This contribution foretold the emergence of what is today’s ultrahigh frequency plasma sources, capacitively coupled VHF and microwave-based that are critical for damage-free plasma processing. Since July 2000, he has been a full professor at Tohoku University, an institution renowned for contributions to damage-free process and leading edge device technology, where he is currently Director of the Innovative Energy Research Center at the Institute of Fluid Science (IFS) Tohoku University. He is also a Principal Investigator (PI) at Advanced Institute of Materials Research (AIMR) Tohoku university, deputy director of Material Solutions Center (MaSC) Tohoku university, Joint appointment Fellow of National instituite of advanced industrial science and technology (AIST) and also Chair Professor of National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan). The trend in research at the time was the manipulation of plasmas using magnetic fields, negative ion extraction to minimize the impact of charge imbalances in features and energetic species on devices. Prof. Samukawa, rather than rushing into the fray, took a careful diagnostics-based approach. He first characterized the impact of different kinds of radiation on the device results. New plasma pulsing technology was matched to the core issues he identified. His original patents for plasma pulsing technology are key references for much of the patented plasma pulse technology that has followed. Pulse-time-modulated plasma etching and nitridation systems have been widely introduced into mass-production lines for sub-90 nm generation devices. Now, 50 percent of all plasma etch systems include pulse-modulated plasma functions. According to the latest information, going forward pulse-modulated plasma associated technologies are expected generate nearly a few billions $ in revenue per year. Always ahead of the curve, in 2000, Prof. Samukawa demonstrated damage-free top-down etching using a newly developed neutral beam etching system. Neutral beam etching is the ultimate goal for nanofabrication to achieve charge-free and UV photon irradiation damage-free processes. He was the first to demonstrate that neutral beams can be efficiently generated by the acceleration of negative ions in pulsed plasmas followed by their neutralization. With this method, he generated high-density, low-energy neutral beams with neither charged particles nor UV photons incident onto the substrate surface; and demonstrated damage-free etching, oxidation and deposition for sub-22 nm Si fin-FETs, damage-free etching and oxidation for sub-10nm Ge fin-FETs, and damage-free gate recess etching for high-frequency noise performance of Al2O3/AlGaN/GaN MOS HEMT. Combining biotechnology with neutral-beam-based nano-processes, i.e., bio-nano templating processes, he fabricated sub-10 nm diameter and high-density nano-disk array structures (Si, InGaAs, InGaN and 2D materials). The quantum effects of these structures were demonstrated at room temperature due to the damage-free etched surfaces made possible by neutral beam etching. Also relying on Si and InGaN nano-disk structures, he is developing quantum dot (QD) solar cells with high energy conversion efficiencies of more than 45% and QD Green LED with high internal quantum efficiencies.
His significant scientific achievements earned him Ichimura Award (2008) in the New Technology Development Foundation, Prizes for Science and Technology; The Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2009), Plasma Prize in American Vacuum Society (2010) and IEEE NTC Distinguished Lecturers (2019). Additionally, he has been elected as a “Distinguished Professor” of Tohoku University, a “Fellow” of the Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP) since 2008, a “Fellow” of American Vacuum Society (AVS) since 2009 and a also “Fellow” of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) since 2018.