In 1967, South Korean President Park Chung-hee invited Kim Jong-ki, a semiconductor expert from Silicon Valley in the United States, hoping that he could help South Korea develop its own semiconductor industry. In that era, semiconductors were the core technology leading the future, but South Korea knew nothing about it. Nowadays, Kim Jong-ki is not a very familiar name. Who is he and why is he called the godfather of Korean semiconductors?
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html The 6-dimensional wall is broken: Kim Jong-ki and Fairchild
In October 1957, the Semiconductor Department of Fairchild Corporation was established with plans to produce silicon transistors. The company was divided into 12,345 shares, with 100 shares for each member of the Gang of Eight, 225 shares for Locke's company, Hayden Stone, and the remaining 300 shares for future management of the company. Fairchild Group will invest US$1.38 million within 18 months. If the company's net profit exceeds US$300,000 for three consecutive years, Fairchild Group has the right to withdraw the shares for US$3 million, or US$5 million after five years.
Apple founder Steve Jobs once described it this way: "Fairchild Semiconductor is like a mature dandelion. When you blow it, the seeds of entrepreneurial spirit will fly everywhere in the wind." One such seed is - —Kim Jong-ki.
Kim Jong-ki was born in Seoul in 1942. After growing up, he completed his studies at Seoul National University and Columbia University in the United States, where he studied under the tutelage of Edward S. Yang, an expert in transistor theory, and finally received his Ph.D. Shortly after graduating from his Ph.D., he was hired to join the R&D laboratory of imaging equipment developer Fairchild Camera and Instrument in Palo Alto, California, and officially became a semiconductor engineer. These five years of working life have benefited him a lot. While studying technology with great concentration, he has realized the true meaning of "engineer thinking", that is, theory and practice are equally important.
Since World War II, Fairchild Camera has been the world's leading developer of imaging equipment, including radar cameras, radio compasses and X-ray machines. In 1957, the company formed its Fairchild Semiconductor division to make transistors and integrated circuits from silicon, an innovation at the time since most semiconductor devices at the time used germanium. The venture spurred the rise of Silicon Valley by spawning dozens of products, including the first silicon integrated circuits. As a newcomer to Fairchild's R&D lab, Kim Jong-ki was assigned to research a new type of chip: a charge-coupled device.
Just the previous year, 1969, George E. Smith and Willard Boyle of Bell Labs came up with the idea of ccd, for which they later received the Nobel Prize. Bell Prize. But Kim Jong-ki and his colleagues at Fairchild realized the first CCD devices, which later developed into commercial products widely used in digital photography, radiography, and astronomy. Kim Jong-ki was so proficient in CCD technology that other engineers from the company often came to his office at the end of the day to ask for his advice. "Soon they started calling me professor ccd," Kim Jong-ki recalled.
Among other inventions, Kim Jong-ki helped develop the CCD area image sensor, which greatly improved low-light detection, and the first two-phase CCD linear image sensor - which reportedly ensured "ease of use and image reproduction." high quality". "Fairchild's or Kim Jong-ki's CCDs made possible the widespread use of high-resolution cameras," says Columbia's Yang. He added that without these functional devices, "ccd would not have won the Nobel Prize."
Kim Jong-ki's "seeds" continued to float to South Korea.
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Kim's Mafia: Peach and Plum All Over the World
From 1975, when the country had just begun producing the first transistors, to 2008, when Kim Jong-ki retired from teaching, he trained more than 100 students, effectively educating the first two generations of South Korea. Semiconductor expert.
What makes Kim Jong-ki an influential mentor is not the actual monopoly of semiconductor training by Korea Institute of Science and Technology, but Kim Jong-ki’s educational philosophy. He introduced a completely new Korean style of teaching and mastering engineering. For example, his belief that the "engineer's mind" required equal emphasis on theory and application initially confused his students, who viewed engineering as primarily an academic discipline.Although they were mathematically proficient and well-read, most of them had never done any serious work in design and construction. This kind of education is obviously successful.
kyung chong-min was Kim Jong-ki's first doctoral student at kaist. Kyung became a professor at his alma mater at the age of 30. He is best known for designing microprocessor chips in the early 1990s that were fully compatible with the Intel 80386 and 80486 chips. He also established and operated two chip design centers.
lim hyung-kyu studied pmos devices under the guidance of Kim Jong-ki and later became Samsung's first overseas scholarship student (at the University of Florida). He is best known for developing NAND flash memory in the early 1990s and is often referred to as "Mr. NAND Flash." After retiring from Samsung, he served as vice chairman of SK Group.
suh kang-deog received his master's and doctorate degrees under Kim Jong-ki. At Samsung Electronics, he was involved in various memory projects including NAND flash memory. In 2006, he was elected as a Samsung Fellow, the company's highest honor, in recognition of his contributions and expectations for his future work. There are many other golden mafias like
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The high degree of combination of personal and national destiny
Times create heroes, and heroes also help times. South Korea's semiconductor industry started from scratch and gradually became a powerful country in the world's semiconductor industry. It is a typical case of late-developing countries successfully catching up.
By the mid-2000s, South Korea had become the dominant country in the semiconductor field, and by the mid-2010s, its global memory market share had climbed to more than 60%. Many scholars have tried to discover the secrets of South Korea's success, but usually emphasize the role and contribution of the Korean government and individual companies in semiconductor development, almost completely ignoring the role and role of the Korean Academy of Sciences.
Starting in 1975, Kim Jong-ki trained the first two generations of semiconductor engineers at Kaist, most of whom became leaders in academia, research institutions, and especially industry. How Kim Jong-ki, a university professor rather than an entrepreneur, became the godfather of South Korea's semiconductor industry was only possible due to the unique triangular relationship between South Korea's government, industry and academia in the last quarter of the 20th century.
In 1975, the Korean government announced a six-year plan to support the semiconductor industry, emphasizing the localization of electronic accessories and semiconductor production. Rather than developing the semiconductor industry through investment from multinational companies. This undoubtedly laid a solid foundation for the independent development of South Korea's semiconductor industry in the future. In South Korea's economic policy, the development of the semiconductor industry is relatively advanced and has been recognized by many surrounding countries. It has also promoted the rise of South Korea's domestic national income. Most of the important semiconductor industries in South Korea are Samsung and SK Hyundai, which are the leaders in the industry. However, there are more than 20,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in South Korea supporting South Korea's semiconductor industry. It is precisely because of this that South Korea's semiconductor industry It is ahead of other countries in many aspects of technology.
The Korean Small and Medium Enterprises Agency once disclosed a set of data. Regarding Korean small and medium-sized enterprises, there are more than 300 officially registered Korean small and medium-sized enterprises manufacturing integrated circuits. There are more than 2,000 companies manufacturing PCBs, and more than 2,000 companies manufacturing semiconductor-related equipment and parts. As for the manufacturing of raw materials used in semiconductors, there are more than 4,000 companies. There are more than 10,000 companies producing other electronic parts and components. South Korea's semiconductor industry has more than 10,000 companies operating. More than 20,000 companies support the development and progress of this industry.
Kim Jong-ki is the "hand of God" invited by the South Korean government, and Kim Jong-ki also has an unsatisfactory life abroad due to racial discrimination and other issues. In such a situation, powerful forces join forces. When facing the challenges of the international market, South Korea's semiconductor industry did not give up, but chose transformation and innovation. The Korean government and enterprises realize that in order to achieve breakthroughs in the semiconductor field, they must master core technologies, improve independent research and development capabilities, and open up new markets and applications.Therefore, the Korean government and enterprises have begun a series of strategic measures, such as increasing investment, establishing R&D centers, introducing talents, cultivating reserve forces, strengthening international cooperation, seeking technological breakthroughs, expanding product lines, enhancing brand image, etc.
The second opportunity for South Korea's semiconductor industry comes from the rise of memory chips. In the late 1970s, with the popularity of personal computers and home game consoles, demand for memory chips began to grow, especially dynamic random access memory (DRAM). DRAM is a semiconductor device used to store data. It has the advantages of large capacity, fast speed, low power consumption, and low price. It is widely used in various electronic devices. DRAM's market size and profit margins are large, attracting competition and investment from semiconductor companies in the United States, Japan, Europe and other countries. South Korea's Samsung and Hyundai (later renamed SK Hynix) also saw the business opportunities of DRAM and decided to shift the focus of their semiconductor business to the R&D and production of DRAM, striving to occupy a place in this field.
The second breakthrough in the Korean semiconductor industry occurred in 1983, when Samsung successfully developed a 64kb DRAM. This was the first time that South Korea achieved independent production of DRAM and was also an important milestone for Samsung Semiconductor. The performance and quality of Samsung's 64kb DRAM have reached the international level and have been recognized and ordered at home and abroad, allowing Samsung to gain a certain share and reputation in the DRAM market. Samsung's success has also inspired other Korean semiconductor companies such as Hyundai to join in the R&D and production of DRAM, forming a situation of healthy competition and coordinated development in the Korean semiconductor industry.
South Korea's semiconductor industry has gradually moved towards a leading position in the process of transformation and innovation. Korean semiconductor companies continue to catch up with and surpass international competitors in the DRAM field, such as Intel in the United States, Toshiba, and Mitsubishi in Japan, becoming the world's largest DRAM producer and exporter. Korean semiconductor companies have also achieved technological breakthroughs and product innovations in other fields, such as flash memory, displays, and mobile communications, and expanded their market share and influence. South Korea's leadership in the semiconductor industry is due to the long-term investment and strategic planning of the South Korean government and enterprises, as well as the diligence and creativity of South Korea's semiconductor talents.
