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Abstract
The Seoul National University Nanoelectronics Institute (SNI) was established in 1996 by an interdisciplinary team of university researchers working together to develop a practical fabrication method for ‘tera-level’ single-electron semiconductor devices. The technical and organizational experiment of the SNI ended abruptly with the Asian financial crisis of 1997 as LG Semiconductor, SNI's patron, faced difficulties. This paper places this episode within the historical context of the development of science and technology in post-liberation South Korea as it coped with the overwhelming forces of globalization since the late 1970s. As the global high-tech trade war escalated in the 1980s, the South Korean government pursued the ‘technology drive policy,’ which emphasized the importance of directed basic research in university laboratories. The increased public and private support for university research transformed a few elite universities from teaching-oriented to research-focused institutions, especially in engineering and science. The new generation of research-intensive academics spearheaded the new national strategy of leapfrogging into the cutting-edge of global technology for the first time in the nation’s modern history.
Acknowledgements
Earlier versions of this article has been presented at the Korea History of Science Society biannual meeting (Spring 2013) and the ‘Emerging Technologies: Past and Present’ workshop at the Center for Nanotechnology in Society, University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). This paper would not have been possible without the numerous interviewees who recounted their experiences. In particular, he author would like to thank Kim Ki-Bum, Park Byung-Gook, and Lee Hong-Hee for their time and support for the project. In preparing various drafts of the paper, Sungook Hong, Jongtae Lim, Doogab Yi, Patrick McCray, Cyrus Mody, Ann Johnson, Steve Usselman, Ron Kline, Martin Collins, and two anonymous reviewers provided critical commentaries.
Notes
1. Chae et al., “Nanocrystal Memory Cell Using High-density Si0.73Ge0.27 Quantum Dot Array.” First published in 1968, the Journal is the English-language periodical of the Korean Physical Society.
2. Yoon et al., “High Spatial Density Nanocrystal Formation Using Thin Layer of Amorphous Si0.7Ge0.3 deposited on SiO2.”
3. Fulton and Dolan, “Observation of Single-electron Charging Effects in Small Tunnel Junctions”; Kastner et al., “Conductance Fluctuations Near the Localized-to-extended Transition in Narrow Si Metal-oxide-semiconductor Field-effect Transistors”; Kastner, “The Single-electron Transistor.”
4. In Korean, Ch’omise soja kisul yŏn’guso, which can be roughly translated to “Ultrafine Device Technology Institute.” For simplicity’s sake, I will use SNI throughout this article.
5. Chae et al., “Nanocrystal Memory Cell,” S995, S998. Chaebŏl refers to family-controlled large business conglomerates, a business arrangement unique to South Korea. See Steers, Shin, and Ungson, The Chaebol.
6. The literature on globalization in the late twentieth century is vast. Galambos, “Recasting the Organizational Synthesis” provides a concise summary of the literature. For a theoretical framework that covers the global transformation during this period, see Castells, The Rise of the Network Society.
7. Flamm, Mismanaged Trade?; Tyson, Who’s Bashing Whom?; Okimoto, Sugano, and Weinstein, eds., Competitive Edge.
8. Park, “Development in Science and Technology of South Korea during the Cold War.”
9. Kwahakkisulch’ŏ, Kwahakkisul yŏn’gam, 189.
10. Saxenian, The New Argonauts emphasizes the importance of returnees from Silicon Valley in the development of high-technology industries in Taiwan, China, and India. Compared to the other Asian cases, the South Korean returnees fall short of being the “new Argonauts” in that they failed to form significant communities in technology centers. This was perhaps due to the much smaller scale, compared to China and India, of the South Korean students who studied in the US.
11. McCray, “Will Small Be Beautiful?”; Toumey, “Tracing and Disputing the Story of Nanotechnology.” There is now a sizable literature on the “prehistory” of nanotechnology. See, for example, Mody, Instrumental Community.
12. Choi and Mody, “The Long History of Molecular Electronics,” esp. 12–14.
13. For an analysis of the catch-up phase of South Korean industrial and technology policy, see Kim, From Imitation to Innovation. There is now a growing literature on South Korea’s transition from catch-up to “post” catch-up innovation systems. See, for example, Song et al., T’alch’ugyŏkhyŏng kisul hyŏksin ch’ejeŭi mosaek.
14. For a discussion of an American brand of techno-futurism, see McCray, The Visioneers.
15. This section owes much to Kang, “Han’gukkwahakchaedanŭi sŏllipkwa taehagŭi kich’oyŏn’gu, 1962–1989.”
16. Koh, “Han’gugŭi wŏnjaryŏkkigu sŏllipkwajŏnggwa kŭ paegyŏng”; DiMoia, “Atoms for Sale?”
17. The most detailed and comprehensive study on the history of KIST is Moon, Han’gugŭi hyŏndaejŏk yŏn’guch’ejeŭi hyŏngsŏng. For a brief survey of Taedŏk, see Castells and Hall, Technopoles of the World, 57–65.
18. As the first major GRI, KIST served as the source from which specialized GRIs spun off in the 1970s. Moon, “KIST esŏ Taedŏgyŏn’gudanjikkaji.”
19. For an overview of the situation in the 1960s, see Kim, “Kwahakkisul ipkugŭi haebudo.”
20. Ibid., 248. For example, historian of science Dong-Won Kim notes that students and faculty members at the SNU Department of Physics were heavily inclined toward theoretical issues during this period. Kim, “The Conflict between the Image and Role of Physics in South Korea.”
21. Although it is too complex to go into further detail within the scope of this paper, the academics’ vision was clearly influenced by the legacy of traditional Confucian values of learning and education. For an overview of the history of Korean education from this perspective, see Seth, Education Fever.
22. For an analysis of the new HCI policy, see Kim, Korea’s Development Under Park Chung Hee, esp. chap. 8; Kim, “Heavy and Chemical Industrialization, 1973–1979.”
23. Kim and Leslie, “Winning Markets or Winning Nobel Prizes?,” 164ff.
24. Kyunghyang Sinmun, 22 April 1974.
25. “Staff Summary Report: Guidelines for a Korea Science and Engineering Foundation, Prepared by a Joint Advisory Team of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea, National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, United States of America, Seoul, Korea, 31 May–6 June 1976,” copy available in the George E. Brown Jr. Library, National Academy of Sciences; Han’guk Kwahak Chaedan, Han’guk Kwahak Chaedan 10-nyŏnsa, 24–29.
26. Maeil Kyongje, 5 January 1981.
27. Sŏultaehakkyo Konggwadaehak, Sŏultaehakkyo Konggwadaehak 50-nyŏnsa, part 4.
28. KAIST was formally established in 1971 as the Korea Advanced Institute of Science (KAIS), a graduate-level institution. In 1980, KAIS merged with KIST to form KAIST. In 1984, Korea Institute of Technology (KIT) was established as an undergraduate institution. KIT and KAIST merged in 1989 and moved to the current location in Taedŏk. For the history of KAIST, See Kim and Leslie, “Winning Markets or Winning Nobel Prizes?” For Postech, see Im, “The Birth of the Postech.”
29. Mun’gyobu, Haeoe yuhaksaeng silt’aejosa, 6–7.
30. Kim Ki-Bum, interview with author, 15 June 2012. Most of them went abroad after completing their bachelor’s degrees and some of them after receiving their master’s degrees at SNU.
31. Gallagher, “UC Berkeley, Leads Nation in Preparing Students for Doctorates.” Between 1999 and 2003, Berkeley awarded 2175 undergraduate degrees to those who went on to receive doctorates in the U.S.; SNU awarded 1655; University of Michigan came in third with 1537.
32. Hornig, “Kwagiyŏn sŏllibŭi chuyŏk,” 191.
33. All Korean names are given in the order of surname first, followed by the given name. Transliteration of names follows the persons’ preferences indicated in their English language publications.
34. Lee Hong Hee’s career was gathered from the website of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology. See http://www.kast.or.kr/.
35. Kim Ki-Bum’s career was gathered from the website of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University. See http://mse.snu.ac.kr/.
36. Park Byung-Gook’s career was gathered from the website of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University. See http://ee.snu.ac.kr/.
37. Those who remained in the U.S. formed the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) in 1971.
38. Maeil Kyongje, 1 January 1993. The G7 Project was the successor of the “Special R&D Program” initiated in 1982.
39. Park Byung-Gook, interview with author, 5 December 2012.
40. Committee for the Establishment of the Nanoelectronics Institute, SNU College of Engineering, “Nanoelectronics Institute Establishment Plan,” December 1995, 1–2. It is significant that the committee underscored “original research,” as opposed to merely catching up with foreign technology.
41. “Nanoelectronics Institute Establishment Plan,” December 1995, 2.
42. Lee Hong Hee, interview with author, 7 December 2012; Kim Ki-Bum, interview with author, 9 November 2012. According to Lee and Kim, the executives of Samsung Electronics may have felt that they had no need to take the unnecessary risk of a long-range R&D project like nanoelectronics.
43. LG, LG 50-nyŏnsa, 533–534.
44. A copy of the agreement is attached as an appendix in the “Nanoelectronics Institute Establishment Plan,” following 43.
45. Han’guk Kwahak Chaedan, Han’guk Kwahak Chaedan 20-nyŏnsa, 228.
46. “Nanoelectronics Institute Establishment Plan,” 6. The equipment list included, among others, E-beam Lithography, RIE [Reactive Ion Etching] Etcher, MBE [Molecular Beam Epitaxy] System, MOCVD [Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition] System, STM/AFM [Scanning Tunneling Microscope/Atomic Force Microscope], and Excimer Laser System. In the official bicentennial history of SNU College of Engineering published in 1997, the SNI was “scheduled to move into the LG Building in the SNU Research Park in June 1998.” Sŏultaehakkyo Konggwadaehak, Sŏultaehakkyo Konggwadaehak 50-nyŏnsa, 120.
47. Mathews and Cho, Tiger Technology, 38, 43–46.
48. Lee Hong Hee, interview with author, 7 December 2012; Kim Ki-Bum, interview with author, 9 November 2012.
49. Maeil Kyongje, 10 September 1996. The establishment of the SNI was the headline news in one of the leading daily newspapers.
50. SNU Nanoelectronics Institute, “Nano-Project Phase 1 Proposal,” November 1998, 3 and summary.
51. SNU Nanoelectronics Institute, “Nano-Project Phase 1 Proposal,” November 1998, 48.
52. Information on the monthly faculty meetings and research colloquia is available in the SNI Meeting Minutes prepared by Park Byung-Gook, who, as the youngest faculty member of the group, served as secretary and note-keeper of the meetings.
53. Kwon Jang-Yeon, interview with the author, 23 November 2012.
54. SNU Nanoelectronics Institute, “Nano-Project 1st Year Annual Report,” August 1998, 195.
55. Both Yoon and Kwon subsequently received their master’s degree with theses on the formation of quantum dot arrays using agglomeration. Yoon, “Quantum Dot Formation by Interface Agglomeration of Thin Film”; Kwon, “A Study on Agglomeration Phenomena of Thin Film for Application to Single Electron Transistor.” Why did the younger students play key roles in the nanoelectronics project? It is possible that the senior doctoral students did not wish to risk their careers on a project that may lead to a dead-end. Working on more conventional topics, such as improving the diffusion barrier using copper metallization, was a safer bet, both for completing the thesis and seeking jobs.
56. SNU Nanoelectronics Institute, “Nano-Project 1st Year Annual Report,” August 1998, 3. Sŏultaehakkyo Konggwadaehak, Sŏultaehakkyo Konggwadaehak 50-nyŏnsa, 120.
57. Park Byung-Gook, interview with author, 5 December 2012; Yoon Tae-Sik, interview with author, 3 December 2012.
58. SNI meeting minutes, 6 October 1997.
59. At the time, Yoon was a second-year master’s student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Chae was a first-year master’s student in Electrical Engineering. They were of the same age and remained good friends. Yoon completed his Ph.D. in Kim’s group in 2002 and did his postdoctoral work at RIAM and UCLA. He briefly joined the Memory Research Center, Samsung Electronics, before being hired as an assistant professor at Myongji University, Yongin, Korea, in 2007. Chae, on the other hand, decided to take an industrial position after completing his M.S. degree and took a job in Samsung Electronics. A few years ago, he has returned to SNU to pursue his Ph.D. in electrical engineering, while on leave from Samsung.
60. Yoon, interview with author, 3 December 2012.
61. Chae, “Fabrication and Characterization of a Single Electron Memory Cell.”
62. Kyung-shik Lee and Chang-Yuel Lim to Michel Camdessus, “Korea Letter of Intent,” 3 December 1997. Copy available at http://www.imf.org/external/np/loi/120397.htm/.
63. SNI meeting minutes, 15 December 1997.
64. SNI meeting minutes, 27 July 1998.
65. SNU Nanoelectronics Institute, “Nano-Project Phase 1 (2 Years) Proposal,” November 1998; SNI meeting minutes, 14 December 1998.
66. Maeil Kyongje, 25 January 1999.
67. Lee Jo-Won, “21c Frontier R&D Projects – Nano Functional Device R&D Proposal,” 23 February 2000.
68. SNU Nanoelectronics Institute, “1997 Nano-Project 1st Year Mid-Term Report,” August 1997, 204–205.
69. Kim Ki-Bum, interview with author, 9 November 2012; National TND Program, “TND Program, a Success Story,” August 2010, 108–117.
70. Lee et al., “Electron Beam Projection Nanopatterning Using Crystal Lattice Images Obtained from High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy.” Arai, one of the co-authors of this paper, was the JEOL researcher responsible for assembling the equipment. Lee Hyo-Sung and Kim Byung-Sung were the two graduate students who spent six months in Japan working with Arai on the assembly process.
71. For an exemplar of the “sociotechnical imaginary” approach, see Jasanoff and Kim, “Containing the Atom.”
72. The phrase originated from the catchphrase adopted by the leading daily newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, to celebrate its 75th anniversary in 1995. Chosun Ilbo, 5 March 1995, 1.
73. On the Hwang scandal, see the special issue of East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal 2, no. 1 (2008). Of particular interest is Kim, “How Could a Scientist Become a National Celebrity?” See also, Gottweis and Kim, “Explaining Hwang-Gate”; Kim, “The Politics of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in South Korea.”