Tuomo Suntola


Tuomo Suntola is a Finnish physicist, inventor, and technology leader. He is best known for his pioneering research in materials science, developing the thin film growth technique called atomic layer deposition.

Early life

Suntola was born in Tampere, Pirkanmaa, in 1943, during Continuation War. He showed interest in technology early on, building wooden replicas of second world war aircraft. In his teens his interests expanded and he progressed to radios and amplifiers.

Training and Career

In 1971, Tuomo Suntola earned his PhD in semiconductor physics from the Helsinki University of Technology. After completing his PhD, Suntola made his first industrial development while working at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, a thin film humidity sensor "Humicap" for Vaisala Oy, a Finnish company specialized in meteorological instruments.
In 1974 Suntola started the development of thin film electroluminescent displays in the Finnish company Instrumentarium Oy. He introduced the atomic layer epitaxy technology, nowadays known as atomic layer deposition, as the solution for the manufacturing of the EL-devices which required thin films with very high dielectric strength. The technology was brought into industrial production of EL devices in mid 1980s by Lohja Corporation in Finland. Atomic Layer Deposition later became one of the key manufacturing techniques in the semiconductor device fabrication.
In 1987 Suntola started Microchemistry Ltd as a subsidiary of the national oil company Neste Oy to apply the ALD technology to new application areas like thin film photovoltaic devices, heterogeneous catalysts, and most importantly, to semiconductor devices. In 1998, Microchemistry Ltd., and the ALD technology, was sold to Dutch ASM International, a major supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment; Microchemistry Ltd. became ASM Microchemistry Oy as ASM’s Finnish daughter company. In 1997, preceding the acquisition of Microchemistry Ltd, Suntola started as Research Fellow in the national energy company Fortum Corporation, created via the fusion of Neste Corporation, and the national Electric Utility Company. Suntola’s activity in Fortum was focused to renewable energies and advanced energy technologies. He retired from Fortum in 2004, but continues as a Board Member in Picosun Oy, a Finnish manufacturer of ALD reactors.
Dr. Suntola has many important patents on ALD technology and thin film devices. Throughout his industrial career, Dr. Suntola has kept close contact with the academic society. In 1970s, he gave lectures on Semiconductor Physics at Tampere University of Technology. Since his student times he has been interested in the philosophy of science and the foundations of physics. After a fundamental breakthrough in 1995 he has been working for a holistic view of the physical reality referred to as the . In his book, , Suntola traces the development of the scientific picture of reality from antique to present day.
Dr. Suntola is one of the founders of the dedicated to the search for a deepened understanding of physical reality. Since 2015 he has also served as the chairman of the .

Awards

In 2004 Suntola received the European SEMI Award "Honoring the Pioneer in Atomic Layer Deposition Techniques … that paved the way for the development of nanoscale semiconductor devices".
In 2018 Suntola won the Finnish Millennium Technology Prize for his contribution to the development of information technology on the basis that "The extremely thin isolating or conducting films needed in microprocessors and computer memory devices can only be manufactured using the ALD technology developed by Tuomo Suntola." The 74-year-old was awarded one million euros. His technology is used to manufacture ultra-thin material layers for a variety of devices such as computers, smartphones, microprocessors and digital memory devices, enabling high performance in small size.

Notable publications