is a Japanese engineer, who has worked for Toshiba and Tohoku University, and is currently chief technical officer (CTO) of Unisantis Electronics. He is best known as the inventor of flash memory, including the development of both the NOR flash and NAND flash types in the 1980s. He also invented the first

gate-all-around A multigate device, multi-gate MOSFET or multi-gate field-effect transistor (MuGFET) refers to a metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) that has more than one gate on a single transistor. The multiple gates may be control ...

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MOSFET The metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET, MOS-FET, or MOS FET) is a type of field-effect transistor (FET), most commonly fabricated by the controlled oxidation of silicon. It has an insulated gate, the voltage of which d ...

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GAAFET A multigate device, multi-gate MOSFET or multi-gate field-effect transistor (MuGFET) refers to a metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) that has more than one gate on a single transistor. The multiple gates may be control ...

) transistor, an early non-planar 3D transistor, in 1988.

Biography

Masuoka attended Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, where he earned an undergraduate degree in engineering in 1966 and doctorate in 1971. He joined Toshiba in 1971. There, he invented stacked-gate avalanche-injection

metal–oxide–semiconductor The metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET, MOS-FET, or MOS FET) is a type of field-effect transistor (FET), most commonly fabricated by the controlled oxidation of silicon. It has an insulated gate, the voltage of which d ...

(SAMOS) memory, a precursor to

electrically erasable programmable read-only memory EEPROM (also called E2PROM) stands for electrically erasable programmable read-only memory and is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers, usually integrated in microcontrollers such as smart cards and remote keyless systems, or a ...

(EEPROM) and flash memory. In 1976, he developed dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) with a double poly-Si structure. In 1977 he moved to Toshiba Semiconductor Business Division, where he developed 1 Mb DRAM. Masuoka was excited mostly by the idea of

non-volatile memory Non-volatile memory (NVM) or non-volatile storage is a type of computer memory that can retain stored information even after power is removed. In contrast, volatile memory needs constant power in order to retain data. Non-volatile memory typic ...

, memory that would last even when power was turned off. The EEPROM of the time took very long to erase. He developed the "floating gate" technology that could be erased much faster. He filed a patent in 1980 along with Hisakazu Iizuka. His colleague Shoji Ariizumi suggested the word "flash" because the erasure process reminded him of the flash of a camera. The results (with capacity of only 8192 bytes) were published in 1984, and became the basis for flash memory technology of much larger capacities. Masuoka and colleagues presented the invention of NOR flash in 1984, and then NAND flash at the '' IEEE 1987 International Electron Devices Meeting'' (IEDM) held in San Francisco. Toshiba commercially launched NAND flash memory in 1987. Toshiba gave Masuoka a few hundred dollar bonus for the invention, and later tried to demote him. But it was American company Intel which made billions of dollars in sales on related technology. Toshiba press department told Forbes that it was Intel that invented flash memory. In 1988, a Toshiba research team led by Masuoka demonstrated the first

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) transistor. It was an early non-planar 3D transistor, and they called it a "surrounding gate transistor" (SGT). He became a professor at Tohoku University in 1994. Masuoka received the 1997

IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award The initially called Morris Liebmann Memorial Prize provided by the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award was created in 1919 in honor of Colonel Morris N. Liebmann. It was initially given to awardees who h ...

of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. In 2004, Masuoka became the chief technical officer of Unisantis Electronics aiming to develop a three-dimensional transistor, based on his earlier surrounding-gate transistor (SGT) invention from 1988. In 2006, he settled a lawsuit with Toshiba for ¥87m (about US$758,000). He has a total of 270 registered patents and 71 additional pending patents. He has been suggested as a potential candidate for the

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

, along with Robert H. Dennard who invented single-transistor DRAM.

Recognition

*1997 -

*2007 - Medal with Purple Ribbon *2013 - Person of Cultural Merit *2016 - Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star *2018 - Honda Prize

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masuoka, Fujio 1943 births Japanese inventors Living people People from Takasaki, Gunma Tohoku University alumni Tohoku University faculty