Keihin Ramtech: “Our low damage cathode has received a lot of attention from solar manufacturers”

Despite having lost its former dominance in terms of fab capacity and device production, Japan still provides 40% of globally consumed semiconductor materials and over 30% of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Why was Japan able to preserve such a dominant market share in the semiconductor field?

It is a matter of experience. Japan has a long history and track-record in the semiconductor industry. To reach the top, we have experienced and learnt from many past failures. If Japanese companies have remained top suppliers of critical semiconductor materials and equipment, it is because the technology they export has been developed in-house. RAMTECH has been active in the Chinese market for thirteen years. Through time, we have established connections with flat panels and LCD makers. Unsurprisingly, we noticed that these companies still rely on devices, equipment and materials that were designed or produced by Japanese firms.

Your company was founded in 1972 and you will celebrate your 50th anniversary next year. What have been the main milestones of your company?

RAMTECH began as a manufacturing contractor for companies active in a variety of fields, including film photography, cassette and video tape. At the time, we closely collaborated with ULVAC. Our strategy is centered around accumulating experiences by working closely with clients. This close collaboration allows us to understand market needs and to then develop our own technology. For our company to evolve and thrive, we must develop our own proprietary technology; we cannot rely on the technology of others. Our philosophy was established fifty years ago, and it hasn't changed since.

An important milestone was the completion of our factory in Ibaraki, which is intended for mass production. With regards to technical development, our aim is to standardize a high-level of quality; or as we say it,  “Ramtech quality.” To that end, we have established factories in Ibaraki Prefecture and in China. In both locations, we designed a production system to ensure that the quality of our products is uniform. In today’s marketplace, it is essential to create high quality and reliable products at a lower cost. Japan’s R&D capabilities make Japanese products different from those of other countries. Even though Keihin Ramtech is a small company, we are continuously investing in our R&D efforts to obtain our own new technologies and enhance the performance of our products. Today, not only do we generate revenue from our contracting abilities, but we also count on our own lines of business. Naturally, a large portion of our profits is re-invested into R&D projects.

In order to ensure the monozukuri spirit and to protect the technology that we developed, it is important to secure intellectual property rights on a global scale. We employ intellectual property strategies not only to protect our technology, but also that of our customers and clients. We make sure that our clients feel secure in using our products with its intellectual properties. One of the key elements of monozukuri is to protect its inventions; that is the difference between the copier and the developer. For the safety of their clients and for their own safety, developers must protect their intellectual rights and patent their inventions.

How is RAMTECH contributing to the development of the semiconductor field?

For decades, we have been working with different semiconductor industries, including LCD and solar panel makers. Currently our expertise is focused on the energy field, specifically next-generation solar panels, which require a higher energy conversion rate. In fact, there has been a concerted development around the world to increase the efficiency of solar power generation. Furthermore, the development of EVs is also another opportunity for us.

Our machinery enjoys high demand and reputation in the solar panel industry, as well as in research centers. For example, our low-damage cathode has received a lot of attention from international solar manufacturers and we are currently in partnerships with research centers around the globe - in the US, Germany and Singapore - to determine the effectiveness of our cathode.

Traditional cathodes used for physical vapor deposition have certain technical limitations. On the one hand, the rate of deposition has often been limited, thereby increasing lead time. On the other hand, when ions accelerate and hit their target at great speed, the cathode is damaged, thereby reducing durability. How does your RAM cathode address the two problems mentioned above?

Sputtering speed and post-ionization damages are two of the biggest challenges on conventional facing cathodes as they are always a trade-off problem. The difference between RAMTECH and other makers is that we do not hesitate to deal with these challenges. For that reason, we developed our unique four (4) facing targets structure, which solved the problems of the trade-off issues between sputtering speeds and sputtering damages. Generally, a lot of sputtering systems want higher deposition rates for productivity, which can be done by adding more power. However, when a manufacturer increases deposition rate but neglects damages, his device can be ruined at the end.

We believe that our low damage cathode technologies can play a crucial role in the development of next-gen solar panels such as Perovskite or CIGS solar panels. This next generation of solar systems will require manufacturers to handle sensitive and fragile materials within solar sell structures. With our unique technology, we have been able to reduce the rate of damage by more than 60%. Our own sputtering technology is three times faster than the conventional one because we are excellent at confining the plasma or ion within the source, not letting the plasma interfere with  the substrate itself. 

RAMTECH operates under three main business divisions: Vacuum Coating, Friction Stir Welding, and Materials. What synergies have you been able to create between these three divisions?

These three divisions must go hand in hand or else our business will lose its stability. Our philosophy is to ensure a stringent level of quality, which is a trademark of Japan. In order to achieve this, we need to continuously develop new ideas. Our three business divisions enable us to tackle various steps of the production process, thereby allowing us to control the quality of our entire production.

RAMTECH was one of the first companies in Japan to develop and install Friction Stir Welding (FSW) equipment, which allows you to control microscopically different weld shapes and materials. Could you tell us more about the applications of your FSW equipment?

The first application of our FSW was for liquid crystal display. There is a device called a backing plate, which has a water circulation path within the backing plate. In the past they used the conventional method of beam welding or vacuum type welding, but by replacing it with FSW, we were able to eliminate water leaks due to a stress caused by temperature changes. Since we know the conventional technology and so that is why we can utilize it, sometimes we propose it to our clients instead of FSW.

Our chamber has been used in the LCD panel and semiconductor industries and was manufactured using the FSW technique. Conventionally, this kind of chamber is made through a significant machining process with an overuse of materials, but by replacing it with FSW there was a reduction in cost and used materials. This technology boasts tight-sealed properties and can give a perfect vacuum.

In order to compete with other companies, we must differentiate ourselves. Speaking of FSW, we were one of the first to introduce this technology in Japan. This technology has now been used in aerospace, automotive and shipping industries. Unlike large manufacturers in Japan, our financial and human resources are limited, however, this did not stop us from being capable of developing our new technologies and tools by ourselves, which makes us unique. Usually, a company just purchases tools from other suppliers but with our accumulated knowledge we have learned how to develop and utilize these unique tools. 

What roles does co-creation play in your R&D strategy? Are you looking for more co-creation partners moving forward?

We are working with multiple research institutes overseas to enhance our technology and find new applications to be capable of offering a wide range of technology applications. We are also looking for sales partnerships with overseas companies who already have a well-established network. We see that Japanese companies tend to be very conservative. They pay great attention as to whether or not we have a patent and they want to know if our intellectual properties are well-protected; they are also very much interested in our history and the capital that we had when we founded the company. On the other hand, international companies are very straightforward and are more interested in our unique technology, which is truly encouraging. Consequently, we aggressively seek to find more overseas partners.

RAMTECH is not a large scale organization, there is therefore more room to grow in a flexible or strategic way. Looking for good potential partners overseas is much more convenient and advantageous compared to finding partners here in Japan. Japanese companies’ approach to finding partners is more about how much capital you have, thus the definition of “partnerships” in Japan is different from those of foreign companies.

In 2016 you established a plant in China and in 2018 you began your marketing and sales operation in the US. Could you tell us more about your international expansion strategies and the countries or areas you plan on targeting?

The US and European markets are key targets. That being said, emerging countries with large populations, such as China and India, are interesting because of their ability to conduct mass production. We would like to penetrate these markets even further with our three business pillars: Vacuum Coating Systems, FSW, and Materials. North America and Europe are our strategic customers to spread our unique technology for global audiences in the market as they are very R&D driven manufactures. If we could sell our products to these markets, it would bring significant strategic growth to our company globally.

China is the world’s largest manufacturing powerhouse, and the Chinese market is huge. Therefore, a central component of our strategy is to have products mass-produced in China. On top of allowing us to reduce our production cost, having a local presence in China enables us to swiftly establish connections and networks.

What objectives would you like to have accomplished five years from now?

As I mentioned, our unique cathode technologies can reduce damage on very sensitive materials, which can play a key role in the development of next-generation solar panels. I dream of our cathode technologies becoming a standard for these aforementioned solar panel makers, together with RAM Force, our low-damage cathode system. Five years from now, I promise to maintain the same attitude and approach towards monozukuri. I will welcome the pains and failures that I will have encountered as I strive to further grow this company. It is my philosophy that monozukuri has no shortcuts and that you have to go through many pains, struggles and failures to become excellent in what you do.