BUILDING ON THE PAST, READY FOR THE FUTURE: - MEMC

numbers of transistors, performing multiple
functions, in a small area. The “chips” were
mass-produced, using a photolithographic
process, making them much cheaper and
more reliable than the transistors that were
constructed one at a time.
early sIlICon ProduCtIon
Prior to 1960, the standard for
microelectronics manufacturing was
referred to as “grown junction”
production technology. This meant that
the semiconductor device was actually
grown as a part of the process of
producing single crystal silicon. This enduse
device growth is why companies like
Westinghouse, IBM, and Siemens were
among the earliest silicon producers. The
development of planar semiconductor
device technology and the development
of a reproducible Czochralski silicon
production process essentially divorced
the device technology from the silicon
industry. Dr. Ramo Pelling, manager
of the first commercial semiconductor-
Dr. wallene Derby, head of the Dayton, Ohio, research lab,
which later relocated to St. Louis, Missouri.
Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley (seated) on the cover of
electronics magazine September 1948 “Crystal Triode” issue.
grade silicon production facility at DuPont and
later the first president of Monsanto Silicon,
observed, “As the industry started to grow in
the 1960s, companies like Monsanto with their
chemical materials background caught up to the
semiconductor manufacturers quickly (in terms of
technology).”
MeMC’s Monsanto roots
MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc., originated as part
of the Inorganic Chemical Division of the Monsanto
Chemical Corporation. Founded in 1901 by John
F. Queeny, Monsanto started out manufacturing
the artificial sweetener, saccharin. Over the years,
The Birth of Technology 11