Millennium Technology Prize to Tuomo Suntola - photos Millennium Talks May 23, 2018

In the an earlier post, photos were shared from the Millennium Technology Prize Gala on May 22, 2018, where Tuomo Suntola received the prize for atomic layer deposition technology.  This post continues from where the previous post (Feb 10) left, and shares photos from the open lecture that Suntola gave on May 23, 2018, at Aalto University.

What is atomic layer deposition (ALD)? The 2018 Millennium Technology Prize winner Tuomo Suntola explains the contents of the lecture to come. (Photo: Riikka Puurunen, 23.5.2018)

Millennium Technology Prize 2018 to Tuomo Suntola - more photos from May 22

On May 22, 2018, Tuomo Suntola was awarded the prestigious Millennium Technology Prize (MTP) for his Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) invention, awarded every two years for a life-changing innovation. Before Suntola, the MTP in 2016 was awarded to Frances Arnold. Without ALD - an invisible technology as such - Moore's law could not have continued, and we would not have the computing power (computers, smartphones) of today. The BALD Engineering and Atomic Limits blogs are good sources for recent views on the impact and development of ALD. For more on the Millennium Technology Prize, please view the Technology Academy Finland (TAF) website https://taf.fi/; next call for nominations will open in April 2019.

Dr. Tuomo Suntola (left) received the Millennium Technology Prize as the inventor of Atomic Layer Deposition technology. In the middle of the photo, Sauli Niinistö, president of Finland (middle), who handed the prize. At the right, Marja Makarow (professor, chair of Technology Academy Finland). The prize ceremony was organized on May 22, 2018 in Helsinki (Kaapelitehdas).  Photo by Riikka Puurunen, shared in Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

As the drafter of the nomination letter, I was honoured to be invited to the gala event & prize ceremony on May 22, 2018. For me, the prize and the event was literally a dream come true. The event was historical throughout. I wished that more colleagues from the ALD community could have shared the event and the joy and pride.

To record this historical event and to share its details with others, as a hobbyist photographer I took many photos and several short videos at the event. Some I have shared in the ALD History Blog post right after the event, in a video collection on Youtube, and in photos released to Creative Commons.

Now I have gone through my collections again and here I am sharing more photos. I link to the already published Youtube and Wikimedia Commons contents, where appropriate. The photos uploaded in Wikimedia Commons have a Creative Commons (CC) licence that allows everyone to freely use and distribute the photos - the only requirement is that you credit the source and if you make modifications, you share the new versions similarly openly (CC BY-SA 4.0). If you would like to reuse some of the photos shared in the blog but which are not in Wikimedia Commons, please contact me directly - you can find my contact info through the Aalto University website.

Espoo, February 10, 2018

Riikka Puurunen

Tuomo Suntola's main review on Atomic Layer Deposition (Epitaxy) now Open Access

Open Access for Dr. Tuomo Suntola's main review on atomic layer deposition has been kindly given by the Elsevier publisher (per request, for a year’s time?). As the review is from 1989, it is still entitled ”atomic layer epitaxy”. In the (evolving) list of publications on the history of ALD on the website of the Virtual Project on the History of ALD (VPHA), this review is currently the oldest one listed.  

• Tuomo Suntola, Atomic Layer Epitaxy, Materials Science Reports, Volume 4, Issue 5, 1989, Pages 261-312, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0920-2307(89)80006-4.

For the 1989 review, among other things, Suntola mapped the laboratories working with ALD known to him at that time. The list is in Table 1 and ordered according to the first publication. The list is very interesting to read through. I notice laboratories (in alphabetical order) from Austria, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, UK, USA. From Finland, the list gives (in the order of first publication) Lohja Oy; Tampere University of Technology; Helsinki University of Technology, Laboratory of Physics; Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Chemistry; Joensuu University. 

I hope many people interested the field of ALD will have a look at the article - and perhaps even cite it in future publications. 

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Virtual Project on the History of ALD (VPHA) - in atmosphere of Openness, Respect, and Trust

2018 Millennium Technology Prize ceremony in Youtube - Suntola and ALD

On November 29, 1974, the original patent (FIN 52359) on atomic layer epitaxy, nowadays known as atomic layer deposition (ALD), was filed by Tuomo Suntola with his colleague Jorma Antson. In 2018, Suntola and ALD technology were honoured with Millennium Technology Prize.

November 29, 2018, will be a honourable day to share a collection of records of the 2018 Millennium Technology Prize event, available in Youtube. Two videos are professional productions by Technology Academy Finland, others are amateur captures by myself. Enjoy :)

• "2018 Millennium Technology Prize: Enabling Smart Technology" (by TAF): https://youtu.be/x_ZyfRcQEJ4
• "The Millennium Technology Prize Gala 2018 in one minute" (by TAF): https://youtu.be/b6uDciI0b7k
• "Prof Päivi Törmä on the 2018 Millennium Technology Prize to Dr. Suntola and ALD technology" (by Riikka Puurunen), https://youtu.be/FhfJohK5rro
• "Announcement of the 2018 Millennium Technology Prize to Dr. Suntola and ALD technology" (by Riikka Puurunen), https://youtu.be/S3029Z0roAQ
• "2018 Millennium Technology Prize event - Dr. Tuomo Suntola's words" (by Riikka Puurunen), https://youtu.be/J85Xt3Vj21I

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Virtual Project on the History of ALD (VPHA) - in atmosphere of Openness, Respect, and Trust

Neste: "Curiosity and forward looking" describe innovative researcher Tuomo Suntola

Dr. Tuomo Suntola, the Finnish inventor of Atomic Layer Deposition and winner of the 2018 Millennium Technology Prize, worked at the Neste company for over a decade. Recently, Neste published a feature article on Suntola.  With permission, the article is republished in ALD History Blog. 

Original article: https://www.neste.com/people/curiosity-and-forward-looking-describe-innovative-researcher-tuomo-suntola. Related Twitter post: https://twitter.com/NesteGlobal/status/1042465901948350464
Related, 22.5.2018 (in Finnish): https://www.neste.com/fi/neste-onnittelee-vuoden-2018-millennium-teknologiapalkinnon-saajaa-tuomo-suntolaa

Finnish physicist, Dr. Tuomo Suntola, who made an impressive over ten year career at Neste and has won the highly appreciated Millennium Technology Prize this spring, is described as an innovative researcher with a genuine curiosity and passion for his work.

Dr. Suntola worked from 1987 to 1998 as a Managing Director of Microchemistry Ltd, subsidiary of Neste and later Fortum. Lars Peter Lindfors, Neste’s Senior Vice President of Technology had the pleasure of working as a researcher at Neste in the beginning of 1990’s in a cooperation with Suntola and other talented researchers of Microchemistry. The subject of cooperation, as part of the Lindfors dissertation, was the production of catalysts with ALD technology, Suntola’s award winning innovation.

VPHA status update 28.5.2018 - 2018 Millennium Technology Prize and VPHA's next steps

The message below was sent to 76 VPHA contributors and 54 prospective contributors.  

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From: Puurunen Riikka
Sent: 28. toukokuuta 2018 16:31
To: info vph-ald.com
Cc: Puurunen Riikka <>; Jonas Sundqvist <>
Subject: VPHA status update 28.5.2018 - 2018 Millennium Technology Prize and VPHA's next steps

Dear VPHA contributors and prospective contributors,

This is the first status update of the Virtual Project on the History of ALD (VPHA) in year 2018 - earlier updates can be found in this link.

This update shares information on the following topics:

* The 2018 Millennium Technology Prize to Dr. Tuomo Suntola

* Words of thank to the community by Dr. Tuomo Suntola

* Puurunen’s invited talk at the ECS fall 2018 ALD symposium

* VPHA’s next step

With best regards,

Riikka Puurunen, VPHA’s voluntary coordinator

Dr. Suntola thanks the community for support and shares honor for the 2018 Millennium Technology Prize

Upon request, I transmit two messages from Dr. Tuomo Suntola, the awardee of the 2018 Millennium Technology Prize, to the ALD community.

First, Dr. Tuomo Suntola, who has had a busy week after receiving the prize on May 22, 2018, would like to thank the community for the broad support for the 2018 Millennium Technology Prize. This support, seen as forty supporting letters accompanying the nomination letter, has evidently had a significant role in strengthening the nomination. It was the pleasure and honour of the undersigned to spread information of the coming nomination at conferences in 2017 and to collect the supporting letters from esteemed scientists and technologists from various organizations around the world. In the words of Dr. Suntola in his speech at the 2018 Millennium Technology Prize ceremony:

” …  also, my sincere thanks go to the materials research and semiconductor processing community for the broad support behind the nomination.”

Second, Dr. Tuomo Suntola wishes that the prize will be experienced as credit for all actors in the field. Again, from his speech at the ceremony:

” … In the long run, I like to share the honor of the Millennium prize with all my colleagues having worked with me for the technology, the companies hosting and financing the development, and the co-operating universities and funding organizations supported the work. I like to thank all parties for the confidence and patience in getting through times when the goal looked distant. Finally, my special thanks go to the thousands of scientists and engineers who, finally, have made the technology a global success and an important part of our everyday life.”

It is an honour for myself and for the ALD History Blog as publication platform to transmit these messages from Dr. Tuomo Suntola to the community.

Espoo, Finland, May 27, 2018,
Riikka Puurunen
Associate Professor, Catalysis Science and Technology, Aalto University
Voluntary coordinator of the Virtual Project on the History of ALD

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Virtual Project on the History of ALD (VPHA) - in atmosphere of Openness, Respect, and Trust

Congratulations Dr. Tuomo Suntola for the 2018 Millennium Technology Prize!

Dr. Tuomo Suntola has been awarded the 2018 Millennium Technology Prize for the Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) innovation. Warmest congratulations!   

• Press release by the Technology Academy Finland: https://taf.fi/2018/05/22/2018-millennium-technology-prize-for-tuomo-suntola-finnish-physicists-innovation-enables-manufacture-and-development-of-information-technology-products/

In the view of the undersigned, Virtual Project on the History of ALD (VPHA, http://vph-ald.com/) has been crucial for realizing the prize this year. Drafting the nomination letter was a natural continuation of the VPHA ALD history activities. The scientific publications created in VPHA describe the history of ALD in a balanced way and thus directly supported the prize. Wikipedia updates have been important in spreading the information beyond the immediate scientific ALD community. Thank you to all who have been involved in these voluntary works and for the numerous supporting letters provided!

• List of three scientific articles on the history of ALD, created within ALD, below.
• A longer list of ALD-history-related publications is available at http://vph-ald.com/ALD-history-publications.html. 
• Previous ALD History Blog posts related to the 2018 Millennium Technology Prize here.
• Some photos of the events on May 22 and 23 at the end of the post. 

Dr. Tuomo Suntola deserves the prize extremely well for his breakthrough pioneering accomplishments in ALD technology. Suntola has always supported the ALD history activities by the undersigned; likewise, it has been great to feel the widespread support in the international ALD community for the prize to Suntola. I hope that the prize can still further unite the ALD community and spread understanding of this enabling "hidden technology" to the general public.

Congratulations Tuomo Suntola; congratulations the rest of us in the ALD community; let us enjoy this moment!

Awards granted in relation with ALD - help to complete the list?

As mentioned in an earlier post, I am in the process of writing a Millennium Technology Prize nomination document for ALD and Tuomo Suntola. Supporting letters for the nomination are welcome from all over the world. At the time of writing this text, I have received five such letters. I hope that altogether we can collect  20-30 supporting letters - everyone's contribution is welcome.

About the nomination. It came to my mind that it might be worth listing to the nomination document the awards that have been granted worldwide to ALD so far. Below is my current list and some questions related to two possible additions.

Do you have another award in mind that someone has received anywhere in the world, from some recognized organization, which could be added to the list? If you have suggestions (need to be backed up by a document available in the internet), please leave a comment or contact me at riikka.puurunen@delete.this.aalto.fi.

Awards so far which I am aware of - probably an incomplete list:

• Steven George (professor, University of Colorado, Boulder), AVS John A. Thornton Memorial Award/Lecture 2017, https://www.avs.org/Awards-Recognition/Professional-Awards/John-A-Thornton-Memorial-Award-Lecture
• Hele Savin (professor, Aalto University), Finnish innovation award for women 2017, http://www.aalto.fi/en/current/news/2017-06-01/
• Markku Leskelä (professor, University of Helsinki), A. I. Virtanen -palkinto, 2011, https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._I._Virtanen_-palkinto,  http://www.kemia-lehti.fi/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/kemia_uut_2011_14.pdf
• Tuomo Suntola, European SEMI award 2004, "For the development of the ALD technology to semiconductor applications", http://www.semi.org/eu/node/8501  
• Tuomo Suntola, The Finnish Engineering Achievement Award 1985 for Electroluminescent Display Technology, Engineering Society in Finland, 1985.
• Tuomo Suntola, Honorary Award for The Development of Manufacturing Technology for Electroluminescent Display Devices, The Foundation of Technology in Finland, 1981.
• Tuomo Suntola, Jorma Antson, Arto Pakkala, Sven Lindfors, Outstanding Paper Award for Atomic Layer Epitaxy for Producing EL Thin Films, The Society for Information Displays (SID), USA, 1980.
• Tuomo Suntola, Award for Electroluminescent Display Technology, The Association of Finnish Electric and Electronics Industries, SETELI, 1980.

The two award where I am thinking if they can go to the list are the following. Opinions welcome.

VPHA status update 4.6.2017 - Millennium Prize, Lindfors, HERALD Riga, VPHA's future

The status update copied below was sent to 76 current and 47 prospective VPHA contributors. 

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From: Puurunen Riikka
Sent: 04 June 2017 09:10
Subject: VPHA status update June 2017 - Millennium Prize support, Lindfors in memoriam, HERALD Riga, future of VPHA

Dear current and prospective VPHA contributors,

This is the second update of the Virtual Project on the History of ALD (VPHA) in year 2017. The previous VPHA status update was set on March 22, 2017, link here.

This update shares information on the following topics:

1. Millennium Technology Prize 2018 nomination - supporting letters welcome
2. Mr. Sven Lindfors in memoriam
3. Other posts
4. Future activities in VPHA

Supporting Letters for Millennium Technology Prize 2018 nomination

updated 21.7.2017
Supporting Letters are sought for the Millennium Technology Prize 2018 nomination for ALD and Tuomo Suntola, especially to help describe the societal impact of ALD.

Since the day I promised to nominate atomic layer deposition and Tuomo Suntola for Millennium Technology Prize 2018, I have received positive feedback from many people and organizations, as well as questions on how one can support the nomination. Can Supporting Letters be prepared by individual persons or organizations? How does one prepare a Supporting Letter?

I try to answer all questions in this ALD History Blog post.

Scheme showing how a Supporting Letter could look like. 

Millennium Prize 2018 nominations now open - DL July 31

If you would like to join me to nominate Suntola for the Millennium Technology Prize, please contact - instructions at the end of the post. 

The nomination period for 2018 Millennium Technology Prize, given by Technology Academy of Finland, has opened on April 3, 2017. The Call for nominations can be found here: http://taf.fi/en/millennium-technology-prize/call-for-nominations/. Everyone can nominate candidates.

The nomination instructions, as copied from the page are:

• The nomination should include a Nomination Letter with a concise description of the cited innovation and the underlying technology, an assessment of the present and future impact of the innovation, as well as identification of the role of each nominee in the innovation process.
• A concise separate CV must be supplied for each nominee.
• All nomination material must be presented in English.
• Please note that self-nomination is not allowed.

The general principles of the Millennium Technology Prize, as copied from the page, are:

• Awarded to groundbreaking technological innovations that enhance the quality of people’s lives in a sustainable manner.
• The innovations have been applied in practice and are delivering extensive change now and in the future.
• The innovations stimulate further cutting edge research and development in science and technology.

I think that atomic layer deposition (ALD) easily fulfills all the listed general principles.