TECH

In the 1980s, Japan was the leader in the chip industry; now it has only one monopoly: photoresist

Japan is investing more money in its integrated circuit sector than the US, Germany, France or the UK. JSR Corporation, Tokyo Electron, Rapidus, Canon and Nikon are the spearheads of the Japanese chip industry.

In the late 1980s, Japan dominated the semiconductor industry with overwhelming force. In 1988, NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Matsushita and other Japanese companies accounted for no less than 50% of the chip industry. Today, however, none of these companies are among the leaders in an industry dominated with an iron fist by Taiwanese, American, Dutch, South Korean and German companies.

In all likelihood, technology enthusiasts who follow innovations in integrated circuits think of the Dutch company ASML when they think of lithography equipment manufacturers. Or at Taiwan’s TSMC when we delve into chip manufacturing. Or at the American Applied Materials when we delve into advanced materials for semiconductors. Japan’s strength is going in other directions.

Japan’s JSR is a world leader in photoresist materials for chips... In integrated circuit factories, such as those Intel has in Kiryat Gat (Israel) or Kulim (Malaysia), ASML’s lithography machines are usually accompanied by processing equipment manufactured by the Japanese company Tokyo Electron. The same is true at the factories of TSMC, Samsung, SK Hynix or Micron. Canon is another important Japanese manufacturer of lithography equipment. In fact, in the last year it has been making a lot of noise with its nanoimprint lithography machines.

A photoresistor, also known as an LDR (Light Dependent Resistor), is an electronic component widely used in various electronic devices and circuits. It is a light sensor that varies its resistance according to the intensity of light that falls on it. In this glossary, we will explore in detail what a photoresistor is, how it works, its applications and advantages.

A photoresistor is a type of resistor whose electrical resistance varies according to the intensity of the light that hits its surface. The greater the light intensity, the lower the resistance of the photoresistor. This behavior makes it widely used in electronic circuits as a light sensor.

The operation of a photoresistor is based on the photoconductive effect, which consists of the change in the electrical resistance of a semiconductor material when exposed to light. When light falls on the photoresistor, the electrons present in its structure are excited, increasing the conductivity of the material and reducing its resistance.

Photoresistor is widely used in electronic devices and circuits that require a light sensor. It can be found in applications such as brightness control in lamps, automatic activation of devices in dark environments, security systems, among others.

One of the main advantages of photoresistors is their ease of use and low cost, which makes them a viable option for a variety of applications. In addition, their rapid response to light variations makes them an efficient and accurate sensor in environments with different levels of brightness.

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