Company Name
Established
Officers
Capital
Fiscal Year-End
Head Office
Low Background Technologies Co. Ltd.
January 7, 2026
CEO Hiroshi Ito
1,000,000 JPY
December
1-1 Rokkodaicho, Nada Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture 657-8501, within the Graduate School of Science
Material quality inspection using trace alpha-ray analysis is a highly niche field. Since the semiconductor soft error controversy of the 1970s, it has now become an obsolete technology and concept. While alpha-ray analysis remains crucial for quality control of packaging materials at the very end of semiconductor manufacturing, the high cost of the equipment meant services like outsourcing were viable.
In Japan, the withdrawal of a major analytical firm from the low-alpha analysis service business in 2024 created a bottleneck for many companies, such as material manufacturers lacking expensive equipment. This inability to perform analysis hindered delivery inspections and evaluations for new material development, raising concerns about stagnation in semiconductor material development.
Therefore, while maintaining my position as a university faculty member, I launched a venture company to tackle niche yet critical challenges in the semiconductor industry using analytical technologies developed within the field of underground particle physics experiments.
At the same time, I am acutely aware of the challenges facing fundamental research and foundational technology research—such as funding, nurturing young researchers, and international collaboration. Our company supports initiatives addressing these challenges and will contribute a portion of our operating profits, however modest, to these efforts.
Career History
2017: Completed Doctoral Program, Graduate School of Science, Chiba University (Degree obtained)
2017: Research Fellow, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University (until 2019)
2019: Specially Appointed Researcher, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, The University of Tokyo (until 2021)
2021: Assistant Professor, Tokyo University of Science (until 2025)
2025: Lecturer, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University
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