`Ion' inventors; Hall of Fame to induct local men for their work.

Byline: Priyanka Dayal

Four decades ago, two local scientists in a North Adams laboratory experimented with silicon wafers and boron ions.

The process they discovered is used today in just about every modern electronic device, from computers to cell phones, TVs to radios.

John D. Macdougall and Kenneth E. Manchester are being honored this morning in Washington, D.C., for developing ion implantation, a process that changes the electrical conductivity of certain areas of silicon. Mr. Macdougall, of Westboro, and Mr. Manchester, of Princeton, have been named to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame, a private foundation, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the invention of the integrated circuit. All modern electronic devices can be traced to integrated circuit technology. Fifteen inventors who worked in integrated circuit technology, 10 of whom are living, will be inducted to the Hall of Fame this year.

Mr. Manchester, who turns 84 next month, said the honor is not really for him. "This is for Dave and Cindy," he said, naming his children.

"It's the same for me," said, Mr. Macdougall, 68. "My family's getting a big kick out of it. I'm not big on awards."

Mr. Manchester, a chemist, left California to join the former Sprague Electric Co. in North Adams and Worcester in 1962, where he jumped into the field of semiconductors. "That looked like an area to do some original work, really unlimited," he said.

Three years later, he hired Mr. Macdougall, who hails from New Brunswick and had a background in nuclear physics.

Working on a budget of less than $500,000 a year, the men looked for ways to improve integrated circuits using ion implantation.

"We knew it was going to grow and be important," Mr. Macdougall said. "It's still growing."

Today, semiconductors are a $250 billion industry, and the method Mr. Macdougall and Mr. Manchester developed is used almost universally in the production of integrated circuits.

"It turns out ion implantation has survived all those years," Mr. Macdougall said.

He and Mr. Manchester created one of the first ion implantation systems in 1967.

The 12-foot-high machine was built in Sprague Electric's North Adams facility, for Mostek Corp., a startup company in which Sprague was a major investor.

Mr. Manchester credits company founder R.C. Sprague for investing in their work, even though many company directors thought it was a waste of money.

The first commercialization of the ion implantation process happened in the building at Allegro Microsystems in Worcester (formerly Sprague Electric) where Mr. Macdougall and Mr. Manchester sat down for an interview last week

One of the first commercial uses of ion implantation was in a Hewlett-Packard calculator. It also was used in digital watches, and later expanded to include all kinds of electronics.

In the 1960s, Mr. Macdougall and Mr. Manchester presented their findings in papers and at conferences around the world.

Although the National Inventors Hall of Fame picks inductees based on the importance of their patents, Mr. Macdougall hopes all of the work he and his colleague did, not just the patent they received in 1975, is recognized.

"Patents are luck," he says. "You have to be at the right place at the right time and be first."

Mr. Manchester said he never saw himself as an inventor.

"Ken's more the scientist, I'm more the inventor," his colleague added.

Mr. Manchester worked at Sprague Electric until he retired, then consulted for Allegro Microsystems. Mr. Macdougall also spent the rest of his career at those companies.

They will be honored with other inventors at a formal induction ceremony at Silicon Valley in May.

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: Kenneth E. Manchester, above, and John D. Macdougall, below, will be inducted this year into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

PHOTOG: T&G Staff/JIM COLLINS