After graduating San Jose State University, Mattson took a job with Applied Materials as a field service engineer.[3] Mattson repositioned his career into product management and marketing, eventually becoming a product manager and then director of marketing for Applied Materials' etch division.[3]
In the late 1970s there was no commonly accepted method that would forecast the total cost of ownership that spanned the equipment's lifetime once all costs were considered. To help solve this problem Mattson developed a cost of ownership (COO) model for Applied.[4][5]
Mattson left Applied after about five years to become VP for the plasma systems group of Laboratory for Electronics (LFE) in Massachusetts.[3]
Novellus Systems
Mattson resigned his position at LFE in the early 1980s and started his own company, Novellus Systems to make chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems. Novellus would eventually achieve a market capitalization over $3B, becoming one of the largest semiconductor equipment companies in the world.[3][6][7]
Mattson incorporated Novellus in 1984. In the early 1980s the semiconductor industry was in a downturn and there were many layoffs, so Mattson had difficulty raising outside funding, instead funding it with his own money.[3][7] At Novellus, Mattson designed and built the company's first two prototype CVD systems. At the time, CVD equipment was achieving about ±5 percent uniformity on 6-inch wafers, but Novellus prototypes were achieving one percent uniformity on 8-inch wafers that were processed ten-times faster.[3] Eventually Mattson secured an investment from Monsanto, who sold wafers to the semiconductor industry.[citation needed]
With new financing to expand operations, Mattson grew Novellus into one of the top three CVD equipment companies in the late 1980s. Novellus supplied CVD systems to semiconductor producers like Motorola, Advanced Micro Devices, NEC, and LSI Logic.[7] Four years after its founding, Novellus had its IPO on NASDAQ in August 1988. Novellus Systems was acquired by Lam Research in 2011 for $3.3 billion[6]
Mattson Technology
While taking a break from work in the late 1980s, Mattson began investing in companies on the side. Mattson was working with one company to develop stripping hardware designs for wafers. Mattson become more directly involved with the company, and the firm was incorporated as Mattson Technology with Mattson as CEO in 1988.[3][8] Mattson Technology became a publicly traded company in 1994.[8] In 2001, Mattson stepped aside as CEO of Mattson Technology but remained as Vice Chairman until 2002.[9][10]
Mattson working with Husk Power Systems installing solar panels in off-grid locations in India.
According to Mattson, the September 11 attacks strongly influenced his thinking about whether or not his work was actually helping people and making the world a better place,[12] or if he was only working with already "really successful countries and successful companies" despite his wanting "to see technology benefit humanity in a more direct way."[13] That same year, Mattson served as a judge for The Tech Awards's Environment category and the theme of "technology benefiting humanity".[13][14]
In 2011 Mattson became CEO of Siva Power, but what was then Solexant, a solar startup developing cadmium telluride solar panels. Mattson halted the company's plans to build a factory in Oregon, and instead ramped-up R&D to develop copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar technology.[16] After two years Mattson unveiled the new company as Siva Power in 2013.[17] In 2017, Bruce Sohn, the former President of First Solar became CEO of Siva Power, with Mattson serving as Executive Chairman of the Board.[18]
In 2014, Mattson self published a book, The Solar Phoenix: How America Can Rise from the Ashes of Solyndra to World Leadership in Solar 2.0, in which he explains why he believes solar is fundamental to the world's energy future and the industry's place in the United States.[19]
A graduate of Santa Clara University, Mattson served as a member on the Board of Regents and also served as an Advisory Board Member for the university's Center for Science, Technology, and Society (CSTS).[2][29] Mattson has also worked with the CSTS Global Social Benefit Incubator.[30][31] Most of the companies Mattson advised were involved in renewable energy, such as Husk Power Systems, blueEnergy, and ToughStuff. Mattson has served as Chairman of the Board of Husk Power since 2013.
Patents
Plasma Contamination Removal Process, United States 5,198,634
Inductive Plasma Reactor, United States 5,811,022
System & Method for Thermal Processing, United States 6,002,109
System & Method for Thermal Processing, United States 6,043,460
System & Method for Thermal Processing, United States 6,046,439
Method & Apparatus for Thermal Processing, United States 6,133,550
Inductive Plasma Reactor, United States 6,143,129
System & Method for Thermal Processing, United States 6,172,337
Apparatus & Method for Thermal Processing, United States 6,342,691
Method & Apparatus for Thermal Processing, United States 6,355,909
Method & Apparatus for Thermal Processing, United States 6,399,921
System & Method for Thermal Processing, United States 6,403,925[32]
↑Mattson, Brad. The Solar Phoenix: How America Can Rise from the Ashes of Solyndra to World Leadership in Solar 2.0. Robertson Publishing. 2014. pp. 117
↑Mattson, Brad. The Solar Phoenix: How America Can Rise from the Ashes of Solyndra to World Leadership in Solar 2.0. Robertson Publishing. 2014. pp. iv
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