Research Centers under the BEANS Project (Part II)
1. Life BEANS Center Kyushu (Kyushu University)

3. Macro BEANS Center (AIST)The Life BEANS Center Kyushu is involved in thedevelopment of process technologies for integrating bio andorganic materials. Organic semiconductor has been recognized
as a key for developing the next generation of electronics.
These days it is expected to develop optic and electronic
devices with added value of flexibility and a large surface areawith high quality that are difficult to achieve with conventional
inorganic semiconductors. Our research team is developing
organic semiconductor fabrication processes that provide an
inexpensive solution to large-area nanostructure control, withthe goal of expanding into optoelectric and thermoelectricenergy conversion devices in the future.
The Life BEANS Center Kyushu collaborates with theKyushu Institute of Technology, Lintec Corporation, andPanasonic Electric Works and operates in close coordination
with research teams at the University of Tokyo and the National
Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology(AIST). We are striving to integrate such dissimilar fields aselectronics, chemistry, and mechanics and are developing
process technologies for integrating new bio-organic materials.
A distinction of our Center is the large number of joint research
projects that we are conducting with other centers in theBEANS Project, including a joint project with the 3D BEANS
Center on ultra low-damage dry etching using a neutral beam,
and a supercritical deposition technology. We have accelerated
research on the neutral beam etching technology after installing
equipment for etching organic film at the Life BEANS Center
Kyushu. Supercritical deposition is also being studied todevelop a technique for filling organic nanostructures fabricatedat our Center. At the Life BEANS Center Kyushu, we aremaking steady progress toward the BEANS objective of heterofunction integration which we hope will lead to thedevelopment of innovative devices.

Based at AIST Tsukuba East, the Macro BEANS Center isengaged in the development of micro/nanostructure large-area
continuous fabrication processes through collaboration among
researchers in an AIST-Macro BEANS collaborative researchgroup and researchers from Toshiba Machine Co.,LTD., The
Furukawa Electric Co., LTD. and Mitsubishi Electric
Corporation, and BEANS Laboratory.
We are working to produce meter-scale large-area energy
harvesting devices for use in the fields of environment andenergy and health and medical care at considerably lower cost
and with higher performance using micro/nanostructures. We
are also looking to develop new flexible sheet-like devices thatcan be mounted on a 3D free-form surface for use as wearable
power generators, jackets designed for safety and security, andsheet-like health monitoring devices. However, continuing toemploy fabrication techniques based on conventional
semiconductor equipment to manufacture such devices has
exposed problems such as limitations in the size of the vacuum
process equipment and the surface area of the substrates. In
order to reduce costs and increase performance of conventional
meter-scale large-area devices, we must develop new
fabrication process which deposits high-quality functional films
having micro/nanostructures on meter-scale substrates without
using vacuum process equipment. We must also develop a new
fabrication technology that realizes meter-scale flexible sheettype devices utilizing micromachining and weaving integrationof fiber substrates instead of micromachining of large
substrates.
To meet these needs, the Macro BEANS Center isconducting R&D on innovative next-generation non-vacuum
processes based on techniques for coating functional materials,
such as nano particles, that integrate a technique for activating
nano functional materials through local control of ambient gas
and temperature, and a technique for controlling the density
and arrangement of nano functional materials. With these nonvacuum processes, we hope to develop a technology for therapid and direct formation of high-quality functional films withmicro/nanostructures on meter-scale large-area substrates. We
are also conducting R&D on a technology for the continuous
rapid formation of high-quality functional films on fiber
substrates through a non-vacuum process, and a technology forincreasing the functionality and surface area of this fiber
substrate through a new weaving/integration process.

2. 3D BEANS Center Shiga (Ritsumeikan University)
The 3D BEANS Center Shiga is involved in R&D on
fabricating 3D nanostructures for space applications. Unlike theother research centers in the BEANS Project, 3D BEANS
Center Shiga conducts R&D with the goal of applying
micro/nanomachining to space applications. Based at theBiwako-Kusatsu Campus of Ritsumeikan University,
Researchers from Ritsumeikan University, the Institute for
Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer Foundation (USEF),
the Japan Resources Observation System and Space Utilization
Organization (JAROS), and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
conduct the research. The researches at the Center involve
developing a technology for simulating subwavelength opticalstructures, developing micro/nanomachining technologies
through anodic oxidation, developing optical and structural
evaluation techniques for filters with 3D nanostructuresdesigned for space applications, and studying an evaluationindex on the applicability of 3D nanostructures for space
applications.

Researchers at the Macro BEANS Center7