Annual report of Research Institute of Electrical Communication 2019

Contents
1. Introduction-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1

2. Organization Chart -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -5

3. Research Activities -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -7

Research Divisions
・

Information Devices Division

・

Broadband Engineering Division・

Human Information Systems Division

・

Systems & Software Division--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -715------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

24-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

33

Laboratories and Centers
・Laboratory for Nanoelectoronics and Spintoronics

・--------------------------------------------------------------

42

Laboratory for Brainware Systems-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

46

・

Recognition and Learning Systems-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -48

・Research Center for 21st Century Information Technology

・Management Office for Safety and Health・

Flexible Information System Center・

Fundamental Technology Center・Ad-hoc research groups----------------------------------------------

49------------------------------------------------------------------------------

55-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

56------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

57------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

59

Related Organizations and Programs, etc.
・Division for the Establishment of Frontier Sciences -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 61・Center for Science and Innovation in Spintronics (CSIS)

・Center for Innovative Integrated Electronics Systems (CIES)---------------------------------------

64

・

Research Organization of Electrical Communication (ROEC)-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -66

・Center for Spintronics Research Network (CSRN)--------------------------------------------------------------

67

・

Advanced Institute for Yotta Informatics-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -68

・Leading Graduate Program----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

69

・

Graduate Program in Spintronics (GP-Spin) -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 70

・

Advanced Graduate Program for AI Electronics

71-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -72-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

86

6. Study Groups on Electrical Communication
7. International Activities--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

92------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

95

8. Periodicals Published by the Institute
9. Staff, Budget

63-------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Nation-wide Cooperative Research Projects
5. Symposium Organized by the Institute--------------------------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -98--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

100

2019１.

Introduction

It is the mission of RIEC to realize a new paradigm of communications thatenriches people’s lives. Communication is important in various ways inhuman society. Information communication technology (ICT) has beenchanging the way we deal with information drastically, overriding our
biological limitations and expanding the world of communication from amongpeople to among things as well as between people and things. Such ICT
research is gathering attention for new normal after the coronavirus
pandemic. RIEC is determined to work for future society with further
advanced ICT, contributing to the welfare of human beings by opening up a
new era of academically rooted innovation befitting a university.
The Japan’s Fifth Science and Technology Basic Plan aims to realize a cycleof innovation toward a super-smart society. The plan sets out policies forstrengthening the fundamental technologies that will support this, including
cyber security, the “Internet of things (IoT),” big data, artificial intelligence,and devices. It goes without saying that these research fields fall under the
RIEC’s scope of expertise and that the institute must play a leading role infurthering them. Meanwhile, universities are expected to conduct basic
researches, some of which would create innovations that enriches the society.
We have such examples in the history of our institute, such as Professor
Junichi Nishizawa's three elements of optical communication and Professor
Shunichi Iwasaki's perpendicular magnetic recording. They started related
basic researches at RIEC, which opened new fields in ICT eventually. A more
recent case is spintronics, which Professor Hideo Ohno has led from basic
science to application to new devices. Magnetoresistive Random Access
Memory (MRAM) is a device that uses the spintronics technology, and is
attracting public attention as the promising candidate of a critical andemerging device in the near future ICT. The environment in which Tohoku
University and RIEC operate is constantly changing. Recognizing roles ofuniversity, RIEC must utilize resources efficiently to execute its mission anddevelop the environment for the purpose.
Since 2004, the institute’s organizational structure has been organized into
three units: four research divisions (Information Devices Division, Broadband
Engineering Division, Human Information Systems Division, and Systems &Software Division), two laboratories (Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and

1

2019
Spintronics, and Laboratory for Brainware Systems), and the ResearchCenter for 21st Century Information Technology. These units are engaged inresearch aimed at achieving fruition over different time scales (Research
Divisions: 20 years, Laboratories: 10 years, Research Center: 5 years). In
addition, we collaborate closely with Tohoku University's graduate schools insubjects relating to electrical engineering (School of Engineering, Graduate
School of Information Sciences, and Graduate School of Biomedical
Engineering) in order to cover a wide range of cutting-edge research fields
and foster the development of outstanding researchers and engineers.
RIEC has also been certified by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology as a Joint Usage/Research Center for collaborative
research in information science and technology. The current fiscal year marks
the fourth year of the program’s second term. As management expenses
grants decrease, our role in advancing the information and communication
community ― both in Japan and overseas ― will become increasingly
important. To this end, we are collaborating on joint research projects withexternal researchers and engineers from industry, government, and academia
in a systematic manner.
Today, information and communication technology are an essential part of thesocial infrastructure. We must therefore realize faster, higher-capacity
telecommunications with greater energy efficiency performance, while theexperience of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 reemphasized theimportance of ensuring that our social infrastructure has a high resilience todisaster. We are expected to contribute to a new paradigm of information
processing and communication methods that interconnect people in afundamentally different way. Developed by RIEC over more than 20 years,
Brainware has become increasingly important with current trends inartificial intelligence (AI) research. We will continue to address these social
needs by fully leveraging our strengths as a university-affiliated research
center. In doing so, we hope to forge the path to a new world of communication,and through these efforts continue to promote education going forward.
To contribute to the improvement of our research activities and support future
developments, we publish this Annual Report every year to make ouractivities relating to research, education, and social contribution widely
available for public scrutiny. This edition contains reports on a range of

2

2019
activities, including the research conducted by each of our departments andlaboratories, collaborative research projects, international activities, social
contributions, the RIEC symposia, activities of the engineering research
association, and RIEC lectures. The bibliography section also includes dataon the various activities we have conducted over the last five years.
We welcome your frank opinions regarding our activities, and look forward to
your continued guidance and support in the future.
June 30, 2020

Satoshi Shioiri
Director, Research Institute of Electrical Communication

3

20192. Organization Chart

2. Organization Chart
Director

Advisory Council

Advisory Council

Information Devices Division

Deputy Director

Information Devices Division

Research Divisions

Deputy Director
Research Divisions
FacultyCouncilBroadband Engineering Division

Broadband Engineering Division
Human Information Systems Division

Nano-Photoelectronics
Solid State Electronics
Dielectric Nano-Devices
Nano-Photoelectronics
Materials Functionality Design
SolidSpintronics
State Electronics
Nano-Integration Devices and Processing
Dielectric
Nano-Devices
Quantum Devices
Materials
Functionality
DesignMagnetic
Devices

Spintronics
Ultrahigh-Speed OpticalCommunication
Nano-Integration
Devicesand Processing
Applied Quantum Optics
Quantum
DevicesAdvanced Wireless Information Technology
Magnetic
Devices
Information
Storage Systems

Ultra-Broadband Signal Processing
Quantum-Optical Information Technology
Ultrahigh-Speed
Optical Communication
Basic Technology for Broadband Communication

Applied Quantum Optics
Advanced
Wireless
Information
Technology
Electromagnetic
Bioinformation
Engineering
Advanced Acoustic
Information
Information
Storage
SystemsSystems
Visual Cognition and
Systems
Ultra-Broadband
Signal
Processing
Information Content
Quantum-Optical
Information
Technology
Real-World Computing
Basic
Technology
for Broadband
Nano-Bio
Hybrid Molecular
Devices Communication
Multimodal Computing

Human Information Systems Division

Systems & Software Division

Research Facilities

Laboratory for
Nanoelectronics and Spintronics

Systems & Software Division

Laboratory for Brainware Systems

Research Center for21st Century Information Technology

Electromagnetic Bioinformation Engineering
Software Construction
Advanced
Acoustic
Information
Systems
ComputingInformation
TheoryVisualCognitionNetwork
and Systems
Communication
Systems
Environmentally
Conscious Secure Information System
Information
Content
Soft Computing Integrated System
Real-World
Computing
New Paradigm VLSI System
Nano-Bio
HybridInformation
SocialMolecular
Structure Devices
Multimodal cognitive system
Multimodal
ComputingNano-Integration
Devices and Processing
Spintronics
Nano-Bio Hybrid Molecular Devices

Software Construction
Recognition
and Learning Theory
Systems
ComputingInformation
Soft Computing Integrated System
Communication
Network Systems
New Paradigm VLSI System
Environmentally
Conscious Secure Information System
Real-World Computing
Soft Computing Integrated System
Industry-Academia-Government-Collaboration
New Research
Paradigm
VLSI Systemand Deveropment
Division
Information
SocialStructureResearch DivisionInterdisciplinary Collaboration
exploratory Division

Research Facilities

Laboratory for
Nano-Integration Devices and Processing
Division for the Establishment of Frontier Sciences
Multimodal Cognitive System
Nanoelectronics and Spintronics
Spintronics
Spintronics/CMOS Hybrid Brain-Inspired Integrated Systems
Center for Science and Innovation in Spintronics Nano-Bio Hybrid Molecular Devices
Center for Innovative Integrated Electronic Systems

Laboratory for Brainware Systems

Recognition and learning systems

Research Organization of Electrical Communication Soft Computing Integrated System
Center for Spintronics Research Network

New Paradigm VLSI System
Real-World Computing

Advanced Institute for Yotta Informatics
Industry-Academia-Government-Collaboration
ResearchCenter for21st CenturyManagement
Information
Technology
Research and Deveropment Division
Office for Safety and HealthInterdisciplinary Collaboration Research Division
exploratory Division
Common Research

Facilities

Flexible Information System Center

Division for the Establishment of Frontier Sciences

Fundamental Technology Center

Center for Science and Innovation in Spintronics
Administration

CenterOfficefor Innovative Integrated Electronic Systems
Research Organization of Electrical Communication
Center for Spintronics Research Network
Advanced Institute for Yotta Informatics

Multimodal cognitive system
Spintronics/CMOS Hybrid Brain-Inspired Integrated Systems
General Affairs Section
Cooperative Research Section
Library Section
Accounting Section
Purchasing Section
Support Division52019３ . Research Activities
Targets and achievements of the Information Devices Division
The main aim of the information devices division is to create advanced nano-information
devices utilizing physical phenomena. To accomplish this goal, we conduct research on subjects
related to material design, evaluation, process, device, and system. The research developed inthis division provides an important basis for achieving the purpose of foundation of thisresearch institute, and we aim to develop completely new functional information devices fornext-generation information processing and communication. Thus we study new functionalities
employing exotic materials and nanostructures, and apply such functionalities tonanophotoelectronic devices, new dielectrics-based nano-devices for information storage,
quantum electronics devices, spintronics devices, and next generation semiconductor devices.
To achieve the goal, the following 8 laboratories are carrying out researches anddevelopments.
1. Nano-Photoelectronics
2. Solid State Electronics
3. Dielectric Nano-Devices
4. Materials Functionality Design
5. Spintronics
6. Nano-Integration Devices and Processing
7. Quantum Devices
8. Magnetic Devices (Visitor Section)
The research target and the summary of activities of each sub-division in 2019 are describedin the following pages.

7

2019
Nanophotoelectronics

Exploring optical and electronic properties of nanometer-sized structures andtheir applications in photoelectronic devices

Nanophotoelectronics Yoichi Uehara, Professor
Nano photomolecular electronics Satoshi Katano, Associate Professor[Research Target and Activities]
Our main interest lies in studying the physical and chemical phenomena that take place in nanometer-scaleregions and their applications in nanophotoelectronic devices. The summary of our achievements in 2019 is asfollows. (1) We have been developing time resolved STM light emission spectroscopy. Last year, we
determined the temporal behaviors of vibrational modes of hydrogen atom of Ni (110) -ST (2 × 1) H, in which thevibrational energies appear as periods of fine structures in the STM emission spectra. This year, we havedeveloped the theory that describe the mechanism for such periodic structures. (2) We previously reported theanalytical electromagnetic theory that describes the mechanism for stepwise structures in the STM light emission
spectra of surface adsorbates. However, the strengths of stepwise structures predicted by this theory are weaker
by about one order of magnitude than experimentally expected ones. This year, we have developed the numericalmethod corresponding to the analytical theory within the framework of finite difference time domain analyses. It
was clarified that the strengths of stepwise structures are increased to the experimentally expected levels when the
tip has the protrusion having an appropriate shape and size, which cannot be treated by the analytical theory. (3)The reduction state and sheet structure of graphene oxide (GO) have been investigated using STM. Dependingon the position, the π−π* energy gap increased or decreased when scanned over GO at 3 V. Such changes in theenergy gap are due to changes in the size of the sp2 domain by the elimination of oxygen functional groups. It
was found that the GO sheet disappeared when a higher voltage (4 V) was applied. Since GO disappears only inthe region where a high voltage is applied, we proposed a new method that can achieve the nanoscale shaping of
GO using STM. (4) Photo- and thermal-reactions of the polymer (PVP) coated on silver nanocubes (AgNCs)
were investigated. We found that PVP was transformed to the sp2 nanocarbon by photoreaction when theirradiated with 532 nm laser. The sample surface exhibits high surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)
activity since the shape of AgNC is maintained after the photoreaction. The same product was obtained by athermal reaction though SERS activity becomes inhibited due to the deformation of AgNCs.
[Staff]
Professor
Yoichi Uehara, Dr.
Associate Professor
Satoshi Katano, Dr.
[Profile]
Dr. Yoichi Uehara obtained his D. Eng. degree from the Department of Engineering, University of Osaka
prefecture in 1986, after which, he was initially appointed as an Assistant Professor at the Research Institute ofElectrical Communication, Tohoku University. He eventually became a Full Professor at the institute in 2005.
Dr. Uehara has worked on three main surface physics problems at Tohoku University: (1) light emission frommetal-insulator-metal and metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) tunnel junctions, (2) low-energy electron
spectroscopy, and (3) light emission spectroscopy of STM.
Dr. Satoshi Katano received his D. Sci. degree from Department of Electronic Chemistry, Tokyo Institute ofTechnology in 2003. He was a postdoctoral research fellow in RIKEN (2003-2006). He joined RIEC, Tohoku
University as an assistant Professor in 2006 and was promoted to an associate Professor in 2012. His researchinterests include surface science and nano-scale molecular optoelectronics.
[Papers]
1.
2.

8

S. Katano, T. Sasajima, R. Kasama, T. Iwahori, and Y. Uehara, "Nanoscale Study of Luminescence from a
Thermally-reduced Graphene Oxide", 21st International Vacuum Congress, Clarion Hotel & Congress Malmö
Live, Malmö, Sweden, 4th July (2019).
T. Iwahori, R. Yamazaki, T. Sasajima, A. Mizuno, A. Ono, Y. Uehara, and S. Katano, "Plasmon-enhanced
Photoreaction using Ag Nanocube Array", 27th International Colloquium on Scanning Probe Microscopy(ICSPM27), Hotel Laforet Shuzenji, Shizuoka, Japan, 5th December (2019).

Contact to Professor Yoichi UEHARA : uehara@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019
Solid
Solid State
State Electronics
Electronics Laboratory
Laboratory

Paving a Way for Introducing SiC, Graphene, and 2DM into Si Technology
Solid S
tate P
hysics ffor
or E
lectroncis
Solid
State
Physics
Electroncis

H
irokazu F
ukidome, A
sso ciate P
rofessor
Hirokazu
Fukidome,
Associate
Professor[Research
Target andand Activities]
Activities][Research Target
Graphene is a 2D honeycomb network ofcarbon atoms. Its extremely high carrier
mobility, which is ~100 times as high as thatof silicon, makes graphene a dream material.
We have developed a method to form an
epitaxial graphene onto silicon substrates forthe first time, which consists of 3C-SiC
heteroepitaxy
on
Si
and
subsequent
sublimationofsurfaceSi
atoms(graphene-on-Si). We are currently working on
betterment of the GOS quality as well as on
the development of graphene devices centeredon RF field-effect transistors and optical devices.
In FY2018, we succeeded in raising up high-frequenecy graphene transistor by tuning
graphene/dielectric interface and quantitatively evaluating a spatial distribution of surface electron
trapping of GaN-HEMT, which causes operation instabilities, so-called current collapse phenomena.
Furthermore, we developed spatiotemporal operando x-ray spectroscopy, enabling
spatio-temporally examining electronic states of advanced devices.
[Staff][Staff]
Associate Professor : Hirokazu Fukidome, Dr.
Research Assistant : Fuminori Sasaki, Mr.
Technical Assistant : Kumi Namiiri
Technical Assistant : Misako Suzuki[Profile][Profile]
Prof. Hirokazu Fukidome received Ph.D on chemistry from Osaka University. After serving forBell Labs and RIKEN, he became assistant professor at RIEC in 2008. He has been associate
professor at RIEC since 2012. He has been engaged on two-dimensional Dirac electron systems andtheir operando-microscopy analysis. He was awarded the Best Paper Award from the Surface
Science Society of Japan (2011). M. Ishida Research Foundation Award (2015). RIEC Award (2016).
[Papers][Papers][1]
T. Someya,
Someya, T.
T. Iimori,
Iimori, F.
F. Komori,
Komori, I.
I. Matsuda,
Matsuda, andand M.
M. Suemitsu,
Suemitsu, “A“A[1] K.-S.
K.-S. Kim,
Kim, G.-H.
G.-H. Park,
Park, H.
H. Fukidome,
Fukidome, T.
table-topformation ofof bilayer
bilayer quasi-free-standing
quasi-free-standing epitaxialgraphene
epitaxialgraphene ontable-top formationon SiC(0001)
SiC(0001) byby microwave
microwave annealing
annealing inin air”
air”
Carbon,Carbon, 130.
130. (2018),(2018), pp.
pp. 792-798.
792-798.
[2][2] T.
T. Someya,
Someya, H.
H. Fukidome,
Fukidome, N.
N. Endo,Endo, K.
K. Takahashi,
Takahashi, S.
S. Yamamoto,
Yamamoto, andand I.
I. Matsuda,
Matsuda, “Interfacial“Interfacial carrier
carrier dynamics
dynamics ofofgraphene
SiC, traced
traced bygraphene onon SiC,by thethe full-range
full-range time-resolved
time-resolved core-levelcore-level photoemission
photoemission spectroscopy”,
spectroscopy”, Applied
Applied Physics
Physics
Letters,
Letters, 113
113 (2018),(2018), pp.
pp. 051601-1-051601-4.
051601-1-051601-4.
[3]
T. Kouchi,
T. Komatani,
Komatani, S.
S. Yaegassi,
Yaegassi, K.
K. Yui,Yui, K.
M. Kotsugi,
Kotsugi, K.
K.
Omika, Y.
Y. Tateno,
Tateno, T.
Kouchi, T.
K. Nakata,
Nakata, N.
N. Nagamura,
Nagamura, M.
[3] K.
K. Omika,
Horiba,M. Suemitsu,
Suemitsu, andand H.
H. Fukidome,
Fukidome, “Operation“Operation Mechanism
Mechanism of
Horiba, M.
M. Oshima,
Oshima, M.
of GaN-based
GaN-based Transistors
Transistors Elucidated
Elucidatedby
X-ray Nanospectroscopy”,
Nanospectroscopy”, Scientific
by Element-Specific
Element-Specific X-ray
Scientific Reports,
Reports, 88 (2018),(2018), 13268.
13268.

Contact to Associate Professor Hirokazu FUKIDOME : fukidome@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

9

2019
Dielectric Nano-Devices

Research on Dielectric Nano Science and Technology

Dielectric Nano-Devices Yasuo CHO, Professor
Dielectric Nanoscale Measurement Systems
Kohei YAMASUE, Associate Professor[Research Target and Activities]
Our main area of interest is evaluation anddevelopment of dielectric materials, including
ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials and theirapplication to communication devices and ferroelectric
data storage systems. Our major contributions toadvancement in these fields are the invention and thedevelopment of “Scanning Nonlinear DielectricFig.1 Digital bit data written on ferroelectric
Microscope” (SNDM) which is the first successful purely
single crystal with the areal recording
electrical method for observing the ferroelectric
density of 4 Tbit/inch2.
polarization distribution and it has already been put
into practical use. The resolution of the microscope has been improved up to atomic scale-order.
Therefore, it has a great potential for realizing the ultra-high density ferroelectric recording system. In
addition, SNDM can be used for the evaluation of various semiconductor materials and devices.
Major achievements of studies in 2019 are as follows: (1) We showed non-uniform interface defectdistribution, which is commonly found on typical SiC wafers for power devices by our local DLTS
method developed based on SNDM, can cause excessive decrease of channel mobility in SiC MOSFETs.
(2) Signal-to-noise ratio of intermittent contact mode SNDM was significantly improved, whichallowed nanoscale imaging of unintentional doping effects in an atomically-thin layered semiconductor.
(3) We showed the usefulness of ultra-sharp tips in ferroelectric data storage. Spatial resolution in aferroelectric domain imaging can be improved by up to almost 10 times with the ultra-sharp tips.
[Staff]
Professor : Yasuo Cho, Ph.D.
Assist. Professor: Yoshiomi Hiranaga, Ph.D.

Associate Professor： Kohei Yamasue, Ph. D.

[Profile]
Yasuo Cho graduated in 1980 from Tohoku University in electrical engineering department. In 1985 hebecame a research associate at Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. In
1990, he received an associate professorship from Yamaguchi University. He then became an associate
professor in 1997 and a full professor in 2001 at Research Institute of Electrical Communication
Tohoku University. During this time, his main research interests included nonlinear phenomena inferroelectric materials and their applications, research on the scanning nonlinear dielectric microscope,and research on using the nonlinear dielectric microscope in next-generation ultrahigh density
ferroelectric data storage (SNDM ferroelectric probe memory).
Kohei Yamasue received the Ph. D degree in engineering from Kyoto University in 2007. He thenbecame a postdoctoral fellow in 2007 and an assistant professor in 2008 at Venture BusinessLaboratory, Kyoto University. In 2010, he joined Research Institute of Electrical Communication,
Tohoku University, as an assistant professor and, in 2016, became an associate professor. His maininterests include the development of atomic resolution scanning nonlinear dielectric potentiometry
and its applications to the evaluation of the next-generation electronic materials and devices.

[Papers][1] K. Yamasue and Y. Cho: “Optimization of signal intensity in intermittent contact scanning nonlinear
dielectric microscopy”, Microelectronics Reliab., Vol. 100-101, p. 113345, 2019.
[2] Y. Hiranaga and Y. Cho: “Carrier distribution imaging using ∂C/∂z-mode scanning nonlinear
dielectric microscopy”, Rev. Sci. Instrum., Vol. 90, p.083705, 2019[3] J. Woerle et al.: “Two-dimensional defect mapping of the SiO2/4H-SiC interface”, Phys. Rev. Mater., Vol. 3,
p.084602, 2019.

10

Contact to Professor Yasuo CHO : yasuocho@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019
Materials Functionality Design

Computational Design of Functional Materials for Information Devices
Materials Functionality Design: Masafumi Shirai, Professor
Materials Science under Extreme Conditions: Kazutaka Abe, Associate Professor[Research Target and Activities]
Our research targets are as follows: (1) theoretical analyses of quantum phenomena in materials foradvanced information devices, (2) computational design of new materials which possess novel
functionalities for improvement of device performance, and (3) development of new design
procedures based on large-scale computational simulation and machine learning techniques.
Our research activities in FY 2019 are as follows:(1) Ferromagnetic semiconductors
We investigated the mechanism of ferromagnetism in Fe-based ferromagnetic semiconductors byusing ab initio calculations. We found that the distribution of Fe atoms due to the spinodal
decomposition plays an important role in the magnetism of(Ga,Fe)Sb and (In,Fe)Sb. The Curie temperature reaches up to
1,000 K for heavily Fe-doped GaSb or InSb with carrier doping.
The results suggest that high-temperature ferromagnetism canbe achieved by controlling nanostructures of magnetic ions
doped in semiconductors [1].
(2) Dense metallic hydrides
By using ab initio random structure searches, metallic phasesof Al2H and AlH are predicted to be stabilized above 155 and
175 GPa, respectively. While the estimated superconducting
transition temperature of Al2H is of the order of 1 K, that of
AlH reaches 58 K at 180 GPa. The results suggest that
Fig. 1: The “Konbu” phase as aalthough superconductivity is not observed experimentally inconsequence of spinodal nanotypical aluminum hydride AlH3, it can be achieved in AlH [2].
decomposition in (In,Fe)Sb.
[Staff]
Professor: Masafumi Shirai, Dr.
Assistant Professor: Masahito Tsujikawa, Dr.

Associate Professor: Kazutaka Abe, Dr.
Assistant Professor: Hikari Shinya, Dr.

[Profile]
Masafumi Shirai received the Doctor of Engineering degree from Osaka University in 1989. Since
2002, he has been a Professor at Tohoku University.
Kazutaka Abe received Doctor of Science degree from Osaka University in 1998. Since 2003, he has
been at Tohoku University as a Research Associate and currently as an Associate Professor.
[Papers][1] T. Fukushima, H. Shinya, A. Masago, K. Sato, H. Katayama-Yoshida, “Theoretical prediction of maximum Curie
temperatures of Fe-based dilute magnetic semiconductors by first-principles,” Appl. Phys. Express, Vol. 12, Article
no. 063006, pp. 1-5, 2019[2] K. Abe, “Ab initio study of metallic aluminum hydrides at high pressures,” Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 100, Article no.
174105, pp. 1-7, 2019[3] T. Roy, M. Tsujikawa, T. Kanemura, and M. Shirai, “Ab-initio study of electronic and magnetic properties of
CoIrMnZ (Z = Al, Si, Ga, Ge) Heusler alloys,” J. Magn. Magn. Mater., Vol. 498, Article no. 166092, pp. 1-8, 2020

Contact to Professor Masafumi SHIRAI : shirai@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

11

2019
Spintronics

Advanced technology for spintronics-based devices

Nano-Spin Materials and Devices: Shunsuke Fukami, Professor[Research Target and Activities]
We aim to deepen the understanding of spin-related physics and todevelop new functional materials and devices in which electron and its
spin states are controlled. We are also working on research anddevelopment of advanced technology for spintronics-based devices andunconventional computing, which offer high-performance andlow-power information and communication tecnologies.
The outcomes in the last fiscal year include (1) development ofartificial neuron and synapse devices using an antiferromagnet/
ferromagnet structure, (2) demonstration of probabilistic computing
using developed unconventional spintronics devices, and (3)realization of synthetic antiferromagnetic skyrmions allowing
current-induced motion without skyrmion Hall effect.
[Staff]
Professor: Shunsuke Fukami, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor: Shun Kanai, Ph. D. ,Justin Llandro, Ph. D.

[Profile]
Shunsuke Fukami received Ph. D. degree from Nagoya University in 2012. He joined NEC Corp (2005). He
moved to Tohoku University as an Assistant Professor (2011) and then as an Associate Professor (2015). He
received the JSAP Paper Award (2012), the RIEC Award for Tohoku University Researchers (2013), the Funai
Research Incentive Award (2014), the JSAP Young Scientist Presentation Award (2014), the Young Scientists’Prize of Science and Technology by the MEXT (2015), the Harada Young Research Award (2015), DPS Paper
Award (2016), ImPACT Symposium – Best Poster Award (2017), Aoba Foundation Award (2017), Asian Unionof Magnetics Societies, Young Researchers Award (2018), the Outstanding Research Award of the Magnetics
Society of Japan (2018), Gold Prize of Tanaka Kikinzoku Memorial Foundation (2019), and the JSAP
Outstanding Paper Award (2019).
[Papers][1] A. Kurenkov, S. DuttaGupta, C. Zhang, S. Fukami, Y. Horio, and H. Ohno, "Artificial neuron and synapse realized
in an antiferromagnet/ferromagnet heterostructure using dynamics of spin-orbit torque switching," Advanced
Materials 31, 1900636 (2019).
[2] W. A. Borders, A. Z. Pervaiz, S. Fukami, K. Y. Camsari, H. Ohno, and S. Datta, "Integer factorization using
stochastic magnetic tunnel junctions," Nature 573, 390-393 (2019).
[3] T. Dohi, S. DuttaGupta, S. Fukami, and H. Ohno, "Formation and current-induced motion of synthetic
antiferromagnetic skyrmion bubbles," Nature Communications 10, 5153 (2019).

12

Contact to Professor Shunsuke FUKAMI : s-fukami@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019
Nano-Integration Devices and Processing

Deepening of nano-integration technology and development of brain computer
Nano-Integration
Nano-Integration Devices
Devices

ShigeoShigeo Sato,
Sato, Professor
Professor

Group
Group IV
IV Quantum
Quantum Heterointegration
Hete rointegration

Masao
Masao Sakuraba,
Sakuraba, Associate
Associate Professor
Professor

Nano-Integration
Nano-Integration Neurocomputing
Neurocomputing Systems
Systems

Hideaki
Hideaki Yamamoto,
Yamamoto, Associate
Associate Professor
Professor[Research Target and Activities]
In this laboratory, we focus on non-von Neumann computing such as brain computing andquantum computing, and study their hardware technology. We conduct research on various topics
including device, process, circuit, algorithm, and neuroscience, and build revolutionary newcomputer technology by integrating our findings. In this year, following results have been obtained:(1) Toward the development of neuromorphic computation hardware, we fabricated a spiking
neuron circuit that can reproduce various neuron pulses. We confirmed by electrical measurementsthat the analog MOS circuit, which is composed of about 40 MOS transistors, successfully operates
in the strong inversion region. (2) For a problem of electrical activation ratio lowering in the Si films
with high B concentration, the ratio can be improved successfully from 25% to 75% by low-energy
Ar plasma irradiation at every nanometer-thick deposition, and low-resistive p-type Si film
formation without substrate heating can be realized. (3) To investigate the effect of network
structure-derived neural dynamics on time-series information processing, speech recognition task
was performed by reservoir computing. Modular networks which
generally possess robustness to noise and device variations, wereused as reservoirs and achieved over 90% correct answer rate.
[Staff]
Professor :Associate Professor :Associate Professor :Specially Appointed Assistant Professor:

Shigeo Sato, Dr.
Masao Sakuraba, Dr.
Hideaki Yamamoto, Dr.
Kwansoo Kim, Dr.

Towards the Realizationof a Brain Computer[Profile]
Shigeo Sato was received his B.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Tohoku University, in 1989 and 1994,
respectively. In 1996, he joined the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku
University. Now, he studies brain computer and quantum computer as a professor.
Masao Sakuraba received his B.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Tohoku University in 1990 and 1995,
respectively. In 1995, he joined the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku
University. Now, he studies group IV quantum heterointegration as an associate professor.
Hideaki Yamamoto received his B.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Waseda University in 2005 and 2009,
respectively. In 2020, he joined the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku
University. Now, he studies neuronal network functions as an associate professor.

[Papers][1] S. Moriya, H. Yamamoto, A. Hirano-Iwata, S. Kubota, S. Sato, “Quantitative Analysis of Dynamical
Complexity in Cultured Neuronal Network Models for Reservoir Computing Applications”, Proc. Int.
Joint Conf. on Neural Networks (IJCNN 2019, Budapest, Hungary, July 14-19, 2019), 20275, 2019.
[2] W. Li, M. Sakuraba, S. Sato, “Electron-Cyclotron Resonance Ar Plasma-Induced Electrical
Activation of B Atoms without Substrate Heating in B Doped Si Epitaxial Films on Si(100)”,
Mat. Sci. Semicond. Process, 107, 104823, 2019.

Contact to Professor Shigeo SATO : shigeo@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

13

2019
Quantum Devices

Electronic properties of nanostructures and device applications

Quantum Devices: Tomohiro Otsuka, Associate Professor[Research Target and Activities]
In solid-state nanostructures, exotic phenomena like quantum effects occur. We are exploring
interesting properties of solid-state nanostructures utilizing precise and high-speed electricmeasurement and control techniques. We are also developing materials and devices using
nanostructures.
Our research activities in FY 2019 are the following.
(1) Development of high-speed electric microprobes
We developed the local electronic sensors which can directly
access local electronic states in nanostructures utilizing
semiconductor quantum dots. We improved the performance byhigh-frequency measurement techniques and data informatics
approaches.
(2) Measurement of local electronic states in nanostructures
We measured local electronic and spin states in semiconductor
nanostructures. We revealed the detail of local charge and spin
dynamics induced by the movement of a single electron [3].
(3) Quantum bit experiments
We conducted semiconductor quantum bit experiments for
Figure:Scanning
electronfuture quantum information processing. We demonstrated a
reduction of nuclear-spin effects on quantum bit operations,micrograph of a nanostructure
simulations of quantum error corrections, and quantum
devicenon-demolition measurements [1, 2].
[Staff]
Associate Professor: Tomohiro Otsuka, Ph. D.
[Profile]
Tomohiro Otsuka received Ph. D. degree from the University of Tokyo in 2010. After working for the
University of Tokyo and RIKEN, he became an Associate Professor at Tohoku University in 2018.
He received Research Encouraging Prize from School of Science, University of Tokyo (2010), NF
Foundation R&D Encouragement Award (2016), Young Scientist Award of the Physical Society ofJapan (2017), RIKEN Researcher Incentive Award (2017), Yazaki Memorial Foundation for Scienceand Technology Research Encouraging Award (2018), and the Young Scientists’ Prize of Science andTechnology by MEXT (2018).
[Papers][1]

T. Nakajima, A. Noiri, K. Kawasaki, J. Yoneda, P. Stano, S. Amaha, T. Otsuka, K. Takeda, M. R. Delbecq, G.
Allison, A. Ludwig, A. D. Wieck, D. Loss, and S. Tarucha, “Coherence of a driven electron spin qubit actively
decoupled from quasistatic noise”, Physical Review X 10, 011060 (2020).
[2] T. Nakajima, A. Noiri, J. Yoneda, M. R. Delbecq, P. Stano, T. Otsuka, K. Takeda, S. Amaha, G. Allison, K.
Kawasaki, A. Ludwig, A. D. Wieck, D. Loss, and S. Tarucha, “Quantum non-demolition measurement of anelectron spin qubit”, Nature Nanotechnology 14, 555 (2019).
[3] T. Otsuka, T. Nakajima, M. R. Delbecq, P. Stano, S. Amaha, J. Yoneda, K. Takeda, G. Allison, S. Li, A. Noiri, T.
Ito, D. Loss, A. Ludwig, A. D. Wieck, and S. Tarucha, “Measurement and Control of Single-electron Spins by
Utilizing Semiconductor Quantum Dot”, Symposium for The Core Research Clusters for Materials Science andSpintronics, Sendai, Japan, Feb. 10, 2020.

14

Contact to Associate Professor Tomohiro OTSUKA : tomohiro.otsuka@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019
Broadband Engineering Division: Research Targets and Results
In order to establish future broadband communication systems and novel devices thatcan be flexibly applied to future ubiquitous ultra-high capacity information
communications, research and development is being carried out over the wide spectrumof microwaves, millimeter/submillimeter waves, terahertz waves, and lightwaves withregard to information generation, transmission, processing, and storage technologies.
(1) Ultrahigh-Speed Optical Communication
We are engaged in research on ultrahigh-speed optical transmission, digital coherent
transmission, and high-speed and spectrally efficient optical transmission by combining
these two approaches. With a view to supporting innovative new ICT services such as
5G and IoT, our goal is also to develop novel transmission schemes integrating opticaland wireless communications.
This year, we successfully achieved a single-channel 15.3 Tbit/s, 64 QAM coherent
Nyquist pulse transmission over 150 km, in which the spectral efficiency reached as highas 8.3 bit/s/Hz. We also developed a bi-directional online digital coherent transmission
system with an injection-locked homodyne receiver, and demonstrated 80 Gbit/s x 10 ch,
256 QAM WDM transmission over 10 km for application to mobile fronthaul with
distributed antennas.
(2) Applied Quantum Optics
Novel functional semiconductor photonic devices including photonic integrated
circuits are being investigated to explore next-generation photonic network systems.
A study on high speed semiconductor laser introducing hybrid modulation scheme
was being continued. It was confirmed experimentally that the hybrid modulation
semiconductor laser source we proposed had wide intrinsic small signal bandwidth of
more than 66 GHz by using novel optical measurement system we proposed.
Furthermore the study on compact and narrow linewidth semiconductor laser sources
was also being proceeded by applying the optical negative feedback technology we
proposed. A compact optical filter with Si waveguide was designed to enlarge a phasemargin of the negative feedback system and enlarge a frequency discrimination
efficiency. It was confirmed that the lasing spectral linewidth was reduced to 99.8 kHz
by hybrid integration of the fabricated optical filter based on the design to a single mode
semiconductor laser.

15

2019
(3) Advanced Wireless Information Technology
We are actively engaged in research work on dependable wireless information
technologies for next-generation wireless systems, which include terrestrial / satellite
communications. The covered areas of us are all technical fields from the lower to higher
layers, i.e., signal processing, RF/Mixed-signal device, antenna, MODEM, and network
technologies. This year, we have investigated (1) a millimeter-wave wireless body area
network (WBAN) in a congested environment based on specific use cases and (2) BeyondNyquist-Band receiver using RF Under Sampling.
(4) Information Storage Systems
Research on next-generation perpendicular magnetic recording is being carried out
to meet the strong demand for high density, low cost storage due to the rapid growth of
the Internet and web services. To establish high performance data-intensive analytics,
a computational storage analytics platform with unified computing and storage istargeted in the research and development.
We have been investigating novel, three-dimensional, energy-assisted recording
technologies that enable selective recording on media with multiple, discrete recording
layers. The optimal multiple recording conditions with microwave magnetic fieldassisting by spin-torque oscillation and heat assisting by near-field lights have been
identified. Evaluation technology of simultaneous readout methods from multiple
recorded layers has been studied. The potential that realizing the technology enabled to
double the storage data capacity and data transfer rate has been confirmed. We haveconstructed preliminary visualization analytics platform for brain neuro structure withunified

PB-classstorageandcomputation

functions.

Thethree-dimensional

visualization function of neurons by captured fluorescent microscope has been confirmed.
(5) Ultra-Broadband Signal Processing
We are developing novel, integrated electron devices and circuit systems operatingin the terahertz region. One of our major concerns is a new material called “graphene”,
a single-layered honeycomb-lattice carbon crystal.
First, towards the creation of novel current-injection graphene THz laser-transistors,
we developed a graphene laser-transistor featured with our original asymmetric dualgrating gates demonstrating coherent amplification of THz radiation with the maximal
gain of 9% at room temperature promoted by graphene plasmon instabilities driven by
dc-channel current flow. Second, we developed InGaAs-channel plasmonic THz detectors,

16

2019
which utilize hydrodynamic nonlinearities of two-dimensional plasmons, anddemonstrated that the signal readout from the gate electrode enables the impedance
matching to a 50-Ω interconnection systems and the scaling of the photovoltage with thesize of the active area, both of which are impossible for the drain-readout.
(6) Quantum-Optical Information Technology
Our goal is to develop quantum information devices utilizing the quantum
interaction between photons and electrons in solids.
In 2019, we have achieved (1) generation of frequency-entangled photons with twoperiod PPLN crystal, (2) development of a novel sensor for mg-scale gravity
measurements, (3) observation of local-field effects on optical coherent transients ofsemiconductor bound excitons, and (4) controlled introduction of nano and micro
particles to a nanofiber surface and the measurement of the chiral polarization response.

17

2019
Research Laboratory of Ultrahigh-Speed Optical Communication

Toward Innovative Optical Transmission from Backbone to Access Networks

Research Area of Ultrahigh-Speed Optical Transmission Toshihiko Hirooka, Professor
Research Area of Lightwave Control System Keisuke Kasai, Associate Professor[Research Target and Activities]
Advanced global ICT services such as
ultrahigh-definition video transmission
andultra-realistic
communication
cannot be realized without high-speed
and large-capacity optical transmission
systems. At the same time, opticaltransmission schemes with high spectral
efficiency are crucial in terms of the Fig. 1. 15.3 Tbit/s, 64 QAM-150 km coherent Nyquist pulse
maximum
utilizationoflimited transmission.
bandwidth resources. In our laboratory, we are engaged in research on ultrahigh-speed opticaltransmission using optical time division multiplexing with a single-channel Tbit/s-class capacity,
digital coherent QAM optical transmission, and high-speed and spectrally efficient opticaltransmission by combining these two approaches. With a view to supporting innovative new ICT
services such as 5G and IoT, our goal is also to apply digital coherent transmission to accessnetworks and mobile fronthaul, and to develop novel transmission schemes integrating optical andwireless communications. This year, we successfully achieved a single-channel 15.3 Tbit/s, 64 QAM
coherent Nyquist pulse transmission over 150 km, in which the spectral efficiency reached as highas 8.3 bit/s/Hz (Fig. 1). We also developed a bi-directional online digital coherent transmission
system with an injection-locked homodyne receiver, and demonstrated 80 Gbit/s x 10 ch, 256 QAM
WDM transmission over 10 km for application to mobile fronthaul with distributed antennas.
[Staff]
Professor: Toshihiko Hirooka, Dr.
Associate Professor: Keisuke Kasai, Dr.
[Profile]
Toshihiko Hirooka received the Ph. D. degree from Osaka University in 2000. From 2000 to 2002,
he was a Research Associate at University of Colorado at Boulder. He is currently a Professor at the
Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. He has been engaged inresearch on ultrahigh-speed optical communications and nonlinear fiber optics.
Keisuke Kasai received the Ph. D. degree from Tohoku University in 2008. From 2009 to 2012, he
was a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research Fellow. He is currently an Associate
Professor at the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. He has been
engaged in research on lightwave control techniques and coherent optical communications.

[Papers][1] M. Yoshida, K. Kimura, T. Iwaya, K. Kasai, T. Hirooka, and M. Nakazawa, “Single-channel 15.3
Tbit/s, 64 QAM coherent Nyquist pulse transmission over 150 km with a spectral efficiency of 8.3
bit/s/Hz,” Opt. Express vol. 27, no. 20, pp. 28952-28967, September (2019).
[2] T. Kan, M. Yoshida, K. Kasai, T. Hirooka, K. Iwatsuki, and M. Nakazawa, “Demonstration of
on-line bi-directional 10-RRHs with an 80 Gbit/s/RRH capacity using 256 QAM WDM coherent
transmission for next generation mobile fronthaul,” ECOC 2019, M.1.C.4, September (2019).
[3] R. Hirata, T. Hirooka, M. Yoshida, and M. Nakazawa, “Wavelength-tunable sub-picosecond
optical switch over entire C-band using nonlinear optical loop mirror,” IEICE Electron. Express vol.
16, no. 23, 20190664, December (2019).

18

Contact to Professor Toshihiko HIROOKA : hirooka@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019
Applied Quantum Optics

Research on Innovative Highly Functional Photonic Semiconductor Devices

Highl y Functional Photonics
High a ccu ra cy op tical measuremen t

Hiroshi Yasaka, Professor
Masato Yoshida, Associate Professor[Research Target and Activities]
Novel functional photonic devices including high function laser diode (LD) sources arebeing investigated to explore new-generation photonic network systems.
The studies on ultra-high-speed semiconductor lasers are being continued. It was
confirmed experimentally that the hybrid modulation semiconductor laser source we proposed had
wide intrinsic small signal bandwidth of more than 66 GHz by using optical measurement system
we proposed. Furthermore the study on compact and narrow linewidth semiconductor laser sources
is also being proceeded by applying the optical negative feedback technology we proposed.

Schematic structure of hybrid modulation laser source (left), and its modulation RF frequency
dependence of intrinsic small signal response (right).

[Staff]
Professor ：Hiroshi Yasaka, Dr.
Associate Professor :Masato Yoshida, Dr.
Assistant Professor ： Nobuhide Yokota, Dr.
[Profile]
Hiroshi Yasaka received M.S. degrees in physics from Kyusyu University in 1985, and Ph.D.
degree in electronic engineering from Hokkaido University in 1993. In 1985 he joined Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Corporation. Since then, he has been engaging in research anddevelopment on semiconductor photonic devices for optical fiber communication systems. From2008 he has been a professor of Tohoku University.
Masato Yoshida received Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering from Tohoku University in 2001.
In 2001, he joined the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. He iscurrently an Associate Professor of the Institute. He has been engaging in research on fiber lasers
and their application to optical measurements.

[Papers][1]

N. Yokota, K. Komukai, M. Yoshida, and H. Yasaka, "Numerical Investigation of Mutually Injection-Locked
Semiconductor Lasers for Direct IQ-Signal Generation," IEEE Photonics Journal, vol. 11, No. 5, 6602611, 2019.
(Oct.) / DOI:10.1109/JPHOT.2019.2934480[2]
N. Yokota, and H. Yasaka, "Multi-wavelength discrete pulse train generation using chromatic aberration of timelens for ultrafast single-shot optical imaging," Optical Review, vol. 26, No. 6, pp. 713-718, 2019. (Nov.) / DOI
10.1007/s10043-019-00560-0[3]
S. Sato, G. Aizawa, N. Yokota, and H. Yasaka, "Performance Improvement of Optical Negative Feedback Laser
by Reducing Feedback Loop Length," IEICE Electronics Express, vol. 17, No. 4, 20190750, 2020. (Feb.) / DOI
10.1587/elex.17.20190750

Contact to Professor Hiroshi YASAKA : yasaka@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

19

2019
Advanced Wireless Information Technology

For realization of the next generation mobile network

Advanced Wireless Information Technology Noriharu Suematsu, Professor
Advanced Wireless Network Technology
Suguru Kameda, Associate Professor[Research Target and Activities]
Toward the realization ofRadio wave (UHF/microwave/mm-wave)
a ubiquitous and broad-band
MIMO
wireless network, we areTx Mixer
Tx Signal
HPA
Multi(Digital)
Antenna
actively engaged in the
DAC
EncoderModulator
FilterFilterresearch work on dependable
Channel selector
Voltage controlled
Control
oscillator (VCO)
Tx/Rx
and low power consumption
signalChannel measurement
Switchand estimation
Synthesizer
advanced wireless IT. We
PLL
LNA
Frequency
domaincover the whole technical
DeDecoder
ADC
Filterequalizer
modulator
FilterRx Signal (FDE)
fields from the lower to
Rx Mixer
Beam(Digital)
Heterogeneous/Forminghigher layers, i.e., signal
Multi-band RF/mmWave CMOS IC
Channel Estimation
Beam-forming Transmitter/Receiverprocessing, RF/Mixed signal
Signal Processing
device, antenna, MODEM
Fig. The target system ofand network technologies.
Advanced Wireless Information Technology Laboratory.
We have developed loadbalancing method using route estimation of mobile terminal. We have also developed RF-IC andmodules like sample-hold circuit for high speed and low power wireless communication system.
[Staff]
Professor: Noriharu Suematsu, Ph. D
Associate Professor: Suguru Kameda, Ph. D
Assistant Professor: Mizuki Motoyoshi, Ph.D
[Profile]
Noriharu Suematsu received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electronics and Communication
Engineering from Waseda University in 1987 and 2000. From 1987 to 2010, he had been with the
R&D center of Mitsubishi Electric, Japan. Since 2010, he has been a professor of Research Institute ofElectrical Communication (RIEC), Tohoku University. He received the OHM technology award fromthe promotion foundation for electrical science and engineering in 2002 and Prize for Science andTechnology, the Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology in 2009.
Suguru Kameda received the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electronics Engineering from Tohoku
University in 1997, 1999 and 2001, respectively. From 2001, he was an assistant professor of the
RIEC. From 2012, he has been currently an associate professor.

[Papers][1] S. Kameda, et al., "Evaluation of Synchronized SS-CDMA for QZSS Safety Confirmation System," IEEE
Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 68, Issus 5, pp. 4846-4856, May 2019.
[2] T. Yokouchi, et al., "Evaluation of Channel Capacity of Millimeter-Wave WBAN Considering Human Body Blocking
in User-Dense Condition," 2019 Eleventh International Conference on Ubiquitous and Future Networks (ICUFN), pp.
1-4, July 2-5, 2019.
[3] T. Furuichi, et al., "28 GHz Band Direct RF Undersampling Broadband Receiver for Ka-Band HTS On-Board Unit,"2019 12th Global Symposium on Millimeter Waves (GSMM), May 22-24, 2019.
[4] K. Ono, et al., "Traffic Navigation & Relay: System-Wide Load Balancing Method for Heterogeneous Network Using
Route Direction and Packets Relay," URSI Asia-Pacific Radio Science Conference, pp. 349-352, Mar. 9-15, 2019.

20

Contact to Professor Noriharu SUEMATSU : suematsu@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019   

                   

Information StorageComputing Systems, Yoichiro Tanaka, Professor
Recording Theory Computation, Simon Greaves, Associate Professor     
Research on next-generation perpendicular magnetic recording is being carried out to meet the strong demand for highdensity, low cost storage due to the rapid growth of the Internet and web services. In this field, we use computer
simulations to study recording systems and novel technologies to realize high speed, high density data storage. For
achieving high performance data-intensive analytics, an intelligent computational storage analytics platform withunified computing and storage is targeted in the research and development.
We investigate novel, three-dimensional, energy-assisted recording technologies that enable selective recording on
media with multiple, discrete recording layers. During this year research was concentrated on microwave-assisted
magnetic recording (MAMR). In a MAMR system it is possible to record
information on a medium consisting of multiple, discrete storage layers by
utilizing storage layers with different ferromagnetic resonance frequencies.
Optimal recording conditions using a microwave magnetic field generated bya spin-torque oscillator have been identified. The possibility of recording
without a write head, using only a spin torque oscillator, was also confirmedby simulations. We have constructed a preliminary visualization platform forbrain neuro structure analytics motif with unified PB-class storage andcomputation functions. Computation based on the GPU and attached storage
nodes enabled the three-dimensional visualization function of neuron
structures captured by fluorescent microscope.
MAMR with multiple recording layers Professor: Yoichiro Tanaka, Ph.D.
Associate Professor: Simon Greaves, Ph.D.


Yoichiro Tanaka received his BE, MS, and Ph.D. from Tohoku University in 1981, 1983, and 2006, respectively. He
joined Toshiba Corporation in 1983 and Yamagata University in 2016. He has been at RIEC, Tohoku University since2019. His research focus has been on high density perpendicular magnetic recording and information storage systems.
He received Nikkei BP Technology Award (2006), the Japan Magnetic Society Achievement Award (2006) and Okochi
Memorial Prize (2007). He is a fellow of the Japan Magnetic Society.
Simon Greaves has been at Tohoku University since 2003. He developed micromagnetic simulation software to model
magnetic recording and to investigate the potential of magnetic, information storage devices. He received his Ph.D. in
1993 from Salford University, UK.

 
[1]

[2]
[3]

S. J. Greaves, K. S. Chan and Y. Kanai, Optimisation of dual structure recording media for microwave assisted
magnetic recording  , IEEE Transactions on Magnetics 55(7), 3001305-1-5, (2019), doi
10.1109/TMAG.2018.2889317.
K. S. Chan, S. Greaves and S. Rahardja, Techniques for addressing saddle points in the response surface
methodology (RSM), IEEE Access 7, p85613-85621, (2019), doi 10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2922975.
K. S. Chan, S. Greaves and S. Rahardja, Optimization of the 3D MAMR stack, IEEE Transactions on
Magnetics 55(9), 7204905-1-5, (2019), doi 10.1109/TMAG.2019.2916748.

Contact to Professor Yoichiro TANAKA : yoichiro@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

21

2019
Ultra-broadband Signal Processing

Novel Millimeter-wave and Terahertz Integrated Electron Devices and Systems
Ultra-Broadband Devices and Systems: Taiichi OTSUJI, Professor
Ultra-Broadband Device Physics: Akira SATOU, Associate Professor[Research Target and Activities]

Left: Schematic image of an asymmetric dual-grating gate graphene-channel FET and microscope image of a fabricateddevice (top), extinction/gain spectra measured at room temperature demonstrating coherent amplification of THz radiation(bottom left, negative value for gain), and the drain-voltage dependence of the maximum gain (bottom right), right:
schematic view of the signal readout from the gate electrode of a InGaAs-based grating-gate plasmonic THz detector (topleft), photovoltage vs size of the active area for the gate-readout (bottom left), and waveforms of photovoltage for the gatereadout (top right) and drain-readout (bottom right) (the waveform distortion associated with the impedance mismatching to
the measurement system does not appear in the former).

We are developing novel, integrated electron devices and circuit systems operating in the terahertz(THz) region. First, towards the creation of novel current-injection graphene THz laser-transistors, wedeveloped a graphene laser-transistor featured with our original asymmetric dual-grating gates
demonstrating coherent amplification of THz radiation with the maximal gain of 9% at room
temperature promoted by graphene plasmon instabilities driven by dc-channel current flow. Second, we
demonstrated that the signal readout from the gate electrode of InGaAs-based plasmonic THz detectors
enables the impedance matching to 50-Ω interconnection systems and the scaling of the photovoltage
with the size of the active area, both of which are impossible for the usual drain-readout.

[Staff]
Professor: Taiichi OTSUJI, Dr. Eng.
Associate Professor: Akira SATOU, Dr. Comp. Sci.
Assistant Professor: Takayuki WATANABE, Dr. Eng.

Research Fellow: Victor RYZHII, Ph.D., Juan Antonio DELGADO NOTARIO, Ph.D. Secretary:Kayo UENO

[Profile]
Taiichi OTSUJI: received the Dr. Eng. deg. from Tokyo Tech., Japan, in 1994. After working for NTT Labs.,
Japan, since 1984, he joined Kyutech in 1999, as an Assoc. Prof., being a prof. from 2002. Since 2005, he has
been a Prof. at RIEC, Tohoku Univ., Japan. Recipient of the 2019 Prizes for Science and Technology, theCommendation for Science and Technology, MEXT, Japan. A Distinguished Lecturer, Electron Device
Society, IEEE. A member of IEEE (Fellow), OSA (Fellow), JSAP (Fellow), IEICE (Senior), MRS, and SPIE.
Akira SATOU: received Dr. Comp. Sci. from Univ. of Aizu, Japan, in 2008. He was an Assistant Lecturer,
ISTC, Univ. of Aizu, in 2008 and CAIST, Univ. of Aizu, in 2009. He joined RIEC, Tohoku Univ., Japan,
in 2010 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to an Associate Professor in 2017. He is a memberof IEEE (Senior), APS, JSAP, and IEICE.
[Papers][1] V. Ryzhii, T. Otsuji, M. Ryzhii, A. A. Dubinov, V. Ya. Aleshkin, V. E. Karasik, and M. S. Shur, Phys. Rev. B, vol. 100,
pp. 115436-1-13, Sept. 2019.
[2] V. Ryzhii, M. Ryzhii, T. Otsuji, V. E. Karasik, V. G. Leiman, V. Mitin, and M. S. Shur, IEEE J. Select. Top. Quantum
Electron., vol. 25, iss. 6, pp. 2000209-1-9, Sept. 2019.
[3] Y. Omori, T. Hosotani, T. Otsuji, K. Iwatsuki, and A. Satou, CSW: Compound Semiconductor Week Dig., WeE2-4, Nara,
Japan, May 19-23, 2019.

22

Contact to Professor Taiichi OTSUJI : otsuji@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019
Quantum-Optical Information Technology

Development of optoelectronic devices for quantum information andcommunication technology
Quantum-Optical Information Technology: Keiichi Edamatsu, Professor
Quantum Laser Spectroscopy: Yasuyoshi Mitsumori, Associate professor[Research Target and Activities]
Our goal is to develop quantum information devices
utilizing quantum interaction between photons andelectrons in solids. In 2018, we have achieved (1) generation of frequency-entangled photons with two-period
PPLN crystal, (2) development of a novel sensor for
mg-scale gravity measurements, (3) observation of local-field effects on optical coherent transients of semiconductor bound excitons, and (4) controlled introduction of nano and micro particles to a nanofiber surface
and the measurement of the chiral polarization response.

Photon ina laserpulse

Nonlinear crystal

1Different
polingperiods

Nonlinear crystal

Photon pair

 2➕
Color entanglement
Horizontal
polarization

Verticalpolarization

Fig. 1. An illustration of the scheme for
producing frequency-entangled photons. A
nonlinear crystal has two different poling
periods so that produced photon pairs
with orthogonally polarized photon pairs
can be frequency entangled.

[Staff]
Professor: Keiichi Edamatsu, Dr.
Associate Professor: Yasuyoshi Mitsumori, Dr.
[Profile]
Keiichi Edamatsu received B.S., M.S., and D.S. degrees in Physics from Tohoku University. He was a
Research Associate in Faculty of Engineering, Tohoku University, a Visiting Associate in California
Institute of Technology, and an Associate Professor in Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka
University.
Yasuyoshi Mitsumori received B.S., M.S. and D.S. degrees in Applied Physics from Tokyo Institute ofTechnology. He was a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, a Researcher
in NTT Basic Research Laboratories, a Postdoctoral Fellow in Tokyo Institute of Technology, a Postdoctoral Fellow in Communications Research Laboratory, a Research Associate in Research Instituteof Electrical Communication, Tohoku University.

[Papers][1] F. Kaneda, H. Suzuki, R. Shimizu, and K. Edamatsu, “Direct generation of frequency-bin entangled photons via twoperiod quasi-phase-matched parametric downconversion”, Opt. Exp. 27, 001416 (2019).
[2] N. Matsumoto, S. B. Cataño-Lopez, M. Sugawara, S. Suzuki, N. Abe, K. Komori, Y. Michimura, Y. Aso, and K.
Edamatsu, “Demonstration of Displacement Sensing of a mg-Scale Pendulum for mm- and mg- Scale Gravity Measurements”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 071101 (2019).
[3] F. Kaneda, P. G. Kwiat, “High-efficiency single-photon generation via large-scale active time multiplexing”, Science
Advances, 5, eaaw8586 (2019).
[4] S.B. Cataño-Lopez, J.G. Santiago-Condori, K. Edamatsu, N. Matsumoto, “High Q mg-scale monolithic pendulum forquantum-limited gravity measurements”, arXiv: 1912.12567, to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett. (2020).
[5] M. Sugawara, Y. Mitsumori, K. Edamatsu, M. Sadgrove, “Optical detection of nano-particle characteristics using
coupling to a nano-waveguide”, arXiv:2005.07369, to appear in Opt. Exp. (2020).

Contact to Professor Keiichi EDAMATSU : eda@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

23

2019
Aims and Achievements of Human Information Systems Division
To realize advanced information communications systems, it is essential to understandand apply sophisticated information processing mechanisms of human being as well as toestablish communications environments in that human can communicate anywhere,anytime without recognizing the communications tools. The aim of this division is toresearch and develop core and system technologies essential to advanced human friendly
information and communications systems through understanding biological information
generation mechanisms, human information processing mechanisms focusing on acoustic
and visual inputs, and optimizing the communications environments.
To achieve the goal of the Division, six laboratories have been carrying out researches
and developments in the following areas: (1) Electromagnetic Bioinformation Engineering,(2) Advanced Acoustic Information Systems, (3) Visual Cognition and Systems, (4)Information Content, (5) Real-world computing, (6) Nano-Bio Hybrid Molecular Devices, (7)Multimodal Cognitive System Laboratory.
The goals and achievements in the fiscal year 2019 of each laboratory are describedin detail below.
(1) Electromagnetic Bioinformation Engineering(Aims) This laboratory aims at obtaining the high accuracy sensor system for the signals
from the human body or electric devices and at obtaining the system for approaching action
to the human body by using the nano-scale controlled magnetic materials and by thedevelopment of the devices under the functions of the magnetics.
(Achievements) To develop a high sensitive microvibration measuring system, we workedon the fabrication of high sensitive strain sensors on a Si wafer and the design of detection
circuits with ultra-low noise. The obtained proto-type system shows extra-high sensitivity
compare with the commercial products. On the work of high frequency magnetic fieldmeasuring system, we have succeeded in imaging the distribution of up to 6GHz magnetic
field generated from electronic circuits by our proposed system. This system could visualize
the high-frequency field distribution of the circuits. The study about micro-power generator
with vibration system clarified the system using FeSi material has high efficiency of power
generation. This results also shows the crystal texture and the magnetic anisotropy isimportant for the system.
(2) Advanced Acoustic Information Systems(Aims) To propose high-definition communication systems that convey a rich and naturalsense of presence. To this end, we are developing acoustic information processing
technologies based on well-grounded knowledge of the human auditory system and themultimodal perception processes related to hearing.
(Achievements) We have focused on how humans extract target speech information from

24

2019
distractor sounds by using auditory selective attention. In this fiscal year, the effect ofauditory selective attention in the spatial domain was investigated. The auditory spatialattention is one of the important mechanisms to realize cocktail party effects. By directing
the attention to the specific direction, humans can extract the speech sound easily inmulti-talker environment. We measured the shape of spatial window of auditory spatialattention and found that the shape does not depend on the direction where listeners direct
their attention. These findings could be applied to the diagnosis of auditory processing
disorders (APD). In addition, we develop advanced acoustic systems, such as 3D virtual
auditory displays, sound acquisition and presentation systems. We proposed advanced
version of auditory displays based on the virtual sphere model (ADVISE) which can
synthesize 3D sound field accurately including sound intensity.
(3) Visual Cognition and Systems(Aims) To understand the vision-related brain functions in order to apply the knowledge torealize human oriented information communication systems.
(Achievements) Firstly, we investigated the mechanisms underlying saccadic suppression
od displacement and found a peculiar result, that is, detection sensitivity of displacement
decreased with the increase of stimulus contrast. We succeeded to explain the results with amodel of interaction between the two major pathways of early vision: parvo-pathway andmagno-pathway. Secondly, we constructed a model based on differences between motion
signals from the left and right retinas as the first model for motion in depth direction. The
model predicts many psychophysical experiment results investigating spatial and temporalfactors, including direction of motion in depth and discrimination ability of motion directions.
(4) Information Content(Aims) As the Internet of Things (IoT) expands, everything around us coming online andjoining integrated networks. Even everyday items like furniture are going digital. We view all
artifacts, physical and digital, as content. Honoring the unique perspectives of people,
systems, and the environments they inhabit, we study the interactions between types ofcontent, with the ultimate goal of formulating cohesive, holistic, and intuitive approaches that
promote efficiency, ease of use, and effective communication, we focus on content design toenhance living.
(Achievements) This year, we mainly contributed novel spatial user interfaces. First, we
presented novel findings for children’s stress assessment using sensor toy blocks. Second,
we proposed a spatial user interface that offers haptic environment for room-scale virtual
reality, where multiple robotic props are dynamically coordinated based on user’s motions.
Finally, we also propose novel mechanisms that expand existing 2D touch and 3D motion
tracking technologies.

25

2019
(5) Real-world computing(Aims) This laboratory aims at understanding the mechanism underlying adaptive andresilient behavior of animals from the viewpoint of decentralized control schemes.
(Achievements) The main contributions achieved in 2019 are summarized as follows: (1) wehave clarified a decentralized control mechanism underlying amphibious locomotion ofcentipedes; (2) we have developed a brittle star-like robot that can coordinate flexible limbs;(3) we have proposed a decentralized control mechanism for the body-limb coordination
underlying quadruped locomotion; (4) we have proposed a decentralized control scheme forversatile locomotion of snakes.
(6) Nano-Bio Hybrid Molecular Devices(Aims) Our research activities focus on development of sophisticated molecular-scale
devices through the combination of well-established microfabrication techniques andvarious soft materials, such as biomaterials and organic materials.
(Achievements) We constructed a bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) sensor through the
combination of microfabrication, phospholipids and cell-free protein synthesis. Using thesensor, we quantified drug side-effects on the cardiac hERG channels. We also fabricated anovel BLM system, in which a lateral bias can be applied along the BLM. We succeeded informing a transistor-like BLM device, showing modulation of the photoresponse by a lateralbias. Finally, we developed a novel culturing system for primary neurons on an ultrasoft
silicone gel with an elastic modulus resembling that of the brain tissue. We showed that thehypersychronous network activity could be suppressed on the ultrasoft gel surface.
(7) Multimodal Cognitive System(Aims) This group aims to study the basic mechanisms underlying multimodal cognitive
systems, including vision, audition, tactile sensation, gustation and olfaction, together withthe related groups such as the Advanced Acoustic Information Systems and the Visual
Cognition and Systems groups.
(Achievements) In this year, we have done some experiments about the followings; theinteraction between food texture and kinetic sensation of masticatory muscle; the differenceof olfactory perception via orthonasal route with retronasal route; the effects of visual stimuli
on olfactory brain processing investigated by fMRI and fNIRS, etc. We have also started thecognitive studies about the effect of audition on binocular rivalry, the differences ofattentional system of vision and of audition, the interactive mechanisms of audition withsomatosensation, and the comparison of the effects of vision with audition on affection andarousal.

26

2019Electromagnetic Bioinformation Engineering

Communication with human body
ioinforma tion E
n gineering, K
azushi IIshiyama,shiya ma, P
rofessor
Electromagnetic
Bioinformation
Engineering,
Kazushi
Professor
E
le ctroma gneti c BE
le ctroma gneti c B
iomaterial E
ngineering , Shuichiro Hashi, Associate
Associate P
rofessor
Electromagnetic
Biomaterial
Engineering,
Shuichiro
Hashi,
Professor[Research Target and Activities]
To develop a high sensitive microvibration measurement system, fabrication of high sensitive strain
sensors on Si wafer and the design of detection circuits with low noise were carried out. Imaging
sensitivity of high frequency magnetic field measuring system was promoted by applying newtechnologies. In addition, wireless magnetic motion capture system with four-excitation-coils wasstudied to improve its detection accuracy. We revealed that (100)[001] silicon steel sheet or (110)[001]silicon steel sheet were useful as magnetostrictive materials for a magnetostrictive power generator toconvert vibrational energy into electric energy.

Si substrate

Strain &vibration sensor
Fig. 1 Strain and vibration sensor using
inverse-magnetostrictive effect.

[Staff]
Professor: Kazushi Ishiyama, Dr.
Associate Professor: Shuichiro Hashi, Dr.

Fig. 2 Image of high frequency magnetic field
distribution for internal circuit of voltage
controlled oscillator (@623MHz).

[Profile]
Kazushi Ishiyama received his MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Tohoku University
in 1986 and 1993, respectively. His research interests are in the area of magnetics and magnetic
applications.
Shuichiro Hashi received the DE degree in Electrical Engineering from Tohoku University in 1998. His
research interests are in the area of magnetic measurement and magnetic materials.
[Papers][1] Sho, Muroga, Jingyan, Ma, Yasushi, Endo, Shuichiro, Hashi, Masayuki, Naoe, Motoshi, Tanaka, Hiroo, Yokoyama,
Kazushi, Ishiyama, "Crosstalk suppression of magnetic films covered on two parallel micro-strip lines," Japanese
Journal of Applied Physics, Rapid Communication, Vol.58, No. 8, 080902, (2019).
[2] Shuichiro Hashi, Daisuke
Daisuke Sora,
Sora, Kazushi
Kazushi Ishiyama,
Ishiyama,"Strain"StrainandandVibration
vibrationSensor
sensor using
using Inverse
inverse Magnetostrictive
magnetostrictive Effecteffectof Amorphous
Magnetostrictivefilms,"
Films,"IEEEIEEEMagnetics
MagneticsLetters,
Letters,Vol.
Vol.10,10,8110604
8110604(2019).
(2019).
amorphous magnetostrictive[3] Fumiya Osanai, Shuichiro Hashi, Shun Fujieda, Kazushi Ishiyama, “Study on energy harvesting with (100) [001]silicon steel sheet,” 24th Soft Magnetic Materials Conference, P-071, (2019).
[4] Shun Fujieda, Shuichiro Hashi, Kazushi Ishiyama, Tsuguo Fukuda, Shigeru Suzuki, Materia Japan, Vol. 59, No. 1, pp.
10-15 (2020).

Contact to Professor Kazushi ISHIYAMA : ishiyama@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

27

2019
Advanced Acoustic Information Systems

Towards high-level acoustic information communication systems
Advanced Acoustic Information Systems: Shuichi Sakamoto, Professor[Research Target and Activities]
Our research goal is to clarify how humans process
information through "hearing," which is one of themost important modalities in human perception. In
addition, we investigate the multimodal processing ofauditory and visual information, as well as
proprioception. Our findings are applied towards thedevelopment of advanced acoustic communication
systems and user interfaces, including the realistic
and comfortable expression of three-dimensional (3D)
sound spaces. One typical example is the developmentof new type of 3D auditory displays, which present
spatial sound images by simulating the transfer
functions for the sound paths from the sound sources Fig. 1 Application for the training ofto the listeners' external ears. Another example is the spatial cognition using a high-definition
proposal of 3D sound field information sensing systems. virtual auditory display
These systems are expected to convey a high-quality virtual sound space, which is keenly sought for
multimedia communications, cyberspace systems and virtual reality systems.
In FY2019, we focused on how humans extract target speech information from distractor sounds byusing auditory selective attention. In this year, the effect of auditory selective attention in the spatial
domain was analyzed. The auditory spatial attention is one of the important mechanisms to realize
cocktail party effects. By directing the attention to the specific direction, humans can extract the
speech sound easily in multitalker environment. We measured the shape of spatial window of auditory
spatial attention and found that the shape does not depend on the direction where listeners direct
their attention.
[Staff]
Professor: Dr. Shuichi Sakamoto
Assistant professors: Dr. Zheng Lie Cui, Dr. Jorge Trevino[Profile]
Shuichi Sakamoto graduated from Tohoku University in 1997 and received his Ph. D. degree in 2004
also from Tohoku University. His research interests include human auditory and multisensory
information processing and development of advanced multimodal information systems. From 2016 to
2019, he was serving as a board member of the Acoustical Society of Japan.
[Papers]
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]

28

R. Teraoka, S. Sakamoto, Z. Cui, Y. Suzuki and S. Shioiri, “Directional selectivity of auditory attentional spotlight incomplex listening environment,” Proc. The 23rd International Congress on Acoustics, 5764-5770 (2019).
R. Teraoka, S. Sakamoto, Z. Cui, Y. Suzuki and S. Shioiri, “Temporal characteristics of auditory spatial attention onword intelligibility,” Acoustical Science and Technology, 41(1), 394-395 (2020).
J. Trevino, S. Sakamoto and Y. Suzuki, “Revisiting the theory of auditory displays based on the virtual spheremodel,” Acoustical Science and Technology, 41(1), 276-281 (2020). (invited paper)
S. Abe, Z. Cui, S. Sakamoto, Y. Suzuki and J. Gyoba, “Influence of full-body vibration adapted to the foregroundcomponents on the high-level perception of reality,” Proc. The 23rd International Congress on Acoustics, 5869-5876(2019).
Contact to Professor Shuichi SAKAMOTO : saka@ais.riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019
Visual Cognition and Systems Laboratory

Understanding human visual system for the better communication
with visual information

Visual Cognition and Systems: Satoshi SHIOIRI, Professor
Cognitive Brain Functions: Ichiro KURIKI, Associate Professor
Attention and Learning Systems: Chia-huei TSENG, Associate Professor[Research Target and Activities]
Our target is to understand the visionrelated brain functions in order to apply theknowledge
torealizehumanoriented
information communication systems. We madeachievements in the fields of visual attention,
depth perception, and color perception.
Firstly, we move our eyes several times
every second, and these eye movements, calledsaccades, create large image shifts on the retina.
This poses a big challenge for our visual system
to keep a stable perceptual world, i.e. theproblem of the visual stability. A key factor to
Left: Visual stability. Large shifts due to gazesolve the problem is a phenomenon, calledshifts are not perceived as motion of the world.
Right: Saccadic suppression experiment. The
saccadic suppression of displacement (SSD). We
detection sensitivity measured during the gazeinvestigate the mechanisms underlying SSD
shift is reduced with stimulus contrast increase
and found a peculiar result, that is, detection(i.e. improvement in visibility).
sensitivity of displacement decreased with theincrease of stimulus contrast. We succeeded to
explain the results with a model of interaction between the two major pathways of early vision:
parvo-pathway and magno-pathway. Secondly, we constructed a model based on differences between
motion signals from the left and right retinas as the first model for motion in depth direction. The
model predicts many psychophysical experiment results investigating spatial and temporal factors,
including direction of motion in depth and discrimination ability of motion directions.
[Staff]
Professor ： Satoshi Shioiri, Ph.D.
Associate Professor ： Ichiro Kuriki, Ph.D.
Associate Professor ： Chia-huei Tseng, Ph.D.
[Profile]
Satoshi SHIOIRI Professor Shioiri graduated from Tokyo Institute of Technology and received Dr. Eng in 1986. Then, he was a
postdoctoral researcher at University of Montreal until May of 1989. From June of 1989 to April of 1990, he was a research fellow
at Auditory and Visual Perception Laboratories of Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute. He moved to Chiba
University at May of 1990, where he spent 15 years as an assistant professor, an associate professor, and a professor of
Department of Image Sciences Department of Image, Information Sciences and Department of Medical Systems. In 2005, hemoved to Tohoku University. Since then, he has been a professor of Research Institute of Electrical Communication of Tohoku
University.
Ichiro KURIKI Dr. Kuriki received Ph.D. degree from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1996. After that, he worked at Imaging
Science and Engineering Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology as a research associate until October, 1999. He worked as a
research associate at the Department of Mathematical Engineering and Information Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, theUniversity of Tokyo until March, 2001. He worked as a researcher in Communication Science Laboratories of NTT Corporation
until December, 2005. He joined the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University as an Associate Professor
in January, 2006.
Chia-huei TSENG Dr. Tseng is an expert on visual attention, perception, and learning. She received her B.S. and B.M.S. from
National Taiwan University and PhD from The University of California, Irvine, U.S.A.. She was a post-doc researcher atLaboratory of Vision Research at the Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University, New Jersey. She has designed science
outreach activities to engage community participation in many Asian cities. She was the founder and director of Baby Scientist
Program and Infant Research Lab in Hong Kong. Before joining Tohoku University as associate professor in 2016, she was auniversity professor in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Contact to Professor Satoshi SHIOIRI : shioiri@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

29

2019
Information Content

Technologies for Interactive Content
Interactive Content Design
Human-Content Interaction

Yoshifumi KITAMURA,
Kazuki TAKASHIMA,

Professor
Associate Professor[Research Target and Activities]
As the Internet of Things (IoT) expands, everything around us coming online and joining integrated
networks. Even everyday items like furniture are going digital. We view all artifacts, physical anddigital, as content. Honoring the unique perspectives of people, systems, and the environments they
inhabit, we study the interactions between types of content, with the ultimate goal of formulatingcohesive, holistic, and intuitive approaches that promote efficiency, ease of use, and effective
communication, we focus on content design to enhance living.
In this year, we primarily worked on three topics; first, we proposed a new drone control interface thatawarenessduringpilotingby spatiallycoupledtwo drones[3]; Second,
exploredincreases situation
situationalawarenessduringpilotingby spatiallycoupledtwo drones[3]; weSecond,wea novel mobileinterfaceenabling
tangential
forcetangential
input on a force
touchscreen
rubber-mounted
slim
exploreda novelmobileinterfaceenabling
input using
on a atouchscreen
usingatransparent sheet;
we proposed
a newassessment
methodusing
rubber-mounted
slimfinally,transparent
sheet; finally,
we children’s
proposed ainter-sate
new children’sinter-sate
assessment
sensor-embedded
blocks[1].
methodusing toysensor-embedded
toyblocks[1].
[Staff]
Professor: Yoshifumi Kitamura, Dr.
[Staff]
Associate Professor:
Takashima,
Dr.
Professor:
Yoshifumi Kazuki
Kitamura,Dr.
Assistant Professor:
Professor: Kazuki
Kazuyuki
Fujita, Dr.Dr.
Associate
Takashima,
Assistant Professor: Kazuyuki Fujita, Dr.
[Profile]
Yoshifumi Kitamura: Since 2010, Yoshifumi[Profile]
Kitamura Kitamura:has been Since
Professor
the ResearchInstituteofProfessor
Electricalin Communication,
TohokuYoshifumi
2010, in
Yoshifumi
Kitamura
has been
the Research InstituteofUniversity.Communication,
Prior to arriving
at Tohoku,
he wasantoAssociateofElectrical
TohokuUniversity.
Priorarriving Professor
at Tohoku,atheGraduate
was an School
Associate
Engineering,and Graduate
Schoolof Information
Scienceand Technology,
Osaka University.
Professor
at Graduate
Schoolof Engineering,andGraduate
School of Information
ScienceWhileandworking at Osaka
ATR Communication
Systems
Research
Laboratories, heSystems
focusedResearchon sophisticateduserTechnology,
University. While
working
at ATR Communication
Laboratories,
interfaces
environments.
His first
formalenvironments.
appointment wasin theInformation
Systemshefocused in
on virtualsophisticateduser interfacesin virtualHis first
formalappointment
wasResearchCenter Canon
Inc.,Researchwhere heCenter
was involved
in researchon wasartificial
intelligence,
image
inthe Information
Systems
Canon Inc.,
where heinvolved
in researchonprocessing,computervision,and3D
data
processing.
His
formaleducation
was
obtainedatOsaka
artificial intelligence, image processing, computer vision, and 3D data processing. His formal
University,was
B.Sc(1985); at
M.Sc.
(1987);and Ph.D.
(1996).
education
obtained
Osaka
University,
B.Sc(1985); M.Sc. (1987); and Ph.D. (1996).
Kazuki Takashima: He received a Ph.D from the Information Science and Technology at Osaka
University in 2008. After working at Osaka University (2008 - 2011). He joined the Research Instituteof Electrical Communication, Tohoku University as an assistant professor in 2011, and became an
associate Professor in 2018.
Associate[Papers][1] Xiyue Wang, Kazuki Takashima, Tomoaki Adachi, Patrick Finn, Ehud Sharlin, Yoshifumi
Kitamura. AssessBlocks: Exploring Toy Block Play Features for Assessing Stress in YoungChildren after Natural Disasters. Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable andUbiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), 4, 1, Article 30, 29 pages, March 2020.
[2] Mengting Huang, Kazuyuki Fujita, Kazuki Takashima, Taichi Tsuchida, Hiroyuki Manabe,
Yoshifumi Kitamura. ShearSheet: Low-Cost Shear Force Input with Elastic Feedback forAugmenting Touch Interaction, Proceedings of Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS), 77-87,
November 2019. [Best demo award].
[3] Ryotaro Temma, Kazuki Takashima, Kazuyuki Fujita, Koh Sueda, Yoshifumi Kitamura.
Third-Person Piloting: Increasing Situational Awareness using a Spatially Coupled Second Drone,
Proceedings of User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), 507-519, October 2019.

30

Contact to Professor Yoshifumi KITAMURA : kitamura@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019Real-world Computing

Toward Understanding Design Principle for Life-like Resilient Systems

Real-world Computing, Akio Ishiguro, Professor[Research Target and Activities]
Living organisms exhibit surprisingly adaptive and versatile behavior in real time under
unpredictable and unstructured real world constraints. Such behaviors are achieved via
spatiotemporal coordination of a significantly large number of bodily degrees of freedom. Clarifying
these remarkable abilities enable us to understand life-like complex adaptive systems as well as toconstruct truly intelligent artificial systems. A prominent concept for addressing this issue is“autonomous decentralized control”, in which non-trivial macroscopic functionalities are emerged
via spatiotemporal coordination among vast amount of autonomous components that cannot be
explained solely in terms of individual functionality. We study the design principle of autonomous
decentralized systems that exhibit life-like resilient behaviors from the viewpoints of robotics,
mathematics, nonlinear science, and physics.

Fig.1:
Amphibious
locomotion of centipedes

Fig.2:
Brittle-star-likewith flexible arms

robot

Fig.3: Legged robot that can coordinate
between body and limbs for fast running[Staff]
Professor: Akio ISHIGURO, Dr.
Associate Professor: Takeshi KANO, Dr.
Assistant Professor: Akira FUKUHARA, Dr.
[Profile]
Akio ISHIGURO received B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees from Nagoya University in 1987, 1989, and1991, respectively. From 1991 to 1997, he was with Nagoya University as an assistant professor.
From May 1997 to 2006, he was an associate professor, Nagoya University. From 2006 to 2011, he
was a professor of the Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University. Since April 2011, he has
been a professor of Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. His main
research interests are in bio-inspired robotics, nonlinear dynamics. He received 2004 IROS Best
Paper Award, 2008 Ig Nobel Prize (Cognitive Science Prize), 2012 IEEE/RSJ JCTF Novel
Technology Paper Award for Amusement Culture Finalist, Living Machines 2012 Best Paper Award.
[Papers]
[1]
[2]
[3]

K. Yasui, et al. , “Decoding the essential interplay between central and peripheral control in adaptive locomotionof amphibious centipedes,” Scientific Reports, 9, 18288, 2019. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-53258-3
T. Kano, et al., " Flexible Coordination of Flexible Limbs: Decentralized Control Scheme for Inter- and Intra-limb
Coordination in Brittle Stars’ Locomotion,” Frontiers in Neurorobotics, 13:104, doi: 10.3389/fnbot.2019.00104
A. Fukuhara, et al., "Decentralized control mechanism for body–limb coordination in quadruped running,"
Adaptive Behavior, doi:10.1177/1059712319865180.

Contact to Professor Akio ISHIGURO : ishiguro@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

31

2019
Nano-Bio
DevicesNano-Bio Hybrid
Hybrid Molecular
Molecular Devices

Development
combination ofof nanotechnology
nanotechnology
Development ofof novelnovel bio-devices
bio-devices throughthrough thethe combination
andand biomaterials
biomaterials
NNa
annoo--B
Biioo HHyybbrriiddM
Moolleeccu
ulla
arr D
Deev
viicceess:: A
Ay
yu
um
mii H
Hiirraannoo--IIw
wa
atta
a,, P
Prrooffeessssoorr[Research[Research Target
Target andand Activities]
Activities]
Our
Our researchresearch activities
activities focus
focus onon development
development ofof sophisticatedsophisticated molecular-scale
molecular-scale devices
devices throughthrough thethe
combinationofwell-establishedmicrofabrication
techniques
andvarioussoftmaterials.
combination of well-established microfabrication techniques and various soft materials.
１hERG channels
channels１．
． Development
Development ofof aa biosensor
biosensor forfor evaluating
evaluating drug
drug side-effects
side-effects on
on hERG
based
based onon artificial
artificial bilayer
bilayer lipid
lipid membranes
membranesWe
We developed
developed aa biosensor
biosensor forfor quantitatively
quantitatively evaluating
evaluating drug
drug
side-effectsonhERG
channels,towhichbindingofdrugs
side-effects on hERG channels, to which binding of drugs
leads
leads toto lethallethal arrhythmia.
arrhythmia. The
The biosensor
biosensor utilized
utilized aa bilayer
bilayerlipid
membrane(BLM)
combinedwithacell-freesynthesized
lipid membrane (BLM) combined with a cell-free synthesized
proteins.
proteins. Using
Using this
this system,
system, we
we succeeded
succeeded inin quantifying
quantifying drug
drug
inhibition
effects
onthehERG
channels
in
terms
of
inhibition effects on the hERG channels in terms of 50%
50%
inhibitory
inhibitory concentration.
concentration. [Chem.
[Chem. Rec.,
Rec., 220
0,, 1-14
1-14 (2020).](2020).]
２
２．
． NovelNovel “transistor-like”“transistor-like” devices
devices based
based onon aabio/organic
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hybrid membrane
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We fabricated an electrode-equipped Si
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chip. [ACS[ACS Omega,
Omega, 4
4,, 18299-18303
18299-18303 (2019).](2019).]
３．
Biomimetic
cultureofprimary
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Professor:
Professor: Ayumi
Ayumi Hirano-Iwata,
Hirano-Iwata, Dr.
Dr.
[Profile][Profile]
Cultured
Ayumi
Cultured neuronal
neuronal network
network on
on
Ayumi Hirano-Iwata
Hirano-Iwata 20162016 –– RIEC,
RIEC, Tohoku
Tohoku University,
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ultrasoft
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Japan
Society
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Surface Science.
Society ofof Applied
Applied Physics,
Physics, The
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SurfaceSociety
Science
Japan.
[Papers][Papers]
[1]
[1]

M.
M. Komiya,
Komiya, M.
M. Kato,Kato, D.
D. Tadaki,
Tadaki, T.
T. Ma,
Ma, H.
H. Yamamoto,
Yamamoto, R.
R. Tero,Tero, Y.
Y. Tozawa,
Tozawa, M.
M. Niwano,Niwano, A.
A.
Hirano-Iwata,
Hirano-Iwata, "Advances"Advances inin Artificial
Artificial Cell
Cell Membrane
Membrane Systems
Systems as
as aa Platform
Platform forfor Reconstituting
Reconstituting Ion
Ion
Channels",
Channels", Chem.
Chem. Rec.,
Rec., 220
0,, 1–14
1–14 (2020).
(2020).
[2][2] T.
T. Ma,
Ma, X.
X. Feng,Feng, T.
T. Deguchi,
Deguchi, T.
T. Ohori,
Ohori, D.
D. Yamaura,
Yamaura, R.
R. Miyata,
Miyata, D.
D. Tadaki,
Tadaki, M.
M. Komiya,
Komiya, K.
K. Kanomata,Kanomata, F.
F.
Hirose,Hirose, M.
M. Niwano,Niwano, A.
A. Hirano-Iwata,
Hirano-Iwata, “Modulation“Modulation ofof photoinduced
photoinduced transmembranetransmembrane currents
currents inin aafullerene-doped
fullerene-doped freestanding
freestanding lipid
lipid bilayer
bilayer byby aa laterallateral bias”,
bias”, ACSACS Omega,
Omega, 4
4,, 18299–18303
18299–18303 (2019).
(2019).
[3][3] T.
T. Sumi,Sumi, H.
H. Yamamoto,
Yamamoto, A.
A. Hirano-Iwata,
Hirano-Iwata, “Suppression“Suppression ofof hypersynchronous
hypersynchronous network
network activity
activity ininculturedcultured cortical
cortical neurons
neurons using
using anan ultrasoft
ultrasoft silicone
silicone scaffold”,
scaffold”, Soft
Soft Matter,
Matter, 1
16
6,, 3195-3202
3195-3202 (2020).
(2020).

32

Contact to Professor Ayumi HIRANO : ayumi.hirano.a5@tohoku.ac.jp

2019
Research Targets and Activities of Systems & Software Division
The goal of System & Software Division is to realize ideal ubiquitous environment where
everyone can freely communicate in real-time with anyone, anywhere, and at any timethrough any kind of information. With the reorganization of RIEC in FY2016, our division has
the following seven research fields related to such high-level ubiquitous systems, softwareand contents by integrating computer and communication:― Software Construction: Reliable and high-level software.
― Computing Information Theory: Fundamental theory of new software.
― Communication Network: Symbiotic computing.
― Environmentally Conscious Secure Information System: Embedded system security― Soft Computing Integrated System: Brainmorphic hardware.
― New Paradigm VLSI System: Post-binary CMOS-based VLSI computing.
― Structure of Information Society (Visitor Section).
An overview of research results from Apr. 2019 to Mar. 2020 of these fields except the visitor
section is described in this section.

(1) Software Construction
We research on theoretical foundations for flexible and reliable programming languages.
We also develop SML#, a new programming language in the ML family that embodies our
foundational research results. The major results of the 2019 academic year include thefollowing. On theoretical foundations, we have developed a method for inductive theorem
proving in non-terminating rewriting systems and its application to program transformation.
On practical implementation methodology. we have developed a parallel and concurrent
garbage collection method that enables a functional language to scale millions of light-weight
threads, and a method to integrate dynamic typing seamlessly in an ML-style polymorphic
type system, and have implemented these methods in the SML# compiler.

(2) Computing Information Theory
We proceed with studying formal language theory, which can be theoretical foundations for
efficient development and static verification of software, and its application to bidirectionaltransformation. First, we have shown the decidability of the functional equivalence of aparticular class of tree transducers that is a formal model of recursive transformation overtree-structured data. The class is a streaming transducer model that computes a tree-to-treetransformation efficiently in both time and space. Second, we have discovered that an
introduction of a stack device does not preserve a hierarchy of classes of classical treetransducers. Since the stack device is introduced for representing practical computation, theextension enables us to optimize and verify existing programs. Our discovery implies thattechniques for classic models cannot be applied to practical programs directly. Additionally,
we have studied a theory of bidirectional transformation, which is a basis of datasynchronization. We have shown a precise relationship between many formalizations ofbidirectional transformation. This result will be applied to an optimized verification of toolsof bidirectional transformation.
33

2019
(3) Communication Network Systems
We promoted the following research on information networking technologies that support
various human activities and its application. In the area of mobile core network architecture,
we proposed the control-plane signaling method for controlling the demand on the server
resources for accommodating massive IoT devices, gave mathematical analysis for function
splitting in 5G networks, and presented performance evaluation methods of mobile cellular
networks considering the interactions between wireless access networks and core networks.
For NFV architecture, we proposed a biochemically-inspired control mechanism for virtual
network functions and evaluated its effectiveness on the NFV framework. Furthermore, in
the research on agent-based IoT (AIoT) and its applications, we designed a distributed
blackboard model. It is as an inter-agent information exchange infrastructure on which IoT
devices detect each other, make an organization, and build a combined service autonomously
in a bottom-up manner. And also, as an example of a particular service, a mock-up of asecurity camera service was implemented by combining devices such as a human-detecting
sensor, a camera, a smart light, and an image recognition device.

(4) Environmentally Conscious Secure Information System
We are studying future secure information communication systems from theories toimplementation technologies for constructing advanced information and communication
infrastructures in a safe and secure manner. In this year, as security computing technology
for IoT devices, we developed a hardware architecture that executes the international
standard cryptography AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with the world's smallest
energy operation. We also developed a new method to significantly improve the stability andefficiency of information communication systems based on physically unclonable functions
extracted from hardware, which are applied to individual identification and secret key
generation, and showed its effectiveness from both theories and experiments.

Furthermore

we developed a technique for quantitatively evaluating electromagnetic security (i.e., risk on
information security by electromagnetic leakage) of smart devices such as tablets, etc., andvalidated it by experiments using actual devices.

(5) Soft Computing Integrated System
We are working on a novel high-performance, highly-efficient, flexible, and robust
brain-inspired brainmorphic computer hardware system, in particular, through physicalcomplex-networked dynamical process using an analog VLSI as a core component. Results ofthis year include the followings. (i) We proposed the chaotic neural network reservoir, which
naturally introduces high-dimensional chaotic dynamics into a reservoir network without
losing the echo-state property. We confirmed the ability of the proposed network using
time-series prediction and speech recognition. (ii) We proposed compact mathematical models
for neuron-like and synapse-like spintronics devices based on the device temperature
dynamics. (iii) We proposed an efficient method to implement small and high-speed
cryptographic hardware based on the augmented Lorenz-map, and validated it using FPGA
experiments.

34

2019
(6) New Paradigm VLSI System
Our research activity is to solve the several limitations such as power dissipation,
performance and reliability due to the present binary-CMOS-based VLSI computing. The key
approach to breaking through such limitations is primarily the following two ways: thelogic-in-memory architecture based on nonvolatile logic, and the brainware LSI (BLSI)
computing, which would open up a novel VLSI chip paradigm, called a “new-paradigm VLSI
system.” In FY 2019, we have preliminarily achieved the following two activities. (a) In orderto implement artificial intelligence technology for IoT (Internet of Things) sensor nodes, wehave designed energy-saving and area-saving neural network hardware that uses nonvolatilestorage elements. Area reduction is realized by combining weight quantization technology
and non-volatile logic-in-memory circuit technology, and power consumption is reduced due tointermittent operation based on non-volatility, and high reliability is realized by on-chip
programing the resistance values in non-volatile elements. As a result, it has been clarified
that the multiply-accumulate operation circuit in the proposed technique can reduce theenergy-delay product (EDP) by 99.9% and the circuit area by 72.2% compared to those of aconventional CMOS-only-based implementation while maintaining high circuit reliability. (b)We have also developed a novel hardware implementation method, called "CMOS Invertible
Logic (CIL)" that realizes bidirectional computation based on a CMOS-logic hardware
platform. In CIL, the desired function is converted into an energy function, called"Hamiltonian", and stochastic computation at each CIL node is realized by stochastic
operation. As a result of implementing a factorization process, which is a type of bidirectional
computation, on a CMOS integrated circuit, it is confirmed that bidirectional computation isrealized on a standard CMOS-based VLSI chip. As this fiscal-year research results including
the above topics, we have reported 7 academic journal papers including IEEE TCAS-I (which
is one of the best journals in the field of circuits and systems), 8 peer-reviewed international
conference papers, and 7 invited talks (5 invited talks in international conferences).

35

2019
Software Construction Laboratory

Foundations for Developing High-level and Reliable Programming Languages

Software Construction Atsushi Ohori, Professor
Reliable Software Development Katsuhiro Ueno, Associate Professor
Type Inference[Research Target and Activities]
Today's software systems are becoming more and more complicated
SML# Program
due to the need of integrating various computation resources available
in the Internet. A key to control the complexity and to enhance thereliability of such a system is to develop a high-level programming
Type-safe FFIPolymorphic Records
language that can directly represent various resources andautomatically detect potential inconsistencies among the components
OS, C Libraries
in a system. Based on this general observation, our research aims at
Databases
establishing both firm theoretical basis and implementation method
for flexible yet reliable programming languages for advanced
SML#: a high-level and reliable language
applications. Research topics on theoretical foundations include:
logical foundations for compilation and type-directed compilation for polymorphic languages. We arealso developing a new practical ML-style programming language, SML#, which embodies some of ourrecent results such as record polymorphism, direct C interface, and seamless integration of SQL.
A major result of the 2019 academic year is a theorem proving method in non-terminating rewriting
systems and its application to program transformation. We generalized the notion of implicit induction
through our novel method that relaxes the conventional sufficient completeness condition to local
sufficient completeness, and obtained a method that has wider applicability in inductive theorem
proving. Another result is an implementation method for dynamic typing in an ML style polymorphic
language. We applied our method and integrated dynamic typing in the SML# compiler.

[Staff]
Professor ： Atsushi Ohori, Ph.D.
Associate Professor ： Katsuhiro Ueno, Dr.
Assistant Professor ： Kentaro Kikuchi, Dr.
[Profile]
Atsushi Ohori. He was born in 1957. He received his BA degree in Philosophy from University of Tokyo,
1981; Ph.D. degree in Computer and Information Science from University of Pennsylvania, 1989. Heworked for Oki Electric Industry from 1981 until 1993. In 1993, he joined RIMS, Kyoto University as
an Associate Professor. In 2000, he joined Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology as a
Professor. In 2005, he moved to RIEC, Tohoku University as a Professor.
Katsuhiro Ueno. He was born in 1981. He received the Doctor of Philosophy (Information Sciences)
degree from Tohoku University, 2009. He joined Research Institute of Electrical Communication(RIEC), Tohoku University as an assistant professor in 2009. Since 2016, he has been an associate
professor at the same institute.

[Papers (conference presentations)][1] Kentaro Kikuchi, Takahito Aoto, Isao Sasano: Inductive Theorem Proving in Non-terminating Rewriting Systems and
Its application to Program Transformation. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Principles and Practiceof Declarative Programming (PPDP'19), 2019, DOI:10.1145/3354166.3354178.
[2] Atsushi Ohori, Katsuhiro Ueno: Dynamic typing in SML# (in Japanese), Proceedings of the 36th annual meeting ofJapan Society for Software Science and Technology, 6 pages、July, 2019.
[3] Katsuhiro Ueno: Compiling a polymorphic language with natural data representation to LLVM IR (in Japanese),
Proceedings of the 22nd workshop of Programming and Programing Languages (PPL2020), March 2020.

36

Contact to Professor Atsushi OHORI : ohori@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019Computing Information Theory

Filling the Gap between Humans and Computers

Computing Information Theory

Keisuke Nakano, Professor[Research Target and Activities]
Notwithstanding that programming is one of themost typical methods for a human to communicate
with a computer, there is a significant gap between
programs that are recognizable for humans and thosethat are efficiently executed by computers. Programs
described as humans think are highly readable but
are not always efficient. On the other hand, programs
described with carefully considering the behavior ofcomputers show much better performance in timeand space but are very complicated and hardly
maintainable. Our ultimate goal is to fill the gap between humans and computers in programming.
More specifically, our research topics include program transformation and program verification.
Program transformation is to automatically derive well-tuned and efficient programs fromhuman-readable ones; Program verification is to statically (that is, without running) check ifhuman-written but well-tuned complicated programs behave as the programmers expect for any
input. To this end, we deeply study the theory of formal tree languages, such as tree automata andtree transducers, which has a close relationship with the program transformation and verification.
Besides that, we are working on formalizing relevant results in mathematics and theoreticalcomputer science on a proof assistant to make our theory more robust.
[Staff]
Professor ： Keisuke Nakano, Dr.
Assistant Professor ： Kazuyuki Asada, Dr.
[Profile]
Keisuke Nakano received his Ph.D. from Kyoto University in 2006. He worked as a researcher at
the University of Tokyo from 2003 to 2008. He has been an assistant professor from 2008 to 2012
and an associate professor from 2012 to 2018 at the University of Electro-Communications. Since
2018, he has been a professor at the Research Institute of Electrical Communication. His researchinterests include formal language theory, programming language theory, and functional
programming. He is a member of ACM, JSSST, and IPSJ.
[Papers][1] Yuta Takahashi, Kazuyuki Asada, and Keisuke Nakano, “Streaming Ranked-Tree-to-String
Transducers”, International Conference on Implementation and Application of Automata, 235-247.
[2] Keisuke Nakano, “Towards a Complete Picture of Lens Laws”, 3rd Workshop on Software
Foundations for Data Interoperability (SFDI2019+), Fukuoka, Japan, 2019.
[3] Yasunori Ishihara, Hiroyuki Kato, Keisuke Nakano, Makoto Onizuka, and Yuya Sasaki, “Toward
BX-based Architecture for Controlling and Sharing Distributed Data”, 2nd Workshop on Software
Foundations for Data Interoperability (SFDI 2019), Kyoto, Japan, 2019.
[4] Yasuhito Asano, Dennis-Florian Herr, Yasunori Ishihara, Hiroyuki Kato, Keisuke Nakano, Makoto
Onizuka, and Yuya Sasaki, “Flexible framework for data integration and update propagation: systemaspect”, 2nd Workshop on Software Foundations for Data Interoperability (SFDI 2019), Kyoto, Japan,
2019.

Contact to Professor Keisuke NAKANO : ksk@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

37

2019
Communication Network Systems

Information Network Architecture for the IoT Society

Information Network Architecture: Go Hasegawa, Professor
Intelligent Network: Gen Kitagata, Associate Professor[Research Target and Activities]
In this year, the following studies had been done. (a) Research on mobile network architecture toefficiently accommodate a large number of Internet of Things (IoT) terminals. (b) Research on
Network Function Virtualization (NFV) systems that autonomously and decisively control theplacement of virtualized network functions and the allocation of server resources, based on a spatial
diffusion model using chemical reaction equations. (c) Research and development of basic
technologies for autopoietic computing platforms that allow various IoT devices, including mobile
devices, to autonomously configure computing platforms for the next generation of IoT themselves.
Service generation

Disaster/evacuation
information

Internet

Disaster
info service

Large-scale disruption

Disaster
info service

Security
service

Watch overserviceCooperative security cameras
Wireless security buzzer

Personsearch service

Regional
services
Autopoiesis
computing infra.

Flexible function deployment for mobile networks.

[Staff]
Professor： Go Hasegawa, Dr.
Associate Professor： Gen Kitagata, Dr.

Sandals with wireless beacon

Autopoiesis
network

An image of autopoietic networking.

[Profile]
Go Hasegawa received the M.E. and D.E. degrees in Information and Computer Sciences from
Osaka University, Japan, in 1997 and 2000, respectively. From July 1997 to June 2000, he was
Research Assistant of Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University. From 2000 to 2018, he wasan Associate Professor of Cybermedia Center, Osaka University. He is now a Professor of ResearchInstitute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. His research work is in the area of
information network architecture. He is a member of the IEEE and IEICE.
Gen Kitagata is an associate professor of the Research Institute of Electrical Communication of
Tohoku University, Japan. He received a doctoral degree from the Graduate School of Information
Sciences, Tohoku University in 2002. His research interests include agent-based computing,intelligent networking, and resilient networking. He is a member of IEICE, IPSJ.

[Papers][1] Xun Shao, Go Hasegawa, Noriaki Kamiyama, Zhi Liu, Hiroshi Masui and Yusheng Ji, ''Joint Optimization ofComputing Resources and Data Allocation for MEC: An Online Approach,'' in Proceedings of IEEE ICCCN 2019,
August 2019.
[2] Go Hasegawa, Rina Yamasaki, and Masayuki Murata, ''System and application performance of function placement
strategies for virtualized mobile fronthaul/backhaul networks,'' in Proceedings of IEEE ICIN 2020, February 2020.
[3] A. Satoh, Y. Nakamura, Y. Fukuda, K. Sasai and G. Kitagata, "A Cause-Based Classification Approach for Malicious DNS

Queries Detected Through Blacklists," IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 142991-143001, 2019.
[4] A. Satoh, Y. Nakamura, D. Nobayashi, K. Sasai and G. Kitagata, T. Ikenaga, Clustering Malicious DNS Queries forBlacklist-Based Detection, IEICE Trans. Inf. & Syst., 2019, Volume E102.D, Issue 7, pp.1404-1407, July 01, 2019.

38

Contact to Professor Go HASEGAWA : hasegawa@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019
Environmentally Conscious Secure Information System

Advanced information security technology

Environmentally Conscious Secure Information System, Naofumi Homma, Professor[Research Target and Activities]
We are studying future secure information
communication
systemsfromtheories
to
implementation
technologies
forconstructing
advanced
information
andcommunication
infrastructures in a safe and secure manner. In this
year,
we
have
developed
energy-efficient
cryptographic hardware for AES, which is the mostcommonly used cipher in the world. We havediscovered practical attacks on a digital signaturealgorithm with experimental validation (Fig. 1) anddeveloped its countermeasure. We have also
developed a new methodology for detecting malicious
hardware Trojans, which are stealthily inserted to Fig. 1: Experiment for security evaluation
cryptographic hardware during its design/fabrication.
of cryptographic hardware
In addition, we have developed secure and efficient hardware authentication systems based on
hardware-intrinsic ID from physically unclonable function (PUF).
[Staff]
Professor: Naofumi Homma, Ph. D
Assistant Professor: Rei Ueno, Ph. D
Specially Appointed Assistant Professor: Ville Yli-Mäyry, Ph. D[Profile]
Naofumi Homma received the PhD degrees in information sciences from Tohoku University, Sendai,
Japan, in 2001. Since 2016, he has been a Professor in the Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication, Tohoku University. In 2009-2010 and 2016-2017, he was a visiting professor at
Telecom ParisTech, Paris, France. He received a number of awards including the IACR CHES Best
Paper Award in 2014, the JSPS Prize in 2018, and the German Innovation Award in 2018.
[Papers][1] R. Ueno et al., “Highly Efficient AES Hardware Architectures Based on Datapath Compression,” IEEE
Transactions on Computers, Vol. 69, Issue 4, pp. 534—548, 2020.
[2] R. Ueno et al., “Highly Efficient GF(28) Inversion Circuit Based on Hybrid GF Arithmetic,” Journal of
Cryptographic Engineering, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 101—113, 2019.
[3] Kosuke Koiwa et al., “Collision-Based EM Analysis on ECDSA Hardware and a Countermeasure,” Joint IEEE
International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility and Asia-Pacific Electromagnetic Compatibility, pp.
793—796, 2019.
[4] Rei Ueno et al., “Tackling Biased PUFs Through Biased Masking: A Debiasing Method for Efficient Fuzzy
Extractor,” IEEE Transactions on Computers, Vol. 68, Issue 7, pp. 1091—1104, 2019.
[5] K. Kazumori et al., “Debiasing Method for Efficient Ternary Fuzzy Extractors and Ternary Physically Unclonable
Functions,” IEEE 50th International Symposium on Multiple-Valued Logic, 2020. (to appear)[6] A. Ito et al., “Effective Formal Verification for Galois-Field Arithmetic Circuits with Multiple-Valued
Characteristics,” IEEE 50th International Symposium on Multiple-Valued Logic, 2020. (to appear)[7] Ville Yli-Mäyry et al., “On the Evaluation of Electromagnetic Information Leakage from Mobile Device Screens,”
IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Vol. 61, Issue 4, pp. 1107—1114, 2019.

Contact to Professor Naofumi HOMMA : homma@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

39

2019
Soft Computing Integrated System

Brainmorphic Computing Hardware System
Soft Computing Integrated System

Yoshihiko Horio, Professor[Research Target and Activities]
We are working on a novel high-performance, highly-efficient, flexible, and robust “brainmorphic”
computing hardware system through physical complex-networked dynamical process using novel
nano-scale devices. Toward the final goal, we are developing integrated circuit and device
technologies suitable for the brainmorphic computer systems, ultra-low-power asynchronous neuralnetwork systems, neuron-like and synapse-like spintronics devices, and a brainmorphic systemarchitecture. During the FIY 2019, 1) we proposed the chaotic neural network reservoir, which
naturally introduces high-dimensional chaotic dynamics into a reservoir network without losing theecho-state property. We confirmed the ability of the proposed network using time-series prediction
and speech recognition; 2) we proposed compact
mathematical models for neuron-like andsynapse-like spintronics devices based on thedevice temperature dynamics; and 3) we proposed
an efficient method to implement small andhigh-speed cryptographic hardware based on theaugmented Lorenz-map, and validated it using
FPGA experiments.
[Staff]
Professor ： Yoshihiko Horio, Ph.D.
[Profile]
Yoshihiko Horio received the B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Keio
University, Japan, in 1982, 1984, and 1987, respectively. He is currently a Professor with the
Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, Japan. From 1987 to 2016, he
was with Department of Electronic Engineering, Tokyo Denki University, Japan, being a Professor
from 2000. From April 1992 to March 1994, he was a Visiting Professor at Center for
Telecommunications Research, Columbia University, U.S.A. His current research interests are in
the area of neuromorphic and brainmorphic hardware systems based on complex physical dynamics,
mixed analog/digital VLSI circuit design, and high-order brain-inspired VLSI systems withconsciousness, self, and embodiment. Dr. Horio received the 3rd Hiroshi Ando Memorial Young
Engineer Award (1990), the IEEE Myril B. Reed Best Paper Award (1991), NCSP Best Paper
Awards (2005, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2020), IEEE NDES Best Paper Awards (2005, 2007), ISCS-ISISBest Paper Award (2008), JSAP Outstanding Paper Award (2019), IEICE NOLTA Lifetime
Achievement Award (2016), and Fellow, IEICE (2018).
[Papers][1] Kurenkov, S. DuttaGupta, C. Zhang, S. Fukami, Y. Horio, and H. Ohno, “Artificial neuron and synapse realized in
an antiferromagnet/ferromagnet heterostructure using dynamics of spin-orbit torque switching,” Advanced
Materials, 1900636, DOI: 10.1002/adma.201900636, 2019.
[2] Y. Horio, “A brainmorphic computing hardware paradigm through complex nonlinear dynamics,” inUnderstanding Complex Systems, Springer, pp. 36-43, DOI: 10.1007/987-3-030-10892-2_5, 2019.
[3] Y. Horio, “Chaotic neural network reservoir,” in Proc. of IEEE The International Joint Conference on Neural
Networks, paper no. N-19290 (5 pages), 2019.

40

Contact to Professor Yoshihiko HORIO : horio@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019
New Paradigm VLSI System Research Group

Realization of a New-Paradigm VLSI-Computing World

New Paradigm VLSI System: Takahiro Hanyu, Professor
Ne w Pa radigm VLSI Design: Masanori Natsui, Asso ciate Professor[Research Target and Activities]
Rapid progress in recent deep submicron regime has led the capability to realize giga-scaled embedded
systems on a chip (SoC), while performance degradation of SoCs due to wiring complexity, power
dissipation and device-characteristic variation are increasingly getting serious problems in the recent
Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) chip. Our research activity is to solve the above problems primarily
by the following two ways: the logic-in-memory architecture based on nonvolatile logic, and thebrainware LSI (BLSI) computing, which would open up a novel VLSI chip paradigm, called a “newparadigm VLSI system.”This year, we have succeeded to design and implement the magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ)-based
nonvolatile logic-in-memory circuit for neural networks (Fig. 1), and the stochastic-computing based
CMOS invertible logic that realizes bidirectional computing for several applications, such as
factorization (Fig. 2).
[Staff]
Professor ： Takahiro Hanyu, Dr.
Associate Professor ： Masanori Natsui, Dr.
Assistant Professor ： Naoya Onizawa, Dr.
[Profile]
Takahiro Hanyu received the D.E. degrees in Electronic engineering from Tohoku University, Sendai,
Japan, in 1989. His general research interests include multiple-valued current-mode logic and its
application to high performance and low-power arithmetic VLSIs.
Masanori Natsui received the Ph.D. degrees in information Sciences from Tohoku University, Sendai,
Japan, in 2005. His research interest includes automated circuit design technique, nonvolatile-based
circuit architecture and its application, and design of high speed low-power integrated circuits.
[Papers][1] M. Natsui, et al., IEEE JSSC, vol. 54, no. 11, pp. 2991-3004, Nov. 2019.

[2] S. Smithson, et al., IEEE TCAS-I vol.66, no. 6, pp. 2263-2274, June. 2019.
[3] N. Onizawa, et al., Journal of Applied Logics, vol.7, no.1, pp.41-58, Jan. 2020.
[4] D. Suzuki and T. Hanyu, JJAP, vol. 58, no. SB, pp.SBBB10~1-SBBB10~7, Apr. 2019

Contact to Professor Takahiro HANYU : hanyu@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

41

2019
Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics
The Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics of the Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication (RIEC) was established in April of 2004. Its purpose is to develop andestablish the science and technology of nanoelectronics and spintronics for information
technology. Utilizing the facilities installed in the Nanoelectronics-and-Spintronics building
and under collaboration between RIEC and related laboratories of the Graduate Schools ofEngineering, Information Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, of Tohoku University, R&D on
nanotechnologies of materials and devices in Nanoelectronics and Spintronics are continued
extensively. Furthermore, nation-wide and world-wide collaboration research projects are
conducted to build a systematic database in electrical communication research.
The Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics mainly consists of laboratories ofNano-Integration Devices and Processing, Spintronics, and Nano-Bio Hybrid Molecular
Devices; together with the project office of the Center for Innovative Integrated Electronic
Systems, and the groups of Ultra-Broadband Signal Processing, Soft Computing Integrated
System and Quantum Devices. These groups cooperatively carry out the research aimed at
establishing a world-wide Center of Excellence (COE) in the research area of nanoelectronics
and spintronics.

Highlights of our research activities in 2019 are shown below.

42

2019
Nano Integration● Nano-Integration Devices and Processing (S. Sato, M. Sakuraba, and H. Yamamoto)(1) Toward the development of neuromorphic computation hardware, we fabricated a spiking
neuron circuit that can reproduce various neuron pulses. We confirmed by electricalmeasurements that the analog MOS circuit, which is composed of about 40 MOS transistors,
successfully operates in the strong inversion region.
(2) By low-energy Ar plasma irradiation at every nanometer-thick deposition of high B
concentration Si film, electrical activation ratio can be improved to 75% successfully, andlow-resistive p-type Si film formation without substrate heating can be realized.
(3) By development of fabrication process of SiC Schottky barrier diode, significant

modulation effect in the rectifying characteristics which was dependent on metal work
function was confirmed, and it was clarified that information on SiC crystal defect could
be estimated from the characteristics.
(4) To investigate the effect of network structure-derived neural dynamics on time-series
information processing, speech recognition task was performed by reservoir computing and its
performance was evaluated from the correctness of the TI-46 sound dataset. Modular
networks which generally possess robustness to noise and device variations, were used as
reservoirs and achieved over 90% correct answer rate.
(5) We studied by numerical simulations on the saturation behavior in quantum Hebb /anti-Hebb learning with our quantum associative memory model, which is inspired byneuromorphic computation, and confirmed that this behavior is originated from quantum
dynamics.
● Soft Computing Integrated System (Y. Horio)(1) We proposed the chaotic neural network reservoir, which naturally introduces
high-dimensional chaotic dynamics into a reservoir network without losing the echo-state
property. We confirmed the ability of the proposed network using time-series prediction andspeech recognition. We also analyzed dynamics of the chaotic neural network reservoir using
entropies, Lyapunov spectrum, and mutual information. In addition, we proposed aninterleave-cyclic circuit architecture to embed the reservoir networks in a 3D VLSI.
(2) We proposed compact mathematical models for neuron-like and synapse-like spintronics
devices based on the temperature dynamics. We tuned the model parameters using
experimental data, and showed that our model can well reproduce device characteristics anddynamics. In addition, we confirmed through network simulations using our models that the
spintronics synapse-like device can be used in a STDP learning neural network.
(3) We proposed an efficient method to implement small and high-speed cryptographic
hardware based on the augmented Lorenz-map, and validated it using FPGA experiments.
Furthermore, we investigated the performance and dynamics of the hardware system withtruncated bit-lengths.

43

2019
Spintronics and Information Technology● Spintronics (S. Fukami)
Our research activities focus on realizing low-power functional spintronic devices. The
outcomes in the last fiscal year are as follows: (1) Developing artificial neuron and synapse
devices based on antiferromagnet/ferromagnet heterostructure operated by spin-orbit torque,(2) putting forward a scheme to reliably determine spin-orbit torque efficiency by means offerromagnetic resonance free from spurious effects, (3) developing new-concept spintronics
that utilizes thermal fluctuation and demonstrating proof-of-concept of probabilistic bit thathas compatibility with quantum bit and probabilistic computers that functions like quantum
annealing machine, (4) measuring spin-transfer torque switching error rate systematicallyand revealing unknown mechanism that governs the spin-transfer torque switching error rate,(5) finding giant perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of Ir/Co/Pt multilayer and elucidating
underlying mechanism, (6) developing synthetic antiferromagnetically coupled skyrmions anddemonstrating current-induced motion without the skyrmion Hall effect which has been oneof the biggest obstacle of applications of magnetic skyrmions, (7) preparing successfully
epitaxial thin films of noncollinear antiferromagnet Mn3Sn and clarifying the relationshipbetween the spin transport properties and crystalline structure, (8) evaluating spin-orbit
torque in PtMn/CoFeB heterostructures as a function of stack structure and temperature anddiscussing the underlying mechanism of the generation of spin-orbit torque in this material
system.
● Ultra-Broadband Signal Processing (T. Otsuji and A. Satou)
The goal of our research is to explore the terahertz frequency range by creating novel
integrated electron devices and circuit systems. III-V- and graphene-based active plasmonic
heterostructures for creating new types of terahertz lasers and ultrafast transistors are major
concerns.
developing

By making full use of these world-leading device/circuit technologies, we are
futureultra-broadband

wireless

communication

systems

as

well

as

spectroscopic/imaging systems for safety and security. The followings are the majorachievements in 2017FSY.
1. Creation of graphene-based current-injection terahertz lasers
Graphene, a monolayer sheet of honeycomb carbon crystal, exhibits unique carriertransport properties owing to the massless and gapless energy spectra, which is expected tobreak through the limit on conventional device operating speed/frequency performances.
Towards the creation of novel current-injection graphene THz laser-transistors, we developed
a graphene laser-transistor featured with our original asymmetric dual-grating gates
demonstrating coherent amplification of THz radiation with the maximal gain of 9% at room
temperature promoted by graphene plasmon instabilities driven by dc-channel current flow.
2. Development of plasmonic terahertz detectors
For future ultrahigh-speed wireless communications, we have developed plasmonic
terahertz detectors with original metallic diffraction-grating structures, which utilize
44

2019
hydrodynamic nonlinearities of two-dimensional plasmons in the channels of InGaAs
high-electron-mobility transistors (InGaAs-HEMTs).

This fiscal year, we experimentallydemonstrated that the photovoltage readout from the gate electrode of a plasmonic terahertz
detector, instead of the conventional drain-readout, enables the impedance matching to a50-Ω interconnection systems and the scaling of the photovoltage with the size of the active
area, both of which are impossible for the drain-readout.
● Quantum Devices (T. Otsuka)
We are exploring interesting properties of solid-state nanostructures utilizing precise andhigh-speed electric measurement and control techniques. We are also developing materials
and devices using nanostructures. Our research activities in FY 2019 are the following.
(1) We developed the local electronic sensors which can directly access local electronic statesin nanostructures utilizing semiconductor quantum dots. We improved the performance byhigh-frequency measurement techniques and data informatics approaches.
(2) We measured local electronic and spin states in semiconductor nanostructures. We
revealed the detail of local charge and spin dynamics induced by the movement of a single
electron.
(3) We conducted semiconductor quantum bit experiments for future quantum information
processing. We demonstrated a reduction of nuclear-spin effects on quantum bit operations,
simulations of quantum error corrections, and quantum non-demolition measurements.
Nano-Bio Hybrid Molecular Devices● Nano-Bio Molecular Devices (A. Hirano-Iwata)
Our research activities focus on development of sophisticated molecular-scale devices
through the combination of well-established microfabrication techniques and various soft
materials, such as biomaterials and organic materials.
1. Development of a biosensor for evaluating drug side-effects on hERG channels based on

artificial bilayer lipid membranes
We developed a biosensor for quantitatively evaluating drug side-effects on hERG
channels, to which binding of drugs leads to lethal arrhythmia. The biosensor utilized abilayer lipid membrane (BLM) combined with a cell-free synthesized proteins. Using thissystem, we succeeded in quantifying drug inhibition effects on the hERG channels in termsof 50% inhibitory concentration.
2. Novel “transistor-like” devices based on a bio/organic hybrid membrane

We fabricated an electrode-equipped Si chip, on which a fullerene-derivative-doped BLM
was formed. Using this system, we were able to modulate the photoresponse of themembrane using the lateral bias applied from the electrodes on Si chip.
3. Biomimetic culture of primary neurons using an ultrasoft silicone gel

We developed a novel system for culturing primary neurons on an ultrasoft silicone gelwith an elastic modulus resembling that of the brain tissue. We showed that thehypersynchronous network activity could be suppressed on the gel surface.
45

2019
Research Targets and Activities of Laboratory for Brainware Systems
The Laboratory for Brainware Systems of the Research Institute of Electrical Communication wasestablished in 2004 and renewed in 2014. Its purpose is to contribute to the research and developmentof advanced information science and technology for Brainware systems which realize a seamless fusionof the changeable and complex real world and the cyber space.
We aim at establishing scientific and technological foundations and at exploring human-likebrainware computing applications for Adaptive Cognition and Action Systems Division (Recognition
and Learning Systems Group), Autonomous Decentralized Control Systems Division (Real-World
Computing Group), Brainware LSI Systems Division (New Paradigm VLSI System Group and Soft
Computing Integrated System Group), and Brain Architecture Division. The Laboratory for Brainware
Systems consists of the above four divisions which cooperatively carry out the research. At the sametime, they serve as a laboratory for nation-wide cooperative research in the field of Brainware systems.
The technology developed in the Laboratory is expected to enhance the research carried out in thefour Divisions of the Institute, and the research conducted in the Divisions, in turn, is expected toprovide scientific basis for the information technology developed in the Laboratory.

[Research Target]
The goal of this facility is to develop fundamental technologies and their applications that willlead the world to the next-generation information system that seamlessly integrates thecyber-physical world and the ever-changing real world. In order to realize this goal, eachlaboratory participating in this facility has set the following individual goals and promotes
research activities as follows:
Real-World Computing Section: The main contributions achieved in 2019 are summarized asfollows: (1) we have clarified a decentralized control mechanism underlying amphibious
locomotion of centipedes; (2) we have developed a brittle star-like robot that can coordinate
flexible limbs; (3) we have proposed a decentralized control mechanism for the body-limb
coordination underlying quadruped locomotion; (4) we have proposed a decentralized control
scheme for versatile locomotion of snakes.
46

Contact to Professor Takahiro HANYU : hanyu@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019
New Paradigm VLSI System Section: Rapid progress in recent deep submicron regime has led
the capability to realize giga-scaled embedded systems on a chip (SoC), while performancedegradation of SoCs due to wiring complexity, power dissipation and device-characteristic
variation are increasingly getting serious problems in the recent VLSI chip. Our research activity
is to solve the above problems primarily by the following two ways: the use of logic-in-memoryarchitecture based on nonvolatile logic, and the use of asynchronous data-transfer schemes basedon multiple-valued current-mode logic, which would open up a novel VLSI chip paradigm, called a“new-paradigm VLSI system.”
Recognition and Learning Systems Section: Humans can perform various actions based on therecognition of the outside world that is constructed through multiple sensory inputs such as visionand touch, even though they frequently move their own body parts in the environment. Here we
investigate the adaptive-process and functions of the human cognitive system for action throughpsychophysical experiments. On the basis of the experimental evidence, we aim to createcomputational models of the recognition and learning processes in the human brain.
Soft Computing Integrated System Section: We are working on a novel high-performance,
highly-efficient, flexible, and robust brain-inspired brainmorphic computer hardware system, inparticular, through physical complex-networked dynamical process using an analog VLSI as acore component. Toward the final goal, we are developing integrated circuit and device
technologies suitable for the brainmorphic computer systems. We further intend to realize an
autonomous brain-inspired computer with a sense of self and consciousness based on dynamic andcomplex changes in spatiotemporal network state and structure.
[Research Activities]
Aiming at the seamless integration of the cyber-physical world and the real world, which is thegoal of Laboratory of Brainware Systems, the following research results were obtained. In
particular, the following research results in fiscal year 2019 are an important step towards thegoal as:--Real-World Computing Section demonstrates "Navigating Land and Water: How Centipedes
Walk and Swim” reported in Scientific Reports.
https://www.tohoku.ac.jp/en/press/navigating_land_and_water.html--New Paradigm VLSI System Section achieves "Average 47μW Operation at 200MHz in a
Nonvolatile Microcontroller Unit for Sensor-Node Applications" reported in Nikkei BP news.
https://xtech.nikkei.com/atcl/nxt/mag/ne/18/00001/00073/--Recognition and Learning Systems Section demonstrates "Directional selectivity of auditory
spatial attention" presented at ICA2019.
http://pub.dega-akustik.de/ICA2019/data/articles/001167.pdf--Soft Computing Integrated System Section develops "Neuron and Synapse-Mimetic Spintronics
Devices" reported in Advanced Materials.
http://www.tohoku.ac.jp/japanese/2019/04/press-20190415-AdvMater.html
The more detailed research results of each section (laboratory) are shown as follows:
Real-World Computing Section:(refer to Real-World Computing Laboratory in Human Information Systems Division)
New Paradigm VLSI System Section:(refer to New Paradigm VLSI System Laboratory in Systems & Software Division)
Recognition and Learning Systems Section:(refer to Visual Cognition and Systems Laboratory in Human Information Systems Division)(refer to Advanced Acoustic Information Systems Laboratory in Human Information Systems
Division)
Soft Computing Integrated System Section:(refer to Soft Computing Integrated System Laboratory in Systems & Software Division)

47

2019
Recognition and Learning Systems Laboratory

Understanding the human recognition and learning systems(Visual Cognition and Systems, Satoshi Shioiri, Professor)(Advanced Acoustic Information Systems, Shuichi Sakamoto, Professor)[Research Target and Activities]
To create computational models of the process that the human brain integrates multiple sensory
inputs from the outside world, we are investigating the visual and auditory functions in the humanbrain for implementing these functions in hardware under biologically plausible settings. Our
approaches include psychophysics, brain wave measurements, and computer simulations.
First, we applied the model of motion in depth based oninterocular velocity difference (IOVD) we have proposed
to a variety of psychophysical experiments of humanperception. We found from the prexition that the IOVD
model can explain higher sensitivity for direction in
depth around the motion direction approaching directly
to the head. The visual system is suggested to use IOVD
cues to analyze motion in depth information for catchinga ball approaching the head or avoiding being hit by anapproaching rock.
Second, we investigated how humans extract target
Figure. Model prediction (red line) of perceived motion
speech information from distractor sounds by using
direction in depth measured by human psychophysicalexperiment (black dots). The dashed line shows the veridical
auditory selective attention. We especially analyzed the
direction and the human data suggest higher sensitivity to theeffect of auditory selective attention in the spatial
direction around zero, which is predicted the proposed model.
domain. The auditory spatial attention is one of theimportant mechanisms to realize cocktail party effects.
By directing the attention to the specific direction, humans can extract the speech sound easily inmulti-talker environment. We measured the shape of spatial window of auditory spatial attention
and revealed that the shape does not depend on the direction where listeners direct their attention.
[Staff]
Professor: Satoshi Shioiri, Ph.D.
Professor: Shuichi Sakamoto, Ph.D.
[Papers]
1. R. Teraoka, S. Sakamoto, Z. Cui, Y. Suzuki, & S. Shioiri, “Directional selectivity of auditory
attentional spotlight in complex listening environment,” Proc. The 23rd International
Congress on Acoustics, 5764 - 5770 (2019)
2. R. Teraoka, S. Sakamoto, Z. Cui, Y. Suzuki, & S. Shioiri, “Temporal characteristics of auditory
spatialattentionon
word
intelligibility,”
Acoustical
ScienceandTechnology 41(1) 394 - 395 (2020)
3. W. Wu, Y. Hatori, CH Tseng, K. Matsumiya, I. Kuriki, & S. Shioiri, “A Motion-in-depth model
based on inter-ocular velocity to estimate direction in depth,” Vision Research (in press)
4. M. Harasawa, Y. Sawahata, K. Kominem, & S. Shioiri, “Effects of content and viewing distanceon the preferred size of moving images,” Journal of vision 20(3) 6 - 6 (2020)

48

2019
Research Center for 21st Century Information Technology
Research and Development of the IT-Based Practical Technology
by the Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration[Research Target and Activities]
The purpose of the IT-21 center is development of practical technologies for IT based on theadvanced technologies of RIEC with the partnership among Industry, Government and University.
The term of development is limited less than 5 years. The projects are planned on matching withboth basic technologies in the University and application in the Industry. Combination of thetechnologies of the University and Industry makes practical technologies with availability for thecommercial products. The center actively accelerates to obtain the intellectual properties generated
from the development of practical technology to the Industry. Last year, the center was reformed andtwo divisions are newly established. One is “Interdisciplinary Collaboration Research Division” andit consists of two projects, “Research project of human value estimation of multimodal information
based on informatics paradigm to manage both quality and value” and “Research project of
spintronics/CMOS-hybrid brain-inspired integrated system”.
Another is “Challenging andExploratory Research Division” and it consists of two projects, “Interactive drone content forentertainment / wildlife symbiosis” and “Wireless IoT Technology for a safe & secure mediciation
management system”. Former “Technology Development Division” was renamed to“Industry-Academia-Government-Collaboration Research and Development Division” and it consistsof one group, “Wireless ICT platform project”. Presently, following projects are carried out in thisgroup.

・R&D on Technologies to Densely and Efficiently Utilize Radio Resources of Unlicensed
Bands
From 2017, the mobile wireless technology group has started a project “R&D on Technologies toDensely and Efficiently Utilize Radio Resources of Unlicensed Bands in Dedicated Areas” supportedby the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. In this project, we are going to develop areal-time frequency monitor to avoid the interference between different wireless systems indedicated areas such as factory or office. This year, we have developed an engineering model ofminiaturized 0.8 to 6GHz-band/real-time spectrum monitor which can detect ms order burst
signal/noise.
・R&D on Adaptive Media Access Control for Increasing the Capacity of Wireless IoT Devices
in Factory Sites
From 2019, the mobile wireless technology group has started a new project “R&D on Adaptive
Media Access Control for Increasing the Capacity of Wireless IoT Devices in Factory Sites” supportedby the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. In this project, we are going to develop a
5GHz-band simplified beam forming wireless IoT communication system using Wi-Fi backscatter.

49

2019

[Staff]Director: Noriharu Suematsu, Professor
Industry-Academia-Government-Collaboration Research and Development Division(Wireless ICT platform project)
Noriharu Suematsu, Leader, Professor
Suguru Kameda, Associate Professor
Mizuki Motoyoshi, Assistant Professor
Takashi Shiba, Specially Appointed Professor
Yasunori Suzuki, Visiting Professor
Interdisciplinary Collaboration Research Division
Satoshi Shioiri, Project Leader, Professor
Takahiro Hanyu, Project Leader, Professor
Challenging and Exploratory Research Division
Yoshifumi Kitamura, Project Leader, Professor
Suguru Kameda, Project Leader, Associate Professor

50

2019
IT21 Center Industry-Academia-Government-Collaboration Research and Development
Division, Wireless ICT Platform Project

Dependable Air

Noriharu Suematsu, Professor (Project Leader)
Suguru Kameda, Associate Professor
Mizuki Motoyoshi, Assistant Professor
Takashi Shiba, Specially Appointed Professor
Quasi-Zenith Satellite
Communication

100000km

Location &Short Message

Universal Clock

Dependable AirSpace(Heterogeneous Air Interface)

10000kmDependable
Network Control
physical distribution

CDMA

TDMA

distance

PDC cdmaOne

1000m

W-CDMA
cdma2000

car/ITS

Dependable
Air Interface

HSPA

Multi-mode/Multi-band
Module802.16e802.20

Cellular

Surface

Wide area
802.11 802.11b

PHS

100m

Wireless LAN

ZigbeeShort range 802.15.4

Non IEEEIEEE (IP friendly)

medicalfarming/fishery/
forestryHighthrouput

802.11a/g

Mobile Internet
smart grid
plant control

LTEhome network

LTEAdvanced
VHT SG
802.11nUltra highthroughput

10mStandard

broadcast/communication
network

OFDMA

Bluetooth802.15.1

UWB

mmWave802.15.3c
802.11ad

RF-ID

10
Sea

100

10k

100k
10M
1M
Broadband
Narrowband

100M

1G
10G
throughput [bit/s]

Fig. Dependable Air.

[Research Target and Activities]
Mobile wireless communication technology is one of the significant communication technologies that
support the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) society, connected with the high-speed
backbone network using optical fiber. Evolution of the mobile wireless communication technology inJapan is indispensable to keep the leadership in this technology area in the world. The mobile
wireless technology group has been proposing the concept of “Dependable Air,” which is aheterogeneous and highly-reliable wireless network. The Dependable Air is able to work even in theevent of a big disaster. The group has started a R&D project “R&D on Technologies to Densely andEfficiently Utilize Radio Resources of Unlicensed Bands in Dedicated Areas” supported by the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications from 2017. The group has also started a new R&D
project “R&D on Adaptive Media Access Control for Increasing the Capacity of Wireless IoT Devices in
Factory Sites” supported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications from 2019.
[Staff]
Professor: Noriharu Suematsu, Ph.D
Associate Professor: Suguru Kameda, Ph.D
Assistant Professor: Mizuki Motoyoshi, Ph.D
Specially Appointed Professor: Takashi Shiba, Ph.D
[Papers][1] N. Suematsu, M. Motoyoshi, S. Kameda, N. Suematsu, Invited Paper, "Direct Digital RF Technology," IEICE Trans.
Commun., Vol. J102–C, No. 11, pp. 297–304, Nov. 2019

Contact to Professor Noriharu SUEMATSU : suematsu@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

51

2019
Interdisciplinary Collaboration Research Division

Research project of human value estimation of multimodal information basedon informatics paradigm to manage both quality
Satoshi Shioiri, Dr. Professor
Nobuyuki Sakai, Dr. Professor[Research Target and Activities]
Human facial expression is related to emotion, perception, cognition, decision and so on. We
attempted to predict human preference judgments of images using machine learning methods fromfacial expression while participants were evaluating image contents. We compared performance of
three machine learning methods, and found that facial expression provides useful information for
estimating human judgments.

AUfeaturesEye gazefeatures

Machinelearning
models

Prediction ofsubject’s
preferences
What are factors
related to subject’s
preference
judgements?

Fig. 1 Estimation of human preference judgments from facial expressions and eye gazes.① Subjective judgments: evaluation of
two questions for lunch box images. ② Facial expression analysis ③ Prediction of subject’s preference by some machinelearning models. ④ Investigation of the factors related to subject’s preference judgements.

[Staff]
Professor ： Satoshi Shioiri, Dr.
Professor ： Nobuyuki Sakai, Dr.
Assistant Professor : Kosuke Yamamoto, Dr.
[Profile]
Satoshi SHIOIRI Professor Shioiri graduated Tokyo Institute of Technology and received Dr. Eng
in 1986. In 2005, he joined Tohoku University and he has been a professor of Research Institute ofElectrical Communication of Tohoku University since then.
Nobuyuki Sakai graduated from Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University in 1998.
Then he worked at Hiroshima Shudo University and National Institute of Advanced and Industrial
Science and Technology (AIST) , Kobe Shoin Women’s University. He, then, moved to Sendai in
October 2011, and he is a professor of Graduate School of Arts and Letters of Tohoku University
now.

[Papers]
[1]

[2]
[3]

52

H. Mattout, H. Wang, Y. Hatori, Y. Sato, K. Matsubara, Y. Wada, C. H. Tseng, I. Kuriki, S. Shioiri,
Convolutional Neural Networks for humanlike Image Assessment, I-PERCEPTION 10 170 - 170, September,
2019, APCV 2019, Osaka
Y. Horaguchi, Y. Sato, CH Tseng, I. Kuriki S. Shioiri, Estimation of preferences to images by facial
expression analysis, IEICE Technical Report, vol. 119, no. 348, HIP2019-66, pp. 7-12
N. Sakai, Top-down processing in food perception: Beyond the multisensory processing,Acoustical Science andTechnology, 42, 182-188, 2020, DOI: 10.1250/ast.41.182

2019
Exploratory Research DivisionInteractive Drone Content for Entertainment / Wildlife Symbiosis
Yoshifumi KITAMURA, Professor[Research Target and Activities]
This project aims to develop core technologies of interactive drone content for real industrial use
including entertainment and wildlife symbiosis, through close industry/academia/government
cooperation. It is expected to support continuous development of drone technologies through thisinnovation and produce new industry and services in response to societal needs.
The followings are current research projects:(1) Development of intuitive user interface for a drone pilot(2) Development of crow-type-drone to communicate with crows.
(3) Techniques for video sharing and distribution for enhancing entertainment of drone race.
[Staff]
Professor: Yoshifumi Kitamura, Dr.
[Profile]
Yoshifumi Kitamura: Since 2010, Yoshifumi Kitamura has been Professor in the Research Instituteof Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. Prior to arriving at Tohoku, he was an Associate
Professor at Graduate School of Engineering, and Graduate School of Information Science andTechnology, Osaka University. While working at ATR Communication Systems ResearchLaboratories, he focused on sophisticated user interfaces in virtual environments. His first formal
appointment was in the Information Systems Research Center Canon Inc., where he was involved
in research on artificial intelligence, image processing, computer vision, and 3D data processing.
His formal education was obtained at Osaka University, B.Sc (1985); M.Sc. (1987); and Ph.D.
(1996).
[Papers][1] Ryotaro Temma, Kazuki Takashima, Kazuyuki Fujita, Koh Sueda, Yoshifumi Kitamura:
Third-Person Piloting: Increasing Situational Awareness using a Spatially Coupled Second
Drone, Proceedings of User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), 507-519, October 2019.
[2] Keisuke Imoto, Naoki Tsukahara, Ken Nagataand Koh Sueda: Crow sound detection based ongated convolutional recurrent neural network, Acoustical Science, Vol. 75, No. 10, 559-567,
2019.

53

2019
IT21 Center
Exploratory Research Division
Wireless IoT Technology for a Safe & Secure Medication Management System

Safe & Secure Medication Management System using Wireless IoT Technology
Suguru Kameda, Associate Professor (Project Leader)
Noriharu Suematsu, Professor
Takahiro Hanyu, Professor
Kazushi Ishiyama, Professor
Naofumi Homma, Professor
Qiand Chen, Professor
Mizuki Motoyoshi, Assistant Professor
Sensor IC
ID1# of
non-doses
1

ID3

1

ID

1mm

Controller,
TX/RX, etc.

ReaderID3

Tablet & Capsule (with sensor)

Tablet & Capsule

Fig.1 Battery-less tablet-ID# of doses

ID1

2

ID2

1

ID1

ID:2
ID1

Reader(placed near
the throat)

ID2
ID1

Fig.2 Safe medication management system

pasting-type sensor[Research Target and Activities]
Medical costs that continue to increase with progress in aging society and medical advances areserious social problems on the worldwide scale. In order to reduce medical expenses, it is indispensable
to construct a medication management system that enables inventory control and confirmation ofingestion.
This division conducts exploratory research on establishing a safe medication management systemusing wireless IoT technology. The goal of this research is the realization and practical implementationof system construction that allows patients to take medication management just by taking tablet-type
medicine. In this research, we are now studying for the battery-less tablet-pasting-type sensor by
applying wireless IoT technology.
In this year, we developed low power ASK transmitter for wireless transceiver of battery-less sensor
node. The fabricated IC using 65nm bulk CMOS process performs 60.7 GHz with 180 W power
consumption with 50 Mbps.
[Papers][1] M. Motoyoshi, et al., "60 GHz 180 W Power Consumption CMOS ASK Transmitter Using Combined On-ChipResonator and Antenna," IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics , vol. E102-C, no. 10, pp. 725-739, Oct. 2019.

54

2019
Management Office for Safety and HealthRealizing and Maintaining a Safe and Comfortable Environment to Support
Research[Research Target and Activities]

Safety and health seminarFirst aid training course
1. Outline of the Management Office for Safety and Health
The Management Office for Safety and Health is established to maintain the safety and health ofstudents and staff working at the institute. The use of chemicals, high-pressure gas and radiation in
research activities at the institute entails many risks. The Management Office for Safety and Healthprovides support for safety and health management in research laboratories, experimental facilities
and the Fundamental Technology Center through various activities to ensure safe and smooth
research activities within the institute.
2. Activities by the Management Office for Safety and Health
For the actual management of safety and health at the office, the Safety and Health Committee firstpresents the basic policies of safety management at the institute, and the Management Office for
Safety and Health then plans and executes activities based on them. At the institute, laboratories andother individual sections are highly independent of each other; unlike a general corporate organization,
top-down safety management is not suitable and measures appropriate for independent sections need
to be taken. Various considerations are also necessary for students, researchers, and other members
engaged in research activities as well as faculty staff. At this institute, extremely hazardous materials
and facilities are used, including chemicals, high-pressure gas, and X-ray devices. Since there is also aclean room and other special workplaces, safety management should be extended by considering them.
In these circumstances, the Management Office for Safety and Health will monitor situations andcharacteristics in each section at the institute, plan and recommend practical management methods
and improvement measures, and support their implementation for the efficient and effective
management of safety and health. The main activities in this fiscal year are as follows:○ Holding safety and health seminar and high-pressure gas seminar for staff and students at theinstitute○ Inspection of and assistance in improving the safety and health management system and working
environment within the institute○ Holding first aid training course○ Investigation of laws related to safety and health and collection of information regarding safety
and health management○ Providing advice and information to safety and health personnel in each department[Staff]
Manager: Kazushi Ishiyama, Professor

Deputy Manager: Yoichi Uehara, Professor
Nobuyuki Sato, Assistant Professor
Maho Abe, Technical Staff

Haruka Takahashi, Clerk
anzen@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

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Flexible Information System Center
Development and Management of Flexible Information System[Research Target and Activities]
The present information systems represented bycomputers are inflexible systems, because their uses
are predefined and they provide only the fixed
processing and functions. The flexible information
system on the other hand, is a system which canperform the flexible information processing adapted
to the human intention and situation of its
environment beyond the limitations of the principlesof the inflexible information processing. The aims ofthis center are to manage and operate information
networks and systems based on the concept of theflexible information system, and support smooth
research activities of RIEC.
Figure 1 RIEC network system
Moreover, utilizing technical know-how acquired
through applying the information networks andsystems to practical use, we also design and construct a leading-edge system for advanced
organization, utilization, administration, operation and dispatching of scientific information.
1. Information collection, organization, dispatching, utilization and research support environment.
2. Advanced maintenance, management and operation of network.
3. Technical supports for information networks and systems in the institute.

[Staff](1) Steering Committee
Professor: Atushi Ohori, Dr., Masafumi Shirai, Dr., Takuo Suganuma, Dr., Hiroshi Yasaka, Dr., Akio
Ishiguro, Dr., Go Hasegawa, Dr.
(2) Regular Staff
Associate Professor: Gen Kitagata, Dr.
Technical Official: Masahiko Sato, Kenji Ota
Technical Support Member: Mutumi Syutou, Riho Ooizumi

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fir@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

2019
Fundamental Technology Center
Supporting research with high-level specialized knowledge and technology

Overview of the Fundamental Technology Center[Research Target and Activities]
The Fundamental Technology Center provides a wide range of technical support for research anddevelopment through four divisions: Machine Shop Division, Evaluation Division, Process Division, andInformation Technology Division. The following is a summary of the activities of the divisions of theFundamental Technology Center for the current year.
1. Machine Shop Division
Following requests from researchers, the Machine Shop Division supplied 128 machining products.
About 27% of the requests were from outside the institute.
2. Evaluation Division
The 22 laboratories utilized the evaluation and measurement apparatuses for shared usage (theutilization time was 4585 hours). Four glass processing products were supplied. Technical assistance
was provided on the use of liquid helium and 583 liters of liquid nitrogen were supplied. In cooperation
with the administration and the management offices for safety and health, this division also engaged
in safety maintenance of the institute.
3. Process Division
In cooperation with the technical office, a section of the Laboratory for Nanoelectronics andSpintronics, 141217 Electron-beam lithographic products, of 141 and photomask of 25 photomasks and
8 focused-ion-beam micro products were supplied in cooperation with the technical office, a section ofLaboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics.

Technical supports were provided for operating theclean room of the Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics.
4. Information Technology DivisionThis division operated the in-house network at the institute and maintained shared-useinformation-equipment, in cooperation with the Flexible Information System Center. This division also
engaged in the contracting aspects of collaborative research based on intellectual property rights andgave advice to researchers who tried to apply for the grant of patents.
eac@riec.tohoku.ac.jp

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[Staff]Director (Professor): Shigeo SATO.
Assistant Professor: Nobuyuki SATO.
Technical Officials:

Tamotsu SUENAGA, Kento ABE, Yasuaki MAEDA, Kana SEKIYA, Maho ABE,
Takenori TANNO, Hiroyuki YAGYU, Iori MORITA, Rikima ONO,

Michimasa MUSHA, Masahiko SATO, Yuko MARUYAMA,
Kenji OHTA, Koichi SHOJI.

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Ad-hoc research groups
Taking advantage of the wide range of expertise in the institute, ad-hoc research groups areformed outside of the formal organizational structure to investigate challenging exploratory topics
and needs-based, cutting-edge subjects.

[Group of multimodal attention]
Selecting information obtained through sensory organs by attention is inevitable to live thecomplicated world with dynamic changes. A number of studies have investigated the mechanisms ofattention related to cognitive processes, and little is known about attention effect on action. This
research group investigates representation of space in the brain, which expresses the outside space
based on multiple sensory information. We hypothesize that attention in the multi-sensory spatial
representation is crucial toselect action. We investigated interaction between visual and auditory

attention and found the effect of visual attention on auditory perception. We also started toinvestigate method to measure self-initiated attention as the KAKENHI (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific
Research (A)) project entitled 'Control of audiovisual attention by spontaneous attention,' which
was accepted in 2019.

[Cyber-Physical Security Research Group]
For the next-generation information and communication infrastructures such as IoT, M2M, and
CPS, we aim to developing advanced information security technologies to ensure security andreliability at the level of vast and diverse information sources (i.e., embedded devices such as sensor
terminals) in a vertically integrated manner by various researchers from the viewpoints of software
constitutive theory, system security, hardware security, circuit architecture, next-generation
microprocessor, and so on. In this year, we continued discussion about our goal and research
direction with several seminars and meetings.

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[Brainmorphic Nano-Devices and Circuits Research Group]
Brain-inspired hardware systems have been actively developed recently. However, a big
break-through to the true brain-like system has not been reached yet. This research group aims at
development and implementation of novel brainmorphic computational hardware that reproduces
the bio-physics and dynamics in the brain directly through dynamics and physics of nano-devices
and ultra-low-power integrated circuits based on the latest physiological knowledge. In this year,
we continued discussions on a basic strategy to propel collaborative researches on brainmorphic
hardware and biotronics from broad perspective that includes brain science, spintronics,
analog/digital integrated circuits, cultured neurocyte, and nonlinear complex dynamics. As a result,
we succeeded to obtain large research grants including JST CREST, JSPS KAKENHI (Grant-in-Aid
for Scientific Research (S) and (A)). In addition, our activities lead to further applications for
KAKENHI (Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas, and another Grant-in-Aid for
Scientific Research (S) (Both of them are under examination)).

[Group of developing the AI clone system]
The aim of the group is to adopt knowledge of the cognitive science to AI (artificial intelligence) andAR (augmented reality) technology. Specifically, we develop "AI clone", which is the model ofrecognition and action characteristics of a person. AI clone enables others to re-experience thetarget person's recognition and action with AR interface. Our goal is to establish the newcommunication technology that improves mutual understanding among people with differences in avariety of aspects, using AI clone and AR interface. We applied KAKENHI (Grant-in-Aid for
Challenging Research) grant to investigate action property of person with visual deficits.

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Division for the Establishment of Frontier Sciences
Multimodal Cognitive System Division

Research project on multimodal information integration based on foodperception.
Integration

Classical Bottom‐Up model for perception of foodExpectation for Taste

Top‐down model for perception of food in this research

Fig. 1 The model adapted in this research is shown in right panel. The perception of food is based on interactive
top-down processing of multimodal sensory inputs, not on simple integration of sensory inputs.
Nobuyuki Sakai, Dr. Professor[Research Target and Activities]
In this year, we have done some experiments about the followings; the interaction between foodtexture and kinetic sensation of masticatory muscle; the difference of olfactory perception via
orthonasal route with retronasal route; the effects of visual stimuli on olfactory brain processing
investigated by fMRI and fNIRS, etc. We have also started the cognitive studies about the effect ofaudition on binocular rivalry, the differences of attentional system of vision and of audition, theinteractive mechanisms of audition with somatosensation, and the comparison of the effects ofvision with audition on affection and arousal.
[Staff]
Professor ： Nobuyuki Sakai, Dr.
Assistant Professor : Kosuke Yamamoto[Profile]
Nobuyuki Sakai graduated from Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University in 1998.
Then he worked at Hiroshima Shudo University and National Institute of Advanced and Industrial
Science and Technology (AIST) , Kobe Shoin Women’s University. He, then, moved to Sendai in
October 2011, and he is a professor of Graduate School of Arts and Letters of Tohoku University
now.
[Papers][1] T. Onuma and N. Sakai, Choosing from an Optimal Number of Options Makes Curry and Tea More Palatable,
Foods, 8, 145, 2019 doi:10.3390/foods8050145[2] N. Sakai, Top-down processing in food perception: Beyond the multisensory processing, Acoustical Science andTechnology, 42, 182-188, 2020, DOI: 10.1250/ast.41.182[3] N. Sasaki and N. Sakai, Activity in the cerebral corticies accompanying emotional arousal, Tohoku Psychologica
Folia, 78, 34-45, 2020

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Spintronics/CMOS Hybrid Brain-Inspired Integrated Systems

Ultralow-power Spintronics/CMOS hybrid Brain-inspired VLSI for Edge Devices
Spintronics/CMOS Hybrid Brain-Inspired Integrated Systems

Tetsuo Endoh, Professor[Research Target and Activities]
The purpose of our research activity is tobreak ground for a new AI hardware
approach across from the fundamental
science of material and information to thedevices, circuits, architecture and software
technology to develop the novel highefficient and low power brain-inspired
computing hardware system for precise andreal-time processing of information value
judgment, choice, and refusal. This year, we
Realization of ultralow-power nonvolatile brain-inspiredcompleted building the design platform for
VLSI based on novel Spintronics/CMOS hybrid approach
300-wafer 55nm-MTJ Spintronics/CMOS
hybrid Brain-inspired circuit. Moreover, in the “von Neumann” approach, we well established the key
component technology – “spike-driven high-speed power gating” with the demonstration of ourpreviously designed nonvolatile multi-core associative processor system for the power consumption
reduction of VLSI engines employing spike neural network architecture. Furthermore, in the“non-von Neumann” approach, we proposed and elementarily verified our novel nonvolatile
mixed-signal SNN core architecture based on the 4T-2MTJ synapses for ultralow-power object
recognition accelerators in battery-driven edge devices.
[Staff]
Professor ： Tetsuo Endoh, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor: Yitao Ma, Ph.D.
[Profile]
Tetsuo Endoh received the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering from Tohoku University in 1995.
He joined Toshiba Corporation in 1987 and became a Lecturer at the RIEC, Tohoku University, in
1995, an Associate Professor in 1997, and a Professor in April 2008. From 2012, he has been a
Professor at the Graduate School of Engineering and director of CIES and CSIS, Tohoku University.
He is a JSAP Fellow. He was the recipient of the LSI IP Design Award (2001), the JJAP Paper
Award (2009), the 6th Fellow Award of the JSAP (2012), and the SSDM Paper Award (2012), the14th Prime Minister’s Award for its Contribution to Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration(2016), and National Invention Award (2017).
Yitao Ma received the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering from The University of Tokyo, in
2011. He works in Tohoku University as an Assistant Professor of the Graduate School ofEngineering from 2018, and then an Assistant Professor of the RIEC since 2019. He has been the
key member of many projects such as JST-CREST, CSTI-FISRT, JST-ACCEL, CSTI-ImPACT,
JST-OPERA, and CSTI-SIP.
[Papers][1] Tetsuo Endoh, ISSCC 2020 Forum, San Francisco, USA, February 16 2020.
[2] Tetsuo Endoh, IEEE CPMT Symposium Japan 2019, Kyoto, Japan, November 19 2020.
[3] Yitao Ma, et al., JJAP, Vol. 59, No. 59, SGGB18(1-11), March 2020.
[4] Yitao Ma, et al., SSDM 2019 , Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan, September 4-9 2019.

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Center for Science and Innovation in Spintronics (CSIS)＜Overview＞＞
Establishment: January 30, 2018
Organization: Director: Yoshio Hirayama (Professor, Graduate School of Science)
Number of academic members: 39 (concurrent members from Grad. School of Science, Grad.
School of Engineering, IMR, RIEC, IMRAM, AIMR, FRIS, CSIS, CIES, and CSRN, Tohoku
University)
Mission: Creation of world-leading research center pioneering in so-called “Spin-Centered Science” bystrategic consolidation of excellent researchers from foreign leading universities infundamental and applied fields.
Research activities:
Spin-centered fundamental science, advanced spintronic materials, spintronic devices, andintegration technology of spintronic devices.
＞＜Major activities in FY2019＞
・Leading innovation in spintronics
Excellent 15 proposals were adopted to the cooperative research projects in CSIS were adopted to promoteinternational collaborations as well as those beyond the organizations at Tohoku University. In particular,
additional budget was provided to the 4 most excellent proposals to accelerate the collaborations.
・Employing excellent young researchers
Excellent young researchers including 4 assistant professors from foreign countries and 2 posdoc
researchers were employed in CSIS to promote collaborations beyond the organization at Tohoku University.
・Promoting international academic exchangeInternational workshops were held to promote academic exchange between CSIS and foreign leading
universities; University of York (in May, 2019), Purdue University, Lorraine University, and Mainz
University (in September, 2019). The 3rd Symposium for the Core Research Clusters for Materials Scienceand Spintronics was held at Sendai International Center in February, 2020. More than 250 participants
including speakers invited from 10 countries attended the symposium.

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Center for Innovative Integrated Electronic Systems (CIES)＞＜Overview＞
Establishment: The CIES was established in October 2012 to enhance industry-academia collaborations
and contribute to further development of the electronics industry. The building of the CIES wasconstructed in March 2013 as the first Science Park in this country by a private donation locatedin Aobayama New Campus at Tohoku University.
Organization: Director: Tetsuo Endoh (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering)Number of staff: 80 (including appointments across Graduate School of Engineering, Graduate
School of Information Sciences, RIEC etc.)
Mission: The CEIS researches and develops integrated electronic technologies with various research seeds
that Tohoku University has and abundant results of industry-academia collaboration as centripetal
force. And the CIES pursues to contribute to the enhancement of global competitiveness in thefield of next generation integrated electronics systems by establishing an international industryacademia collaboration base. Further, the CIES aims for practical use of the technologies in thisfield and is aiming to create new industries.
Research topics: Research and development by industry-academia joint research projects, national research
projects, community-based cooperation projects and so on, the CIES promotes the following
research and development themes; 1) IT field centered on from next-generation semiconductor
memory to electronic device components such as high-performance printed-circuit board,packaging, and image processing technologies, and 2) car-electronics field

including electronic

automotive components.
＜Major activities in FY2019＞＞
CIES has managed the “CIES consortium” which consists of industry–academic collaborations, major
national projects (CAO SIP 2nd, JST OPERA, JSPS Core-to-Core, NEDO projects and JAXA Space
Exploration Innovation Hub) and community-based cooperation projects in cooperation with various
international and domestic companies from material, equipment, devices and system aiming for the practicalapplications of innovative core technologies created by Tohoku University. The research and development fieldhas been expanded from spintronics to AI hardware and power electronics, and the industry-academic
collaborations have been significantly expanded from seven to eighteen. Companies participating in the CIES
consortium have been steadily increasing and the consortium has grown into the world's largest one in thisresearch field. Here, these companies utilized “a special private-sector investment promotion zone system (forinformation service-related industries)” under a joint application from Miyagi prefecture and local
municipalities, and “financial assistance according to the amount of property tax paid (created under anagreement between Tohoku University and Sendai City)”.
CIES has developed a variety of innovative technologies with world-first 300mm wafer process line andfacilities operated by the university for prototype manufacturing and characterizing spintronics integrated
circuits compatible with world-class companies, and has made progress in developing IoT and AI systems that

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2019
require ultra-low power consumption. Specifically, we succeeded in developing a 128Mb STT-MRAM forcache applications with the world's highest write speed performance (14 ns), and a highly reliable magnetic
tunnel junction device (MTJ) for the 1Xnm generation that can extend the data retention time by one million
times compared to the conventional technology at 125°C under the environment of 150°C which is theautomotive specification. We have also demonstrated the world's first high-performance, low-power, nonvolatile spintronics microcomputer with less than 50μW at 200MHz. Industry-academic collaborations on
next-generation power devices has also made significant progress, confirming the high-frequency operation ofultra-small inverters using GaN on Si power devices, which is expected to greatly contribute to theelectrification of automotives and power savings in data centers. We utilize the two core technologies of
spintronics technology and power electronics technology, which are the world's most advanced technologies
that we have researched and developed at CIES, and aim to develop IoT / AI systems that are indispensablefor the realization of Society 5.0 and require ultra-low power consumption.
In addition, aiming to contribute to the development of the innovative integrated electronics business andfurther advancement of industry-academia collaboration, Prof. Tetsuo Endoh founded Tohoku University
venture, "Power Spin Corporation". In the regional collaboration, we promoted a technology matching
program for regional and local companies with cooperation of Miyagi Prefecture, Iwate Prefecture etc., which
resulted in a progress of commercialization and contributed to rebuild the Tohoku area and assist the region.
In order to establish world leading R&D base for integrated electronic systems and AI hardware, we willcontinue to create innovative core technologies and contribute to the industry and the enhancement of global
competitiveness by the practical applications, and “new creation and innovation” through global and regional
partnership.

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2019
Research Organization of Electrical Communication（ROEC）
Communication（（ROEC））
Towards Construction of Disaster-Resistant Information Communication Network[Purpose of our establishment]
Many serious problems have become clear as a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which exposed theweaknesses of the most advanced information communications network in the world by severing the mobile phone andoptical fiber lines thus cutting off essential telecommunications services. To solve these problems, Tohoku
University’s Disaster Reconstruction and Regeneration Research Project includes an ICT Reconstruction Project for
restoring information communication. The mission given to the researchers in the Electrical Engineering andInformation Sciences group after the disaster was to achieve a disaster-resistant information communication network
through the ICT Reconstruction Project, taking the needs of the disaster areas into consideration.
To realize this network, we needed to employ the combined strength of our problem-solving abilities by linking
researchers in electrical engineering and the information sciences across multiple faculties, including the School ofEngineering, the Graduate School of Information Sciences, the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, theCyberscience Center, and the Research Institute of Electrical Communication. These faculties and schools came
together to form a new organization that could create close and flexible links between researchers and organizations,and on October 1, 2011 we established the Research Organization of Electrical Communication (ROEC) (Fig.1). The
ROEC intends to take an all-Japan approach based on collaboration between industry, academia and government, andassemble expertise from the university with the participation of related local governments, private companies, publicresearch organizations, and other universities with the goal of developing the most advanced disaster-resistantinformation communication network in the world (Fig.2).
[Main Activities]
Since
2012,2012,
we havebeenbeen
promoting
12 disaster-resilient
ICTICT
projects
supportedᙊ䌀Since
we havepromoting
12 disaster-resilient
projects
supportedbybythe
theMinistry
MinistryofofInternalInternal Affairs
AffairsandCommunications.
In
2019,
seven
ongoing
and
three
novel
projects
werepromoted.
We
have
also
been
engagedand Communications. In 2019, seven ongoing and three novel projects were promoted. We have also been engaged
in projectproject supported
supported byby OPERA,
lecture toto thein
OPERA, JST.
JST. InIn addition,
addition, we
we carried
carried out
out lecture
the local
local governments,
governments, etc
etc withwithrevisedbytheDisasterResistant
ICT
Research
Council.
The
research"Disaster-resistant
ICT
introduction
guidelines""Disaster-resistant ICT introduction guidelines" revised by the Disaster Resistant ICT Research Council. The research
results produced
produced byby thethe promoted
promoted projects
projects wereNewsletters publishedpublished inin 2019.
2019.
results
were presented
presented inin ROECROEC NewslettersFig.1 Research Organization of Electrical Communication.

Fig.2 Overview of ICT Reconstruction Project.

[Staff]Prof. Hirohito Yamada (Executive Director)
Prof. Taiichi Otsuji (Vice Executive Director)
Specially Appointed Prof. Hiroyuki Ogawa (Vice Executive Director)
Specially Appointed Prof. Katsumi Iwatsuki (Research Administrator)
Mr. Masato Kaneko (Office Manager)
Ms. Ayako Murakami (Manager)
Ms. Izumi Ishikawa (Secretary)[Papers][1] F. Adachi, “Wireless Evolution Towards 5G,” (Keynote) International Symposium on Networks, Computers andCommunications, Nisantasi University, Istanbul, Turkey, 18-20 June, 2019..
[2] Morihiko Minowa, Hiroyuki Seki, Yukihiko Okumura, Satoshi Suyama, Jun Terada, Satoshi Shigematsu, Yasushi
Takatori, Hiroaki Asano, Yukio Hirano, Yasushi Yamao, Fumiyuki Adachi, and Masataka Nakazawa, “5G R&D
Activities for High Capacity Technologies with Ultra High-Density Multi-Band and Multi-Access Layered Cells,” inProc. IEEE VTC Spring 2019, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April, (2019).
[3] T. Kan, M. Yoshida, K. Kasai, T. Hirooka, K. Iwatsuki, and M. Nakazawa, "Demonstration of on-line bi-directional
10-RRHs with an 80Gbit/s/RRH capacity using 256 QAM WDM coherent transmission for next generation mobile
fronthaul”, presented in Radio Access Networks Session, ECOC2019.

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Center for Spintronics Research Network (CSRN)＜Overview＞＞
Establishment: April 1, 2016
Organization: Director: Koki Takanashi (Director, Professor, IMR)
Number of academic members: 67 (including 2 full-time members and the other concurrent
members from Grad. School of Science, Grad. School of Engineering, IMR, RIEC, IMRAM,
AIMR, CSIS, CIES, and FRIS, Tohoku University)
Mission: The center will be the hub of a network to promote collaborations with other research institutions
within Japan and overseas, aiming to (1) improve competitiveness of world-leading
spintronics research in Japan, (2) create new branches and enhance existing areas of industry,and (3) foster the next- generation human resources.
Research activities:[Spintronics Device Creation Division]
We develop advanced systems and devices for energy creation and energy saving by using
spintronics technology to provide eco-friendly infrastructure and to innovate conventional
information and communication technology.
[Spintronics Device Characterization Division]
We develop advanced measurement techniques to characterize the behavior of spins in
integrated spintronics devices. We also clarify the physical mechanism of the behavior of spinsin spintronics devices theoretically to propose innovative spintronics devices.
＞＜Major activities in FY2019＞
・Cooperative Research Project
We adopt 58 cooperative research projects to promote collaborations with other spintronics researchers.
The collaborators belong 40 institutions in Japan and 22 overseas institutions (in 11 countries). For detail, see
the following URL: http://www.csrn.tohoku.ac.jp/
・Academic Meetings
For promoting exchange and fostering human resources of spintronics researchers, CSRN jointly hosted 6
international conferences, 4 domestic workshops, and 6 seminars/schools. A series of CSRN seminars has
been started as a new activity. In FY2019 three CSRN seminars were held by inviting the speakers fromdomestic and overseas institutions.

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Advanced Institute for Yotta Informatics＜About the Center＞＞
Establishment：April 1, 2018
Based on research activities as a Program for Key Interdisciplinary Research of Tohoku
University from 2015 to 2017, Advanced Institute for Yotta Informatics was granted by
MEXT in 2018.
Organization：Director: Satoshi Shioiri (Director, Professor, RIEC)
Number of members: 34 (RIEC, Graduate School of Engineering, CIES, Graduate School ofArts & Letters, Graduate School of Information Sciences, Graduate School of Economics
and Management, Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Graduate School of
Education, Graduate School of Life Sciences)
Research Target：Novel science and technology to manage both quantity and quality of yotta-scale
information, in order to establish the future ICT technology and new humanics bycollaborative work of engineering and human and social science.
Research Activities：The amount of information is rapidly increasing, which is projected to reach to theamount of one yotta (1024 ) bytes. Ordinary extension technology of the conventional ICT
cannot cope with such gigantic amount of information, therefore essential paradigm change
for the information processing is indispensable. In this institute, we aim at the new
information science, which can manage the quality of information as well as the information
amount. For the sake, experts of information engineering, human and social science fromdepartments are discussing about interdisciplinary collaborating works to understand thequality and value of information, as well as the quantity. The value information is the key
properties for the future informatics to receive the full benefit of the information in theupcoming “beyond the big data” era.
＜Major Achievements in 2019＞＞
1. We have started or continued 9 interdisciplinary projects that lead the new information science, which canmanage the quality of information as well as the information amount and select important information
appropriately. We published 81 papers and 125 presentations (including 35 invited talks), and proceededwith 19 external grants in this year.
2. We co-organized a RIEC international symposium “Tohoku U - NTU Symposium: When AI Meets
Human Science," and planed, but postponed due to covid-19 pandemic, an international symposium“Symposium of Yotta Informatics – Research Platform for Yotta-Scale Data Science 2020”.
3. We continued RIEC Nation-wide Cooperative Research Projects (International Cooperative Research
Project), proceeding cooperative research with an overseas research institute. To establish an open
innovation platform for information-quality informatics studies, we continued an interdisciplinary projectwith the IT-21 Center in collaboration with Division for Interdisciplinary Advanced Research and
Education.

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2019
Leading Graduate Program “Interdepartmental Doctoral Degree Program for
Multi-Dimensional Materials Science Leaders”＜Overview＞＞
Establishment: October, 2013
Organization; Program manager: Masahiro Yamaguchi (Vice President for Educational Reforms andInternational Strategy)
Program coordinator: Tetsuya Nagasaka (Professor, Grad. School of Engineering)
Program members: about 60 academic staffs in Tohoku University
Mission; Cultivating human resources through creating leaders who have a firm grasp of the fundamentals
of material science and extensive research experience.
The term “multi-dimensional” (MD) refers to the extensive, panoramic perception of materials
through dimensions such as functionalities, characteristics, processes, environmental
compatibility, economics, safety, and assessment techniques.
＞＜Major activities in FY2019＞
In FY2019, 4 new students joined the program and 50 students in total learned the fundamental andspecialized subjects and joined long-term internship at domestic corporations and foreign institutions.
The leading program accomplishment debriefing meeting was held at the Graduate School of Engineering,Tohoku University on September 20, 2019. Three elected students form the MD program gave presentationsin the meeting and the prize for 2019 excellent students was in the program was awarded.
The 5th Symposium between the MD program and Ambitious Leaders program (Hokkaido University)
was held at Katahira campus of Tohoku University during October 11-13, 2019. Presentations by finishedtrainees and lectures on venture companies followed by a workshop of group activities for preparing businessplans were carried out during the symposium.

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2019
Graduate Program in Spintronics (GP-Spin)＜Overview＞＞
Establishment: April 1, 2015
Organization: Head of the Division for International Joint Graduate School Programs: Masahiro

Yamaguchi (Vice President for Education Reform and Global Engagement)
Graduate Program in Spintronics (GP-Spin) Program Director: Yoshiro Hirayama (Professor,
Graduate School of Science)
Program members: 21 academic staffs in Tohoku University
Foreign organization: Johannes Gutenberg Univ. Mainz (Germany), Univ. Regensburg(Germany), Tech. Univ. Kaiserslautern (Germany), Tech. Univ. München (Germany), Univ.
Lorraine (France), Univ. Chicago (USA), Tech. Univ. Delft (The Netherland), Univ. Groningen(The Netherland), Tsinghua University (Chaina)
Mission: Education of world-class leaders in spintronics from fundamental to applications
Activities: (1) Education by world-leading professors from all departments and institute in Tohoku
University with participation from all over the world(2) Joint education with foreign organization including joint supervised degree/joint degree,
mutual visit and long-term internship, international school/workshop, qualifying examination
to guarantee the educational quality＞＜Major activities in FY2019＞
In FY2019, seminars and lectures were given by world-leading researchers invited from University ofYork, NIST, Polish Academy of Science, and so on, during their stays in Tohoku University.
A workshop was held at Tohoku University on August 30, 2019 for improving presentation skills of
GP-Spin students. International workshops were held in Purdue University (September 11, 2019) andUniversity of Lorraine (September 17-20, 2019). In Lorraine, students organized meeting was also held. Theinternational symposium was held at Sendai from February 9 to 11, 2020, together with material sciencegroup and one of the session was organized by GP-Spin program. A seminar organized by GP-Spin students
was held during February 20-21, 2020 at AIMR, Tohoku University. Lectures were given by researchers
invited from Korea University, Ewha Womans University, University of New South Wales and MIT. Poster
presentations were also given by students and young researchers in Tohoku University.

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Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan
WISE Program (Doctoral Program for World-leading Innovative & Smart Education)
Advanced Graduate Program for AI Electronics＜About the Center＞＞
Establishment：Adopted October, 2018.
It has been adopted by the WISE Program (Doctoral Program for World-leading Innovative& Smart Education) of MEXT. This program is a new education program that starts fromFY 2018.

Organization：Chief executive: Hideo Ohno (President of Tohoku University)
Program leader: Masahiro Yamaguchi (Vise-President of Tohoku University (Education
Reform / International Strategy))
Program coordinator: Toshiro Kaneko (School of engineering, Professor)
Program manager: Approximately 60 people (including managers and a coordinator)

Target of Program：In this Graduate School Program, we will foster world-class talented doctors who canmake an innovation continuously through the learning of “an practical ability”, “solving ofsocial problems”, “creation of novel value”, and “an ability that can see real space andcyber space in Society 5.0 with wide perspectives”.

＜Major Achievements in 2019＞＞
For the first year students, "Interdisciplinary Education" and "Industry-Academia
Collaboration Education" were conducted, and PBL (Project Based Learning) course wasstarted. In addition, we have promoted the development of basic facilities and curricula
necessary for industry-university cooperation education. In addition, we held a symposiumon the results of learning. We recruited and selected 20 new students (7 new M1, 6 new M2,
and 7 new D1) for the second year (2020) of the program.

71

2019
４.

Nation-ｗide Cooperative Research Projects

The Institute has a long history of fundamental contributions in many fields of engineering andscience that include the fields of semiconductor materials and devices, magnetic recording, opticalcommunication, electromagnetic technology, wireless communication, applications of ultrasoniccommunication and acoustic communication, non-linear physics and engineering, and computer
software. On the basis of this rich historical background the Institute was designated as a National
Center for Cooperative Research in 1994. Accompanying Tohoku University’s transformation to “anational university juridical entity” in April, 2004, this institution plays a leading role on the worldstage, as its researchers, both domestic and foreign, continue the task of “investigating the theory
and application of universal science and technology to realize communication, to the enrichment of
humanity.”
With this background, the Institute organizes Nation-wide Cooperative Research Projects bycoordinating its activities with research workers. The main themes for Cooperative Research are
selected annually by the Committee for Cooperative Research Projects. Then invitations for project
proposals and participation are extended to university faculties and government laboratories aswell as industrial research groups. Each project approved by the Faculty Council of the Institute iscarried out by a team of researchers that include members of the Institute as well as outside
participants.
The Advisory Council which includes members from other institutions has an advisory function to
the Director in defining the general direction of the research at the Institute and its Nation-wide
Cooperative Research Projects.
The Project Selection Committee that includes members from outside of Tohoku University has a
Judging function for project proposals. The purpose of the Project Steering Committee is the proper
operation of approved projects.

72

2019
Nation-wide Cooperative Research Projects List 2019
Grant
NumberTitle of Research

Principal Investigator

Research
Collaborator
of RIECUCHINO Takashi
Department of Electrical andElectronic Engineering, Faculty ofEngineering,Tohoku Institute of Technology

OTSUJI
Taiichi

Study on single-crystal graphene
H29/A07
devices

NAGASE Masao
Graduate School of Technology,
Industrial and Social Sciences,
Tokushima University

OTSUJI
TaiichiAtomic Control in New Group-IV
H29/A08 Semiconductor Nanostructures forHigh- Performance Device

SAKURABA Masao
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

SAKURABA
Masao

Study of the effect of post-deposition
H29/A09 processing on various type high-k/Ge
structure

OKAMOTO Hiroshi
Graduate School of Science andTechnology,
Hirosaki University

SATO
ShigeoMEZIANI Yahya Moubarak
Fisica Aplicada,Salamanca University

OTSUJI
Taiichi

Massive Connect IoT Using a
H29/A12 Precision Position and Time
Information on QZSSOGUMA Hiroshi
Department of Electronics andComputer Engineering,
National Institute of Technology,
Toyama College

KAMEDA
SuguruStudies on direct digital RF
H29/A13transceivers

SUEMATSU Noriharu
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

SUEMATSU
Noriharu

H29/A02

H29/A10

H29/A16Development of low-loss flexible
metamaterials

Development of graphene based
devices for terahertz applications

TOKUNAGA Rumi
Cultural and individual differences inCollege of Liberal Arts and Sciences,color lexicon
Chiba University

KURIKI
IchiroDevelopment of Ion channel sensing
system with high sensitivity and high
H29/A17
accuracy based on silicon
microfabrication and lipid bilayers

TERO Ryugo
Department of Environmental andLife Sciences,
Toyohashi University of Technology

HIRANO
Ayumi

Speech intelligibility evaluation andH29/A18 its estimation for development of
outdoor public address system.

KOBAYASHI Yosuke
Graduate School of Engineering,
Muroran Institute of Technology

SAKAMOTO
Shuichi

73

2019

Grant
Number

H29/A19

Title of ResearchGaze Visualization in CooperativeWork

Principal Investigator

KIYOKAWA Kiyoshi
Graduate School of Information
Science,Nara institute of science andtechnology

HORIO YoshihikoPractical applications of nonlinear andResearch Institute of Electrical
H29/A21 complex systems theory to nonlinearCommunication,complex engineering systems
Tohoku University

KITAMURA
Yoshifumi

HORIO
YoshihikoTemporal characteristics of
H29/A22 multisensory auditory spaceperception

HONDA Akio
Faculty of Informatics,
Shizuoka Institute of Science andTechnology

SAKAMOTO
Shuichi

Immersive experience of virtual
auditory environment: investigating
H29/A23
influence of physical parameters ofheight ambiences

KIM, Sungyoung
Electrical, Computer andTelecommunications Engineering
Technology,
Rochester Institute of Technology

SAKAMOTO
Shuichi

The effect of attention on the
H29/A25 integration of image components in
the human visual system

CHEN Chien-Chung
Department of Psychology,
National Taiwan University

TSENG
Chia-huei

TSENG Chia-huei
Social communication: behavioral and Research Institute of Electrical
H29/A26
Communication,
brain representations
Tohoku University

74

Research
Collaborator
of RIEC

TSENG
Chia-huei

Next Generation Information Flow
H29/A27 Processing Platform for Human-inthe-loop IoT

YAMAGUCHI Hirozumi
Graduate School of Information
Science and Technology,
Osaka University

KITAGATAGen

The source-direction dependency of
H29/A28 pinna shape and acoustic transfer
function

ITO Masashi
Faculty of Engineering,Tohoku Institute of Technology

SAKAMOTO
Shuichi

ZABIR Salahuddin Muhammad
Salim
Research on the development of a new
H29/A29
Department of Creative Engineering,
generation IoT platform
National Institute of Technology,
Tsuruoka College

KITAGATAGenIMAIZUMI Fuminobu
Formation of MEMS with BiFeO3 thin Department of Mechanical
H29/A32 films and wireless communication
Engineering,
technology
National Institute of Technology,
Oyama College

KAMEDA
Suguru2019

Research
Collaborator
of RIEC

Grant
NumberTitle of Research

Principal Investigator

H29/A33

Development study on high sensitivegas sensors with titania nanotubes

NIWANO Michio
Kansei Fukushi Research Institute,
Tohoku Fukushi University

HIRANO
Ayumi

KUBOTA Shigeru
Graduate School of Science andEngineering,
Yamagata University

HIRANO
Ayumi

KAMIYA Haruyuki
Graduate School of Medicine,
Hokkaido University

HIRANO
Ayumi

Analyzing the relationship between
H29/A34 network structure and function incortexH29/A35

Understanding and reconstruction ofminimal brain

KITAMURA Yoshifumi
Creative Application of 3D Magnetic
Research Institute of Electrical
H29/A36 Motion Tracking System to Music: theCommunication,
CubeHarmonic
Tohoku University

KITAMURA
Yoshifumi

FUKIDOME Hirokazu
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

FUKIDOME
Hirokazu

Study on advanced devices using
H30/A01 operando spatiotemporal x-ray
spectroscopy

H30/A02

KANEKO Toshiro
Creation of Bio-Medical Devices Using
Graduate School of Engineering,
Gas-Liquid Interfacial Plasmas
Tohoku University

Development of vibrational
spectroscopy having high temporal
H30/A05and spatial resolution and its
application to devices

H30/A06

Development of general control
techniques of quantum systems

INAOKA Takeshi
Department of Physics and Earth
Sciences, Faculty of Science,
University of the Ryukyus

UEHARA
YoichiFUKUHARA Takeshi
Center for Emergent Matter Science,
RIKEN

OTSUKA
Tomohiro

ISHIHARA Jun
Control of spin state in semiconductor Department of Applied Physics,
H30/A07
using photon-spin conversion
Faculty of Science,
Tokyo University of Science
Nanoscale optical measurement andH30/A08 ultimate photoelectronic control ofcarbon nanomaterials

HIRANO
Ayumi

KATANO Satoshi
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

KANAI
Shun

KATANO
Satoshi

75

2019

Grant
NumberTitle of Research

H30/A09

Informatics approaches in quantum
devices

Principal Investigator

SHIGA Motoki
Faculty of Engineering,
Gifu University

OTSUKA
Tomohiro

Energy Harvest applied Active
H30/A11 Reflectarray for Mobile IoT searchrange expansion

MARUYAMA Tamami
Department of Production Systems
Engineering,
National Institute of Technology,
Hakodate College

SUEMATSU
Noriharu

A Study of delay-sensitive accessnetwork configuration using widely
H30/A12frequency selectable optoelectronics
devices

YOSHIMOTO Naoto
Faculty of Science and Technology,
Chitose Institute of Science andTechnology

OTSUJI
TaiichiSingle and coupled hard-type
oscillators using resonant tunneling
H30/A13
diodes and their application to THz
signal processing

MAEZAWA Koichi
Graduate School of Science andEngineering,
University of Toyama

OTSUJI
Taiichi

Loss Analysis of High Efficient
H30/A14
Contactless Power Transmission

INAMORI Mamiko
Department of Electrical andElectronic Engineering,
Tokai University

KAMEDA
SuguruStudy on method for modulating
H30/A15
emotional experience by choice.

ONUMA Takuya
Faculty of Humanity-oriented Science SHIOIRISatoshiand Engineering,
Kindai University

Modulation of peripersonal space
H30/A16 representation by self-motion
information

TERAMOTO Wataru
Graduate School of Social andCultural Sciences,
Kumamoto University

SAKAMOTO
Shuichi

Study of difference between monaural MORIKAWA Daisuke
H30/A17 listening and binaural listening on
Faculty of Engineering,sound space perception
Toyama Prefectural University

SAKAMOTO
ShuichiEmergency vital measurement using
H30/A18 flexible fiber electrode underelectromagnetic environment

TORIMITSU Keiichi
Research Organization of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

Research on gravimetric technology
ARAYA Akito
H30/A19 for monitoring volcanic activities using Earthquake Research Institute,an optical fiber network
The University of Tokyo

76

Research
Collaborator
of RIECSUEMATSU
Noriharu

YOSHIDA
Masato

2019

Grant
NumberTitle of Research

Principal Investigator

Research
Collaborator
of RIEC

Hardware Technology for Brain
H30/A20
Computation

SATO Shigeo
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

SATO
ShigeoResearch on development of flexible
H30/A24 pressure sensors based on PVDF thinfilms

TADAKI Daisuke
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

TADAKI
Daisuke

Basic study on Perceptual User
H30/A26
Interfaces for Interaction with IoT

OMATA Masaki
Graduate Faculty of Interdisciplinary
Research,
Yamanashi University

KITAGATAGen

Brain-like Integrated System using
Thin-Film Devices

KIMURA Mutsumi
Faculty of Science and Technology,
Ryukoku University

HORIO
Yoshihiko

H30/A29

Hardware security technologies for
IoT

OGUMA Hiroshi
Department of Electronics andComputer Engineering,
National Institute of Technology,
Toyama College

HOMMA
Naofumi

H30/A30SATO Fumiaki
Advanced IoT Infrastructure Based on
Faculty of Science,Intelligent Edge
Toho University

H30/A32

A Malware Detection System for
Secure Campus BYODs

SATOH Akihiro
Information Science Center,
Kyushu Institute of Technology

KITAGATAGen

H30/A33

Research of human life support basedon agent IOT

UCHIYA Takahiro
Information Technology Center,
Nagoya Institute of Technology

SAKAMOTO
Shuichi

H30/A34

Development of Metal Source/Drain
CMOS on Ge-on-Insulator

NAKASHIMA Hiroshi
Global Innovation Center,
Kyushu University

SAKURABA
Masao

Research about quantum devices
utilizing phonon

TAKADA Shintaro
National Metrology Institute of Japan,
OTSUKA
Research Institute for PhysicalTomohiro
Measurement,
National Institute of Advanced
Industrial Science and Technology

H30/A28

H30/A35OHORI
Atsushi

77

2019

Grant
NumberTitle of Research

Research
Collaborator
of RIEC

KANAYA Haruichi
Research of on-chip terahertz antenna Graduate School of Information
H30/A37
for ultra-wideband communication
Science and Electrical Engineering,
Kyushu University

SUEMATSU
Noriharu

YOSHIDA Satoshi
Research Field in Engineering,
Science and Engineering Area,
Research and Education Assembly,
Kagoshima University

MOTOYOSHI
MizukiHigh-frequency/Broadband Magnetic
H30/A40 Film-type Noise Suppressor for Nextgeneration Mobile Communication

MUROGA Sho
Graduate School of Engineering
Science,
Akita University

HASHI
Shuichiro

Quantification of basic visual
H30/A41 properties in high dynamic range
scenesNAGAI Takehiro
School of Engineering,Tokyo Institute of Technology

KURIKI
IchiroJapan-USA International
Collaborative Research on Terahertz
H31/A01 Devices based on GraphenePhosphorene van der Waals
Heterostructures

MITIN, Vladimir
Department of Electrical Engineering, OTSUJI
Taiichi
University at Buffalo, The State
University of New York

Fabrication of high performance
H31/A02 quantum device with atomically thinlayered materials

KATO Toshiaki
Graduate School of Engineering,Tohoku University

H30/A38

Millimeter-wave array antenna using
multi-layered substrateOTSUKA
Tomohiro

Formation of Self-Aligned Si-Ge based MIYAZAKI Seiichi
H31/A04 Quantum Dots and Characterization Graduate School of Engineering,of Their Electrical Properties
Nagoya University

SATO
ShigeoDynamics of spin-orbit torque induced
TRETIAKOV Oleg
switching of metallic
H31/A05
School of Physics,
antiferromagnet/non-magnet
University of New South Wales
heterostructures

FUKAMI
Shunsuke

Study on spin transport properties and ISOGAMI Shinji
development of highly efficient
Research Center for Magnetic and
H31/A06 magnetization switching devices using Spintronic Materials,
transition metal compounds with 2p- National Institute for Materials
orbital light elements
Science

SHIRAI
Masafumi

Development of high Q microwave
H31/A07
resonators for quantum detection

78

Principal Investigator

INOMATA Kunihiro
Nanoelectronics research institute,
Advanced Industrial Science andTechnology

SATO
Shigeo2019

Principal Investigator

Research
Collaborator
of RIEC

Quantum state estimation by 2H31/A08 dimensional Fourier transform
coherent spectroscopy

OGAWA Yoshihiro
Mathematics and Science Education,
National Institute of Technology,
Joetsu University of Education

MITSUMORI
Yasuyoshi

Development of non-volatile phase
H31/A09 transition oxide elements targeting
application for optoelectronics

SAKAI Joe
Oxide Nanophysics Group,
Catalan Institute of Nanoscience andNanotechnology

UEHARA
YoichiStudy of ferromagnetic resonanceinduced by spin orbit torque and the
H31/A10phase rockling via spin waves for dc
drive microwave oscillators

KODA Tetsunori
General Education Division,
National Institute of Technology,
Oshima College

HASHI
Shuichiro

High-Speed Driver for Optical
H31/A11 Modulators using InGaAs HEMTs
with Slant Field Plates

UMEDA Yohtaro
Faculty of Science and Technology,
Tokyo University of Science

SATOU
Akira

Study of the open environment for
H31/A12sharing vision models

SAKAI Ko
Faculty of Engineering Informationand Systems,
Tsukbua University

SHIOIRI
Satoshi

Grant
NumberTitle of ResearchCommunication system for controlling TANAKA Akihiro
H31/A13 human cognition and behavior from
Department of Psychology,
kansei information speech
Tokyo Woman's Christian University

SAKAMOTO
ShuichiPre-verbal infant learning: Infants'
H31/A14 preference and understanding fromeye movements and pupil dilation

CINDY Chiu
Department of Community Health,
Tohoku University

TSENG
Chia-huei

Home reproduction of threeH31/A15
dimensional sound

ANDO Akio
Graduate School of Science andEngineering for Research,
University of Toyama

SAKAMOTO
Shuichi

Improvement of outdoor mass
H31/A16 notification sound systems byreconstructing speech structures

CUI Zhenglie
Media Informatics,
Aichi University of Technology

SAKAMOTO
Shuichi

Performance Evaluation ofCongestion-based Congestion Control
H31/A17
over Heterogeneous Wireless
Networks

UTSUMI Satoshi
KITAGATA
Faculty of Symbiotic Systems Science,
Gen
Fukushima University

79

2019

Grant
NumberTitle of Research

Principal Investigator

Development of compact quantum
H31/A18 light source using a gain-switchinglaser diode

MATSUDA Nobuyuki
Graduate School of Engineering,Tohoku University

EDAMATSU
Keiichi

Exploration of a new electricaldetection method of magnetization
H31/A19 dynamics in CoFeB-MgO magnetic
tunnel junction structure withperpendicular anisotropy

Eli Christopher Inocencio Enobio
Department of Physics,
Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology

FUKAMI
Shunsuke

high-dimensional quantum optics via
H31/A20
multi-pixel photon detection

KANEDA Fumihiro
The Frontier Research Institute forInterdisciplinary Sciences,
Tohoku University

BAEK
Soyoung

A Study on Time Synchronization
H31/A21 Performance of Software DefinedRadio for Rapid Prototyping

YAMADA Yoji
Department of Electronics andInformation Engineering,
National Institute of Technology,
Ishikawa College

KAMEDA
SuguruJOSHI Anirudha
IDC School of Design,
IIT Bombay

KITAMURA
Yoshifumi

Development of a re-experiencing
H31/A23
system for learning supports

SHIOIRI Satoshi
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

SHIOIRI
Satoshi

Performance Analysis for
H31/A24 Heterogeneous Environment ofInternet Congestion Control

UTSUMI Satoshi
HASEGAWA
Faculty of Symbiotic Systems Science,Go
Fukushima University

Development and improvement of
H31/A25 wireless medication compliancemonitoring system

HOSHI Kenji
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical
University

H31/A22

H31/A26

Interactive Content for Emergent
Users

Study of 2D nanomaterial devices forterahertz applications

KITAGATAGenAMINE El Moutaouakil
OTSUJI
Department of Electrical Engineering,Taiichi
United Arab Emirates University

Collaborative Study on theDevelopment of Fixed Observing
SUGIYASU Kazuya
equipment for Disaster Risk Reduction International Research Institute of
H31/A27
used by IoT :Focus on the connected
Disaster Science,
operation of daily and emergency
Tohoku University
situations

80

Research
Collaborator
of RIEC

YOKOTA
Nobuhide

2019

Grant
NumberTitle of Research

Principal Investigator

Research
Collaborator
of RIECAKIMOTO Kohei
Department of Intelligent
Mechatronics, Faculty of Systems
Science and Technology,
Akita Prefectural University

MOTOYOSHI
Mizuki

Redesigning the D-FLIP system: aphoto management system for the
H31/A29
elderly and the technologicallyinexperienced

CHINTAKOVID/Thippaya
Department of Library Science,
Faculty of Arts,
Chulalongkorn University

KITAMURA
Yoshifumi

Japan-Russia International
collaborative research on high
H31/A31 sensitive and tunable roomtemperature plasmonic
photoconductive antenna-detector

DMITRY Ponomarev
Laboratory of high-power microwave
and mm-wave applications,
Institute of ultra high frequency
semiconductor electronics of Russian
academy of sciences

OTSUJI
TaiichiResearch on magnetic device foradvanced communications equipment
H29/B02
by observation and control ofmicrostructure of magnetic material

IKEDA Shinji
Faculty of Production Systems
Engineering and Sciences,
Komatsu University

ISHIYAMA
Kazushi

H31/A28

Wireless Propagation Channel for
Body Ara Network

CHIKYOW Toyohiro
Study on Semiconductor Device andCenter for Material Research by
H29/B03 its Integrated Electronics Systems for Information Integration ,High Efficiency Energy Utilization
National Institute for Materials
Science

HANYU
Takahiro

Research on new concept devices with
WATANABE Heijinano materials / silicon integrated
H29/B05
Graduate School of Engineering,
circuit hybrid technology and its
Osaka University
application for information processing

HANYU
Takahiro

Smart Spectrum and Its Applications
for IoT Era

FUJII Takeo
Advanced Wireless andCommunication Research Center,
The University of ElectroCommunications

KAMEDA
SuguruAdvanced high-frequency circuit
H29/B07 technology for realizing wireless IoT
and its application

ITOH Nobuyuki
Faculty of Computer Science andSystems Engineering,
Okayama Prefectural University

SUEMATSU
Noriharu

Full-Coherent Communication andMeasurement Systems Aiming at
H29/B08
Seamless Interface Between Lightand Micro-Waves

TSUCHIDA Hidemi
Electronics and Photonics ResearchInstitute,
National Institute of Advanced
Industrial Science and Technology

HIROOKA
Toshihiko

H29/B06

Spatial User Interface by
YAMAMOTO Goshiro
H29/B09 Understanding Human's Physical and Kyoto University Hospital,
Spatial Behaviors
Kyoto University

TAKASHIMA
Kazuki

81

2019

Grant
NumberTitle of Research

Research
Collaborator
of RIEC

SAKURAI Kenzo
Faculty of Liberal Arts,
Tohoku Gakuin University

SAKAMOTO
Shuichi

Search Science: an interdisciplinary
H29/B12endeavor

TSENG Chia-huei
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

TSENG
Chia-huei

Neuromorphic computing utilizing
H29/B15
novel solid-state devices and circuits

FUKAMI Shunsuke
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

FUKAMI
Shunsuke

HANYU Takahiro
International Research Collaboration Research Institute of Electrical
H29/B17of Brainware LSI and Its Applications Communication,
Tohoku University

HANYU
Takahiro

HOMMA Naofumi
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

HOMMA
NaofumiUEHARA Yoichi
New developments and applications ofResearch Institute of Electrical
H29/B20 semiconductor technologies based on
Communication,
university-industry collaboration
Tohoku University

UEHARA
Yoichi

H29/B11Multisensory integration including
self-motion perception

Advanced Hardware Security
H29/B18
Technology

Development of wide area vocal
H29/B21system for crows' beh82

Principal Investigator

TSUKAHARA Naoki
Center for Bioscience Research and
Education,
Utsunomiya University

KITAMURA
Yoshifumi

Formation of spatial and temporal
ANDO Akira
H30/B04 structures and various reactive fields Graduate School of Engineering,in plasma flows
Tohoku University

ISHIYAMA
Kazushi

H30/B06 Research on optical space mode

HAMAMOTO Kiichi
Faculty of Engineering Sciences,
Kyushu University

YOSHIDA
MasatoFunctionalization of oxide surfaces
H30/B07and its application to nanodevices

HIROSE Fumihiko
Graduate School of Science andEngineering,
Yamagata University

HIRANO
Ayumi

2019

Grant
NumberTitle of Research

Establishment of information science
approach and psychological
H30/B08 verification method for intellectual
productivity acquisition in group
discussion

Principal Investigator

Research
Collaborator
of RIECITOH Yuichi
Graduate school of Information
Science and Technology,
Osaka University

TAKASHIMA
KazukiEstablishments of Optimal Design and
SEKIYA Hiroo
High-Efficiency Control Scheme for
H30/B12
Graduate School of Engineering,High-Frequency Wireless Power
Chiba University
Transfer Systems

HORIO
YoshihikoHigh-dimensional neural dynamics to
H30/B13 develop next-generation neural
hardware

HIROSE Akira
Graduate School of Engineering,Tokyo University

SATO
ShigeoH30/B14 Future Office Space and Interaction

FUJITA Kazuyuki
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

FUJITA
Kazuyuki

H30/B15

SUEDA Koh
The study of interactive entertainment
Media Science Laboratory,
systems for drone race
Digital Hollywood University

KITAMURA
Yoshifumi

Development of Swarm Intelligence
Optimization based on Nonlinear
H30/B17
Dynamical Systems Theory and Its
Application

JINNO Kenya
Faculty of Knowledge
Engineering,Department ofInformation and Communication
Engineering
Tokyo City University

HORIO
Yoshihiko

Empirical Research on
H30/B18 Infrastructurization of Ubiquitous
Computing

MURAO Kazuya
College of Information Science andEngineering,
Ritsumeikan University

KITAGATAGen

H30/B20

TSUTSUI Ken-Ichiro
Understanding the brain mechanisms
Graduate School of Life Sciences,of "mind"
Tohoku University

SHIOIRI
SatoshiInformation-related Functional
H31/B01 Expression in Hybrid Plasmas ofPhysical and Chemical Systems

KOGA Kazunori
Faculty of Information Science andElectrical Engineering,
Kyushu University

SATO
ShigeoPrecise understanding and function
H31/B02 development of non-equilibrium
dynamics in solid state devices

KOBAYASHI Kensuke
Graduate School of Science,
Osaka University

FUKAMI
Shunsuke

83

2019

Grant
NumberTitle of Research

Principal Investigator

Research
Collaborator
of RIEC

Studies on Elemental Technologies for KONNO Keisuke
H31/B03 Development of The Next Generation Graduate School of Engineering,
Wireless Communication Systems
Tohoku University

MOTOYOSHI
MizukiDevelopment of next-generation
academic community that applies
H31/B04
human-computer interaction
researches

SAKAMOTO Daisuke
Graduate School of Information
Science and Technology,
Hokkaido University

KITAMURA
Yoshifumi

HCI Research Community
H31/B05
Development in Asia

KITAMURA Yoshifumi
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

KITAMURA
Yoshifumi

Visual KANSEI mechanisms for
H31/B06
SHITSUKAN and color perception

OKAJIMA Katsunori
Faculty of Environment andInformation Sciences,
Yokohama National University

KURIKI
IchiroHAYASHI Yuichi
Graduate School of Information
Science,Nara Institute of Science andTechnology

ISHIYAMA
Kazushi

SUEDA Koh
Smart System Institute,
National University of Singapore

KITAMURA
Yoshifumi

H31/B07

Croatia - Japan Electromagnetic
Compatibility Workshop

Study group on UAV
application/technology and its social
H31/B08
implementation for regional
revitalization

New development of practical research KOGI Yuichiro
H31/B09 on microwave and laser-based
Department of Engineering,
synthetic aperture radar
Fukuoka Institute of Technology

YASAKA
Hiroshi

KASHIWAZAKI Hiroki
Wide-area Distributed Cooperation
Center for Cybersecurity Research and KITAGATA
H31/B10 and International Deployment of EdgeGen
Development,
Computing Infrastructures
National Institute of Informatics

H31/B11

A study on static analysis for a
dynamic language and its realization

User Interface for Viewing andH31/B12
Editing Complex Graph Contents

84

MATSUMOTO Yukihiro
Board,
Ruby Association

UENO
Katsuhiro

FUJITA Kazuyuki
Research Institute of ElectricalCommunication,
Tohoku University

FUJITA
Kazuyuki

2019

Grant
NumberTitle of Research

Principal Investigator

Research
Collaborator
of RIEC

H31/B13KOHDA Makoto
Spin-orbit induced spin dynamics andGraduate School of Engineering,its manipulation in solid states
Tohoku university

H31/B14

Building a design platform for energy
magnetics equipment

YAMAGUCHI Masahiro
Graduate School of Engineering,Tohoku University

ISHIYAMA
Kazushi

H31/B15

Studies on Generative Technology for
Enriched Multimedia

SONODA Kotaro
Graduate School of Engineering,Nagasaki University

SAKAMOTO
Shuichi

H31/B16

Reliable Software Construction basedon Type-directed Compilation

MORIHATA Akimasa
UENO
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences,
Katsuhiro
Tokyo University

H31/B17

PSDL: Physical Security of Deep
Learning

BHASIN Shivam
Temasek laboratories,
Nanyang Technological University

HOMMA
NaofumiSHAO Xun
Division of Information andCommunication Engineering,
Kitami Institute of Technology

HASEGAWA
Go

Study of Dynamic Service
H31/B18 Orchestration for Mobile Edge
Computing

VERBAUWHEDE Ingrid
Securing IoT devices against EM Fault Electrical Engineering, COSIC
H31/B19
Injection
research group,
KU Leuven

KANAI
Shun

HOMMA
Naofumi

H29/S1

Project for creation ofinterdisciplinary, advanced scienceand technology based on coherent
wave

MIMURA Hidenori
Research Institute of Electronics,
Shizuoka University

YASAKA
Hiroshi

H29/S2

Collaborative Research on
Nano-electronics

UDAKA Katsuyuki
Research Organization for
Nano & Life Innovation,
Waseda University

UEHARA
YoichiAI and Human Studies

Su-Ling Yeh
AI and Advanced Robotics Center,
Institute Graduate School National
Taiwan University

SHIOIRI
Satoshi

H30/SI1

85

2019
５.

Symposium organized by the InstituteThis Symposium is planned to exchange relevant information on current important topics
concerning Electrical Eng., Electrical Communications, Electronic Eng., and Information Eng.
Many related researchers inside and outside Tohoku University participate the Symposium
and stimulate discussion.

Symposium In Past
1

Title

Date

Quantum Electronics of Liglht Waves and Micro Waves

Feb. 6- 8, 1964

Magnetic Recording

Feb.14-15, 1964

2 Ultra-High Frequency Acoustelectronics

Feb.11-12, 1965

3 Artificial lntelligence

Mar. 8- 9, 1966

4 Thin Film Electronics

Jan.26-27, 1967

5 Crystal GrowthDec. 19-20, 1967

6 1968 Sendai Svmoosium on Acoustelectronics

Aug.19-20, 1968

7 Current Status and Future Trends of Superconductivitv

Jan.22-24, 1970

8 Soeech Information Processing

Feb.24-26, 1971

9 Surface Acoustic Wave Technology

May.25-26, 197210

Liquid Crystals · Their Molecular Orientations and Application to
Display Devices

11 Computer Network
12

The Memorial Symposium on the 40th Anniversarv of the Foundation of
RIEC

Dec.13-14, 1974
Mar.17-18, 1975
Sep.25-26, 1975

13 Application of Amorphous Ferromagnetic Materials

Mar.10-11, 1977

14 Stoichiometry of Compound Crystals

Nov.24-25, 1977

15 Submillimeter Waves

Nov.16-17, 1978

16 Solid State Chemical Sensors

Feb. 1- 2, 1980

17 Graph Theory and Algorithms

Oct.24-25, 1980

18 Perpendicular Magnetic Recording

Mar.11-12, 1982

19 Approach to Optical Computer

Mar.10-11, 1983

20 Plasma Non-Linear Phenomena - Basic Problems for Fusion Plasmas

Mar. 8- 9, 1984

21 New Computer Architecture

Jul.25-26, 1985

22 Guided Wave Technology and Its Application at Mid-Infrared

Mar.13-14,1986

23 Physics and Applications of Tunnelling Phenomena

Mar.12-14, 1987

24 Biomagnetics and Bioelectronics

Feb.26-27, 1988

25 Ultrasonic Electronics - New Applications of Piezoelectricity

Feb. 2- 3, 1989

26 Boundaries between Light and Electromagnetic Wave

Feb. 1-2, 1990

86

2019
Title

Date

27 Issues and Realization of Pattern Recognition and Understanding

Feb.28-Mar.1,1991

28 Discrete Algorithms

Oct.17-18, 1991

29

Perspective for New Computing Paradigm

Feb. 4- 5, 1993

Current Status and Future Prospects of System Control

Mar. 3- 4, 1993

30 Future Prospects of Electron Beam Devices

Nov. 1- 2, 1993

31 Discharge and EMC

Dec.20-21, 1994

32 Statistical Physics and Information Science

Mar.22-23,1995

33 Photo-and Plasma-Excited Processes on Surfaces

Nov.30-Dec.1,1995

34 Nano Spinics and Power Electronics

Feb.15-16, 1996

35 Potential Formation and Related Nonlinear Phenomena in Plasmas

Sep.17-19, 1996

36 New Trend in Ultrasonic Measurements

Feb. 3- 4, 199737

Toward the Realization of the High-Definition Multi-Media
Communication

Nov. 4- 6, 1997

87

2019
International Symposium Organized by the Institute
1
2
3
4
5
6

Title
Intrinsic Josephson Effect and THz Plasma Oscillation in High Tc
Superconductors
Design and Architecture of Information Processing Systems Based on
The Brain Information Principle
Novel Techniques and Applications of Millimeter-Waves
The International Joint Conference on Silicon Epitaxy andHeterostructures
International Workshop on Photonic and Electromagnetic Crystal
Structures
Physics and Application Spin Related Phenomena in Semiconductors

Date
Feb.23-25, 1997
Mar.16-18, 1998
Dec.14-16, 1998
Sep.13-17, 1999
Mar.8-10, 2000
Sep.13-15, 2000

7 Rewriting in Proof and Computation

Oct.25-27, 2001

8 Nonlinear Theory and its Applications

Oct.28-Nov.1, 2001

9 New Paradigm VLSI Computing

Dec.12-14, 2002

10 Ultra High Density Spinic Storage System
3rd International Workshop on New Group IV (Si-Ge-C)
11
Semiconductors
3rd International Workshop on High Freaqency Micromagnetic Devices
12and Materials (MMDM3)
4th International Conference on Silicon Epitaxy and Heterostructures
13(lCSl-4)
1st International WorkShop on New Group IV Semiconductor
14
Nanoelectronics
GSIS International Symposium on Information Sciences of New Era:
15
Brain, Mind and Society
The 1st RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics -Spin Transfer
16
Phenomena4th International Workshop on High Frequency Micromagnetic Devices
17
and Materials (MMDM4)
4th International Conference on Physics and Applications of18
Spin-Related Phenomena in Semiconductors (PASPS-lV)
2nd International Workshop on New Group IV Semiconductor
19
Nanoelectronics
20 2nd RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics

Oct.23-24, 2003

Japan-China Joint Conference on acoustics, JCA2007
International Conference on Discovery Science/
International Conference on Algorithmic Learning Theory
The 3rd RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics
3rd International Workshop on New Group ⅣSemiconductor
Nanoelectronics
International Workshop on Nanostructures & Nanoelectronics
The 18th International Symposium on Algorithms andComputation(ISAAC2007)
International Interdisciplinary-Symposium on Gaseous and Liquid
Plasmas (ISGLP 2008)
4th International Workshop on New Group IV Semiconductor
Nanoelectronics

Jun.4-6,2007

21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

88

Oct.12-13, 2004
Apr.11-12, 2005
May 23-26, 2005
May 27-28. 2005
Sep.26-27, 2005
Feb.8-9, 2006
May 8,2006
Aug.15-18,2006
Oct.2-3,2006
Feb.15-16,2007
Oct.1-4,2007
Oct. 31-Nov.1,2007
Nov.8-9,2007
Nov.21-22,2007
Dec.17-19,2007
Sep.5-6,2008
Sep.25-27,2008

2019
Title

Date

29

The 4th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics

Oct.9-10,2008

30

Global Symposium on Millimeter Waves 2009 (GSMM2009)

Apr.20-22,200931

Mini R.I.E.C. workshop on multimodal perception

Apr.24,200932

The 4th International Symposium on Ultrafast Photonic Technologies

Aug.4-5,2009

33
34
35
36

PIMRC2009 Personal Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications
Symposium 2009
2nd RIEC-CNSI Workshop on Nanoelectronics,Spintronics andPhotonics (5th RIEC Symposium on Spintronics)
International Workshop on the principles and applications of spatial
hearing 2009 (IWPASH2009)
5th International Workshop on New Group IV Semiconductor
Nanoelectronics

Sep.13-16,2009
Oct.22-23,2009
Nov.11-13,2009
Jan.29-30,2010

37

6th RIEC International on Spintronics

Feb.5-6,201038

2nd International Workshop on Nanostructure & Nanoelectronics

Mar.11-12,2010

39

2nd RIEC International Symposium on Graphene Devices (ISGD2010)

Oct.27-29,201040

9th Japan-Korea Symposium on Surface Nanostructures

Nov.15-16,201041

The 7th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics

Feb.3-4,2011

42

The 42nd RIEC International Symposium
12th International Multisensory Research Forum (IMRF2011)

Oct.17-20,2011

43

The 8th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics

Feb.2-3,2012

44

The Sixth International Symposium on Medical, Bio- and Nano-Electronics

Mar.8,2012

45

3rd International Workshop on Nanostructures & Nanoelectronics

Mar.21-22,2012

46

9th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics

May 31-Jun.2,2012

47
48
49
50
51

The 1st International Workshop on Smart Technologies for Energy,
Information and Communication (STEIC2012)
Technical University of Dresden and Tohoku University Symposium2012
The 1st RIEC International Symposium on Brain Functions and Brain
Computer
Tohoku – Harvard Joint Workshop New Directions in Materials foranoelectronics,Spintronics and Photonics（10th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics）
11th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics &3rdCSISInternationalSymposiumonSpintronics-based VLSIs

Oct.18-19,2012
Nov.2,2012
Nov.15-16,2012
Jan.15-16,2013
Jan.31-Feb.1,2013

52

7th International Symposium on Medical, Bio- and Nano-Electronics

Mar.7,2013

53

6th Global

Apr.22-23,2013

54

The 2nd RIEC International Symposium on Brain Functions and Brain
ComputerFeb.21-22,2014

55

8th International Symposium on Medical,Bio- and Nano-Electro

Mar.6-7,2014

Symposium on Millimeter Wave 2013

89

2019
Title

Date

56

5th International Workshop on Nanostructures and Nanoelectronics

Mar.6-7,2014

57

12th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics

Jun.25-27,2014

58

The IEEE International Conference on Microwave Magnetics

Jun.29-Jul.2,2014

59

RIEC International Symposium on Perception and Communication

Jul.24,2014

60

APMC 2014(2014 Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference)

Nov.4-7,2014

61

The 3rd RIEC International Symposium on Brain Functions and Brain
ComputerFeb.18-19,2015

62

International Symposium on Brainware LSI

Mar.2-3,2015

63
64
65
66
67

The 9th International Symposium on Medical, Bio- andNano-Electronics
The 6th International Workshop on Nanostructures andNanoelectronics
RIEC International Symposium on Vision and Cognition
The 23rd Symposium of the International Colour Vision Society(ICVS 2015)
RIEC International Symposium on Computer Graphics and Interactive
Techniques: New Horizon

Mar.2-4,2015
Mar.2-4,2015
Mar.20,2015
Jul. 3-7, 2015
Sep. 26-27,2015

68

13th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics

Nov. 18-20,2015

69

The 4th RIEC International Symposium on Brain Functions and Brain
ComputerFeb. 23-24,2016

70

International Symposium on Brainware LSI

Feb. 26-27,2016

71

The 10th International Symposium on Medical, Bio- and NanoElectronics

Mar. 1-3,2016

72

The 7th International Workshop on Nanostructures and Nanoelectronic

Mar. 1-3,2016

73

RIEC International Symposium on Ultra-Realistic Interactive Acoustic
Communications 2016

May 20-21,2016

RJUSE TeraTech-2016: The 5th Russia-Japan-USA-Europe Symposium74

on Fundamental & Applied Problems of Terahertz Devices & Technologies Oct.31-Nov.4,2016(RIEC International Symposium on Fundamental & Applied Problems of
Terahertz Devices & Technologies)

75

Dependable Wireless Workshop 2016

Nov.9-10,2016

76

14th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics

Nov.17-19,2016

77

The 4th RIEC International Symposium on Brainware LSI

Feb. 24-25,201778

The 5th RIEC International Symposium on Brain Functions and Brain
ComputerFeb. 27-28,2017

79

RIEC International Workshop on Biomedical Optics 2017

Mar. 6,2017

80
81

90

The 8th RIEC International Workshop on Nanostructures andNanoelectronics

RIEC Russia-Japan Joint International Microwave Workshop 2017

Mar. 6-7,2017
Oct.19-20,2017

2019
Title
82
83

International Symposium on Photonics and Optical Communications（ISPOC 2017）
RIEC International Symposium on Experience Design and Cognitive
Science（The Second ACM SIGCHI Asian Symposium）

Date
Oct.25-26,2017
Nov. 18-19,2017

84

15th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics

Dec.13-14,201785

The 6th RIEC International Symposium on Brain Functions and Brain
ComputerFeb. 1-2,2018

86

The 5th International Symposium on Brainware LSI

Feb. 23-24,201887

The 9th International Workshop on Nanostructures and Nanoelectronics

Mar. 1-2,201888Japan-Korea International Symposium on Magnetic Devices andMaterials

Aug.24,2018

89

International Symposium on Universal Acoustical Communication 2018

Oct.22-24,2018

90

Asian Wireless Power Transfer Workshop (AWPT2018)

Nov. 2-4,2018

91

3rd Japan-EU Flagship Workshop on Graphene and Related 2D Materials Nov. 19-21,2018

92
93
94

The 2nd Tohoku-NTU U Symposium on Interdisciplinary AI and Human
Studies
The 14th International Conference on Intelligent Information Hiding andMultimedia Signal Processing (IIH-MSP2018)
RIEC International Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction（The Third ACM SIGCHI Asian Symposium）

Nov. 24,2018
Nov. 26-28,2018
Dec.12-13,2018

95

16th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics

Jan.9-10,201996

The 7th RIEC International Symposium on Brain Functions and Brain
ComputerFeb. 22-23,201997

The 6th International Symposium on Brainware LSI

Mar. 1-2,201998

The 10th International Workshop on Nanostructures and Nanoelectronics Mar. 6-7,2019

99

12th Global Symposium on Millimeter Waves 2019 (GSMM2019)

May. 22-24,2019

100 The 16th International Workshop on Emerging ICT

Oct. 31- Nov. 2,2019

101 17th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics

Dec. 3-6,2019

RIEC International Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction- Welcome CHI 2021, thinking of the future of HCI together The 8th RIEC International Symposium on Brain Functions and Brain
103
Computer
102

Jan. 24-25,2020Feb. 13-15,2020

91

2019
6.

Study Groups on Electrical Communication

Study Groups on Electrical Communication are organized to solve scientific and technologicalproblems and to promote research and development through the collaboration of the ResearchInstitute of Electrical Communication, Group of ECEI（Electrical Engineering, Communication
Engineering, Electronic Engineering, and Information Engineering ) in Graduate Schools ofEngineering, Information Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, related scientists and engineers insideand outside Tohoku University. The Study Groups on Electrical Communication consist of 15
Sub-Groups as listed, to deal with specific subjects. Each Sub-Group holds workshops and theabstracts of the workshops are published annually in The Record of Electrical and Communication
Engineering Conversazione Tohoku University.
Many scientists and engineers not only from universities but also from government laboratories
and industries attend the workshops, present papers, and discuss issues actively. We are pleased toprovide information on these activities upon request. Please contact the General Chairman or each
Sub-Group Chairman for general information or more specific questions.

Electromagnetic and Optical Waves Engineering
Chair

Prof.

Yuji Matsuura

ManagerProf.

Yuji Matsuura

Acoustic Engineering
Chair

Prof.

Akinori Ito

Manager

Associate Prof.

ManagerProf.

Takashi Nose

Shuichi Sakamoto

Sendai "Plasma Forum"
Chair

Prof.

Akira AndoManagerProf.

Toshiro Kaneko

Sendai Seminar on EMC
Chair

Prof.

Hideaki Sone

ManagerProf.

Masahiro Yamaguchi

92

2019
Computer Science
Chair

Prof.

Manager

Associate Prof.

Eijiro Sumii
Kazutaka Matsuda

Systems Control
Chair

Prof.

Manager

Associate Prof.

Makoto Yoshizawa
Norihiro Sugita

Information-biotronics
Chair

Prof.

Ayumi Hirano

ManagerProf.

Ayumi Hirano

Chair

Prof.

Masahiro Yamaguchi

Manager

Associate Prof.

Tomoyuki Ogawa

Manager

Assistant Prof.

Ton That Loi

Spinics

New Paradigm Computing
Chair

Prof.

Manager

Associate Prof.

Masanori Hariyama
Masanori Natsui

Ultrasonic Electronics
Chair

Prof.

Manager

Associate Prof .

Hiroshi Kanai
Mototaka Arakawa

93

2019
Brainware
Chair

Prof.

Manager

Associate Prof.

Akio Ishiguro
Takeshi Kano

Mathematical Physics and its Application to Information Sciences
Chair

Prof.

Manager

Associate Prof.

Masayuki Ohzeki

Manager

Assistant Prof.

Manaka Okuyama

Kazuyuki Tanaka

Biocyber netics and Bioinformatics
Chair

Prof.

Manager

Associate Prof.

Takeshi Obayashi

Manager

Assistant Prof.

Yasuhiro Hatori

Satoshi Shioiri

Nanoelectronics and Spintronics
Chair

Prof.

Shigeo SatoManagerProf.

Syunsuke Fukami

94

2019
7.

International Activities

Many of the staff in RIEC contribute to the development of technology and science inthe world by serving as editors of referees of international journals or by chairing or
programming international conferences. In some fields in electronics, electricalcommunications, or information engineering RIEC serves as a Center of Excellence(COE), which attracts researchers and students from all over the world every year.
Several academic exchange programs with foreign colleges or institutes are in operation.
International academic exchange programs● Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)● IHP-Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics (Germany)● The Interdisciplinary Center on Nanoscience of Marseille,
National Center of Scientific Research (France)● Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China)● WINLAB, Rutgers University (U.S.A.)● University of Vigo (Spain)● Research and Educational Center“Photonics and Infrared Technology”
and Institute of Radio Electronics and Laser Technology ,Bauman Moscow State Technical University (Russia)● Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (U.S.A.)● St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University (Russia)● Telecom ParisTech (France)● Faculty of Physics, M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University (Russia)● Center for Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Robotics,
National Taiwan University (Taiwan)● University of Calfornia, Santa Barbara (U.S.A.)● The University of York (U.K.)● The Technische Universität Dresden (Germany)● Berlin Institute of Technology (Germany)● National Tsing Hua University (Taiwan)● Harvard University (U.S.A.)● The University of Kaiserslautern (Germany)● Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (Germany)● Chemnitz University of Technology (Germany)● University of Regensburg (Germany)● Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (Germany)● Purdue University (U.S.A.)● University of Salamanca (Spain)● St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University (Russia)

95

2019
International journals in which a staff in RIEC participates as an editor
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

IACR Transactions on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems
IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers
IEICE Elecronics Letter (ELEX)
IEICE Transactions on Communications (EB)IEICE Transactions on Fundamentals of Electronics,
Communications and Computer Sciences
Journal of Cryptographic Engineering
Nonlinear Theory and Its Applications, IEICE (NOLTA)
PLOS ONESoft robotics

Recent international conferences programmed by a staff in RIEC
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
96

10th IEEE-GCC Conference (GCC 2019)
10th International Symposium on Metallic multilayers (MML2019)11th MRAM Global Innovation Forum17th RIEC International Workshop on Spintronics
2019 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium
2019 International Symposium on Nonlinear Theory and Its Applications
2019 MRS Fall Meeting2019 Spintronics Workshop on LSI
2020 Asia-Pacific Workshop on Fundamentals andApplications of Advanced Semiconductor Devices
24th Soft Magnetic Materials Conference
8th Int. Symp. on Control of Semiconductor Interfaces (ISCSI-VIII) &13th Int. WorkShop on New Group IV Semiconductor Nanoelectronics
ACM Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with
Mobile Devices and Services 2019
ACM Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces 2019
ACM SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics andInteractive Techniques in Asia 2019
ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST) 2019
APCV 2019 Asia-Pacific Conference on Vision
Asian CHI Symposium 2020: Emerging HCI Research Collection
Auditory Perception and Cognition
Compound Semiconductor Week / International Symposium on
Compound Semiconductors (CSW/ISCS2019)
Global Symposium on Millimeter Waves (GSMM)
IEEE 5G World Forum (WF-5G 2019)
IEEE International Conference on Communications (IEEE ICC 2019)
IEEE International Symposium on Radio-Frequency Integrated Technology (RFIT)
IEEE Symposium on Computers and Communications (ISCC 2019)
IEEE Virtual Reality 2020
International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence andEurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments (ICAT-EGVE 2019)
International Conference on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems 2019

2019
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59

International Conference on Recent Progress in Graphene Research (RPGR2019)
International Conferences on Modern Materials &Technologies in Montecatini Terme (CIMTEC 2020)
International Congress on Graphene, 2D Materials and Applications (2DM 2019)
International Symposium on Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines 2019
Purdue-Tohoku Spintronics Workshop II
Russia-Japan-USA-Europe Symposium on Fundamental &Applied Problems of Terahertz Devices & Technologies (RJUSE 2019)
Russia-Japan-USA-Europe Symposium on Fundamental &Applied Problems of Terahertz Devices & Technologies (RJUSE 2020)
SICE annual conference 2020
SPICE Workshop on Antiferromagnetic Spintronics
SPIE International Conference on Photonics Europe,
Conference on Terahertz Photonics (SPIE Photonics-EU)
The 10th International Conference on Metamaterials,
Photonic Crystals and Plasmonics (META 19)
The 10th International Conference on Ubiquitous andFuture Networks (ICUFN 2019)
The 11th International Conference on ICT Convergence (ICTC 2019)
The 1st International Sympoisum on Designing Human-Centric IoT Society
The 2018 IEEE Global Communications Conference (IEEE GLOBECOM 2019)
The 2018 IEEE International Conference on Communication,
Networks and Satellite (COMNETSAT 2019)
The 2019 International Communications Quality and Reliability Workshop(IEEE CQR 2019)
The 2019 International Conference on Advanced Technologies for Communications(ATC 2019)
The 2020 International Workshop on Pervasive Information Flow (PerFlow'20)
The 2020 Wireless Communications Networking Conference (WCNC 2019)
The 23rd IEEE International Workshop on Computer Aided Modeling and
Design of Communication Links and Networks (IEEE CAMAD 2019)
The 3rd Symposium for The Core Research Clusters
for Materials Science and Spintronics
The 44th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves(IRMMW-THz 2019)
The 4th Graphene Flagship EU-Japan Workshop on
Graphene and Related 2D Materials (EU-JP G-Flagship)
The 8th RIEC International Symposium on Brain Fucntions and Brain Computer
The ACM International Conference on Modeling,
Analysis and Simulation of Wireless and Mobile Systems (MSWiM 2019)
The International Conference on Information Networking 2019 (ICOIN 2019)The Seventh International Symposium on
Computing and Networking (CANDAR 2019)
Tohoku-York-Kaiserslautern 10th Core-to-core Workshop on"New-Concept Spintronics Devices"
Topical Workshop on Heterostructure Microelectronics (TWHM 2019)
When AI Meets Human Science: The 3rd NTU-Tohoku International Symposium on
Interdisciplinary AI and Human Studies
Workshop Spintronic Tohoku-Mainz Lorraine 2019

97

2019
8. Periodicals Published by the Institute
The Institute publishes the following two periodicals to inform readers on recent research results of
the Institute.
1. The Record of Electrical and Communication Engineering Conversazione Tohoku University
This journal aims at providing an opportunity to publish research results of the Institute as well as
the result of the Graduate School of Engineering, Information Sciences, Biomedical

Engineering.

Since the journal also aims at publishing general research activities of the Institute and of the
Graduate School such as records of the final lectures of retiring professors, records of the InstituteSymposium, and reviews.
The name of the Journal ‘Conversazione’ is attributable to the ‘Tuesday Conversazione’ at the
Department of Electrical Engineering, which had been held once a week on Tuesday since around 1920.
Minutes of the meetings had been distributed to researchers outside of the University via various
routes and therefore some of them had been referred to as 'Records of Tuesday Electrical Engineering
Conversazione Tohoku University' with the result that they came to be treated as official publications.
Though the meeting was once interrupted by World War Two, it was restarted in 1947. In 1952, thepublication of the records was succeeded by the Institute and the records have been published asperiodicals, two or three times a year recently, since No. 1 Vol. 21 was published in July, 1952.
2. The Annual Report of Research Activity at the Research Institute of Electrical Communication,
Tohoku University
Published annually since 1995. This report details the activities of each research division andresearch facility. Also included are reports on nation-wide co-operative research projects, international
symposium and seminars organized by members of RIEC, and the reports and evaluation on the RIEC
advisory board members. English edition(digest version of Japanese edition) has been publishedsince 2007.
3. RIEC NewsAs a part of RIEC’s publication service, “RIEC News” is published.
With the 75th anniversary of the establishment of RIEC, RIEC News introduces cutting-edge’s
research and the vision of the future from RIEC’s contributions to the progression of science andtechnology in Japan. RIEC News was first launched in March 2011. In fiscal year 2018, 23th, 24st and25nd issues were published. Every issue introduces special topics such as large scale projects andSpecially-Promoted Research, etc. RIEC News also includes current information about each laboratory
and center, all kinds of RIEC events, research exchange meetings, laboratories open to the public(RIEC Open Day), etc. English version was also launched in March 2014. Further, RIEC News offers anotification service by mail whenever a new issue is released and an electronic version of every issue
published so far can be downloaded by following the link below.
http://www.riec.tohoku.ac.jp/riecnews/

98

2019
With the 26th issue of RIEC News, it has finished multi-monthly publication style as before. From
April 2020, in order to bring you the latest research results and event information as quickly as
possible, RIEC News was renewed to a new web-based publication style. The new RIEC News ispublished by the following link.
http://www.riec.tohoku.ac.jp/riecpr/

99

2019

9.

Staff, Budget

1. Faculty & Staff
as of May 1, 2019
Professors

21

Associate Professors

21

Assistant Professors

23

Research Fellows

9Specially Appointed Professors

1

Specially Appointed Assistant Professors

1

Administrative Staff（Including Limited Regular Employees）

25

Technical Staff（Including Limited Regular Employees）

16

Total

117

2. Researchers (FY2019)
Foreign Researchers

Visiting Professors

8

Visiting Asociate Professors

2

Cooperative Researchers of Private Company etc

10

JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists

10

JSPS Postdoctral Fellowship for Overseas Researchers

1

Invitation Fellowship for Research in Japan

0

Contract Researchers

4

Contract Trainees

1

Total

36

3. Students
as of May 1, 2019
School ofEngineering

Graduate School ofGraduate School ofInformation Science Biomedical Engineering

RIEC

Total

Undergraduate Students

49 (1)

49 (1)

Master Course Students

85 (8)

42 (8)

5132 (16)

Doctor Course Students

19 (4)

10 (4)

1

30 (8)

153 (13)52 (12)

6

Institute Reserch Students
Total

100

4 (3)

4 (3)

4 (3)

215 (28)

2019
4. Budget
Budget Shiftmillion yen
3,500
3,000

20

2,500
1,514

2,000

1,703

2

1,553
1,039

892

1,500
1,000
500
0

1,398

1,415

1,463

1,347

1,309

FY2015FY2016FY2017FY2018FY2019Operation Grants

External Funds

Expenses for Facilities Improvement etc.

■Budget Summary

thousand yen
Categories

FY2015FY2016FY2017FY2018FY2019Personnel Expenses

730,537

808,066

835,904

790,118

742,128

Non-Personnel Expenses

667,582

606,599

626,824

556,937

566,533

Operation Grants Total

1,398,119

1,414,665

1,462,728

1,347,055

1,308,661

Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

422,846

526,718

549,034

231,643

363,325

Funds for Commissioned Research

1,076,220

1,140,386

963,585

753,391

486,053

Donations

14,49036,19040,541

54,34442,436

Indirect Expenses

219,886

244,413220,733

134,311

155,852

1,513,556

1,703,294

1,553,160

1,039,378

891,814

0

0

0

0

1,936

20,011

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

20,011

0

0

0

1,936

2,931,686

3,117,959

3,015,888

2,386,433

2,202,411

Operation Grants

External Funds

External Funds Total
Expenses for Reconstruction
Expenses for Relocation
Expenses for Facilities Improvement
Expenses for Facilities Improvement etc. Total
Total

101

2019

External Funds
million yen
1,200

1,140
1,076
964

1,000

800

753

600

549

527

486

423
363

400
232

200
14

0

FY2015FY2016

Grants-in-Aid for Scientiﬁc Research

54

41

36

FY201742FY2018FY2019Funds for Commissioned ResearchDonations■External Funds

thousand yen
Categories

FY2015FY2016FY2017FY2018FY2019Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

422,846

526,718

549,034

231,643

363,325

Funds for Commissioned Research

1,076,220

1,140,386

963,585

753,391

486,053

14,49036,19040,541

54,34442,436

1,513,556

1,703,294

1,553,160

1,039,378

891,814

DonationsTotal102