Topic / 1
Activities of the Micromachine Center / 2
Activities of the BEANS Laboratory / 5
Members' Profiles / 8

Topic

The MicroNano Exposition Returns to a Growing Trend with a Strong Showing in 2010

July 28–30, 2010
Tokyo Big Sight, East Hall 5/6
ROBOTECH Exhibition on Next-Generation Service Robot Manufacturing Technologies
21 Exhibition Micromachine/MEMS<Concurrent events> 16th International Micromachine/Nanotech Symposium, TIA-NMEMS Symposium, and more
(SURTECH 2010 Exhibition on Surface Technology held concurrently)st

The micromachine exposition MicroNano 2010 was held at Tokyo Big Sight on July
28–30, 2010. This year’s exposition welcomed more than 14,000 visitors over thethree-day event, an increase of 15% over last year’s total, and occupied 349 exhibit
spaces, up approximately 10% over the previous year. With no let-up in the severe
economic climate, this performance validates the great effort spent to recover fromlast year’s decline in attendance.
MicroNano 2010 featured the first inclusion of ROBOTECH, an exhibition
highlighting manufacturing technologies for service robots. The new addition
attracted much media attention, enabling us to promote the feasibility of service
robots as a promising field for MEMS applications.
The 16th International Micromachine/Nanotech Symposium adopted a theme on
the link between MEMS technology and Green Innovation, while the TIA-NMEMS
Symposium provided a venue to discuss the formation of a center in Tsukuba and to
introduce the activities of the MEMS Industry Forum (MIF) toward this realization.
The BEANS Project, facing interim evaluations with the passage of its first two years,
held a seminar to present the achievements and outlook of the project. All seminars
saw high attendance and realized our goal of offering comprehensive MEMS-related
information at one venue, while also providing opportunities for business discussions.
Next year’s exposition will be held on July 13–15, slightly earlier than in previous
years. We hope to see many of you at the exposition, either as exhibitors or visitors.

TIA-NMEMS Symposium
The TIA-NMEMS Symposium was held in
MicroNano Conference Area A on July 30 as
one of the concurrent events. This symposium
was established to present some of theactivities in the works for implementing a
Tsukuba nanotech center.
The Tsukuba Innovation Arena NMEMS(TIA-NMEMS) is an R&D center for the field of
micro-/nano-electromechanical systems, which
is one of the six core domains of the Tsukuba
nanotech center. It is hoped that TIA-NMEMS
will fill an important role in helping to makeJapan’s MEMS industry more competitive
internationally.

ROBOTECH
Many advanced nations are facing adeclining birthrate and aging population,
as well as a declining workforce, criticalissues that may be addressed byextensively incorporating service robots inour daily lives. The aim of the ROBOTECH
exhibition is to assemble MEMS devices
and other key elements for developing
these service robots in order to promote
promising applications for MEMS. (METI
Senior Vice Minister Tadahiro Matsushita
is shown here at ROBOTECH.)
The ROBOTECH Theme Zone
showcased operations and functions ofactual robots developed by robot-relatedcompanies in Osaka and Kanagawa, as wellas university-related institutes, and drew much attention at the exhibition.

Next Year’s MicroNano 2011 To Be Held
July 13–15 (Wed-Fri), 2011 at Tokyo Big Sight, East Hall
1

Although the symposium was scheduled fora timeslot just thirty minutes after the doors of
the hall were opened, the 210-seat conference
area was fully occupied. All of the speakers
were people occupying positions ofresponsibility, including METI Senior Vice
Minister Tadahiro Matsushita and AIST
President Tamotsu Nomakuchi (pictured
above), which likely raised the profile of thesymposium. In his lecture, Nomakuchi talked
about efforts being conducted to improve
Japan’s system of developing intellectual
property in order to distinguish domestic
research institutes from their counterparts
overseas. Representatives from othercompanies expressed high expectations for the
R&D projects carried out at TIA-NMEMS tobolster their own company’s competitiveness.

Activities of the Micromachine Center

Research Studies
1. First Semester Survey of Industrial Trends

2. First Semester Survey of Technological
Trends at Home and Abroad

In order to conduct a survey of industrial trends in the fieldof MEMS, we attended the Microtech/Nanotech Conference &Our survey of technological trends in the first half of 2010

Expo 2010 (June 21–24, Anaheim, CA), which is held annuallyfocused on the Asia-Pacific Conference on Transducers andin the U.S. At the conference, we studied trends in

Micro-Nano Technology (APCOT) 2010. APCOT is antechnological development and industrialization in MEMS-

international conference held biannually in the Asia-Pacificrelated businesses.

region to present R&D findings in MEMS and nanotechnology
fields. APCOT 2010, the fifth meeting in the conference’s

With the goal of promoting exchange among businesses andhistory, took place in Perth, Australia on June 6–9, 2010.

between companies and universities, the conference featured
many distinctive sessions that included companies giving

The 253 papers submitted to this conference marked apresentations, universities publicizing their acquired patents,

radical drop from the 589 papers submitted to the previous

major firms describing solicitations for joint research withconference held in Taiwan. Of these total submissions, 240

universities and venture businesses, venture capital firms giving

papers were selected for presentation. Fig. 1 breaks down theinformative presentations, and a presentation on government

numbers of presentations given by country.

funding.
70

The conference featured a series of vibrant presentations bycompanies,

centered

on

guest

speechesfrom60

STMicroelectronics and others who have produced results in

Poster presentations

50

the MEMS industry. Throughout the conference, presenters

Oral presentations

offered common viewpoints: that the fields of MEMS

40

applications and the MEMS market will expand dramatically in30

the future, and that innovative technological development andsuitable business strategies will enhance business opportunities

20

considerably.

10

One trend in MEMS technology is the development ofdevices that integrate multiple functions, such as monolithic

a
e
lia
in
or
tra
ap
Ch
s
g
n
Au
Si

n
an
pa
iw
Ja
Ta

CMOS multi-axis motion sensors, many of which are already on
the market. Developers are also actively working on reducing
the size and cost of such devices.

s
a
ce
re
nd
an
Ko
rla
Fr
e
th
Ne

a

di

In

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he
Ot

Fig. 1 Numbers of presentations by country

There are an increasing number of startup companies in thefields of RF-MEMS, silicon oscillators, and electronic

Fig. 2 illustrates the numbers of presentations broken down

compasses, which are the latest industrial trends in new

by field. Two of the more prominent fields areapplications. It is apparent that these startups work in groups

Radiation/Material Substance Sensors and Optical.

applying a horizontal specialization model, or a slightly modified
40

30

Some of the most common aspects of the venture companies

as successful cases of both can be seen throughout the world.
In the second semester of this fiscal year, we will continue
surveying industrial and technological trends at home andabroad, analyze these trends, and compile proposed courses ofPower-MEMS 2-9

Optical 2-7

RF-MEMS 2-8

Fluidic 2-3

Cells & Subcellular components 2-5

conclude straight away that one model is better than the other,

Tissue/Organ & Medical Applications 2-6

employing a vertical specialization model. It is not possible to

Biomacromolecules 2-4

Japan is mostly configured as branches of major companies

Radiation/Material Substance Sensor 2-2

companies through speed. In contrast, the MEMS industry in

Others 1-7

0

Mechanical Sensor 2-1

horizontal specialization; and they compete against major

Material 1-6

5

Actuators 1-4

fields rather than niches; the preferred business model is

Design and Modeling 1-5

10

Packaging Technologies 1-3

15

is a minimum requirement; their applications target growing

Fabrication Technologies(Silicon) 1-1

20

new technologies that are superior to conventional technologies

Fabrication Technologies(non-Silicon) 1-2

25

giving presentations were as follows: developing and patenting

action for Japan’s MEMS industry. For more information, please
Fig. 2 Numbers of presentations by fieldvisit http://beanspj.cocolog-nifty.com/mems/ (Japanese only).

2

Others 2-10

Other
Korea
Australia
Singapore
China
TaiwanJapan

35business strategy for competing with the major companies.

Technologies outside the above categories 3-1

version called a semi-horizontal specialization model, as a

Activities of the MEMS Industry Forum
1. 16th International Micromachine/Nanotech Symposium~MEMS World~

2. MEMS Industry Forum Workshop
The MIF Workshop was held on July 30 (Fri) as Part II of
the TIA-NMEMS Symposium. The Workshop offered an
opportunity to distribute information on the activities of the
MIF and to promote an exchange of opinions.
This year’s Workshop was given the subtitle “Preparatory
Activities for Implementing a Micro/Nano R&D Center” andserved to introduce the MIF’s various activities within thecontext of TIA-NMEMS. The MIF reported on industrial trends
and trends in international R&D and international
standardization, as well as its efforts to promote MEMS
industrialization including activities related to personnel
training, foundry services, and the MemsONE design tool. As
with Part I of the Symposium, the conference area wassubstantially full for the Workshop, reflecting a heightenedinterest in the MEMS industry, trends in MEMS R&D, andefforts to build the R&D center at Tsukuba.

th

The 16 International Micromachine/Nanotech Symposium
was one of the current events held at MicroNano 2010. The
Symposium took place on July 28, 2010 (Wed) in Micro/Nano
Conference Area A of Tokyo Big Sight, East Hall 5. The
audience filled most of the seats in the conference area andcontributed to a lively Q&A session.
In order to allow visitors sufficient time to attend the
Symposium and still take in the exhibitions, the Symposium waslimited this year to an afternoon program, rather than runningthe entire day, and featured six lectures including the keynote
speech.
The 16th International Micromachine/Nanotech Symposium
adopted the theme “Green Innovation Explored by Ambient
Devices” and included presentations from international
research institutes overseas detailing their latest results in thefield of sensor networks, which is attracting a lot of attention
and relates to the G-device Project. For the keynote speech, we
turned to Isao Shimoyama, professor in the Graduate School ofInformation Science and Technology at the University of Tokyoand chairman of the International Exchange Committee
established by the MEMS Industry Forum (MIF). As in previous
years, simultaneous interpretation was provided.
Other lectures were given by representatives of thefollowing member organizations.
• IMEC-NL of the Holst Centre (the Netherlands)• CEA-LETI (France)• Fraunhofer ENAS (Germany)• BSAC (America)• Dalsa Semiconductor (Canada)
According to a questionnaire distributed to audience
members, most respondents indicated that they were either“mostly satisfied” or “satisfied” with the contents of thelectures, and the evaluations were thought to be consistent.
There were also a few requests in the questionnaires from
respondents who wished to continue the discussion in a
separate room after the symposium in order to ask questions ingreater depth, which is a matter to be considered for
subsequent events.
We will work to incorporate your suggestions in a timely
manner in order to provide a productive program next year.

3. International Exchange: Visits to LETI and
Fraunhofer and Participation in Nano Korea
As part of its efforts to promote international exchange, theMIF visited France’s LETI and Germany’s Fraunhofer ENAS and
IPMS in June to participate in an exchange of views on the
MEMS industry. In addition, the MIF participated as an
exhibitor at the Nano Korea exhibition held in Korea in August
this year.

The Nano Korea exhibition hall

4. Investigative Committee for an Open Innovation Center
This fiscal year, the MIF established the Investigative
Committee for an Open Innovation Center under the Industrial
Exchange Committee. The Investigative Committee initiateddiscussions on the best course of action for implementing ananotech center at Tsukuba in order to strengthen Japan’sinternational competitiveness in the MEMS industry. The
Investigative Committee will also serve as the TIA-NMEMSWorking Group that participates in the Executive Council for
the Tsukuba nanotech center so that the results of discussions
conducted in the Investigative Committee are reported directly
to the Executive Council.
The first Investigative Committee meeting held in July and asubsequent council meeting revealed some specific challenges
to implementing the center. We intend to continue thisthorough investigation in order to help make the Tsukuba
nanotech center a reality. Progress in the investigation will bereported on the MMC’s Web site (Japanese only).

Speech given by an IMEC researcher

3Program for Human Resources Development: “Micro/Nano Innovator”
Advanced applications course: MEMS sensor
applications

In order to sustain growth in the MEMS industry, it will beessential to establish a systematic strategy for cultivating thepersonnel required to support the expanding industry. This
year, the MEMS Industry Forum (MIF) established a Committee
for the Promotion of Human Resources Development (Chair:
Ryutaro Maeda, Director of the AIST’s Research Center for
Ubiquitous MEMS and Micro Engineering) to implement the“Micro/Nano Innovator”, Program for Human Resources
Development. The Committee comprises representatives of the
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science andTechnology (AIST), the Kitakyushu Foundation for the
Advancement of Industry, Science and Technology (FAIS), the
New Industry Research Organization (NIRO) in Hyogo
Prefecture, the MEMS Park Consortium in the Tohoku region,and the Micromachine Center (MMC), who are working
together to establish a high-quality national program fordeveloping human resources in MEMS fields. Please visit the
MIF’s Web site on this program(http://mmc.la.coocan.jp/business/innovator/) for a detailed
description of the offered training courses and the enrollment
procedure.
Below are some of the training courses that are scheduled
for the coming months. It is our hope that businesses will
incorporate these courses into their personnel training strategy.

Category: process/device innovator Level: applied/advanced“Sensor device technology learned by developing odor
sensors (hands-on training)”
Place: the Semiconductor Center and elsewhereLength: 4 days
Capacity: 5 participants
Course fee: 25,000 yen<MEMS Park Consortium>
MEMS Human Resources Development Project,introductory course
Category: process/system/device innovator

Level: basic

MEMS Human Resources Development Project,hands-on trial manufacturing<MMC>
Advanced applications course: the 15 t h MEMS
Seminar, October 27 (now accepting enrollment)
Category: system/device innovator Level: applied/advanced“New MEMS technologies (design, processing, andassessment) and products applying these technologies”
Lectures by Professors Hiroyuki Fujita and Isao Shimoyama
and company representatives related to“Green Innovation Made Possible with Next-Generation MEMS”
Place: Chuo University, Surugadai Memorial Hall (Ochanomizu)
Time: 13:00–18:00
Capacity: 20 participants
Course fee: 10,000 yen (includes costs of course materials andmeals/refreshments)<FAIS>
Introductory course on manufacturing processes:
manufacturing peripheral circuits for MEMS
November 15–18 (now accepting enrollment)
Category: process/device/system innovator
Level: basic“The design and manufacture of op-amps”
Place: the Semiconductor Center (Collaboration Center
Building 2), Kitakyushu Science and Research Park
Length: 4 days
Capacity: 5 participants
Course fee: 25,000 yen

Introductory course on MemsONE, November 18
and 19 (now accepting enrollment)
Category: process/system/device innovator
Level: basic“Introductory course on MEMS analysis using MemsONE”
Place: MMC Techno Salon
Length: 2 days
Capacity: 5 participants
Course fee: 16,000 yen for the general public and 6,000 yen
for university students and faculty

Advanced applications course: introduction to
optical MEMS

Techniques for promoting MEMS commercialization,
December 15 (now accepting enrollment)

Category: device innovator
Level: applied/advanced“Optical device technology learned by developing micro-mirrors, etc.”
Place: Ito Campus of Kyoto University
Length: 3 days
Capacity: 5 participants
Course fee: 25,000 yen

Category: system innovator
Level: applied/advanced“A study of basic tools for commercializing MEMS-related
products, with an instructive look at case studies”
Place: MMC Techno Salon
Length: 1 day
Capacity: 20 participants
Course fee: 20,000 yen (includes costs of course materials andmeals/refreshments)

Advanced applications course: introduction to
MEMS sensors
Category: process/device innovator Level: applied/advanced“Basic technological training for the trial manufacture of
MEMS sensors (lecture)”
Place: the Semiconductor Center and elsewhereLength: 4 days
Capacity: 10 participants
Course fee: 15,000 yen<AIST Tsukuba>
Advanced process training: nanoimprint training
Category: process innovator
Level: applied/advanced“Lectures on nanoimprint technology by the AIST, withhands-on training”
Place: AIST Tsukuba East
Length: 2 days
Capacity: very limited
Course fee: 40,000 yen

4Activities of the BEANS Laboratory

Completion of the BEANS Project Interim Evaluation
A subcommittee meeting for interim evaluations of the
NEDO-sponsored BEANS Project was held at Otemachi Sunsky
Room (Room E) from 10:30 to 17:30 on September 10, andmembers of the evaluation committee assessed the activities
and R&D achievements produced over the first two and a halfyears of the project. Since NEDO will announce the results of
the interim evaluation at a later date, this article will serve todescribe the proceedings of the meeting and the significance of
the BEANS Project summarized for purposes of the interim
evaluation.

the significance of the project’s achievements thus far from thefollowing perspectives: 1) academic significance, 2) market
expansion/creation brought about by the achievements, 3)
generation of achievements that are the world’s first or highest
level, 4) potential for pioneering new technological fields, and5) versatility of the achievements. Each of these aspects of the
project’s significance is described briefly below.
1) Academic significanceAs indicated by the name of the project, the academic
significance of BEANS lies in the integration of dissimilar fields
to create devices with novel functions. The following threepoints may be considered the substance of this heterogeneous
integration.
i ) Integrating different scales from nanometers to metersii) Integrating different processes employing bottom-up andtop-down approachesiii) Integrating different materials from biomaterials tosemiconductors
2) Market expansion/creation brought about by theachievements
Process innovation created through the BEANS Project
enables the manufacture of unprecedented innovative devices
that will provide us with novel methods for dealing withnational issues twenty years from now in such fields as energy
and the environment, medical care and welfare, and safety andsecurity. Such innovations are hoped to enrich people,
lifestyles, and the Earth and to enable us to expand into a wide
range of markets and to create new markets. At the meeting, we
provided several examples to illustrate how the achievements of
the BEANS Project can enrich people, lifestyles, and the Earth.
3) Generation of achievements that are the world’s firstor highest level
In the BEANS Project, we researched and developed newtechnologies that are only now possible through heterogeneous
integration. Our presentation at the subcommittee meeting
noted that, to date, the BEANS Project has produced a numberof achievements that are considered the world’s first or highest
level, including nine such achievements from R&D item 1 onbio/organic materials integration processes, twelve from R&D
item 2 on 3D nanostructure fabrication processes, and eightfrom R&D item 3 on large-area continuous micro/nanostructure
fabrication processes.
4) Potential for pioneering new technological fields
Achievements of the BEANS Project that are expected topioneer new technological fields were divided into the following
three categories.
i ) Achievements through heterogeneous integration (9)ii) Achievements through technologies based on new
concepts (9)iii) Achievements through technological advancements (5)5) Versatility of the achievements
An objective of the BEANS Project is to build a process
platform for inventing next-generation devices throughdevelopment in R&D items 1–3, and research has been carriedout while envisioning target devices in each of the R&D items.
However, the processes used in development were selected fortheir versatility. For the subcommittee meeting, devices otherthan the target devices that were thought to have application
potential were summarized in a table.

1. Overview of the Interim Evaluation Subcommittee Meeting
A total of 39 people attended the subcommittee meeting forinterim evaluations. These attendees comprised 7
subcommittee members including the chair of thesubcommittee, Professor Kazuo Sato of Nagoya University; 8
personnel from METI and NEDO in charge of promoting the
project; 10 members of the BEANS Project in charge of
implementing the project, including President Atsushi Yusa; 12
members of the subcommittee meeting secretariat; and 2
participants from the general public.
The morning session, which was open to the public, wasused to give an outline of the project and to answer any
questions. Hideaki Watanabe, the principal investigator from
NEDO, and President Yusa, the BEANS Project Leader, gave a
50-minute presentation based on the project’s records, andsubsequently fielded questions from subcommittee members.
The questions were primarily concerned with the outline andR&D management of the project and led to a particularly lively
Q&A session between the BEANS Project members and thesubcommittee members regarding the appropriateness of the
project’s priorities and goals, as well as the best method of
expanding on the project’s achievements. Consequently, themorning session ran well past the scheduled ending time of 12
o’clock.
In the afternoon session, which was closed to the public,
each of the center directors in the BEANS Project gave detailed
reports on research findings covering all eight themes of the
project. The subcommittee members showed great interest in
the latest hot topics of BEANS research. Perhaps for thisreason, the afternoon session had a different mood from themorning session, evolving into a meaningful discussion withvarious specialists giving a wide range of views on the academic
significance of the research findings and their value as
industrial technologies.
The final segment of the meeting, which was once again
open to the public, featured questions and comments
throughout. Notably, all of the subcommittee members
expressed a high regard for the project’s achievements andcreative activities. There was also a request to further clarify
the objectives and direction of the project in order todisseminate and expand on the project’s achievements and to
study scenarios in which the achievements of the project could
contribute to the growth of MEMS technology in Japan and help
strengthen the nation’s international competitiveness inindustry. Following this discussion, the meeting was adjourned.

2. Significance of the BEANS Project
In preparation for the interim evaluation, we summarized5

Achievements and Activities of the BEANS Project
The research organs of the BEANS Project, currently
comprising four research centers (Life BEANS Center, Life
BEANS Center Kyushu, 3D BEANS Center, and Macro BEANS
Center) and the head office of the BEANS Laboratory, havebeen conducting R&D on biomaterial integration processes,organic material integration processes, 3D nanostructure
fabrication processes, and large-area continuous
micro/nanostructure fabrication processes and have beendeveloping a knowledge database on hetero-functional
integrated device technology. This fiscal year, the G-device
Cooperative was added to the BEANS Project for the purpose ofdeveloping an advanced sensor network system andenvironmentally friendly fabrication processes. Thus far thisyear, the BEANS Laboratory has published its research findings
at national and international academic conferences such asµTAS 2010 through approximately 60 presentations and hascompleted applications for 8 patents. In order to further
publicize the achievements of the BEANS Project, weparticipated as an exhibitor in the 21 s t Exhibition
Micromachine/MEMS and held the 4th BEANS Project Seminar,
both of which took place at MicroNano 2010 on July 28–30.
Some of the BEANS achievements were also published innewspapers, journals, and other print media and covered on
television.

(2) The 4th BEANS Project Seminar
The seminar was held in MicroNano Conference Area B on
July 29 (Thursday). Following greetings by Tomio Suzuki,
executive director at NEDO, and Atsushi Yusa, president andproject leader of BEANS, Sub Project Leader Hiroyuki Fujita,
a professor at the University of Tokyo, gave a lecture entitled“The Shape of BEANS Revealed.” Thereafter, the center
directors (Associate Professor Shoji Takeuchi, Professor
Chihaya Adachi, Associate Professor Masakazu Sugiyama,
Professor Masaaki Kimata, and Group Leader Toshihiro Ito)gave clear and concise presentations on researchachievements at their respective centers to date. After a brief
recess, the invited lecturer Yoshihiro Shibuya, a director at
INPIT, talked about the expectations for BEANS from an
intellectual property perspective. While the seminar lasted aconsiderably longtime, the assembled
audienceof
approximately 300
people, many ofwhom were standing,remained in theconference
area
throughout.

1. MicroNano 2010 at Tokyo Big Sight(1) 21st Exhibition Micromachine/MEMS
The
exhibition
provided a venue foreach BEANS research
center to showcase its
R&D
achievements
through posters andactual demonstrations.
Since
this
year’sexhibition coincidedwith the project’s
interim evaluation year,
our objective for theexhibit was not simply to attract the attention of passersby, but
to introduce our research achievements in exhaustive detail.
Therefore, the exhibit space that surrounded the lone beanstalkrising upward at the booth’s entrance was densely packed withthe following exhibits: (1) futuristic devices the BEANS Projectis working to make a reality with the aim of contributing topeople, lifestyles, and the Earth, (2) an introduction to ourefforts at creating intellectual property, (3) Japan’s first public
showing of fiber-like large-area pressure sensors, research on
nanostructured fiber substrates, and a simulation of nonvacuum deposition , (4) photographs depicting low-damage
neutral beam etching, models for elucidating the mechanism of
supercritical films, trench capacitors, patterning using peptides,
and true 3D machining, and (5) actual glowing microbeads
related to a hybrid cell doll created from hydrogel beads and a
glowing ear that reflects changes in blood sugar level. During
the exhibition, visitors were often seen asking questions andenthusiastically engaging the attendants in conversation.

2. Media Coverage(1) An article entitled “Developing Robots with a Sense of
Smell” by the Life BEANS Center’s Shoji Takeuchi, professor at
the University of Tokyo, was published in the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of the U.S.A. The
story was also picked up by Japanese television on August 24,
beginning with the NHK’s morning show Good Morning, Japanand later on the evening news, and on the same day was
published in eight major national newspapers and trade
journals, who mentioned the Center’s previous press release
issued in June of last year and entitled “Is Your Ear Glowing?!
Developing a Blood Sugar Sensor That Glows Under the Skin.”
The foreign press was particularly enthusiastic in its coverageof this latest story, and related articles were also posted on
science and technology Web sites and published in the journal
Nature Materials. The BEANS Project was once again in the
spotlight when the PNAS picked up the article on the glowing
blood sugar sensor. Some of the foreign press also recorded
video footage of the BEANS Project booth at the Exhibition
Micromachine/MEMS held in July that appeared on the online
news site DigInfo TV and in a health-related segment during
America’s ABC network news program.
(2) On August 27, Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun published an article
linked to Koji Miyazaki, associate professor at the Kyushu
Institute of Technology and member of Life BEANS Kyushu,
entitled “Thermoelectric Materials That Generate Electricity
through a Small Temperature Difference, and Their
Applications in Wearable Electronics.”

6

Activities of the G-device Project
Under the guidance of Ryutaro Maeda, director of the
Research Center for Ubiquitous MEMS and Micro Engineering(UMEMSME) under the National Institute of Advanced
Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), G-device Center
Kansai (center director Susumu Sugiyama) was established at
Ritsumeikan University as a NEDO-sponsored project. The
Center conducts joint research with Kyoto University andcollaborates with four companies in MEMS-related industries,
while aggressively promoting the project’s development.
One of the most important activities implemented by the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in its efforts
to promote new growth strategies is “green innovation.” Steps
necessary for realizing green innovation include determining
how to conserve resources in the manufacturing processes
themselves by utilizing innovative next-generation devices anddetermining how to reduce environmental impact byimplementing more efficient manufacturing processes. To thisend, G-device Center Kansai is conducting R&D on highperformance MEMS sensors and developing a network systemwith these sensors in order to demonstrate that clean rooms
used in MEMS fabrication can be made eco-friendly. The
following is a detailed description of activities conducted in the
G-device Project.

server through wireless communications. While a battery isused for powering circuits in this project, we hope to develop a
self-reliant high-performance sensor module employing avibration-based power generator or a wireless power supply
system, for example. Each sensor module will be contained in a
30x30x10mm package and used as a network node in thesystem. One of the major objectives in developing sensor
modules has been to create a concept of low power
consumption in order to construct network nodes employing
battery-free, self-reliant wireless sensors. To this end, we will
study principle models for optimizing the sensor sampling rate,
number of sensing categories, wireless data transfer rate,
wireless communication protocol, and AD conversion rate in thesignal processing circuit, with consideration for designing thesensor to be ultra-small, inexpensive, and highly sensitive.

3) Contaminant Gas Sensors
Currently clean rooms waste a lot of energy in draft
ventilation because clean air is also being exhausted. Energy
consumed when exhausting clean air can be reduced throughreal-time monitoring of fluctuations in contaminant gas.
Specifically, the Center will develop MEMS sensors using a
metal oxide semiconductor material, such as tungsten trioxide(WO3) to produce a self-reliant, energy-efficient gas sensor for
detecting ammonia (NH3) and other inorganic gases.

1) Development of a Sensor Network System
G-device Center Kansai is developing a wireless sensor
network system configured of wireless MEMS sensors. The
system is designed to allow a flexible layout of sensor nodes andto monitor multiple environmental conditions.
The Center will identify system requirements for acquiring
detailed measurements at multiple points aimed at maintaining
a consistent environmental quality and requirements for energy
conservation control and will conduct basic and component
studies of the control system. Plans call for experimental
demonstrations to be conducted in a new MEMS clean room
established at AIST Tsukuba East. The effectiveness of thesystem design will be verified through controlled operations andvisual control of temperature, humidity, and particles, with thegoal of reducing CO2 emissions from energy use in clean rooms
to 60% of 1990 levels.

4) Principles of Sensor Node Localization
While it will be important to develop an on-demand multipoint sensor network system capable of discovering the
distribution of particulate in a clean room in real-time, today
particle sensors are too expensive to equip a system with thenumber needed to achieve sufficient results. Therefore, theCenter is working on an alternate method of developing
principles of localization for wirelessly powered sensors thatcan be attached to workers’ shoes, for example.

5) Functional Thin Films for Sensitive Temperature
Sensing
The sensor network will require highly sensitive
temperature sensors for determining the distribution of bodytemperatures and equipment temperatures over time, and selfreliant power-generating devices to implement a wirelessnetwork. In order to improve the performance and functionalityof the temperature sensors, we will work to develop materials(including lead-free materials) and processes for forming
functional thin films with pyroelectric/piezoelectric properties.

2) Development of High-Performance Sensor
Modules
The Center will also study sensor node platforms for asensor network system comprising high-performance sensor
modules arranged at multiple points.
The network system is provided with sensors for monitoring
temperature, humidity, pressure, acceleration, and otherconditions, with the sensors designed in the form of replaceable
modules in order that the system may be adapted to different
applications. Each module is configured of a sensor unit,
battery, signal-processing circuit, wireless transmitting circuit,and antenna. With this construction, the module has functions
for sensing ambient conditions influencing the air quality in aclean room, such as temperature, humidity, airflow,
acceleration, and pressure, acquiring a signal from the sensor,
and converting the signal to data that can be exchanged with a6) Development of Environmentally Friendly
Processes for Polymer Sensor Integration
We are developing polymer sensors with biocompatibility(superior hemocompatibility) using polymer processes that aresuperior to the conventional silicon processes in exploiting thespecific functions of bio/organic materials such as syntheticorganic molecules and biomolecules. More specifically, theCenter is manufacturing MEMS actuator prototypes (mirror
devices) and evaluating their reflectance and surface roughness
properties.

7

OtherMembers’ Profiles

Taiatsu Techno Corporation
1. Introduction
Taiatsu Techno is engaged in the design, manufacture,and sales of pressure vessels for equipment used inresearch and development. Our company is unique in that
all its design and manufacturing departments areconcentrated at the Taiatsu Engineering Laboratory in
Saitama City of Saitama Prefecture, allowing for close
communication between designers and engineers in themachining department and enabling us to incorporate
various user requirements for advanced technologicaldevelopment in tangible products. We have a product lineof pressure vessels that employ glass in the structure.
With much experience in manufacturing these pressure
vessels and through an accumulation of various tests, wehave succeeded in developing a window seal mechanism –for which we obtained a patent (No. 3354886) – thatallows for internal observations and optical measurements
under high temperatures and pressures. We believe ourlong track record and accumulated technologies onpressure vessels will provide reliable assistance for users
conducting advanced technological development in thefields of high-pressure instruments and equipment.

2. Expanding into Instruments for Researching
Supercritical Fluids
Taiatsu Techno first became involved in supercriticalfluids more than fifteen years ago while designing vessels
for withstanding high temperatures and high pressures.
Today we develop and design a wide range of vessels andsystems suitable for supercritical applications from thedemanding conditions of maintaining a water in asupercritical state to the relatively milder temperature andpressure conditions required for maintaining carbon
dioxide in a supercritical state. Through input from ourcustomers and tests conducted with actual equipment, weunderstand that the materials and seal packing used in the
body of vessels designed for supercritical fluids must betreated differently from those in common reactors. We
have incorporated this knowledge into our equipment
designs and have accumulated much expertise throughthe years in manufacturing supercritical instruments.
In response to requests from our customers, we began
to develop vessels and cells with windows that allow direct
observation of supercritical media, hiring dedicatedtechnicians for this purpose. As a result, we establishedand acquired a patent for a window seal mechanism that isreliable under high temperatures and pressures and thatfacilitates setup and operations. Many users have adopted
instruments employing our window seal mechanism, and it
is our hope that the capability to visualize supercriticalfluids under harsh conditions with such systems willcontinue to contribute to research on supercritical fluids.
In addition to responding to customer demands forvisual observation, we hope to provide sound solutions forcustomer issues through integrated management of ourknowledge and expertise on the design and manufactureof supercritical instruments. We understand that there area large number of possible combinations of pressures,
temperatures, fluids, and control methods in supercriticalfields required by our customers. Therefore, our efforts in

R&D are not merely focused on the body of the pressure
vessel, the centerpiece of the research equipment, butalso on peripheral equipment and how to propose
optimum combinations and systems.

Cell system for visual observation of supercritical mixtures(jointly developed with Takafumi Aizawa, senior research scientist
at AIST Research Center for Compact Chemical System)

We also introduced a compact process vessel designed
for supercritical experiments on carbon dioxide. The
vessel can be used prior to installing an actual system as
an initial step for assessing the research potential of thesupercritical fluid. Once provided with a rough descriptionof the experiment and its objectives, we can select thenecessary peripheral equipment and advise the customer
on the need for any new purchases other than thecompact process vessel, enabling the customer to begin
conducting experiments on a relatively low budget.
We continue to develop products to meet all ourcustomers’ needs in research on supercritical fluids, fromentry level to advanced, and are engaged in the design andmanufacture of pressure vessels that are safer and easier
to use.

3. Conclusion
Taiatsu Techno believes that safety issues must be
thoroughly addressed, even in relatively small pressure
vessels designed for testing and research. Throughconformance to regulations pertaining to pressure vessels
and repeated verification of operation and handlingprocedures, we are striving to create a safer environment
for users of high-pressure vessels. Furthermore, we areconstantly studying improvements to the clamp mechanismand exploring other systems for improving the safety of thetemperature control system without a loss in operability
in an effort to design and develop instruments that strike
the best balance between safety and user-friendliness.
For inquiries or product literature, contact:
Takashi Kokubun
Office of Market Development and Planning
Taiatsu Techno Corporation
3-27-9 Honkomagome, Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo 113-0021 Japan
Tel: 03-3827-8211 Fax: 03-3827-8218

MICRONANO No. 73
MICRONANO is published quarterly by Micromachine Center (MMC), BEANS Technical Research Association(BEANS . TRA) to promote the international exchange of information related to micromachines, R&D and othertechnical topics, and is circulated free of change. Please send your comments about MICRONANO to the publisher :Keiichi Aoyagi, Executive Director, Micromachine Center (MMC)
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Tel : +81-3-5835-1870, Fax : +81-3-5835-1873
Internet Home Page h t t p : / / w w w . m m c . o r . j p /Date of Issue : October 29, 2010