Members' Profiles

Yokogawa Electric Corporation
1. MEMS technology efforts at Yokogawa
Measurement, control and information are thecore technology areas of Yokogawa, which
provides state-of-the-art “mother tools” for anindustrial world. Our major business areas are thecontrol equipment field, which is expanding due
to rising oil prices, and the measurement
equipment field that comprises semiconductor
testers and electronic instruments. In 2005,
Yokogawa celebrated its 90th anniversary, andthe Corporate Research and Development
Headquarters is hard at work developing leadingedge technologies to solve customer problems inanticipation of the company's centennial in 2015.
One area in which the company is focusing
particular effort is the use of MEMS technology toproduce key devices that can distinguish
Yokogawa’s products from those of its
competitors. In the 20 years since Yokogawa
began research into MEMS technology, thecompany has accumulated many basictechnologies. We are now employing thesetechnologies to develop new devices that will be
the seeds for both core businesses and newbusinesses.
2. Current status of research and development
Some typical products and devices currently
under development are described below.
(1) Silicon resonant sensor device
The key device used in the Dpharp series ofprocess differential pressure sensors firstmarketed in 1991 is the miniature silicon resonant
sensor shown in Fig. 1. This was one of the first
products in the world to employ MEMS
technology, and ultimately 1.5 million came to be
used worldwide. We are increasing our share of
the world market, and we feel that it is only amatter of time before we are number one globally.
The Dpharp has grown to become one of
Yokogawa’s main products, and the company isplacing a great deal of emphasis on the ongoingdevelopment of the silicon sensors that is its corecomponent.

Director, Advanced Technology Research Center

Katsumi Isozaki(2) Tunable MEMS-VCSEL
The device shown in Fig. 2 is a tunable MEMS
vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (MEMSVCSEL) currently being developed with thesupport of the NEDO High Integration Composite
MEMS Fabrication Technology Development
Project. Yokogawa is working to create this uniquedevice by combining compound semiconductor
technology with the Si-MEMS technology that hashelped to distinguish its products from those of itscompetitors.
(3) Microreactor development efforts
A microreactor is a device that causes chemical
reactions to take place inside a tiny micro-fluid
channels. As the properties of this tiny space canbe freely manipulated, manufacturing plants canbe created with sizes and functions heretofore
impossible. MEMS is the key technology thatenables microreactors to be achieved.
Microreactor technology is expected torevolutionize the manufacturing methods forpharmaceuticals and fine chemicals produced insmall lots using high value added functional
materials. Yokogawa is pursuing development of
microreactors on a priority basis. Fig. 3 shows amicroreactor chip for on-site gas manufacture,
currently being developed jointly with Mitsui
Chemicals, Inc.

Fig. 3 Microreactor device

Fig. 1 Si resonant sensor

Fig. 2 Tunable MEMS-VCSEL

3. Future efforts
MEMS is a manufacturing technology. For thisreason, it is important to combine MEMS withother technologies to increase added value. In
the future, Yokogawa will work to fuse MEMS
with chemical technologies, deploying theachievements in microreactors, biotechnology andfuel cells.
MICRONANO No. 57

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