MMC Activities..............1
BEANS Pj ....................5
Topic .........................6
Overseas Trends............7
Member’s Profiles .........8

MMC Activities

MicroNano 2008 Report
MicroNano 2008 was held for four days Tuesday, July 29

MicroNano, and this appears to be one of the reasons that thethrough Friday, August 1, 2008 at the Tokyo International

event is held in such high regard.

Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight) and the Ariake
Washington Hotel (Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo). The exhibition

Micromachines and MEMS devices are now key systems
and devices that are essential for the manufacture of various

was a resounding success, and the sponsors would once again
like to express their appreciation to all who attended.

products in the manufacturing industry. As the sole venue thatcombines together both the micromachine industry and theThis year, as last year, MicroNano 2008 featured both an

MEMS industry, the organizers of MicroNano feel both a senseinternational exhibition and a conference. The number ofcompanies exhibiting at the exhibition came to 358 (in 483

of mission and an obligation to meet the high expectations
placed on the event. Next year and in future years, they willbooths). As in past years, the total number of visitors during
the three days of the exhibition continues to increase: whereas

continue to strive to increase the appeal of MicroNano andmake it an event at which the achievements in these industries

last year’s total attendance was 12,424, this year it was 14,075

can be shared with visitors. Next year is particularly– an increase of 13% over last year, and a new record.
Attendance by overseas visitors was 2.7 times greater than thenoteworthy in that the Exhibition Micromachine / MEMS willcelebrate its 20th anniversary. The tentative dates and venue

previous year. The increase was undoubtedly due to the fact
that, in addition to the Micromachine / Nanotech Symposium, afor MicroNano 2009 are shown below. The organizers hope thatboth exhibitors and visitors will once again attend andvariety of international conferences were held duringotherwise support the event.

MicroNano 2008, including the Japan-Germany Business
Forum and the MIF Overseas Affiliate Workshop. At these andalmost all of the other venues, attendance was so great that thehandouts that had been prepared proved to be insufficient to

MicroNano 2009 (tentative)

meet the demand. The success of the event is a sure sign that
MicroNano has become firmly established as a Tokyo Big Sight- 20th Exhibition Micromachine / MEMS
- Conference

event, as well as a sign of the increased interest in

Wednesday, July 29 - Friday, July 31, 2009
East Hall Nos. 5 & 6, Tokyo International
Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight), Ariake, Tokyo

micromachine and MEMS technology. Beginning last year,
MicroNano has featured both micromachines and MEMS, witha full array of MEMS exhibits. No other exhibition, in Japan oreven overseas, offers exhibits in the MEMS field on the scale of

19th Exhibition Micromachine / MEMS
The 19th Exhibition Micromachine / MEMS was held in theWest Hall Nos. 1 & 2 at the Tokyo International Exhibition
Center (Tokyo Big Sight) as one of the events in MicroNano
2008. Both the total number of exhibitors and the total numberof attendees set a new record for the exhibition: 358 exhibitors
and a total of 14,075 attendees over the three days of theexhibition.
The Micromachine Center booth featured both display
panels and survey materials introducing the Center’s activities,
as well as exhibits of actual wafers and devices that enabled
visitors to gain a thorough understanding of MEMS devices. The
booth and its exhibits were very popular with attendees.

Internet Home Page : http://www.mmc.or.jp/

In addition, a separate MemsONE Consortium boothfeatured an explanation of the functions of the MemsONE

Year

Venue

Total No. of Attendees

software for MEMS design.
As the table below shows, the scale of the exhibition has

19th(2008)

Tokyo International
Exhibition Center(Tokyo Big Sight)

14,075been increased each year to accommodate the expansion of the
MEMS industry. Next year, the 20th Exhibition Micromachine /18th(2007)

Tokyo International
Exhibition Center(Tokyo Big Sight)

12,424MEMS is scheduled to be held July 29 - 31, 2009. The exhibition

17th(2006)

Tokyo Forum

11,73616th(2005)

Science Museum

9,098

venue will remain the same – Tokyo International Exhibition
Center (Tokyo Big Sight) – but the exhibition hall will change
to the East Hall Nos. 5 & 6.

14th International Micromachine / Nanotech Symposium
On the first day of MicroNano 2008, July 29, 2008, the 14th
International Micromachine / Nanotech Symposium was held at
the Ariake Tokyo Bay Washington Hotel. As indicated by the
symposium’s subtitle (“Technology Convergence MEMS, LSI.
Nano and Bio”) the focus of this year’s symposium was 2 ndgeneration MEMS, for which integration with semiconductors is
being pursued, as well as BEANS, the 3rd generation MEMS thatare intended to integrate nano- and biotechnologies.
In the morning keynote address entitled “MEMS
Industrialization Perspective in Japan,” Kyoto University
Professor and NEDO Program Manager Hidetoshi Kotera gave an
overview of the MEMS integration and fusing of different fields
currently being promoted in Japan, covering such aspects as
national government policy and industry-academic liaison efforts.
Next, Roger T. Howe of Stanford University gave an absorbing
presentation about integrated MEMS efforts in the UnitedStates and new efforts aimed at future MEMS development.
The afternoon sessions began with the MEMS LSI
Integration session. Albert Chang of the Asia PacificMicrosystems (APM) foundry in Taiwan gave a presentation on
CMOS / MEMS integration from a foundry perspective. Yoshiaki
Toyoshima of Toshiba Corporation gave a presentation oncooperation and integration with regard to MEMS and CMOS.
Wilbur Catabay of the Silicon Valley Technology Center spoke
about deployment of the technology in 8” wafers in the MEMS
integration process. In the final presentation in that session,
Susumu Sugiyama of Ritsumeikan University spoke about theFine MEMS project which will be completed this year. In thesepresentations, the speakers introduced MEMS integration
efforts from a variety of perspectives and expressed a variety ofopinions.
In the next session, entitled “MEMS Emerging
Applications,” Uwe Kleinkes of the iVAM Microtechnology

Professor Hidetoshi Kotera

Network in Germany spoke about new applications for
MicroSystems Technology (MST) at European companies.
Yoshio Sekiguchi of Omron Corporation gave a presentation on
MEMS microphones and deployment in 8” wafer manufacture.
Ryo Ota of Olympus Corporation spoke about bio and medical
applications for cantilever and mirror devices. Each of thesepresentations focused on the latest applications for MEMS
technologies and the latest trends in commercial development.
The final session was entitled “Emerging Technology:
BEANS” and focused on the integration of MEMS with nanoand bio technologies. Jouni Ahopelto of VTT spoke about thenanoimprinting technology currently being promoted in Europe
and the nanopatterning technology expected to be promoted in
the future. Ichiro Yamashita of Matsushita Electric Industrial
gave a presentation on the nanopatterning technology thatutilizes the self-organizing property of proteins and theapplication of this technology in device development. Finally,
Associate Professor Koji Miyazaki of the Kyushu Institute ofTechnology spoke about the BEANS project, whose goal is toachieve high performance exceeding that of thermoelectric
power generation through the control of nanostructures. In thissession as well, there was spirited discussion of research trends,
technological potential and so on.
The symposium was filled to capacity (200 persons) and
was a resounding success, thanks not only to the outstanding
presentations but also to the hard work of the Steering
Committee and Program Committee and the international
advisors, as well as to all who provided their assistance andcooperation in emceeing and coordinating operations on the
day of the event.
The 15th International Micromachine / Nanotech Symposium
will be held next year, once again as part of MicroNano 2009.

Symposium venue

2

Albert Chang

Professor Roger T. Howe

Japanese-German Micro / Nano Business Forumthrough industry-government-academic cooperation. The final
presentation, by Professor Masayoshi Esashi of Tohoku
University (a MEMS Industry Forum advisor), focused on
business development through open collaboration on the part ofindustry and academia.
Moreover, on Thursday, July 31, an International Affiliate
Workshop was held at a special venue set up at MicroNano
2008. The workshop featured presentations on the activities ofaffiliates in Korea, Brazil and Singapore.

The Japanese-German Micro / Nano Business Forum washeld on July 30 as part of MicroNano 2008. The forum wassponsored jointly by the Micromachine Center and the iVAM
Microtechnology Network of Germany, a MEMS Industry Forumoverseas affiliate.
In the opening ceremony, Peter Scholz, of the Industry andEnergy Ministry in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW)Province, and Keiichi Aoyagi, executive director of theMicromachine Center, spoke about the significance of the forum
and their expectations for this year’s event.
The sessions featured presentations from eight companies
and research organizations from Germany and other parts ofEurope that were also exhibitors at Exhibition Micromachine /MEMS. The presentations focused on MEMS packaging, autoassembly, laser processing 3-dimensional measurement andother state-of-the-art technologies, as well as new productannouncements. Presentations from Japan included a
discussion of the injection molding of metallic powder by Taisei
Kogyo Co., Ltd. (an iVAM Microtechnology Network member),a presentation by Matsushita Electric Works, a MEMS Industry
Forum member, on its proprietary MID technology (MIPTECH),
and a presentation by Olympus Corporation on the latest
cantilever technologies and their application in businessactivities. The Micromachine Center also gave a presentation onefforts to promote industrial applications for MEMS in JapanMEMS Forum(3) Technical strategy roadmap for the MEMS field
Hideaki Watanabe, New Energy and Industrial Technology
Development Organization (NEDO)The MEMS Forum was held on August 1, 2008 at a special
venue set up within Exhibition Micromachine / MEMS. The
purpose of the MEMS Forum is to offer information about theactivities of the MEMS Industry Forum, a special projectcommittee of the Micromachine Center, and to provide a forum
for the exchange of views regarding MEMS, in order to achievea deeper common recognition of issues involved in the growthand expansion of MEMS-related industries.
This year’s MEMS Forum began with an overview of MEMS
Industry Forum activities by Keiichi Aoyagi, director of the
MEMS Industry Forum secretariat. Session 1 focused on
current issues relating to the establishment of a MEMS industry
infrastructure. Session 2 featured presentations on theactivities of MEMS Industry Forum academy affiliates. Session 3
focused on the status of specific activities relating to issues inthe development of the MEMS industry, including international
standardization, personnel training, support for MEMS-related
research and development at the MEMS foundry experimental
research institutions established and operated by local
governments, and the infrastructure for MEMS design. Below is
a list of the presentation titles and the names of the presenters
for each session in this year’s MEMS Forum.

Session 2 Industry-Academic Collaboration
Session 2 was a session on industry-academic collaboration,organized and chaired by Professor Kazuo Sato of the School ofGraduate Studies at Nagoya University. Presentations in thissession were from the perspective of industry-academic
collaboration, which supports the activities of the MEMS
Industry Forum, and were conducted by the following MEMS
Industry Forum academy affiliates.
(1) Remarks at the beginning of the industry-academic
collaboration session
Kazuo Sato, Nagoya University(2) Wearable microsensors: an advanced general sensing
technology for achieving a safe and secure society
Kazusuke Maenaka, University of Hyogo(3) Mass production of next-generation optical elements
through ultra-precision micro three-dimensional
machine processing
Eiji Shamoto, Nagoya University(4) Introduction to the Micro Energy Research Council,
Micro / Nano Optical Specialist Forum, Japan Societyof Mechanical Engineers
Hiroki Kuwano, Tohoku University

Session 1 Advancement of MEMS Industries andTechnologies(1) Strengthening of MEMS industry infrastructure
Isao Shimoyama, The University of Tokyo(2) Toward MEMS market expansion:
1st generation MEMS - 3rd generation MEMS (BEANS)
Junji Adachi, Micromachine Center

Session 3 Issues for MEMS Industry Development
Session 3 focused on the committee activities of the MEMS
Industry Forum in the Micromachine Center, comprising3

Manabu Yasui, Kanagawa Industrial Technology Center(6) MemsONE functions and future plans (MEMS design
and analysis support system) Ver. 1.1
Yukihisa Maeda, MemsONE Consortium, Nihon Unisys Excelutions

international standardization efforts in the MEMS field, issues
relating to the strengthening of the MEMS foundry
infrastructure, an example of a micro/nano manufacturingpersonnel training program (a topic currently being pursued by
MEMS Industry Forum affiliate organizations), and the current
state of research and development assistance to local companies.
(1) International standardization trends in MEMS fields
Professor Kuniki Ohwada, Teikyo University(2) AIST training of micro / nano manufacturing personnel,
focusing on industry-academic personnel training
partnership projects
Ryutaro Maeda, National Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science and Technology (AIST)(3) Strengthening of MEMS foundry infrastructure
Susumu Sugiyama, Ritsumeikan University(4) Activities for the establishment of a MEMS Foundry Network
Fumihiko Sato, Omron Corporation and Chair, Foundry Service
Industry Committee, MEMS Foundry Network(5) Case studies of the use of MEMS technologies in
research and development assistance by the
Kanagawa Industrial Technology Center

This year, as last year, the MEMS Forum was held at a
special venue that had been set up within Exhibition
Micromachine / MEMS. On the day of the forum, the attendanceexceeded the capacity of the special venue (400 persons). The
MEMS Forum featured exhibits of new technologies andproducts. The Forum also facilitated participation in
conferences on MEMS-related technical trends and industry
trends, and provided an overview of the current state of MEMS
business and MEMS technologies and the prospects for both,and it was well-received by attendees.
The MEMS Industry Forum makes every effort to ensurethat the content of the MEMS Forum provides the opportunity
to enhance the common recognition of issues relating to thegrowth of MEMS-related industries. We hope that visitors willcontinue to attend and benefit from the MEMS Forum in futureyears as well.

Fine MEMS Project Interim Achievements Meetingachievements in nine consignment projects from the heads ofdevelopment in each area, followed by a lively discussion.
Even from the viewpoint of attendance, the meeting was a
resounding success. For this year’s meeting, 250 seats – morethan twice the number of last year’s interim achievements
meeting – had been prepared. However, by the time themeeting began, these seats were filled and that there were a lotof standing audience, and all 400 copies of the meeting material
prepared in advance had been handed out. Similarly, there weremany visitors to the NEDO Fine MEMS Project booth within the
exhibition venue, and this booth soon became a site of a lively
discussion on the details of the interim achievements of theFine MEMS project and other issues. Judging from the air of
excitement that pervaded both the meeting and the exhibition
venue from start to finish, expectations for this project are
extremely high, and both the meeting and the Fine MEMS
Project booth were deemd as a outstanding success aboutpublicizing the development efforts for highly integrated andcomplex MEMS manufacturing technologies. The responses
from a questionnaire survey conducted for meeting attendees
and exhibition booth visitors will be analyzed and used thequestionnaire data to rapidly achieve practical applications forthe manufacturing technologies developed as part of the Fine
MEMS Project.

As part of MicroNano 2008, a meeting was held to announce
the interim achievements of the Highly Integrated and Complex
MEMS Manufacturing Technology Development Project (FineMEMS Project) commissioned and subsidized by the New
Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization(NEDO). The meeting was held on Thursday, July 31, 2008 at
the Tokyo International Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight)
and was hosted by the NEDO and the Fine MEMS Project
Promotion Committee of the Micromachine Center, withsupport from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry(METI).
At the opening ceremony, Akira Uehara, Executive directorof NEDO, delivered an address of welcome to the attendees onbehalf of the orgnizers. Next, Motoki Korenaga, deputy directorof the Manufacturing Industries Bureau of the Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry, an invited guest, gave apresentation entitled “MEMS Industry Strategies andExpectations for the Fine MEMS Project.” Isao Shimoyama,
Dean of the Graduate School of Information Science andTechnology of The University of Tokyo and the leader of theFine MEMS Project, gave a presentation entitled “Overview ofFine MEMS Project” in which he presented an the outline of the
project’s achievements including grant projects. After thesepresentations, there were detailed reports on the latest

4

BEANS Project Promotion Organization
Atsushi Yusa, BEANS Project Leader
The previous issue of MICRONANO featured an overview of the
Project to Develop Next-generation Device Manufacturing
Technologies that Fuse Different Fields (otherwise known as the
BEANS Project). This issue will present the features andimplementing organization for promoting the BEANS Project. As
you know, there are two types of implementing organizations fornational research and development projects: a centralized researchframework, in which all of the organizations participating in the
project are grouped at one location, and the distributed researchframework, in which the organizations are distributed in separate
locations for each research topic. In the centralized researchframework, the researchers, instruments and equipment are
centralized at a single location (a university, national research
center or company) and all research activities are conducted at thatlocation. With this system, the research budget and scale of research
for the project are large, but the research can be managed
efficiently. In the distributed framework, the participating
institutions take the issues back to their own departments andconduct research there. For this reason, in Japan this framework isalso known as “take-home research.” With this system, research islimited to individual issues, so there is a clear organization of
responsibilities, but on the other hand it is difficult to efficiently
manage the project as a whole. In this way, each system has its
advantages and disadvantages. Although naturally it depends on thenature of the project, in general the distributed system has beenused for projects that are promoted for short-term topics and for thepractical application of technologies, while the centralized system
has been used for long-term topics and key technology research andother major projects that are considered to be national strategies.
Both approaches are being employed to implement the BEANS
project. The implementing organization is a centralized framework,
but an active effort is being made to incorporate the advantages ofthe distributed approach, for example by distributing research
activities among multiple research institutions. In the background of
this approach lies the fact that the research topics for the BEANS
project encompass a wide range of areas (MEMS, biotechnology,
organic research and nanotechnology), and instead of centralizing
the research centers at a single location, it would be more efficient
to distribute them to universities and national research institutes toutilize existing research resources. On the other hand, goodorganization, close cooperation and common management will beneeded in to organically link these wide-ranging research topics andpursue research and development that will enable the project’s goalof integrating different fields to be achieved. For this reason, it was
decided to establish the management organization for the BEANS
project at a different location from the research centers in an effort
to accelerate and improve the efficiency of research promotion.
Accordingly, university researchers, company engineers and postdoctoral researchers have been assembled at research centers(national research institutes and universities that have outstanding
research resources) to conduct research activities based oncooperation among industry, government and academia. Meanwhile,a separate research center that serves as the head office for the
project has been established at the BEANS Laboratory to enableeffective project management. For the purposes of the BEANS
project, the research centers and the project management
organization are collectively referred to as the “BEANS research
initiative.” The following diagram shows the details of the BEANS
research initiative.
Many research entities are participating in the BEANS
research initiative. At present, these comprise 18 companies, 12
universities, two independent research institutes and two
foundations. These entities include four organizations that havebeen contracted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

to conduct research: the Micromachine Center, the Institute for
Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer Foundation (USEF),
The University of Tokyo and Kyushu University. The remaining
participating organizations are places to which research has been
re-consigned or companies from which employees have beentransferred to the aforementioned four entities to conduct
research. Currently a total of 108 researchers and engineers areengaged in project research. These include university faculty
members, temporarily transferred company employees, postdoctoral researchers, interns and exchange researchers.
For the purposes of this project, research activities areorganized into three areas (Life BEANS, 3D BEANS and Macro
BEANS) according to research and development topic, andresearch is being conducted at five research centers. At present,
the Life BEANS Center comprises two locations: the Ito Campusof Kyushu University and the University of Tokyo’s Komaba
Research Campus. The 3D BEANS Center also comprises two
locations: the University of Tokyo’s Komaba Research Campus
and the Biwako Kusatsu Campus of Ritsumeikan University. The
Macro BEANS Center is located at the Tsukuba East office of
the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science andTechnology (AIST). As a result, in geographical terms the
BEANS research network is a nationwide one, with centers in
the Kanto and Kansai regions of Honshu and on Kyushu.
In terms of the management scheme, the BEANS Centers areplaced under a project leader. Each BEANS Center has a director
and a head of planning and coordination. The Center directors areoutstanding research leaders 30 to 40 years of age at the universities
and independent research institutes that are the driving force
behind research promotion. The heads of planning and coordination
are the three assistant directors of the BEANS Laboratory,
individuals who have experience in research management. In thisway, the research and management functions are completely
separate but are designed to complement one another. This gives
researchers a sense of mission and an appropriate level of intensity,
enabling Center operations to be both speedy and efficient.
Overall project management is conducted by the project leader
with support from the sub project leader and the office of the
project leader. The office of the project leader handles daily tasks
relating to research planning and management and so on, while atthe same time administering the Project Promotion Committee,
Intellectual Property Committee and various other committees.
Particularly with regard to the Project Promotion Committee thatplays a central role in project promotion, the office of the project
leader periodically ascertains the progress of each research anddevelopment topic, comparing project progress with projectplanning and evaluating the results and then expeditiously making
determinations as needed with regard to whether the project shouldbe accelerated, downscaled, terminated or otherwise revised. The
Intellectual Property Committee establishes mechanisms thatenable batch sub-licensing of the patents and other intellectual
property rights achieved by the project to participating institutions,in order to enable project achievements to make wide-ranging
contributions to the creation of new industries and provide
increased added value to existing manufacturing operations.
The innovative research and development conducted as partof the BEANS Project involves the integration of different fields
on an unprecedented scale. The project organizers believe that a
key factor in the success of the project will be a promotion
scheme that is commensurate with the innovative nature of the
project. While it may be necessary to change or revise thepromotion scheme to match the progress of research efforts, insuch cases this will be accommodated through a flexible
approach that is not constrained by the existing scheme.

BEANS Research Initiative
METI

Designation of PL and delegation of authority

Project Leader Atsushi Yusa

Life BEANS Center Kyushu
Center director: Chihaya Adachi
Head of planning and coordination: Junji Adachi
Based at: Kyushu University Ito Campus

Commissioned

Integration of bio and Organic materials
In charge of organic material
integration processes
Lintec Corporation, Matsushita
Electric Works, Ltd., Kyushu
Institute of Technology

Life BEANS Center
Center director: Masaharu Takeuchi
Head of planning and coordination: Hiroshi Takei
Based at: The University of Tokyo Komaba
ResearchCampus

3D BEANS Center
Center director: Masakazu Sugiyama
Head of planning and coordination: Hiroshi Takei
Based at: The University of Tokyo Komaba Research Campus

Integration of bio and organic materials

Omron Corporation, Seiko Instruments Inc.,
Toshiba Corporation, Denso Corporation,
Fujikura Ltd., Fuji Electric Systems Co., Ltd.,
Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.,
Tohoku University, Tokyo Metropolitan University,
Shizuoka University, RIKENIn charge of bio integration processes
Olympus Corporation, Terumo Corporation,
Mitsubishi Chemical Safety Institute Ltd.,
Keio University, Kyoto University, AISTSub Project Leaders

Hiroyuki Fujita / Masaaki Kimata

Project Leader's Office

3D nanostructure formation

3D BEANS Center Shiga
Center director: Masaaki Kimata
Head of planning andcoordination: Masatsugu Akiyama
Based at: Ritsumeikan University
Biwako Kusatsu Campus
3D nanostructure formation
In charge of 3D nanostructures forspace applications
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, JAROS

Macro BEANS Center
Center director: Munehisa Takeda
Head of planning andcoordination: Munehisa Takeda
Based at: AIST Tsukuba East office
Micro/nanostructure large-area
continuous manufacture
Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd., Furukawa ElectricCo., Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation,ULVAC, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.,
Gunma University(4) Compilation of a knowledge database of next-generation device manufacturing technologies that integrate different fields: Tohoku University, Tokyo University
University of Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology,
Development of simulation technologies: Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc., Mathematical Systems, Inc.
The University of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Keio University, Development

Kyushu University
Center for Future Chemistry

Research cooperation

The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science

AIST

Collaborative Research Center for Bio Nano Hybrid Process

USEF
MMC BEANS Research Center: researchers and project leader support from 18 companies and 9 universities

5

Macro BEANS Liaison Research Organization

TopicMEMS Mall Now OpenMEMS Mall (Japanese only) became available on the MMC website starting October 1, 2008
More than 14,000 visitors attended the Exhibition
Micromachine / MEMS held at the Tokyo International
Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight) in July. 358
MEMS-related organizations participated in the
exhibition. The exhibition is a valuable opportunity toobtain information about micromachines and MEMS,
which in Japan have been called, so to speak, the“beans” of industry (providing nutriment to thesemiconductors that are the key element or “rice” ofindustry). The fact that attendance has increased eachyear is a sure sign of the enthusiastic expectations ofindustry for these fields. However, as the exhibition is
only held once a year in a single location, up until now
it has not been possible to obtain such information
whenever and wherever it is needed.

Clicking the name of an exhibiting company in thelist of exhibitors displays the company page withinformation on the MEMS products and newtechnologies of that company.

For this reason, MIF (the MEMS Industry Forum)has been studying ways to create a “virtual exhibition”
online. The results of the efforts of MIF became theestablishment of MEMS on the MMC website, which isavailable starting October 1, 2008.
MEMS MALL is the rirtual mall which provides
information on products and new technologies
developed by MEMS-related companies, with content
provided by the 15 member companies of MIF. The listof the companies and their products is linked to theeach company page that introdues information on the
products and new technologies for each company, as
well as to the individual company websites.

In some cases, you can go directly to the company’s
website that provide information on those products
and technologies from the each company page on
MEMS MALL.
The MEMS Mall is designed to provide online thevisitors with the same experience, as if they visited
different booths at Exhibition Micromachine / MEMS.
You can easily access the information about MEMS
products and technologies.

Clicking the MEMS Mall button on the MMC
website displays the top page for the MEMS Mall.

MEMS products and technologies are categorized
as follows:– Devices (optical, RF, sensor, fluid, actuator, bio /chemical, power, etc.)– Products that incorporate MEMS (micromachine,
biotechnology, medical)– Manufacturing equipment and materials (foundry
service, design tool, manufacturing and processing
equipment, materials, evaluation and measurement
equipment)
We expect that MEMS Mall will enhance theinterchange between MEMS-related companies andindividuals. If you would like to be a MEMS Mall
exhibitor, please contact the MMC Secretariat.
MEMS Mall
http://www.mmc.or.jp/mall/(Note: the MEMS Mall is available in Japanese only.)6Overseas Trends

4th Japan-Korea-China MEMS Standardization Workshop
Efforts to promote international standardization of MicroElectro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) have up to now resulted in
the publication of three international standards originating inJapan: “Terms and definitions,” “Tensile testing method of thinfilm materials” and “Thin film standard test piece for tensile
testing.” Another proposed standard, “Thin film fatigue test
methods,” is currently under review as a Committee Draft Version(CDV). Recently efforts to achieve international standardization
have become active in South Korea as well. Five draft standards
have been proposed and are currently under review.
Against this backdrop,
the Japan-Korea-China
MEMS Standardization
Workshop has been held
as a forum to promote
cooperation and theexchange of information
relating
toMEMS
standardization among
Workshop venue
Japan, Korea and China.
The 1st workshop was held in 2005 in Tokyo. The 2nd workshop washeld in 2006 in Gyeongju, South Korea. The 3rd workshop was held
in Beijing, China. After having been held in all three countries, forthe 4th workshop the venue returned to Japan once again, and theworkshop was held on Friday, June 20, 2008 in Tokyo to coincidewith the IEC TC47 WG4 Tokyo Meeting. Although at this year’s
workshop there were only four presentations (two each fromJapan and South Korea), as China had been forced to cancel its
participation as a result of the Sichuan Earthquake, thepresentations sparked a lively discussion.
The following is an overview of the presentations.
Following the opening address by Chairman Naotake Oyamaof the Micromachine Center’s Standardization Project
Committee, the following four presentations were given on the
topic of MEMS standardization.

type standardization projects that have been implemented
in Japan up to now and the current state of international
standardization. Subsequently, he reported on progress inthe accelerated life test standardization project currently
being implemented. He also discussed a draft standard thatis currently under study.
(3) Dr. Nak Kyu Lee of the Korea
Institute of Industrial Technology
gave a presentation on the Forming
Limit Diagram (FLD) Test forevaluating the ductility ofnanoimprint materials. In this test, athin film is fastened in place and asemispherical jig is used tocompress the film, after which thedeformation of the film is evaluated. In the presentation, he
discussed the measurement principle and introduced adeformation measurement technique that utilizes a CCD
camera to measure the grids formed on the test specimen.
Plans call for this test method to be proposed to the IEC as
an international standard.
(4) Professor Higo of Tokyo Institute ofTechnology gave a presentation on
the development of standard
materials used for calibrating thinfilm material test equipment,
entitled “Bending specimen for
calibrating materials testingmachine.” He proposed metallic
glass materials as materials that are stable, uniform, strong
and have a low modulus of elasticity, and noted that thesematerials have been confirmed to possess stable elastic
properties. He also reported on studies of the significant
impact of machining on these standard materials, as well ason the shape of the test specimens used for calibration.

(1) Professor Park of Kyunpook National
University in South Korea gave apresentation on the current status of
MEMS / NEMS standardization andthe approach to standardization
research in South Korea. He spoke
about standardization in the MEMS
field (IEC TC47 / WG4) and the stateof international standardization in the area ofnanotechnology (IEC TC229), as well as future approaches
in the MEMS field (in terms of the evaluation of packages,
sensor devices and flexible devices and standardization
topics for which reliability is a chief concern).
(2) Associate Professor Tsuchiya of
Kyoto University gave a presentation
on “The Accelerated Life Test for
MEMS Device Structures,” one of
the standardization projects
currently being promoted in Japan.
Dr. Tsuchiya began by giving an
overview of the material evaluation

The conference ended with Keiichi Aoyagi, Executive
Director of the Micromachine Center, expressing his hopes forstandardization in the MEMS field.
Although it was unfortunate that China was unable toparticipate, it was a valuable workshop, with an active exchange
of information between Japan and South Korea and participantsfrom many companies in attendance. Prior to this 4th workshop,
the workshop had been held in each of the participating
countries – Japan, South Korea and China – and so thisworkshop also marked the beginning of the second round ofworkshops held in each country. The major achievement of theWorkshop has been its role in providing a forum for theexchange of information regarding the current state of MEMS
standardization and future prospects in each country, as well as
in enhancing the common recognition in these three countries.
It is crucial that these achievements be utilized in MEMS
standardization strategies in Japan.
The 5 t h Japan-Korea-China MEMS Standardization
Workshop will be held in South Korea in 2009.

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Members’ Profiles

Kyocera Corporation
Established in 1959, Kyocera is a manufacturer
specializing in fine ceramics. Over the years, the company
has expanded its applications of fine ceramics into a wide
range of industries and has developed diverse
enterprises, from the production of fine ceramic materials
and ceramic components, such as industrial machineryparts, electronic components, and semiconductor
packages, to solar power generating systems, cutting
tools, jewelry, medical products, mobile phones, anddocument imaging equipment, as well as network systems
and other services.
Kyocera began with twenty-eight employees nearly
half a century ago. Today, the company has expanded its
operations into more than thirty countries worldwide,with more than 180 affiliate companies. The Kyocera
Group has grown into a global corporation with some
68,000 employees and a trillion yen in annual sales.
Kyocera has espoused the managerial philosophy ofenabling each employee to pursue material and spiritual
happiness, by which we hope to contribute to theadvancement of society and humankind. Our goal is to
grow continually as a creative-based company, honing acompetitive edge in each business division. To accomplish
this, we practice our own management system, called
Amoeba Management, based on our corporate philosophy,
and continuously strive to develop new technologies andnew quality high-performance products for our customers.
Kyocera also aggressively engages in environmental
activities. Recognizing that our business activities canimpact the global environment and human life, we haveadopted a clear vision for environmental preservation,
promoting “green management” aimed at finding a balance
between eco-friendly practices and economic
development to assure sustainable growth within thecompany. As a leader of green management, it is our social
responsibility as a manufacturer to reduce the impact ouractivities have on the environment. Even during the earlyyears, the company has rigorously practiced
environmental management, establishing stricter internal
standards than public regulations.
Kyocera adheres to the tenet that the customer comes
first, with the aim of supplying products and services at a
price and quality that our customers have come to expect,while continuously delivering new value to the global
market.

major issue in today’s electronic devices, and the demand
for noise reduction components is likely to increase.
AVX Corporation, which is part of the Kyocera Group,
is one of the largest manufacturers of capacitors in theworld, particularly tantalum capacitors. AVX also
produces ceramic capacitors, electric double-layer
capacitors, film capacitors, and numerous others fordiverse applications.
The production of RF modules is also an essential
business today, and Kyocera specializes in modules
formed of multilayer substrates fired at low temperatures.
We supply miniature low-profile Bluetooth modules andRF modules for mobile telephones. The modules havefilters and other functions built into the multilayer
substrates.
The piezoelectric property of fine ceramics is also
applied to a product lineup including oscillators, shock
sensors, and piezo buzzers. Piezoelectric ceramics convert
electric signals into mechanical vibrations, or vice versa.
This property has been applied to acoustic components,
actuators, and power generating elements, with more
applications anticipated. SAW (surface acoustic wave)
devices also employ this piezoelectric property. SAW
filters, commonly used in mobile devices, have comb
electrodes formed on the surface of a monocrystalline
material that convert mechanical vibrations propagating
across the surface of the crystal into electric signals.
Kyocera Elco supplies numerous connectors forelectronic equipment to meet the demands for higher
circuit density, lower profiles, smaller footprints, andgreater functionality.
Our product lineup includes numerous other highperformance electronic devices, such as thermal print
heads produced with thin film technology, LCDs forindustrial use, and amorphous silicon photoreceptor
drums.
Kyocera Kinseki produces various timing devices andother crystal products that utilize the piezoelectric
property of crystals, such as crystal units and oscillators.
As mobile phones and other electronic products become
increasingly smaller in size, there is continuous demand to
reduce the size of components. For example, temperaturecompensated crystal oscillators (TCXO), which areconsidered the heart of mobile phones, are now 1/150th thesize of those produced fifteen years ago. To produce suchcompact oscillators, the ceramic packages and crystal
units had to be greatly reduced in size. We are now
e x p l o r i n g
ultraprecision
micromachining
based on MEMS
technology
inorder to achieveevengreaterminiaturizationand manufacturing
p r e c i s i o n ,particularly withcrystal units.

Electronic Components and Devices
Kyocera produces a wide variety of electronic
components using fine ceramic technologies, including
multilayer ceramic capacitors and EMI filters formed ofdielectric ceramic materials. The smallest of the multilayer
ceramic capacitors is currently a mere 0.4x0.2 mm, andthe trend toward miniaturization is expected to continue.
To manufacture such miniature components, innovative
micromachining techniques are required in material
formation, printing, laminating, and other steps of theprocess. EMI filters designed for reducing noise areanother component produced by laminating sheets ofdielectric material. Reducing electromagnetic noise is a

MICRONANO No. 65
MICRONANO is published quarterly by Micromachine Center (MMC) to promote the international exchange of
information related to micromachines, R&D and other technical topics, and is circulated free of change. Please send
your comments about MICRONANO to the publisher :Keiichi Aoyagi, Executive Director, Micromachine Center (MMC)
MBR99 Bldg., 6F., 67 Kanda Sakumagashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0026, Japan
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, 2008

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