New Year's Greeting .......1
MMC Activities..............2
Overseas Trends............6
Member’s Profiles .........7
Worldwide R&D ............8

View on Year 2005 at the
Beginning of the Year
Tamotsu Nomakuchi, Chairman
Micromachine Center
As we welcome the beginning of 2005, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy New Year. On
this occasion, allow me to give a New Year’s address with my view on the state of Japan and our industry.
Last year was one in which Japan’s economy finally got back on track toward recovery and we glimpsed some good
omens for the manufacturing industry, as efforts in reform began to bear fruit.
According to the economic report recently released by the Cabinet Office, an increase in domestic demand willcontinue to spur economic recovery in the current year.
However, although Japan’s manufacturing industry has already developed global production, sales, and services, it
must also heed sudden increases in crude oil prices and fluctuations in foreign exchange and must try to be morecompetitive globally, standing on the advancement of the East Asian economic partnership agreement (EPA), which
is now being referred to as a global factory.
Amid global competition that becomes fiercer every day, Japan’s government, industry, and academia are asked tocollaborate in the strategic fields stated in the government’s Science and Technology Basic Plan, including
information technology, nanotechnology, materials, and manufacturing technologies. Japan is striving to create moresophisticated innovations by actively promoting R&D.
Fortunately, Japan has managed to preserve an international edge through individual achievements in functionalparts, exceptional for the use of special synthesized materials and precision micromachining. The manufacturingindustry of East Asia is growing with Japan’s advanced parts and materials industry at its nucleus.
By fusing micromachines and MEMS with semiconductor micromachining technology, applied research anddevelopment research of these fields have advanced rapidly, attracting much attention domestically and overseas as
key technologies for developing new products in automotive fields, information and telecommunication fields, andmedical treatment and welfare.
The Micromachine Center has conducted business operations aimed at concentrating the efforts of government,
industry, and academia in order to establish and commercialize basic technologies in micromachines and MEMS. Last
year, after conducting several studies on the industrialization of MEMS in a joint investigation and research project,
we came up with proposals for measures aimed at developing an industrialization foundation and reinforcing thefunctions of the MEMS foundry. At the same time, we launched the MEMS-ONE project designed to construct a
sophisticated, user-friendly software infrastructure for improving the efficiency of MEMS design and development.
Together with the foundry service project designed to develop the hardware infrastructure, this project is expected
to function like the wheels of a car in helping develop the MEMS industry and restoring Japan to its place as a leading
manufacturing nation.
While continuing to base its efforts on trends in such advanced fields as biotechnology, nanotechnology, andinformation technology, the Micromachine Center plans to explore other technology frontiers with the aim ofestablishing new basic technologies for next generation micromachines (fine MEMS, nano-microsystems, etc.).
I wish you all continued happiness and prosperity in 2005. Happy New Year, everyone!

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

MMC Activities

The 10th International Micromachine / Nanotech Symposium
industry creation”, presented by Prof. Susumu Sugiyama
of Ritsumeikan University. The input/output of LSI – thedevelopment of which enabled the realization of today’s
information society - is limited by electronic signals;
MEMS, however, has the potential to input/output adiversity of signals - electronic, mechanical, optical,
magnetic, chemical, and even biological. By combining
MEMS with the remarkable technological innovation thatis nanotechnology, it is anticipated that this field willbring about tremendous dreams for human society.

The 10 t h International Micromachine / Nanotech
Symposium, subsidized by the Japan Motorcycle Racing
Organization and supported by METI and NEDO, washeld on November 11 (Thursday), 2004, at the Science
Museum in Kitanomaru Park, Tokyo. The themes for this
symposium were “Micromachine technology for safe andsecure advanced information societies”, “New MEMS/
systems and technology”, and “Policy trends of MEMS
research and development”; 15 lectures were presented
by invited speakers, 4 from overseas and 11 from within
Japan. The symposium welcomed 359 participants
altogether, including general attendees from both within
Japan and overseas, speakers, invited guests, andmembers of the media. This number represents anincrease of more than 20% over last year’s attendance
and includes the highest number of participants fromwithin Japan to date. The symposium was a roaring
success, with morning sessions in particular so packed
there was barely standing room.

In Session 2, “Micromachine technology for safe andsecure advanced information societies”, speakers activeat the forefront of the commercialization of cars,
information equipment, and medical equipment
presented lectures on the relationship between MEMS
and these various products. Brimming as these productfocused lectures were with practicality, the alreadyoverflowing lecture hall took on an added air of
excitement. Today micromachine (MEMS) technology isa key technology supporting a safe and secure highly
information-orientated society. Thanks to MEMS
technology and nanotechnology, such innovations as theultimate safe car; the impressively creative, ultimate
computer display; and the safe, reassuring, highly
efficient, ultimate therapeutic capsule endoscope are nolonger dreams.

In Session 1, “Opening”, an opening address was given
by Dr. Tamotsu Nomakuchi, Chairman of theMicromachine Center, followed by a guest speech by Mr.
Yoshinori Komiya, Director of the Industrial Machinery
Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau, METI. Thiswas followed by a special lecture entitled “New progressof integration and fusion in MEMS – expectations for new

2market from 450 billion today to 1.35 trillion in 2010 andanother on the METI/NEDO MEMS design and analysis
support system development project (MEMS-ONE
Project) - launched in an industry-academia consortiumby the Micromachine Center – that highlighted theactivities of the Micromachine Center. Furthermore, a
lecture on systematic approaches in material researchnecessary to MST (Micro System Technology), launchedby a European industry-academia consortium showed
how global R&D is progressing overseas also.

Session 3, “New MEMS/ systems and technology”,
began with 3 lectures (2 by speakers from overseas and 1
by a speaker from within Japan) on the relationshipbetween ubiquitous networks and MEMS. These were
followed by 2 lectures (1 each by speakers from overseas
and within Japan) on the application of MEMS inbiomedicine. Various other lectures on timely topics were
presented, including the smart skin for turbulence confrd
insplred by dolphins skin, the integrated MEMS thatexamined the example of infrared image sensors, and thenanoimprinting technology. which enables micro andnano machining innovations with a view to moving awayfrom the semiconductor process. From these it is clearthat MEMS can potentially be applied and expanded in avast array of fields. However, for this to be realized, R&D
of new production technologies that considers cost
reductions is also an important challenge for the future.

Lasting from just after 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., thelong program packed in 15 lectures, beginning with thespecial lecture, and the lecture hall was filled with an airof excitement. A sense of the enormity of the potential of
micromachines and MEMS, and tremendous expectations
for their future was palpable. Responses to thesymposium included many favorable comments fromparticipants, such as “I was able to learn about new
trends and could see the direction in which
commercialization is heading” and “MEMS-ONE is ahighly desirable experiment; I hold high expectations forit,” and some of the information presented in lectures was
taken up and reported favorably by the media. Thanks tothe efforts of our speakers, both from within Japan andoverseas, who presented such topical information, and of
the members of the program committee, who worked so
hard to organize the program, this year’s symposium wasa resounding success.
The next symposium, The 11 t h International
Micromachine / Nanotech Symposium, is planned for
November 10 (Thursday), 2005, again at the Science
Museum in Kitanomaru Park, Tokyo (located near the
Imperial Palace), in conjunction with The 16 t h
Micromachine Exhibition.

Session 4, “Policy trends of MEMS research anddevelopment” featured such lectures as one on market
trends for MEMS that showed an expansion of the MEMS

3

The 15th Micromachine Exhibition: “Micromachine 2004”
The 15 th Micromachine Exhibition, “Micromachine
2004,” was held in conjunction with The 10th International
Micromachine/Nanotech Symposium at the Science
Museum in Kitanomaru Park, Tokyo, for 3 days from
November 10 to 12, 2004, and was a roaring success.
The theme for this year’s exhibition was “LimitlessBusiness Fields Opened up by Micro/Nano Technology:
International
Exhibitionon
MicroUltraprecision/Microfabrication, MEMS, Nanotechnology,
and Biotechnology”.
In addition to the Micromachine Center and 11 of its
supporting member organizations, generous cooperationin the arrangement of exhibitions was also provided byprivate businesses, universities, and independent publicorganizations. A total of 247 displays (352 booths) were
exhibited by representatives of various businesses,
academic groups, universities, and researchorganizations. France’s National Center for Scientific
Research (Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique) and six other organizations from abroad
also presented exhibits.
In accordance with the increased number of
exhibitors, the Micromachine 2004 exhibition occupied,
for the first time, the entire first floor hall space andpreparation room, a part of the lounge, and a part of thesecond floor, of the Science Museum.
Furthermore, a total of 77 businesses and academic
groups took part in the exhibition, including 2 companies
participating from abroad for the first time, and a wide
range of new technologies and products in the fields ofnano-technology and micromachines were presented.
Thanks in part to the exhibition being held inconjunction
withthe
10 t hInternational
Micromachine/Nanotech Symposium, an attendance of
8,213 people was achieved over the three days of theevent. Researchers, engineers, and administrators fromthe frontlines of various technological fields accounted
for a large number of these attendees, and through theexchange of ideas and sharing of research information
with colleagues from other fields, the exhibition provided
an ideal opportunity for discussion of the possibilities for
new technologies and to resolve a wide range ofdevelopmental issues.

The main products displayed at the exhibition
included micromachines, their associated components
and application systems, MEMS-related systems, nanotechnologies and materials, technologies related to microultraprecision fabrication and production, equipment,
biotechnology and medical systems, evaluation andmeasurement devices, and software. In this regard,
Micromachine 2004 was ideally suited to researchers,
engineers, designers, manufacturers, and managers fromfields such as mechanisms and precision machinery;electrical devices and electronics, medicine; information
technology; automobiles and transportation; biology,
physics, and chemistry; architecture; metallurgy; space
aviation; and shipping and oceanography.
Furthermore, the exhibition provided an excellent
opportunity for the promotion of technologies, devices,and products by businesses in the field of micromachineresearch and development; for the presentation of theresults of research projects by universities and otherresearch organizations; and for the announcement of
products and technologies by other newly participating
businesses.
On its opening day, the exhibition was visited by Mr.
Sakae Takahashi, Executive Director of NEDO
(independent administrative organization), who spoke at
the reception that was held following the exhibition. On
the second day, it was also visited by Mr. Yoshinori
Komiya, Director of the Industrial Machinery Division,
Manufacturing Industries Bureau, METI.

The exhibition hall, packed with attendees.

Attendees at the post-exhibition reception.

Micromachine 2005 will be held from
November 9 (Wednesday) to 11 (Friday),2005 at the Science Museum,
Kitanomaru Park, Tokyo.
Inquiries: Mesago Messe Frankfurt Corporation
T e l: 0 3 - 3 2 6 2 - 8 4 4 1
F a x: 0 3 - 3 2 6 2 - 8 4 4 2
E m a i l: i n f o @ m i c r o m a c h i n e . j p
U R L: http://www.micromachine.jp

4Hitachi MEMS Foundry Service
Akira Koide
MEMS ProjectMechanical Engineering Research Laboratory
Hitachi, Ltd.
resins and has applied these technologies to device
development in the various fields.
In this way, processing technologies have become moreversatile, and, as advancements of each technology have
led to increasing specialization, Hitachi has engaged in thebuilding of a framework capable of effectively utilizingthese processing technologies in device development. In
one such example, Hitachi has created an environment forlinking device design to process development in which
process developers can easily analyze the strength andheat flow of devices while seated. Accordingly, robustnessthat accounts for variations in each process underdevelopment by specialists can be easily reflected in thedevice design, providing efficient device development thatenables a smooth transition from trial production to massproduction.

1. Outline
In i-engineering, an integrated market of its
manufacturing technologies, Hitachi, Ltd. supports
technicians engaged in research and development,
design, production, and inspection. Although Hitachi’s
MEMS foundry service was launched three years ago
with services covering design, processing, and trial
production, many customers have expressed a wish forthe foundry service to handle the entire process up to
and including mass-production. Therefore, beginning
this year, we are offering services through massproduction in cooperation with foundry companies in
Hitachi Group. We also assist customers in MEMS
R&D and the construction of production lines and areproviding wide-ranging solutions for MEMS
development, from the selection of utilities andmanufacturing and inspection equipment to clean
room construction required.

3. Features of Hitachi’s MEMS Foundry Service
Hitachi’s MEMS foundry service has developed into a
broad service for supporting the individual circumstancesof our customers, from simple questions related to MEMS
to device design, trial production, and mass-production.
These services are founded on knowledge that Hitachi
has accumulated through years of research anddevelopment on devices and their design and processing.
Our objective is to further strengthen our MEMS R&D
system and to provide a richer array of services.
In order to broaden the range of services it provides,
Hitachi is strengthening relationships with othercompanies in Hitachi Group. Two representative
examples of companies in Hitachi Group that havedeveloped foundry services independently are Hitachi
Metals, Ltd. (http://www.hitachi-metals.co.jp/index.html)
and Hitachi Haramachi Electronics Co., Ltd.
(http://www.haraden.co.jp/). Both companies havediffering fields of expertise that complement one anotherand disclose the features of their technologies on theircorresponding Web sites.
In summary, Hitachi continually develops the array ofservices offered through its MEMS foundry service
through reinforcement of its MEMS R&D system andcollaboration with companies in Hitachi Group. It is ourhope that these services will contribute to future MEMS
development.

2. Hitachi MEMS

Planning/specification

Much of the technology supporting MEMS at Hitachicame into being as a result of technologies fostered sincethe 1970s for developing power devices, opticalcommunications, semiconductor sensors, and other suchdevices. Applied fields for these technologies have
expanded to include biotechnology, micro-chemical
processing, and RF-MEMS. These processing technologies
originate from the anisotropic etching of single-crystal
silicon. Hitachi has worked hard to develop a multi-stage
etching process employing a simulator for predicting
etching configurations and has used this process todevelop many products. For more than ten years now,
Hitachi has continually expanded the range of appliedfields for MEMS technology and has actively engaged in
the development of micromachining and assembly
technologies for thin films, glass, metals, and synthetic
Process
Strength
DevicedesignMass-production

Fluid

EvaluationHeat
transfer

ProcessdesignDesignVibration

Production

Mask design

For further information, see the i-engineering Web sitefor Hitachi’s integrated market of manufacturing
technologies:
http://www.i-eng.hitachi.co.jp/

Trialproduction

Flow of processes in Hitachi’s MEMS foundry service

5Overseas TrendsµTAS 2004, Sweden (September 26–30)
Overall the presentations seemed to shift incontent from single-step chemical processes to system
research envisioning applications in chemistry,
biotechnology, and medicine.
The first half of the presentations seemed to focus
on nanotechnology, in which Japan is strongest, while
the second half focused more on cellular tissue andanalysis, which area is led by Europe and America.
Conspicuous among these was the presentations oncells that included reports on the proposals and trial
production of new systems from such perspectives as
positioning, culture, and lysis or from points of view atwhich these overlap, resulting in a multifaceted
presentation overall. Many presentations on MEMS
processes covered chips and MEMS structures using
polymers (PMMA, SU8/PDMS, etc.). There was also apresentation on two-layer processes that tried to drive
home the stability and commercial potential for theseprocesses.
The poster session was a great success. Presentersand participants used all the time allotted for thesession to exchange opinions directly on applications,
MEMS technology, fluid devices, and nanotechnology.
Next year, µTAS 2005 will be held in Boston,
Massachusetts, U.S.A. on October 9–13, 2005.

The 8th International Conference on Miniaturized
Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (µTAS 2004)
was held at the Malmö Exhibition and Convention
Center in Malmö, Sweden on September 26–30, 2004.
Since the first of these conferences was held in1994 as a workshop in Enschede, Holland, thenumbers of contributors and participants haveincreased each year.
The latest conference received 655 contributions ofwhich 430 were accepted. This is a large increase overthe 462 contributions and 325 acceptances of theprevious year, proving that research in this fieldcontinues to grow. Viewing the number ofcontributions by country, we can see that Japan
contributed 175, the U.S. 132, Sweden 78, andDenmark 57, indicating that Japan, America, andNorthern Europe are the leading countries and regionsin this field. Among research institutions, theUniversity of Tokyo submitted 46 contributions, theTechnical University of Denmark 26, the Research
Association of Micro Chemical Process Technology 13,
and Lund University 13, indicating that the Universityof Tokyo is very active in this field. At last count, theconference attracted about 735 participants, of whichmore than 200 were from Asia.
The conference featured presentations on suchbasic technologies as microfluidics, MEMS andnanotechnology, and materials, as well as theirapplications in chemistry, biotechnology, medicine,and the like. It seemed that the conference was able
to assemble a vast array of data in the field. Poster
presentations, also reflecting the organizer’s intention,
were given on application systems, MEMS technology,
and other technologies on the verge of practicalapplications. As many as 356 presentations were given
during the three days of the conference. The
conference also provided a venue for researchers toengage in direct intercourse.

Malmö Exhibition and Convention Center

Contributors

700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2000

2003
2001
2002
Year of conference

2004

View of a conference room6Members' Profiles

Aisin Cosmos R&D Co., Ltd.
Yoshihiro Naruse
Director

sorting and separation within the channels, the system
is airtight and should prevent contamination andimprove operability. Currently we have achieved adroplet formation/separation rate of 5,000
droplets/second in experiments that entrap
fluorescent beads in the droplets.

1. Introduction
Aisin Cosmos R&D Co., Ltd. was founded in Kariya
City in Aichi Prefecture in October 1992 as an R&D
company under Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. Since its
establishment, the company has focused its energies
on fields in which great strides are expected in the 21st
century, such as biotechnology, micromachinetechnology, and medical equipment. In addition, weare developing technologies that may become feasible
in the coming generations, such as an antigenantibody reaction sensing technology using atechnique for exhaustively analyzing genes and thesurface plasmon resonance principle, and microfluid
devices such as micropumps and microsorters.
In today’s information society, which isexperiencing rapid growth in technology, we areconcerned with people’s health and destruction of theenvironment. In our research, we are striving to link
our developed technologies to devices that can
provide security and peace of mind to the average
citizen.

Droplet forming section Droplet counting section

Droplet separating section
TargetacquisitionA
Oil feed

Discharge
B
Droplet sensing section
Charging section(A-B)(Buffer solution and cells)

Charging section Droplet separating section

2. Endeavors in Micromachine Technology
Our endeavors in micromachine technology began
in 1990, inspired by a micromotor having a diameter of
100 ∫ that first emerged around 1989, drawing muchattention. However, in terms of the scaling, heat andviscosity become more dominant in micromachinefunctions than in conventional designs. Therefore, we
made it a point to begin developing micropumps
comprising heat actuators. We also participated in theformer Micromachine Project organized by METI
(formerly MITI), at which time we conducted R&D
focusing on microfluid control technology in microregion. We are currently focusing on using ourdeveloped technologies in the biotechnology field.
Fig. 1 shows a photo of a micro cell sorter
developed using our microfluid control technology. In
this device, cells are entrapped in droplets that areformed in the channel, with prescribed cells being
made fluorescent to aid in sorting and separation. By
performing everything from droplet formation to

Droplet forming section

Fig. 1 Photo of a microsorter with an enlarged viewof the sorter section

3. Future Prospects for MicromachineTechnology
For the past ten years or more, micromachinetechnology has developed significantly in the fields of
MEMS and µTAS. While MEMS has shown steadyprogress toward practical use in the fields ofinformation and sensors, it is thought that µTAS,
based on micromachine technology, must be somehow
matched with biotechnology or chemical technology
on a nanotechnology base to achieve practicalapplications.

7Worldwide R&D

Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Specializing in Chemical Engineeringand Advanced Crystallization Engineering Research, Waseda University
Izumi Hirasawa, Professor
A crystal is a solid having a regular arrangement of
atoms and molecules. By creating crystals with a desired
quality, it is possible to achieve high purity that can be
kept stable for a long period of time and that can be freely
controlled with complex functions. Hence, we are striving
to develop an environmental friendly crystalline productof a desired quality as a 21 s t century material forbiotechnological and environmental use. To make crystals
in a solution (known as crystallization), the concentrationof the solution is made higher than their solubility(supersaturated state) to produce seeds of a crystal(crystal nuclei). These seeds are grown to cultivate large
crystals. By controlling the number of seeds and their
growth rate during this process, it is possible to control
the size, shape and structure of the crystals. We havewitnessed the instant at which molecules and atoms in thesolution become crystals. The solution begins to quiver
and the crystals are born among the oscillations. While
crystals are inanimate, they appear like living organismsthat are born as seeds and grow as if they are alive.
Today we are conducting research for producing
desired crystalline products while attempting to better
understand basic crystallization phenomena. We haveorganized projects on pharmaceuticals and organic
crystals, nano-crystals, environment and recycling, andheat storage (storing heat in the form of crystals). Topics
of our research are discussed in greater detail below.

Environment and recycling
We are constructing processes that are capable of not
only removing but also recovering substances that haveadverse affects on the environment, including such
nutrients as nitrogen and phosphorous and such industrial
emissions as fluorine and metal ions. In collaboration withindustry and academia, we are advancing R&D aimed at
establishing optimal operations and processes for theremoval and recovery of these targeted substances in theform of crystals. The resulting process for removing andrecovering fluorine and phosphate ions is being
implemented with full-scale equipment and is contributing
to the recovery of unused resources. While fine crystals
tend to be generated in the crystallization process, wehave obtained coarse spherical crystals by efficiently
conducting supersaturation formation, attachment of finecrystals, and agglomeration.
Further, throughcollaboration with other companies, we have conductedsuccessful research on recovering nickel ions in the formof nickel metal (more than 99% pure) from a used bath ofelectroless nickel plating in the presence of a reducing
agent. We believe that this research will help in therecovery of other rare metals and the creation of nano-size
metals.

Creation of Nano-Crystals
Crystals in the nano-size (10-9 m) range have a large
surface area per gram and exhibit functions that are notseen in larger crystals. We are trying to produce a crystalof this size in a highly supersaturated region. In order toproduce functional crystals (such as those that emit blue
or red fluorescence or those with a confined distributionof nano-size particles), we are attempting to produce
nano-size crystals, focusing on crystallization with
polyelectrolytes (see photo), controlling nucleation withthe presence of heterogeneous crystals, and nucleationinduced by ultrasonic waves.

Pharmaceuticals and Organic Crystal
Control
Many crystalline products in pharmaceuticals arehydrophobic and, hence, cannot be dissolved or absorbed
in the human body efficiently. Accordingly, it is important
to obtain crystals having a desirable solubility and nanosize crystals. We are conducting research aimed atcreating such crystals.

Heat Storage Process
Latent heat storage is a method for storing heat in theform of crystals. Our laboratory is working to recoverwaste heat of various temperatures using hydrated salt
crystals. Joint research is being conducted with othercompanies on ice storage, and a new heat storage system
is currently operating at the Minato Mirai 21 District
Heating and Cooling Service Co., Ltd. located in Minato
Mirai 21 district, Yokohama. Our know-how for creating
crystals is thus applied in the effective use of thermalenergy.

http://www.sci.waseda.ac.jp/research/

Nano-size lead sulfate produced through reaction
crystallization in a polyelectrolyte environment

MICROMACHINE No. 50
MICROMACHINE 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 MICROMACHINE 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 : January 21, 2005

© All Copyrights Reserved by MMC