ColumnExpectations for the New BEANS Project
Hiroyuki Fujita, Professor, Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo
With microsensors now being widely used in gamemachine controllers and image stabilizers for cameras,
among other applications, consumers are beginning toappreciate the true value of sensors as they are able toplay TV games using gestures and body movements
and can produce sharp photographs even when thecamera moves slightly. While the same consumers
might not fully understand that advances in MEMS
technology are responsible for these sensors, weMEMS engineers are inwardly proud. Such advances in
MEMS products directly help secure and expand ourfuture areas of activity, making it particularly
satisfying to see our efforts in development finallybegin to bear fruit.
Already 20 years have elapsed since surface
micromachining was developed in the late 1980s andsince we were first amazed to see micro-gears andmicro-turbines rotating on silicon chips. Through thedevelopment of many advanced process technologies
during that time, including wafer bonding and deep
reactive-ion etching (DRIE), microstructures can now
be freely created and moved with precision. By
devising various micromachining techniques adapted
to CMOS circuitry and by incorporating electronic
circuits on chips, we have added such advanced
functions as temperature and sensitivity correction,
self-diagnoses, and various data processing functions.
We have accumulated much data on reliability andbettered our knowledge in packaging and other areasof industrial science through earlier achievements
made in automotive pressure sensors andaccelerometers and in projectors employing movablemicro-mirror arrays.
Since the Micromachine Technology Project
conducted from 1990 to 2000, Japan has supported
technological development primarily at the corporate
level through the MEMS Foundry Project, and theMEMS Open Network Engineering System of DesignTools (MemsONE) Project. Currently underway is thefineMEMS Project targeting highly integrated, complex
MEMS. This foundation of progress has allowed us tomake rapid advances in commercialization.
From another perspective, MEMS technology on
the micro-scale has reached a high level of maturity,
entering the domain of competitive development due
to its direct link to commercialization. While it will benecessary to further enhance existing technologies
and expand the product lineup in commercially viable
fields, such as sensors, information andtelecommunications, and optics, new fabrication
techniques must also be created to prepare for future
growth outside of these fields. By merging
micromachining based on a typical top-down approachwith nanotechnology or biotechnology based on abottom-up approach, manufacturing processes for
MEMS can be developed under unprecedentedconcepts. We anticipate that these process
technologies could be used to produce products
having such functions as biosensors for biologicalmeasurements, treatment, and diagnoses, efficientenergy conversion based on nanostructures, andnetwork-based measurements of extensive
environmental data, which projects are anticipated tohelp resolve national and social issues faced in the 21stcentury, including issues in health care and welfare,the environment and energy, and safety and security.
From this point of view, the BEANS (BioElectromechanical Autonomous Nano Systems)
Project proposed by METI is aimed at researching
manufacturing technologies required to create
innovative devices through the integration of microand nanofunctions. The basic plan calls for developing
processes enabling the fusion of biomaterials andorganic matter, the formation of 3D nanostructures,and the continuous large-area manufacturing of micronano structures, and for constructing related
knowledge databases. Research on processes for
merging biomaterials and organic matter will involve
harnessing the unique capabilities of biomaterials andorganic matter, such as molecular recognition and selfassembly, and selectively adding these capabilities tosilicon structures. These processes are expected toproduce devices that can be adapted to organisms andoperate stably therein for a long period of time, andstructures employing nanopores or nanopillars toachieve cell culture and high-sensitivity sensing.
Processes for forming 3D nanostructures include a
process for creating smooth nanostructures with nointernal flaws at the atomic level, and a process foruniformly coating the surfaces of or gaps innanostructures with a functional film. Sincenanostructures and nanoparticles exhibit properties
unique to the quantum effect, such as good
photoelectric energy conversion not found in bulk
materials, they are thought to be useful in ultra-small
devices capable of generating power efficiently, among
other applications. Finally, research on processes forthe continuous large-area manufacturing of micro- andnanostructures is aimed at finding a process to create
devices inexpensively on large substrates using
printing or embossing techniques rather than asemiconductor process, which, although capable ofunrestricted 3D micromachining, is expensive and can
only be performed on substrates of a limited size. This
process should allow us to manufacture devices
continuously over thin, soft substrates, much like aprinting press can print newspapers quickly and inhigh volume.
Just as R&D on MEMS manufacturing techniques
began some 20 years ago, the BEANS Project is being
initiated with the goal of developing new processing
techniques that will prove useful 20 or 30 years fromnow. Already we are anticipating with pleasure how
consumers will come to appreciate the true value ofdevices developed from the fruits of this project.
Rapid expansionof applications

Rapid product expansion
CMOS

Large-area
DRIE
Wafer bonding

BiotechNanotech

Semiconductor
processes
Mechanicalprocesses

Micromachining
MEMS

1990

6

HighlyintegratedMEMS

2000

BEANS2010