Today, there is variety of “nanotechnology” field such as semiconductor, biochemistry, material and so on. However, measurement and sensing technologies in nano-scale positioning are common technologies for establishing nanotechnology in each field. In this report, precise measurement technologies in positioning for “Desktop micro robots factory” are described. Non-contact position measurement techniques such as image tracking, optical encoder, and magnetic encoder are reviewed. By employing several measurement techniques in position measurement, it enables cm order to nm order positioning seamlessly. Some advantages of “Desktop micro robots factory” as a production system for nanotechnology are also reviewed.

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Scanning Thermal Microscope with a thermal feedback system is capable of taking topological and quantitative temperature images simultaneously with sub-micron spatial resolution with the micro-fabricated special cantilever having thermopile, heater and thermocouple on it. Since high sensitivity of the thermopile in heat flow detection is required for accurate temperature measurement, we tried to make the cantilever more sensitive by reducing its thickness. As a result, thermal resistance of the cantilever increased one order of magnitude, and then sensitivity in temperature measurement and applicability to low thermal conductive material were improved. Moreover, temperature distribution of a wave guide optical switch including low thermal conductive polymer and metal heater was visualized quantitatively with the improved cantilever.

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This paper describes an ultrasound (US) catheter using laser induced breakdown (LIB) phenomenon and 3D imaging with the catheter. In this catheter, laser focused with an optical lens is introduced into a tapered optical fiber. The laser passed through the fiber is refocused with lenses to generate LIB inside of a small balloon filled with D₂O and spherical and pulsed US transmitted from LIB. The reflected wave was received at hydrophones and 3D images were reconstructed with synthetic aperture method. Using this catheter, we made the experiments of the imaging of an object in motion. We succeeded in presenting 3D dynamic image with the frame rate of about 5 frame/sec.

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In this paper, we propose a noncontact and absolute type displacement sensor detecting multiple targets using standing wave on a transmission line. The standing wave is generated, when driving the transmission line by a high-frequency signal toward the targets, due to additive-synthesis from the drive-signal and the reflected signals induced by the targets. The level of the synthetic signal observed at a certain point on the transmission line, periodically changes with the frequency of the drive-signal. Namely, the observable signal level is a sinusoidal function of the frequency. Besides, the period is inverse proportional to the displacement of each target with reference to the observation point. Thereby, we propose a method to find the period by Fourier Transforming.
We have confirmed experimentally that each target can be detected individually in the displacement from 0.2m to 3.6m and the resolution of 0.5mm is feasible.

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The bioelectric potential of a foliage plant changes according to an occupant’s behavior, for example entering the room in which the plant is installed, as well as watering and touching the plant. The potential shows the impulse responses due to the behaviors. In this study, the integrated values of the bioelectric potential were adopted to identify those behaviors. There are two types of values. Those were derived by integrating the bioelectric potential characteristics for a minute (v_m1) and for an hour (v_h1) respectively. The histogram of the values v_m1 for the steady state perfectly took a normal distribution. The frequencies of v_m1 for the behaviors were different compared with the steady state distribution. The system can identify the behaviors by examining the frequency table of v_m1. Conversely, it is thought the plant gives us some suggestions using bioelectric potential characteristics. A clue for communication between humans and plants was also obtained. The v_h1 becomes higher as the average room temperature (t_r) becomes lower. There was a negative correlation between v_m1 and t_r. There were two groups in the scatter diagram of the variables v_m1 and t_r.

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Since semiconductor thin film gas sensors generally show a maximum sensitivity in the range of 200-400°C, it is necessary to implement a heater. However, the consumed power by the heater is large. So the reduction of heater power is one of important subjects.
In this research, a new microbridge structure has been developed by surface micromachining on a sapphire substrate; both a micro sensor and a micro heater are fabricated on an alumina microbridge. The sensing film has a double layer structure; the first layer is a thin-film composed of Fe₂O₃+TiO₂ (5mol%) +MgO (4mol%) and the second layer is a thin-film composed of SnO₂+V₂O₅(4mol%). The micro heater and the electrode are composed of Pt+W(5mol%). The sensor shows a sensitivity to NO, NO₂, and H₂. The consumed power of the heater is found to be about 1/2 compared to that of a conventional one directly fabricated on a substrate.

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