The National Metrology Institute of Japan implemented a system to supply reliable thermal diffusivity data efficiently and rapidly to society. The system was born out of R&D on technology for thermal diffusivity measurement by using a laser flash method, by establishing a metrological standard and reference materials, and by standardization of measurement technology. Uncertainty in measurement of thermal diffusivity with practical apparatus was reduced using technology to homogenize the laser beam, a fast response infrared thermometer, and a curve fitting method to analyze temperature response curves. JIS and ISO standards were established based on the advanced laser flash method. In addition, methods to evaluate uncertainty in measurement of thermal diffusivity and laser flash device calibration by reference materials are described in the latest update of the JIS standard. Traceable thermophysical property data produced by this system are stored in a database system developed and operated by the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ), which can be accessed from the web.

View full abstract

Open foundries enable us to share cutting-edge equipment with global partners of industry-academia-government collaboration, and to promote interdisciplinary integration and job mobility among research personnel. Foundries have been established in many world-class public organizations, and are widely recognized as one of the most effective measures to spur R&D open-innovation. In this paper, the management strategy of the AIST open foundry, the Nano Processing Facility, is discussed. In this foundry, cooperation with users brings about the integration of R&D achievements and technologies. This paper also presents a scenario for sustainable development of the foundry as an eco-innovative cooperation system.

View full abstract

Annual production of sewage sludge in Japan has increased, and most of the sewage sludge is incinerated. With conventional sewage sludge incinerators, a large amount of energy is needed for operation. Additionally, the emissions of greenhouse gas N₂O are expected to be high, because sludge contains a high concentration of nitrogen. In this R&D, an advanced sewage sludge incinerator “ turbocharged fluidized bed incinerator,” which can achieve not only energy savings but also a low environmental impact, was proposed in collaboration with a public research institute and a company. This new system consists of a pressurized fluidized bed combustor coupled with a turbocharger. The R&D to achieve practical use of the proposed system is primarily explained in this paper.

View full abstract

Advanced materials for the semiconductor industry are being developed every month. To reduce the development period, we constructed a novel material design method based on linear programming, combinatorial optimization, and graph theory. This method (called weak conditioned combinatorial linear programming) enabled us to find composition candidates that satisfy a number of properties at the same time. By defining the solution area as a function of the combination index, the optimum formulations were acquired. This optimization could be done by newly developed user-friendly software. This system is applicable to optimization of materials with complex properties and time-series properties such as creep. The method enabled us to develop materials satisfying target values efficiently.

View full abstract

Internet traffic continues to increase due to the growth of video-related communication services. Such video-related services are expected to support future advanced communication services such as tele-presence based on real-time high resolution bidirectional video communication, tele-diagnosis, and remote education. However, the risk of an energy crunch in communication networks is increasing with the increase in traffic since energy consumption of current IP router based networks depends on traffic volume. In this paper, we present a network architecture, called “dynamic optical path network (DOPN)”, whose energy scaling is much less dependent on traffic volume than that of the current networks. This paper demonstrates the validity of DOPN to realize greater bandwidth, national- scale, and energy-efficient network, by defining detailed network topologies and node architectures of DOPN.

View full abstract