To the Overseas Members of MRS-J

Vertical Academic Societies Combined with Interdisciplinary Academic Society, MRS
President, Dr. Teruo KISHI, National Institute for Materials Science

Though explicit refereeing of Grant-in-Aid may not be the best for materials research with serendipity, the anonymous peer-review system by JSPS results in maintaining vertical academic societies. Interesting academic achievements should be born in interdisciplinary fields. The MRS is a successful example being combined with interdisciplinary societies. In spite of the vertical circumstances, the MRS should steadily develop the interdisciplinary activities. Similarly to the MRS, the Science Council of Japan and other ministries have commenced interdisciplinary strategies of social and industrial materials. National institutes have been restructured to Independent Administrative Corporations and their new allocation is required. The public institutes should collaborate with academic societies and restore their achievements to the whole society. It is strongly desired to establish a well-coordinated system among existent academic societies, interdisciplinary MRS and national institutes, including universities.


The Research Center for Nanodevices and Systems, Hiroshima University
Dr.@Hideo SUNAMI, Professer, The Research Center for Nanodevices and Systems, Hiroshima University

The Research Center for Nanodevices and Systems(RCNS) was founded in May 1996 based on the research achievements at the Research Center for Integrated Systems lasted from 1986 to 1996. RCNS members consist of 4 professors, 3 associate professors, and 4 research associates. Research objectives are ( 1) development of ultra-small-dimension transistors for tera-scale integration with a few tens of nanometers ( I nanometer=10-9m) gate length and a systematic study of the related device physics, (2) proposal of new transistor structures and development of the necessary innovative fabrication processes and materials technologies, (3) high-speed interconnect technology including optical interconnects, (4) study on new system architectures for flexible, intelligent information processing and the related component architectures such as high-performance multiport memories.


Fabrication of Functional Thin Films by Ion-Beam Assisted Methods
Dr. Ichiro Takano, Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Kogakuin University


@Effects of ion beam irradiation to metals have reported. Irradiation of ion beam during vacuum evaporation has two roles of addition to a target of ion species and transportation of energy carried by ions. In the former, nitride films such as TiAlN or TiCrN are prepared by the method called dynamic ion beam mixing, using an N2+ ion beam with metal evaporations. In the latter, TiO2 film is composed by the ion beam assisted reactive deposition method using irradiation energy of an He+ ion beam. These methods applying ion beams are expected as one of available ways for formation of advanced materials.


1st Announcement: 13th MRS-J Academic Symposium
Chief Director of the symposium: Hiroshi Yamamoto(Nihon University)


Annual academic symposium and the annual business meeting of the MRS-J will be held from December 20-21, 2001, at the Kanagawa Science Park, Kanagawa-shi. The meeting includes 10 symposia. Proceedings will be published in the Transaction of the MRS-J.