Nikon 2004 Annual Report Download - page 17

research฀and฀development
1.฀ Nail฀embedded฀in฀a฀cookie
2.฀ Terahertz฀image฀makes฀it฀pos-
sible฀to฀see฀the฀nail฀inside฀the฀
cookie
3.฀ Terahertz฀image฀(enlarged)
Terahertz฀(THz)฀technology
Terahertz฀light฀is฀a฀relatively฀unused฀part฀of฀the฀
electromagnetic฀wave฀that฀offers฀signifi฀cant฀potential฀
advantages฀over฀X-rays฀for฀looking฀inside฀a฀wide฀vari-
ety฀of฀objects.฀With฀a฀frequency฀range฀around฀1012฀Hz฀
(1฀THz,฀or฀one฀trillion฀hertz)฀between฀visible฀light฀and฀
radio฀waves,฀terahertz฀light฀passes฀through฀non-me-
tallic฀substances฀such฀as฀paper฀and฀rubber.฀Detectors฀
built฀using฀terahertz฀light฀could฀thus฀provide฀a฀wide฀
range฀of฀security฀benefi฀ts,฀such฀as฀non-invasive฀screen-
ing฀of฀mail฀for฀banned฀substances฀or฀explosives,฀for฀
example.฀Other฀potential฀applications฀include฀medical฀
scans฀for฀cancer฀cells฀or฀tumors฀and฀food฀testing฀to฀
detect฀dangerous฀substances.
Tochigi฀Nikon฀Corporation฀is฀the฀fi฀rst฀company฀in฀
the฀world฀to฀develop฀a฀commercial฀product฀based฀on฀
terahertz฀technology.฀The฀terahertz฀pulse฀spectrome-
ter฀is฀able฀to฀recognize฀substances฀using฀terahertz฀light฀
shined฀onto฀the฀object฀passes฀through฀or฀is฀refl฀ected.฀
Since฀the฀system฀debuted฀in฀February฀2004,฀several฀
machines฀have฀already฀been฀sold฀to฀research฀institu-
tions฀in฀Japan.
Tochigi฀Nikon฀is฀also฀developing฀real-time฀THz฀
imaging฀systems.฀This฀technology฀has฀the฀potential฀to฀
provide฀safer฀body฀scanning฀capabilities฀than฀X-rays.฀It฀
promises฀to฀yield฀signifi฀cant฀advances฀in฀fi฀elds฀such฀as฀
security฀and฀medicine.
Nikon’s฀research฀and฀development฀activities฀focus฀on฀
opto-electronics฀and฀precision฀technologies,฀areas฀
where฀Nikon฀has฀honed฀its฀competitive฀edge฀over฀
decades.฀By฀combining฀core฀technical฀expertise฀with฀
digital,฀control,฀information฀and฀communications฀
technologies,฀Nikon฀R&D฀teams฀are฀involved฀in฀the฀
development฀of฀many฀innovative฀products฀that฀bring฀
together฀the฀benefi฀ts฀of฀different฀avenues฀of฀scientifi฀c฀
research.
The฀nucleus฀of฀technical฀development฀at฀Nikon฀is฀
the฀Core฀Technology฀Center,฀which฀undertakes฀basic฀
research฀from฀a฀long-term฀perspective฀and฀is฀also฀
engaged฀in฀the฀development฀of฀cutting-edge฀technol-
ogy.฀The฀in-house฀companies฀and฀Nikon฀Group฀fi฀rms฀
also฀conduct฀various฀R&D฀programs.
This฀report฀spotlights฀two฀areas฀with฀unique฀
potential:฀MEMS฀and฀terahertz฀technologies.
Micro฀Electro฀Mechanical฀System฀(MEMS)฀
technology
MEMS฀technology฀involves฀electromechanical฀systems฀
that฀operate฀at฀the฀microscopic฀level.฀Nikon฀has฀
developed฀a฀number฀of฀such฀devices฀using฀its฀core฀
technical฀expertise฀in฀various฀areas.฀One฀example฀is฀
a฀self-assembling฀microarray฀of฀mirrors.฀Nikon฀has฀
succeeded฀in฀creating฀impressively฀solid฀structures฀
from฀thin฀fi฀lms฀of฀these฀mirrors,฀despite฀the฀fi฀lms฀
having฀a฀thickness฀of฀less฀than฀one฀micrometer.฀The฀
internal฀stress฀characteristics฀of฀the฀thin-fi฀lm฀structure฀
result฀in฀the฀spontaneous฀creation฀of฀thin-fi฀lm฀
mirrors฀of฀approximately฀50฀micrometer฀square฀in฀
area฀(pictured฀top฀left).฀These฀mirrors฀assemble฀into฀
an฀integrated฀whole,฀onto฀which฀is฀added฀an฀array฀
of฀microactuators฀that฀can฀move฀vertically฀(pictured฀
top฀right).฀The฀whole฀creates฀a฀MEMS฀structure฀that฀
combines฀a฀number฀of฀Nikon฀technologies.
MEMS฀technology฀brings฀together฀many฀of฀Nikon’s฀
proprietary฀skills฀in฀spatial฀optics,฀including฀lenses,฀
prisms฀and฀mirrors.฀It฀heralds฀the฀advent฀of฀new฀opti-
cal฀devices฀and฀a฀wide฀range฀of฀fascinating฀technical฀
possibilities฀that฀hitherto฀could฀only฀be฀imagined.
M E M S
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