Recent advances in nanotechnology have taken it beyond communications, computing, materials and biotechnology into such diverse applications as cosmetics and food supplements. Products that seek a new appeal with advanced functions and added value derived the minute world of one-billionth of a meter are now readily available in the market, and nanotech solutions and product needs are coming together in a wide range of fields.

For the three days from February 21 to 23, Tokyo Big Sight was a cornucopia of the leading-edge nanotechnology that will support tomorrow's industry; an exhibition at the focus of world interest in the future of technology. "nano tech 2007" is one of the world's biggest nanotechnology shows. The organizers reported that some 48,500 visitors flocked to see displays of R&D work from 400 companies, public organizations and schools. The rich show ranged from the latest devices and materials using nanotechnology to ultra-fine fabrication technology and measuring equipment.

Toshiba, dedicated to "Leading Innovation", is harnessing the potential of nanotechnology in a strategy guided by the slogan "From nanotech to innovation."

Toshiba's approach to nanotech embraces differentiation in parts, products and systems through the application of leading-edge nanomaterials technology. Aggressive research and development is creating products that are more than commodities, and going beyond that to create applications. Looking to a future where nanotechnology is in wide use, Toshiba has defined three domains that provide the basis for a safe, secure society and lifestyle: Digital Products, Social Infrastructure, and Electronic Devices and Functional Materials. At "nano-tech 2007" we showcased R&D results and prototypes for ten areas in these three domains.

The DMFC on display has no mechanical control mechanisms or pumps, assuring that it is compact and highly portable. Conventional technology imposes limitations on the fuel that can be used. By using Toshiba's original technology, we made the catalysts in the electrodes finer at the nano-level to allow higher density layouts, so that high density methanol fuel can be used, and improved output power can be realized. Toshiba announced the world's smallest fuel cell in 2004 and it is featured in “Guiness World Records 2006.” The thumb-sized device is only 22×56mm and outputs 100mW. The built-in tank holds 2 ml of methanol fuel to power audio player for as long as 20 hours. "

Prototypes of Bluetooth Headset and digital audio player demonstrated practical application of the fuel cell. One of the staff told us, "the headset is new, but the player is a regular gigabeat V30T with an attachment for the fuel cell and tank. Battery power is typically seven hours, but we got 14 hours of continuous operation using DMFC. We designed the unit so that the DMFC does not get in the way when it is carried."
Also on display were a mobile TV player and ear-clip type Bluetooth Headset, both products that will be available in the near future. The staff comment, "we felt that, besides the functions, it was important to make it easy to understand how these products could be worn and used. The reaction of our visitors tell us that was right decision."

A visitor asked, "Is there anything else besides improving technology that you are doing to make these products practical?" It was quick and confident, and showed a consideration of the need for universal design, "we’ll make one common cartridge available for all devices." "We are also making efforts to make methanol distribution infrastructure." These comments underlined Toshiba's proactive stance toward fuel cells, and the company ’s determination to accelerate development of real life product.

Toshiba aims to support a safe, secure society by making nanotechnology an important foundation of technology. The company showed how it will approach this with five displays from its Social Infrastructure domain.

Nanocoating and laser peening demonstrated the application of nanotechnology to energy generating equipment.

Laser peening strengthens metals by subjecting them to surface ablation to a depth of about 100nm, using a nanosecond laser pulse generating high pressure plasma of about 3 gigapascals. The result is compression of surface residual stresses and prevention of stress corrosion cracking.
Laser peening has been used on 10 reactors in nuclear power plants in Japan, and is estimated to have increased their service life. That adds up to significant savings in operating costs. As one staff member noted, "This is not a showy field, but our contributions really increase reliability." Going forward, there are plans to use the technology on nuclear reactors in the United States, and, according to a team member, Toshiba is working on a laser-peening robot. That fusion of Toshiba's original nanotechnology and mechatronics will really contribute to society.
Beyond the stainless steel and nickel-based alloy used in nuclear reactors, Toshiba has confirmed that laser peening improves surface properties of many metals, including aluminum alloys, nickel-based alloys, titanium alloys and low-alloy steels. That confirmation opens the way to applications in aircraft and automobile parts, bridges, dies and other areas where strength and reliability are essential.

Another display looked at next-generation nano-coating, which controls the composition and structure of materials at the nano-level through the electron beam physical vapor deposition method (EB-PVD). Materials are broken down into molecule clusters for vapor deposition, an approach that can be used in applications ranging from metals to ceramics. EB-PVD method realizes the deposition of a thick film of 1000µm or more at speed of 100µm/h or greater. Base material movement allows many types of compositions and structures, such as segmented (pillared), and for introduction of nano- pores, gradient composition, multilayer and composite layers. A project team member told us that, "Using our original nanotechnology, we have achieved hafnium oxide (HfO2) based thermal barrier coating with high heat resistance and low thermal conductivity with nano-pores and nano-gaps. We have alleviated heat stress through segmentation and continuous gradient composition and realized significant improvements in heat cycle resistance." By technologies of the HfO2 based thermal barrier coatings, Toshiba aims at the realization of advanced gas turbine blades and vanes, which withstand gas combustion above 1300°C, due to the superior heat resistance and long-time reliability. The nano-coating technology promises the improvement of performance and service life of metal parts, Toshiba will apply this technology not only to gas turbines but also to energy related equipment used in power generation and transmission. A part of this work was performed in the Nanostructure Coating Project supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization of Japan.

Another item was the new nano-structure reaction-sintered SiC ceramics.
This innovative material uses Toshiba's unique nano-technology to control the ceramic microstructure to 100nm, and achieves the world's highest bending strength: 1,000MPa(*1). Many structural materials are available, but none can match corrosion, thermal and wear resistance, high stiffness, high thermal conductivity, low thermal expansion, and low density. Other major pluses are a low cost, eco-friendly pore-free ceramic with little sintering shrinkage.
A staff member explained application: "This ceramic is being studied in heat exchanger parts for energy system and in mirror for space optics," making a key material. Nearer home, Toshiba is also focusing on developing application for semiconductor production equipment parts and sputtering targets. There are high hopes for the new ceramic in various applications.
*1 January 2007, Toshiba data

Alongside the energy related displays was a display of practical nanotechnology that will help achieve ubiquitous connectivity in the near future.
Digital terrestrial broadcasting will soon start nationwide in Japan, adding to the signals from radio, cell phones, GPS and wireless LAN that already crowd radio bandwidth. Because each system has an assigned band, the available bandwidth will eventually become saturated unless transmission and reception are conducted efficiently on the limited microwave frequencies.
Toshiba is offering a solution: a superconducting thin film is applied in a highly selective band-pass filter that efficiently suppresses undesired signals. Both the receiving filter system and its super sharp-cut feature are displayed on site. Although the conventional superconducting film enables us to achieve the receiving filter system, we need high-performance superconducting film to establish transmitting system.
We are now developing above film based on technology that won the 21st Century Invention Promotion Award in 2004. This process provides superconducting thin film from coating solution via coating process and two heat-treatments in ambient pressure. The film has nano-scaled oriented structure and one of the best superconductivity in the world. “We are now applying this technology to transmitting system.”
The superconductive receiving filter unit that Toshiba has already developed for wireless communication system was on display. The next step is a transmitting filter. Progress so far indicates that we expect great things from Toshiba's nanotechnology for the effective use of microwave frequencies.

In readiness for ubiquitous connectivity, Toshiba has already recorded positive results in R&D of single photon devices for Quantum Key Distribution. In Quantum Key Distribution, each bit of the encryption key is encoded upon a single photon, the smallest unit of light. Unlike conventional, pseudo-single-photon light sources, which can emit multiple photons at once, Toshiba's device eliminates the risk of eavesdropping.
Toshiba's single photon light source integrates a nano-sized quantum dot into a conventional LED structure. Continuous single photon transmission allows for faster communications speeds and long range key distribution. Researchers at Toshiba's Cambridge Research Laboratory in the UK were on hand to demonstrate.
Two PCs in the booth were connected with 25 kilometers of optical cable to exchange video data. It showed that Toshiba's system stabilization control technology is at a level where continuous stable operation is possible without any user adjustments.
Practical quantum encryption communications are awaited as the ultimate encryption technology, as its application will allow detection of any wiretapping attempt. The very impressive display showed that Toshiba's research and development is steadily moving forward to that goal.

Leading-edge nanotechnology is essential for the semiconductor devices, the building blocks of electronics and based on the highly functional materials. At "nano-tech 2007", Toshiba introduced four key advances.

Visitors were astonished by the transistor technology on display, and could't belive that the 22nm node transistors, a three-dimensional structure MOS transistor (FinFET) and dopant-segregated Schottky S/D transistor, had been developed two generations ahead of the latest CMOS devices in R&D.

Three-dimensional MOS transistors have been combined with the conventional planar transistors on the same silicon substrate. Toshiba showed how nanotechnology can contribute to semiconductor devices with the display of a 300mm wafer of 22nm node prototype FinFETs. This amazing achievement represented success in realizing fabrication of 15nm gates and fins with a width of 10nm. A member of the R&D team said: "We shall fix the limitations in the circuit design with the sidewall patter transfer (SWT) process." This key technology will help to achieve 22nm node ultra high performance LSIs that should appear in the 2010s. Toshiba continues the R&D of such transistor toward the practical application, that will allow the provision of products for the customer of NAND flash memory and logic LSI.

The dopant-segregated Schottky transistor features a nano-Schottky junction that will realize a novel electrode structure for transistors, through atomic level simulations based on the first-principles calculation method. Although there are limits to miniaturization because of the issues for the electrodes, Toshiba has succeeded in creating such a novel electrodes with low resistance by developing the technology for controlling the position of impurities at a nanometer level. Super high performance LSIs are greatly expected to be used in cell phones, digital home appliances, car navigation systems, robots and the like. According to one team member, "Our technology is not limited only to the generation of 22nm and beyond, but also the application for the 32nm generation is close to reality." Highly promising results have already been achieved, including a 50 percent improvement in drive current over conventional transistors. Further intensive investigations from a viewpoint of integration are expected at an early stage, and the plan now is to increase the potential for practical use.

Alongside semiconductors, nano-molecular fluorescent materials will be applied to lighting.

Through many efforts to improve the properties of white LEDs, Toshiba has developed a fluorescent material based on an organic metal complex, and this will promote the replacement of incandescent and fluorescent lights. The complex is a nano-molecular fluorescent material that has sharp red emission, large solubility and durability, and that creates a new spectrum with large intensity in red region for white LEDs

New white LEDs with our materials are excellent in illuminating colors as they are. Under illumination of these LEDs, human colors look vivid with clear skin as shown by the display at the Toshiba booth. In addition, the material is not limited to white light. By applying ultraviolet light to a colorless and transparent light, the new material can produce any color, at any intensity. Toshiba will continue to develop white LEDs as a next-generation light source and as a material that can be used for true/false decisions.

The material won the 20th Fuji-Sankei Business Eye Creativity and Advanced Technology Grand Prize in 2006.

Toshiba Ceramics, a Toshiba Group company, displayed a highly porous material with advanced functionality.

As its name indicates, Toshiba Ceramics is an expert in advanced ceramics, and its new, advanced highly porous materials are attracting attention in fields ranging from medical applications and biotechnology to the environment. The company has succeeded in controlling porosity, pore diameters and specific weight at the nano-level, and achieved new levels of functionality by forming both nano-level and micron-level pores in the same material. The company’s highly porous, multiple-pore ceramic continues to float even when placed in continuously agitated water, and is . capable of incubating cells, micro-organisms, enzymes and the like at a faster rate and at higher densities than other multiple-pore materials. These attractive new functions open the way for application of the ceramic as a key material in a leading-edge medicine, next-generation energy generation, semiconductors and other electronic devices, and the environmental sector, including insulating material, sound absorbing material and electromagnetic wave absorbing materials. Toshiba Ceramics is accelerating development of the material.