Masakazu Aono
Director General,
Nanomaterials Laboratories (NML),
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

The Nanomaterials Laboratory (NML) was established in the first spring of the 21st century with the objective of making a major contribution to nanotechnology or a key technology in the 21st century from the viewpoint of materials.
Nanotechnology is an underlying technology that will produce breakthroughs in various fields ranging from practical engineering such as information technology, biotechnology and energy and medical engineering to basic sciences including physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. In order to make a unique contribution to nano-technology, the NML main objective is the development of novel nanoelectronic devices for next-generation information technology with the aim of establishing a highly information-oriented society.
To accomplish this mission, the NML has recently been restructured to consist of 16 research groups, several of which are operated by young directors. These groups not only carry out their own research, such as the synthesis and characterization of novel nanomaterials, the fabrication and patterning of designed nano-structures and the development

of new methods for nanoscale analysis and measurement, but also cooperate among themselves through common research projects.
　Our goal is to develop advanced nanodevices including molecular and atomic devices for data processing and storage with much higher speed and capacity and lower power consumption, novel nanodevices and their systems for new computational algorithms with flexibility such as error tolerance, and highly controlled atomic and molecular nanosystems for quantum information processing.
The National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) believes that “Materials are of value only when they are really used,” thus the NML attaches importance to the process of growing a technological seed into a young plant fit for practical industrialization. The NML also recognizes that fundamental research for the generation of new technological seeds is important. Therefore, we would like to achieve developments that are not only the best ones in the world but also unique.
Japan is in a recession and the people seem to have lost confidence, but Japanese science and technology is without a doubt at the highest
level.
A better system to make full use of the potential is required. The NML supports the activities of the Nanotechnology Researchers Network Center of Japan, which is located in NIMS, and contributes to promoting cooperation between researchers in various institutions
related to nanotechnology in Japan.
I would like to ask you for your kind support and encouragement.