Kazuaki Sakoda Managing Director

Semiconductors such as Si and GaAs are key materials which support the modern electronic society. Highly efficient LSI, which is produced by taking the fullest advantage of sophisticated crystal growth and lithographic techniques, forms the heart of electronic equipments such as computers. When the size of a semiconductor is decreased to about the same size as the range of the wave function of an electron, its properties can vary greatly. Semiconductor particles of a few tens of nm in diameter are called quantum dots. Because the wave functions of their electrons are crammed into a small volume, the quantum dots behave like big atoms.

The Quantum Dot Research Center is promoting research on these semiconductor nano structures and aiming at further development of basic nano technologies by advancing and fusing nano fabrication technologies which NIMS has been cultivating. We are also making efforts to develop theoretical analysis and evaluating techniques for nano structures such as micro laser spectroscopy and characterization under high magnetic field. Finally, we are vigorously promoting research in related fields such as organic nano wires, plasmonics, photonic crystals, and nano photonics.

At Sengen campus on 11 June, 2007