MRS-J Vol.18 No.2 May 2006

■ Be Sure to Accumulate Many Different Experiences　…p.1
Dr. Nobuyasu MIZUTANI, President, The Tokyo National College of Technology
　We often have encountered to make material developments, especially to discover new functions and phenomena, through experiences and actions in the various fields. We know that the possibility to win a discovery or new idea seems to be high during various actions. However, in almost cases, we do not notice that we are meeting or encountering a opportunity or scene of discovery, and are hitting new idea and fine conception. On considering these processes, it is indispensable to recollect past experiences and knowledge which are comparable with the problems and phenomena before us. It is very important to try to accumulate many experience and knowledge for presentment and also to exploit the capability of observation on phenomena. In the education for material science and engineering, it is required to try to make experiments of student own motion.

■ ErSiO Superlattice Crystal: A Novel Light Source Material for Silicon Photonics…p.2
Professor Dr. Hideo ISSHIKI, The University of Electrocommunications
　 An ErSiO superlattice crystal that we have newly developed for “silicon photonics” is introduced here. To mention the particular features, this material has a superlattice structure with 0.86-nm period and a large amount of Er（〜15%）as its constituent. Due to homogeneous crystalline filed by the single crystalline nature, fine structures of photoluminescence（PL）spectra of the 4f-intra-shell transitions in Er3+ ions are observed. The PL characteristics hardly depend on temperature. In addition, the ErSiO superlattice crystal behaves as a semiconductor and the Er 4f-electrons are excitable by electron-hole pairs in the host. These results suggest that the ErSiO superlattice crystal is the strong candidate for the light source material of silicon photonics.

1) H. Isshiki, A. Polman and T. Kimura, Fine structure in the Er-related emission spectra from Er-Si-O complexes at room temperature under carrier mediated excitation, J. Luminescence, 102-103, 819 (2003)
2) H. Isshiki, M.J.A. de Dood, A. Polman and T. Kimura, Self-assembled infrared-luminescent Er-Si-O crystallites on silicon, Applied Physics Letters, 85 (19), 4343 (2004)
3) T. Kimura, K. Ueda, R. Saito, K. Masaki and H. Isshiki, Erbium-silicon-oxide nano-crystallite waveguide formation based on nano-porous silicon, Optical Materials, 27, 880 (2004)
4) K. Masaki, T. Kawaguchi, H. Isshiki and T. Kimura, The effect of annealing conditions on the crystallization of Er-Si-O formed by solid phase reaction, Optical Materials, 28, 831 (2006)
5) K. Masaki, H. Isshiki and T. Kimura, Erbium-silicon-oxide crystalline films prepared by MOMBE, Optical Materials, 27, 876 (2004)
6) H. Isshiki, M. Masaki, K. Ueda, K. Tateishi and T. Kimura, Towards epitaxial growth of ErSiO nanostructured crystalline films on Si substrates, Optical Materials, 28, 855 (2006)





■Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute and SPring-8…p.5
Dr. Masahiro HARA, Director of Public Relations Office, Chief Scientist, JASRI
　SPring-8, the most powerful synchrotron radiation facility is operated by Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute（JASRI）for almost a decade and have provided users with highly brilliant X-rays stably. The specification of SPring-8 accelerator complex and the performance of the SPring-8 synchrotron radiation are described. SPring-8 is a big facility basically open to users and 48 beamlines are now available. Each beamline corresponds to usual laboratory. Here explained the mission of JASRI, how SPring-8 is managed, how the research and experiments at SPring-8 are performed.


■ Call for Proposals of Subjects and Session Chairs―The 17th Annual Symposium of the MRS-J…p.7
　The 17th Annual Symposium of the MRS-J will be held at the Ochanomizu Campas of the Nihon University in Ochanomizu, Tokyo, on December 9-10, 2006.
　The symposium includes a number of sessions. The symposium committee is now inviting members’ proposals of the subjects and session chairs to be presented at the 17th symposium of the MRS-J. Proposals should be sent to http://www.mrs-j.org/

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