Shuji Nakamura’s invention to save energy corresponding to about 60 nuclear power stations by 2020
2nd and 3rd Generation Solid State Lighting
For Shuji Nakamura’s invention of high-efficiency GaN double-heterostructure LEDs he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2014, while his employer sued him in the USA for leaking intellectual property – Shuji Nakamura won this court case, and his employer lost the case. To defend himself and his family, Shuji Nakamura countersued in Japan, and the Japanese court awarded Shuji a substantial award in a settlement. Shuji shared some insights into the comparison of IP lawsuits in US vs Japan with us at the 8th Ludwig Boltzmann Forum.
Shuji moved to the University of California Santa Barbara, and is now building the company Soraa in Silicon Valley with investments from major US VC funds. Soraa may already be or is likely to be soon much bigger in value than Shuji’s previous Japanese employer. Soraa develops 2nd and 3rd Generation Solid State Lighting products.
Energy savings corresponding to 60 nuclear power stations by 2020
The global lighting revolution triggered by Shuji Nakamura’s inventions leads to energy savings corresponding to 60 nuclear power stations by 2020 – 60 nuclear power stations less will need to be built than without Shuji Nakamura’s inventions.
2nd Generation and 3rd Generation Solid State Lighting
With his venture company Soraa, Shuji is now working on 2nd Generation Solid State Lighting (GaN on GaN substrates) and 3rd Generation Solid State Lighting (laser lighting, which allows much higher light density), and which is already in use for car headlights.
Why squeeze Nobel Prize winner Shuji Nakamura into a top-down narrative?
Shuji Nakamura showed with a long list of newspaper clippings, TV show extracts, and Japanese Government agency announcements that he is being squeezed into a top-down innovation narrative, which is at odds with the findings of the Nobel Prize Committee of the Swedish Academy of Science.
Shuji Nakamura asks why he is being squeezed retrospectively into a top-down innovation narrative.
The truth is that most real innovation is bottom-up and disruptive, not government planned and top-down.
At the 8th Ludwig Boltzmann Forum we had intense discussions between Her Imperial Highness, Princess Takamado, Professor Makoto Suematsu, Nobel Prize Winner Shuji Nakamura, Professor Nomura, JST-President Michinari Hamaguchi, and several other Japanese technology and R&D leaders.
Makoto Suematsu, Founding President of Japan’s new Agency for Medical Research and Development AMED: The situation in Japan is so crazy, but now I will stay in Japan because I have a mission
summary of Professor Makoto Suematsu’s talk by Gerhard Fasol
Medical research in Japan: Fast-tracking medical research and development in Japan
In April 2015 Japan created the new “Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, AMED” inspired by the US NIH (National Institutes of Health), “to promote integrated research and development in the field of medicine”.
Professor Makoto Suematsu was selected as the founding President of AMED, to build up this new Japanese national medical research agency.
Professor Makoto Suematsu is not only an outstanding medical professional and researcher, but he is also extremely outspoken about the many changes necessary to “fast-track” medical research in Japan, and particularly to overcome the fragmentation, “the Balkanization” of medical research in Japan, due to several different competing and overlapping supervising Government ministries and agencies in the past.
Professor Makoto Suematsu also explained the priorities he is setting to set out with relatively modest resources.
At the 8th Ludwig Boltzmann Forum we had intense discussions between Her Imperial Highness, Princess Takamado, Professor Makoto Suematsu, Nobel Prize Winner Shuji Nakamura, Professor Nomura, JST-President Michinari Hamaguchi, and several other Japanese technology and R&D leaders.
Shuji Nakamura’s invention of high efficiency LEDs enable us to reduce global energy consumption by an amount corresponding to 60 nuclear power stations by 2020, for which he was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Still, a poster child for bottom-up innovation, Shuji Nakamura was sued by his employer, left for the USA, and is now building a company in Silicon Valley which might soon become bigger than his former Japanese employer.
Why does Shuji Nakamura’s bottom-up innovation not fit into top-down innovation narratives?
Why does Shuji Nakamura’s bottom-up innovation not fit into top-down innovation narratives? Would Japan be a better and faster growing place with a better balance between bottom-up and top-down innovation? Does top-down innovation work at all?
Shuji Nakamura came specially from the USA to address many of Japan’s science and technology R&D leaders at the 8th Ludwig Boltzmann Forum, and explain why it makes no sense to try squeezing his bottom-up inventions into a top-down narrative and why its better to overcome established top-down narratives.
The 8th Ludwig Boltzmann Forum brought together Nobel Prize Winner Shuji Nakamura, the leaders of Japan’s two major research and technology R&D funding organizations, Professor Nomura, who is working to overcome gender inequality for Japan’s (too few) medical doctors, and several of Japan’s technology leaders to discuss how to accelerate innovation in Japan.
Her Imperial Highness, Princess Takamado honored us by taking a very active part, and asking thoughtful questions to Nobel Winner Shuji Nakamura and other speakers.
UBIC Inc (today: Fronteo): founded to curb huge losses of Japanese corporations due to litigation abroad
A discussion between UBIC (today: Fronteo) CEO Masahiro Morimoto and Dr. Gerhard Fasol
From Japanese/Chinese/Korean (CJK) e-discovery, to data forensics, virtual data scientist and predictive coding
Masahiro Morimoto founded UBIC Inc. on August 8, 2003 to stem the huge losses he saw Japanese corporations incurring due to litigation abroad. English-only software cannot be used for e-discovery of documents in Japanese, Chinese or Korean, and UBIC Inc initially focused on e-Discovery for these double-byte languages. Today, UBIC has grown beyond CJK e-discovery, into applying artificial intelligence tools to predict human behavior from emails and social media, forensics and other fields. Cloud based services are increasing rapidly. Recently, UBIC acquired the US e-discovery company TechLaw Solutions, expanding US business.
UBIC was founded on August 8, 2003
Traded on:
Tokyo Stock Exchange (Code 2158), IPO on November 6, 2007
NASDAQ (Symbol UBIC), IPO on May 16, 2013
UBIC Inc. Financial Data for the Financial Year 2014
(ended March 31, 2015, $1=119.96yen)
Revenues: YEN 6274 million (US $52.3 million)
Operating income: YEN 266 million (US$ 2.2 million)
Net income: YEN 260 million (US$ 2.1 million)
Market capitalization: YEN 33.25 billion ($276 million) ($1=120.17)
Note: on July 1, 2016 the company name was changed from UBIC to FRONTEO.
Discussion between Mr Masahiro Morimoto, CEO and Chairman of the Board, UBIC Inc. (today: Fronteo) and Dr. Gerhard Fasol
Question (Dr. Gerhard Fasol): You announced your most recent financial results on May 13, 2015. Could you kindly give us some of the highlights and some comments?
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): For UBIC, the fiscal year ended on March 31, 2015, was memorable for three main reasons:
First, we successfully acquired TechLaw Solutions, a well-established US e-discovery company.
And third, we have promoted several innovative projects with business partners.
It was not by luck alone that UBIC achieved record high revenue, but as a result of great effort. We achieved both organic and inorganic growth. Our company is entering a new era now.
Question (Dr. Gerhard Fasol): The core of your business is e-discovery with special focus on Asian languages. Can you tell us more about the current state of the e-discovery market, your competitive advantage, and how you can assist your clients?
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): Our strength lies in operations that enable us to integrate and manage data within Japan. This is of particular value to the increasing number of Asian companies that do not want their highly confidential data to leave the country. At the same time, we provide an end-to-end, full e-discovery service. Our high level technology has enabled us to develop our own e-discovery reviewing tool, Lit i View.
Further, our document review services in Asian languages including Japanese that use Predictive Coding, our proprietary AI technology developed by the in-house team, can cut costs while improving the quality of reviews, which can account for up to 70% of discovery costs.
Lastly, our consultants and project managers can help in bridging any gap there might be between Asian companies and US attorneys, so that complex matters and projects may proceed smoothly for both sides.
Question (Dr. Gerhard Fasol): I understand that most of your work is ultra-confidential, since your work is in the field of data security. However, could you tell us about one or two successes so we can get an idea of how UBIC is able to help clients, and the reason they like working with you.
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): One of our customers, which regularly faces cases filed by non-practicing entities (NPEs) in the US, was able to reduce their e-discovery costs by up to 40% by utilizing our services based on our proprietary AI technology. We have heard that achievement garnered a special company award.
(Note added by Gerhard Fasol: NPE’s are often nicknamed “patent trolls”).
Question (Dr. Gerhard Fasol): I understand that your core product is Lit i View. Can you explain the main characteristics of this electronic data analysis platform, and tell us why it is so important for your customers?
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): Currently in Lit i View, we have three types of products.
The feature that these three products have in common and which is unique is that they are equipped with Virtual Data Scientist (VDS), UBIC’s AI software, which enables them to analyze big data.
Furthermore, Lit i View fully supports data in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, and accurately displays multi-byte characters. In contrast, conventional e-discovery tools developed in English-speaking countries cannot accurately process legal documents written in Asian languages or multi-byte characters, without experiencing problems such as garbling.
Asian companies, which thus are at a disadvantage in terms of the e-discovery process, have found that Lit i View provides an effective solution to their problems. We are receiving very positive reviews from clients in Asian countries, who tell us that they truly need to use Lit i View for documents in Asian languages.
For further information, see http://www.ubicliv.com/en
Question (Dr. Gerhard Fasol): Virtual Data Scientist (VDS) is important part of your business model, could you explain us about Virtual Data Scientist?
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): At UBIC, we do not consider big data to be merely an accumulation of data, but a collection of people’s thoughts and behavior outcomes. We define behavioral informatics as an analytical interpretation of behavior, and the synthesis of information science (including statistics, mathematics, data mining, and pattern recognition) and behavioral science (including psychology, criminology, and sociology).
Conventional approaches to big data merely analyze past incidents, from which they extract some facts. But, in behavioral informatics, we are able to predict the future, and we do so by basing our analytics on human cognition and by generating patterns of human and social behavior.
The highly accurate Virtual Data Scientist software applies a behavioral informatics approach to analyzing big data, thereby making it possible for one to find whatever information is being sought.
Question (Dr. Gerhard Fasol): Predictive Coding is another concept for the basis of your business. Could you explain us Predictive Coding?
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): Predictive coding is based on the concept of text mining and AI technology. When e-discovery uses predictive coding, our VDS software analyzes and emulates the e-discovery review sample produced by experienced attorneys, before carrying out the rest of e-discovery review processes. Our AI software not only applies e-discovery to the review of documents at a speed more than 4,000 times faster than that achievable by humans, but also avoids the wide discrepancy in review results that often result from human error. Furthermore, our AI software has proved to be more than 90% accurate in extracting information for e-discovery reviews. Although in litigation, e-discovery is the most expensive process, costs can be cut drastically with our AI. If people use our predictive coding in addition to conventional keyword searches, relevant legal documents will no longer be omitted as often happens when only keyword searches are conducted and keyword settings are misconfigured.
Question (Dr. Gerhard Fasol): Your cloud hosting services appear to be the most rapidly growing area of business, accounting for more than half your revenue. Can you explain what this means for you? Will all your services simply move to the Cloud, or are your Cloud services a new class of products? What benefits do your customers derive from using your Legal Cloud?
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): Before answering your question, I would like to explain about our business and work flow of e-discovery. E-discovery has several steps such as identification, preservation, collection, processing, analysis, hosting, document review, and production. We charge for each of the steps. Hosting service is one of the steps of e-discovery, and its purpose is to store the data which has been loaded to the hosting server after collection, processing, analysis, and document review. Unlike the e-discovery process which only takes between one to twelve months to complete, hosting service usually lasts more than five years. One reason that the data which has been processed and reviewed by attorneys must be kept for a long time is that there is high possibility of reusing the data in case of multiple lawsuits and other issues for one particular case, for instance. Furthermore, these data are too valuable and expensive to discard since these data can be leveraged across multiple matters. These are the reasons why hosting revenue has been growing. It is a kind of recurrent revenue for us.
To answer your question regarding whether we plan to move all our products to the Cloud: we will provide cloud solutions to our customers continuously. But, it depends on the customer and the market requirement. Although we must have cloud solutions to meet the market requirement, we provide all types of solutions such as cloud and on-premise products and services.
Question (Dr. Gerhard Fasol): When I discuss the Cloud with customers and friends, automatically almost the first question concerns security. How do you ensure the security of your Cloud services, and do you see this security as a business opportunity for your company?
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): In our Intelligence Cloud Service, clients’ data are securely managed. First, only permitted users have access to restricted virtual desktops; second, we have secure communication networks; third, our communications system has a firewall; fourth, we employ VLAN-based logical separation for network segments; and fifth, we have disaster recovery centers for redundancy operations.
Currently, our priorities do not include offering Cloud-related security business solutions, since our main business is not only offering Cloud services.
First, could you explain the reasons for the acquisition of this electronic discovery and litigation consultancy?
And second, it is a fact that mergers involving US or EU companies on the one hand, and traditional Japanese companies on the other, are often difficult, and sometimes the two companies lead almost independent lives, without really integrating. That being the case, how are you overcoming cultural issues, and could you give some advice to companies undertaking Western-Japanese mergers? What are your key experiences and the conclusions you have drawn that might be applied to ensure successful Western-Japanese company mergers?
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): In answer to the first part of your question, we acquired TechLaw Solutions – a US e-discovery consultancy and solutions provider that has been in business for more than 30 years – as part of our strategy to expand our e-discovery market share, with a view to giving ourselves a high-profile presence in the US. Since TechLaw Solutions already has developed a large number of sales channels, its acquisition has given us a unique opportunity to establish the UBIC brand in the US.
Regarding the second part of the question, all companies have their own culture, so even companies with identical national backgrounds have different cultures. To ensure there are no cultural obstacles when companies merge, it is necessary to recognize and accept that differences exist. UBIC has always respected cultural diversity, and so does not perceive it to be a major challenge.
Most important of all is the need to share clear, solid, and positive goals, and to clearly visualize the path to those goals. I accompanied members of the UBIC management team on a visit to TechLaw Solutions. We held a number of team meetings, during which I continued to make every effort to convey to them my thoughts, regarding what we expected would be the outcome of the acquisition, the degree to which I believed Techlaw Solutions could help UBIC grow, and the reason I had confidence in our technology.
At the same time, I held one-on-one meetings with all key employees, and made sure that each of them was enthusiastic about their work and that they held values akin to those upheld by UBIC. Had there been no relationship of trust or the support that comes from sharing common goals, it would have been hard for the companies to merge successfully. But, once we found we had the same goals and could help each other, the cultural differences became non-issues.
Question (Dr. Gerhard Fasol): Your venture company is certainly one of the most successful, having grown rapidly into a global corporation that continues to expand. What are the main factors behind your success? Since improving conditions for the setting up of businesses is one of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s growth strategies for Japan, based on your experience, how would you suggest conditions might be improved for entrepreneurs?
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): One piece of advice regarding how to improve conditions for entrepreneurs concerns the Japanese education system. Schools should teach children, from a young age, about entrepreneurs and startups.
Although the climate surrounding fundraising has improved, one critical drawback that Japanese entrepreneurs face is the difficulty in attracting smart, competent people to work for startups in Japan. In Silicon Valley, very competent new university graduates are eager to work for startups or small companies with less than five employees. They do not target Fortune 500 or well-known companies, or even companies such as Facebook or Twitter. In Japan, however, very competent students tend to want to work for big-name companies, rather than startups.
Part of the problem is that we have not learned about startups and entrepreneurship, which makes it difficult for such businesses to attract young Japanese. For example, I used to be a public servant working for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) prior to working for Applied Materials Japan Inc. But then, having a specific goal that I wished to achieve, I set up my own company. Yet, even at that time, had I had the option of working for a startup, I would not have done so, because the concept of startups was so ill-defined.
Our children need to be taught that there are any number of work possibilities, ranging from being a florist, an astronaut, an entrepreneur or an employee at a startup. We also should teach our children that working for a large company is not the only option. In Japan, we still believe that large, well-known companies are “safe,” “good,” and, thus, “socially acceptable.” It is interesting to note that, these days, even some of the big companies are setting up-within their organizations-business incubators.
Japanese media have begun to mention startups and entrepreneurs, while some universities have launched incubator programs to draw students into this area of expertise. This is important, since the younger generations should be made aware that there are any number of ways in which they can utilize their skills.
There are several reasons for UBIC’s success. One factor is that we are a strong team, committed to a goal. Whereas one person alone can achieve relatively little, a great team with members who empower each other and work together can achieve great things.
A second reason is that we have a clear corporate mission which is shared by the team. Fortunately, it dovetails well with the current social environment. When we launched our e-discovery business, our mission was to provide secure and cost-effective solutions for Japanese and other Asian companies facing litigation. Based on our expertise in analyzing of huge volumes of litigation-related data in English and several Asian languages, we have been able to develop our behavior informatics analytical tool, which makes it possible to predict how people will think and act based on the human conditions and behavioral norms.
A third factor behind our success is the strong commitment to working as a team. Our motto – “Enthusiasm, Persistence and Impression” – was chosen to motivate our team to persevere in committing to our shared mission.
Question (Dr. Gerhard Fasol): How did you finance the startup of UBIC? Did you accept venture capital? And what are your thoughts on the use of venture capital in Japan?
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): I believe that, in Japan, the overall environment for venture capital has improved, but I did not use venture capital because, in those days, there was little understanding of the benefits of incubating startups over the long term; mostly, their objective was short-term investment for profit.
As a result, when startups got support from venture capitalists, they had no choice but to make a profit by, for example, opening more stores than they may have thought prudent. The results, at times, were fortunate and I did not wish to have such constraints. I wanted to be able to manage my company with a long-term vision. Nowadays, however, one finds venture capital enterprises even in Japan that want to incubate companies with a long-term vision. The situation has improved immeasurably.
Question (Dr. Gerhard Fasol): You have started a number of new ventures in the medical field as well as the social networks. Can you tell about your vision for the future of UBIC?
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): We would like to contribute to the creation of a better future for society through the application of information analysis. At the same time, we hope to introduce a new approach to behavior informatics, on the basis of our extensive experience in litigation support and the application of innovative technologies developed through our research.
Currently, many businesses are providing solutions for big data analysis of human behavior. But the amount of big data is so huge, that it is difficult for people to conduct in-depth analyses. Generally, little more than average results are produced, without specific topic-related differentiation.
Our AI technology, however, which has been developed by our legal technology specialists, closely emulates human ability and behavior. In addition, it replicates tacit knowledge: the wisdom, and intuition of experts. In other words, our technology can reproduce what is difficult to verbalize. As a result, we are able to analyze subtleties, sensitivities, and distinctive aspects of individuals, which can for example, form the basis of medical diagnosis and individual consumer behavior and preferences.
Our vision is to provide AI-based solutions that enable each person to realize his or her individuality and potential in order to develop creativity at work and in other settings.
Question (Dr. Gerhard Fasol): Can you tell us the reason you decided to become an entrepreneur and start UBIC? What is your advice to other entrepreneurs who wish to set up their own business in Japan, or globally?
Answer (Masahiro Morimoto): Well, at first I had no intention of becoming an entrepreneur. But, I developed a strong sense that I had to do something for those Japanese companies that were incurring huge financial losses as a result of litigation abroad. At the time, there were not many forensic or e-discovery services in Japan that offered strong support. That was why, after having accumulated from scratch the know-how required to set up a company, I established my own enterprise. My mission today is to support companies worldwide with our AI, which can emulate experts’ behavior and apply their wisdom to that we can continue to come up with appropriate business solutions.
My advice to entrepreneurs and people who want to set up their own company is to have a clear mission, and to commit to this with persistence and the support of a strong team.
Horizon 2020 Japan participation conference at the EU Delegation in Tokyo
Horizon2020 is the world’s largest research program, undertaken by the European Union, and it is open to cooperation with researchers from all countries including Japan.
EU encourages Japan participation in Horizon 2020
Actually, the EU strongly encourages participation from Japan: Maria Cristina Russo, Director for International Cooperation in the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission, pointed out that currently Japan is on 12th rank in the number of joint research programs with the EU – behind Mexico, and Marocco, but one place above Argentina and Egypt.
Yoichiro Matsumoto, Executive Vice President, The University of Tokyo: Japan’s research needs to go global
Anders Karlsson, Vice President for Global Academic Relations, Elsevier, Tokyo: EU-Japan Science collaboration – a “bird’s eye view” on publication patterns & opportunities for collaboration
Maria Cristina Russo, Director for International Cooperation, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission: Horizon2020 – the chance to go global
Kazushi Watanabe, General Manager, Business Development, Sumitomo Precision Products, Aerospace & Defense: Experience of international collaboration. FP7 project: Surface heat exchangers for aero-engines
Naoto Kobayashi, Center for Research Strategy, Waseda University: FP7 project and internationalization of research at Waseda University
Yoichi Iida, Director, Aerospace and Defense Industry Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau, METI: Japan-EU cooperation in civil aeronautics industry
1929: elevated to a degree-conferring university as Tokyo Kogyo Daigaku (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
2004: reorganized as an independent administrative institution “National University Corporation Tokyo Institute of Technology”
Tokyo Institute of Technology – Statistics as of May 1, 2013
Undergraduate students: 4,790 (of which 180 are foreign students)
Graduate students: 3,611 Masters students + 1,512 Doctorate students = 5,123 (of which 943 (18.4%) are foreign students)
Research students: 90
Academic staff: 1,148
Administrative staff: 472
Tokyo Institute of Technology – The mission is to develop a new and vibrant society
produce graduates with a broad understanding of science and technology with both the ability and the determination to take on leading roles in society
create and support innovative science and technology that will lead to sustainable social development
Tokyo Institute of Technology – Detailed mission statements cover three areas
education: produce masters graduates who will thrive globally, and doctorate graduates who will come world’s top researchers are leaders
contributions to society and international activities
research: produce globally recognized results. Reform the research and support systems, in particular multi-step support for young researchers.
Tokyo Institute of Technology aims to become a world class university with greater diversity in faculty and students by 2030
Major educational reform plan (2013-…)
Reborn masters and doctoral courses
Reorganize departments, curriculum, courses
Change from year-based study to credit based study
Increase teaching in English, and numbers of foreign students
Align with world top class universities for student transfers and credit transfers
Enhance professional practice education for industry
A key challenge is that students primarily focus on earning credits to graduate, and lack a sense of mission to develop professional skills or to cooperate in our diverse global society. We need to change this type of behavior to create scientific leaders for the global arena.
We want to create a more flexible curriculum, that can be completed in a shorter time, so that students have more time for personal professional development and international exchange activities and communication skills.
Tokyo Institute of Technology: The Board of Directors decided on three pillars for education reform on September 6, 2013
Build education system to become one of the world’s top universities
Innovate learning
Promote ambitious internationalization
We will move to a new and more flexible curriculum system, where undergraduate schools and graduate schools are blended.
Tokyo Institute of Technology: new initiatives
We are introducing a number of initiatives including active learning, a faculty mentor system where every faculty member mentors 5-10 students, increased numbers of lectures in English, invited top global researchers, provide facilities for foreign researchers, and broaden academic cooperation agreements and mutual accreditation of credits and degrees.
Professor Yoshinao Mishima, President of Tokyo Institute of Technology
Boltzmann constant k, “What is temperature?” and the new definition of the SI system of physical units
(by Gerhard Fasol, CEO of Eurotechnology Japan KK. Served as Associate Professor of Tokyo University, Lecturer at Cambridge University, and Manger of Hitachi Cambridge R&D Lab.)
(in preparing this talk, I am very grateful for several email discussions and telephone conversations, and for unpublished presentations and documents, to Dr Michael de Podesta MBE CPhys MInstP, Principal Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory NPL in Teddington, UK, who has greatly assisted me in understanding the current status of work on reforming the SI system of units, and also his very important work on high-precision measurements of Boltzmann’s constant. Dr Michael de Podesta’s measurements of Boltzmann’s constant are arguable among the most precise, of not the most precise measurements of Boltzmann’s constant today, and therefore a very important contribution to our system of physical units).
Boltzmann constant k, the definition of the unit of temperature and energy
Temperature is one of the physics quantities we use most, and understanding all aspects of temperature is at the core of Ludwig Boltzmann’s work. People measured temperature long before anyone knew what temperature really is: temperature is a measurement of the average kinetic energy of the atoms of a substance. When we touch a body to “feel” its temperature, what we are really doing is to measure the “buzz”, the thermal vibrations of the atoms making up that body.
For an ideal gas, the kinetic energy per molecule is equal to 3/2 k.T, where k is Boltzmann’s constant. Therefore Boltzmann’s constant directly links energy and Temperature.
However, when we measure “Temperature” in real life, we are not really measuring the true thermodynamic temperature, what we are really measuring is T90, a temperature scale ITS-90 defined in 1990, which is anchored by the definition of temperature units in the System International, the SI system of defining a set of fundamental physical units. Our base units are of fundamental importance for example to transfer semiconductor production processes around the world. For example, when a semiconductor production process requires a temperature of 769.3 Kelvin or mass of 1.0000 Kilogram, then accurate definition and methods of measurement are necessary to achieve precisely the same temperature or mass in different laboratories or factories around the world.
second: The second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom.
metre: The meter is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.
kilogram: The kilogram is the unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram.
Ampere: The ampere is that constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross-section, and placed 1 meter apart in vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 x 10-7 newton per meter of length.
Kelvin: The kelvin, unit of thermodynamic temperature, is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.
mole:
The mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon 12
When the mole is used, the elementary entities must be specified and may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, other particles, or specified groups of such particles.
candela: The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 x 1012 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian.
The definitions of base units has long history, and are evolving over time. Today several of the definitions are particularly problematic, among the most problematic are temperature and mass.
SI base units are closely linked to fundamental constants:
second:
metre: linked to c = speed of light in vacuum
kilogram: linked to h = Planck constant.
Ampere: linked to e = elementary charge (charge of an electron)
Kelvin: linked to k = Boltzmann constnt
mole: linked to N = Avogadro constant
candela:
Switch to a new framework for the SI base units:
Each fundamental constant Q is a product of a number {Q} and a base unit [Q]:
Q = {Q} x [Q],
for example Boltzmann’s constant is:
k = 1.380650 x 10-23 JK-1.
Thus we have two ways to define the SI system of SI base units:
we can fix the units [Q], and then measure the numerical values {Q} of fundamental constants in terms of these units (method valid today to define the SI system)
we can fix the numbers {Q} of fundamental constants, and then define the units [Q] thus that the fundamental constants have the numerical values {Q} (future method of defining the SI system)
Over the next few years the SI system of units will be switched from the today’s method (1.) where units are fixed and numerical values of fundamental constants are “variable”, i.e. determined experimentally, to the new method (2.) where the numerical values of the set of fundamental constants is fixed, and the units are defined such, that their definition results in the fixed numerical values of the set of fundamental constants. This switch to a new definition of the SI system requires international agreements, and decisions by international organizations, and this process is expected to be completed by 2018.
Today’s method (1.) above is problematic: The SI unit of temperature, Kelvin is defined as the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature at the triple point of water. The problem is that the triple point depends on many factors including pressure, and the precise composition of water, in terms of isotopes and impurities. In the current definition the water to be used is determined as “VSNOW” = Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water. Of course this is highly problematic, and the new method (2.) will not depend on VSNOW any longer.
In the new system (2.) the Kelvin will be defined as:
Kelvin is defined such, that the numerical value of the Boltzmann constant k is equal to exactly 1.380650 x 10-23 JK-1.
Measurement of the Boltzmann constant k:
In order to link the soon to be fixed numerical value of Boltzmann’s constant to currently valid definitions of the Kelvin, and in particular to determine the precision and errors, it is necessary to measure the value of Boltzmann’s current in terms of today’s units as accurately as possible, and also to understand and estimate all errors in the measurement. Several measurements of Boltzmann’s constants are being performed in laboratories around the world, particularly at several European and US laboratories. Arguably today’s best measurement has been performed by Dr Michael de Podesta MBE CPhys MInstP, Principal Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory NPL in Teddington, UK, who has kindly discussed his measurements and today’s status of the work on the system of SI units and its redefinition with me, and has greatly assisted in the preparation of this article. Dr Podesta’s measurements of Boltzmann’s constant have been published in:
Michael de Podesta et al. “A low-uncertainty measurement of the Boltzmann constant”, Metrologia 50 (2013) 354-376.
Dr Podesta’s measurements are extremely sophisticated, needed many years of work, and cooperations with several other laboratories. Dr. Podesta and collaborators constructed a highly precise resonant cavity filled with Argon gas. Dr. Podesta measured both the microwave resonance modes of the cavity to determine the precise radius and geometry, and determined the speed of sound in the Argon gas from acoustic resonance modes. Dr Podesta performed exceptionally accurate measurements of the speed of sound in this cavity, which can be said to be the most accurate thermometer globally today. The speed of sound can be directly related to 3/2 k.T, the mean molecular kinetic energy of the Argon molecules. In these measurements, Dr. Podesta very carefully considered many different types of influences on his measurements, such as surface gas layers, shape of microwave and acoustic sources and sensors etc. He achieved a relative standard uncertainty of 0.71. 10-6, which means that his measurements of Boltzmann’s constant are estimated to be accurate to within better than on millionth. Dr. Podesta’s measurements directly influences the precision with which we measure temperature in the new system of units.
Over the last 10 years there is intense effort in Europe and the USA to build rebuild the SI unit system. In particular NIST (USA), NPL (UK), several French institutions and Italian institutions, as well as the German PTB (Physikalische Technische Bundesanstalt) are undertaking this effort. To my knowledge there is only very small or no contribution from Japan to this effort, which was surprising for me.
What is today’s best value for the Boltzmann constant k:
VCSEL inventor Kenichi Iga: hv vs kT – Optoelectronics and Energy
(Former President and Emeritus Professor of Tokyo Institute of Technology. Inventor of VCSEL (vertical cavity surface emitting lasers), widely used in photonics systems)
VCSEL: how Kenichi Iga invented Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers
My invention of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) dates back to March 22, 1977. Today VCSEL devices are used in many applications all over the world. I was awarded the 2013 Franklin Institute Award, the Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science, “for the conception and development of the vertical cavity surface emitting laser and its multiple applications in optoelectronics“. Benjamin Franklin’s work is linked to mine: Benjamin Franklin in 1752 discovered that thunder originates from electricity – he linked electronics (electricity) with photons (light). After 1960 the era of lasers began, we learnt how to combine and control electrons and photons, and the era of optoelectronics.
If you read Japanese, you may be interested to read an interview with Genichi Hatakoshi and myself, intitled “The treasure micro box of optoelectronics” which was recently published in the Japanese journal OplusE Magazine by Adcom-Media.
Electrons and photons
Who are electrons? Electrons are just like a cloud expressed by Schroedinger’s equation, which Schroedinger postulated in 1926. Electrons can also be seen as randomly moving particles, described by the particle version of Schroedinger’s equation (1931).
Where does light come from? Light is generated by the accelerated motion of charged particles.
Electrons also show interference patterns. For example, if we combine the 1s and 2p orbitals around a nucleus, we observe interference.
In a semiconductor, electrons are characterized by a band structure, filled valence bands and largely empty conduction bands. The population of hole states in the valence bands and of electrons in the conduction bands are determined by the Fermi-Dirac distribution. In typical III-V semiconductors, generation and absorption of light is by transitions between 4s anti-bonding orbitals (the bottom of the conduction band) and 4p bonding orbitals (the top of the valence band).
In Japan, we are good at inventing new types of vertical structures:
in 607, the Horyuji 5-Jyu-no Toh (5 story tower) was built in Nara, and today we have progressed to building the 634 meter high Tokyo Sky Tree Tower.
in 1893, Kubota Co. Ltd. developed the vertical molding of water pipes
in 1977 Shunichi Iwawaki invented vertical magnetic memory
in 1977 Tatsuo Izawa developed VAD (vapor-phase axial deposition) of silica fibers
in 1977 Kenichi Iga invented vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL)
Communications and optical signal transmission
History of communications spans from 10,000 years BC with the invention of language, and 3000 BC with the invention of written characters and papyrus, to the invention of the internet in 1957, the realization of the laser in 1960, the realization of optical fiber communications in 1984, and now since 2008 we see Web 2.x and Cloud.
Optical telegraphy goes back to 200 BC, when optical beacons were used in China: digital signals using multi-color smoke. Around 600 AD we had optical beacons in China, Korea and Japan, and in 1200 BC also in Mongolia and India.
In the 18th and 19th century, optical semaphores were used in France.
In the 20th century, optical beam transmission using optical rods and optical fiber transmissions were developed, which combined with the development of lasers created today’s laser communications. Yasuharu Suematsu and his student showed the world’s first demonstration of optical fiber communications demonstration on May 26, 1963 at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, using a He-Ne laser, an electro-optic crystal for modulation of the laser light by the electrical signal from a microphone, and optical bundle fiber, and a photo-tube at the other end of the optical fiber bundle to revert the optical signals back into electrical signals and finally to drive a loud speaker. For his pioneering work, Yasuharu Suematsu was awarded the International Japan Prize in 2014.
VCSEL: I recorded my initial idea for the surface emitting laser on March 22, 1977 in my lab book.
Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSEL) have many advantages:
ultra-low power consumption: small volume
pure spectrum operation: short cavity
continuous spectrum tuning: single resonance
high speed modulation: wide response range
easy coupling to optical fibers: circular mode
monolithic fabrication like LSI
wafer level probe testing
2-dimensional array
vertical stack integration with micro-machine
physically small
VCSEL have found applications in many fields, including: data communications, sensing, printing, interconnects, displays.
As an example, the Tsubame-2 supercomputer, which in November 2011 was 5th of top-500 supercomputers, and on June 2, 2011 was greenest computer of Green500, uses 3500 optical fiber interconnects with a length of 100km. In 2012: Too500/Green500/Graph500
IBM Sequoia uses 330,000 VCSELs.
Fuji Xerox introduced the first demonstration of 2 dimensional 4×8 VCSEL printer array for high speed and ultra-fine resolution laser printing: 14 pages/minute and 2400 dots/inch.
VCSEL photonics started from minor reputation and generated big innovation. VCSELs feature:
low power consumption: good for green ICE
high speed modulation beyond 20 GBits/second
2D array
good productivity due to monolithic process
Future: will generate ideas never thought before.
em. President of Tokyo Institute of Technology, Professor Kenichi Iga, inventor of VCSELGerhard Fasol (left), em. President of Tokyo Institute of Technology, Professor Kenichi Iga (right)
The total solar eclipse could be seen clearly today around 11:13am in Tokyo – however in Tokyo the coverage was not total. Here is a picture taken with a standard Canon digital camera:
David E Kuhl and Dennis L Meadows, the winners of the 2009 Japan Prize gave a presentation in Tokyo on April 22, 2009.
Professor David E Kuhl was given the Japan Prize for tomographic imaging in nuclear medecine, he has been called the “father of emission tomography”, having developed tomographic imaging in nuclear medicine.
Dennis Meadows is famous for his book “The Limits of Growth” (1972), which was written by three MIT scientists including Meadows as a project funded by the Club of Rome. Meadows has shown that current economic and human activity has become unsustainable.
Asked about the current economic crisis, Meadows explains the current economic crisis as the bottom of the Kondratiev cycle, which has a period of 45-60 years (about 50 years). According to Meadows the reason for the Kondratiev cycles is overinvestments in production resources. Excessive production resources need to be adjusted to actual needs periodically, and this period is about 50 years. The last Kondriatiev-type elimination of production overcapacity was caused by the damages of the 2nd World War. Currently this down-adjustment of production resources occurs in peace-time.
David E Kuhl and Dennis L Meadows, the winners of the 2009 Japan Prize in Tokyo on April 22, 2009
Attended Professor Junichi Hamada’s presentation at Tokyo University. Professor Hamada is expert on the legal aspects of journalism, freedom of press and media regulation. Professor Hamada will be the new President of Tokyo University from April 2009.
In his presentation Professor Hamada discussed the changes in the media sector, and of course also his views and strategies for Tokyo University.
Asked during question time about his views of University ranking lists, his answer was that serving society is much more important than ranking lists.
Professor Junichi Hamada, President of Tokyo University
First Ludwig Boltzmann Forum Tokyo on February 20th, 2009
Speakers: Hisashi Kobayashi, Gerhard Fasol, Kazu Ishikawa, Kiyoshi Kurokawa
Ludwig Boltzmann was one of the most important physicists and philosophers: it is almost impossible for any engineer, chemist or physicist to do a day’s work without using Boltzmann’s tools and results every day. Ludwig Boltzmann is Gerhard Fasol‘s and Eurotechnology Japan KK’s founder’s great grandfather – and his excellence is our company’s guiding light.
Ludwig Boltzmann was born 165 years ago on February 20, 1844, and last Friday, February 20, 2009 we celebrated the first event of the Ludwig Boltzmann Forum by inviting several of Japan’s science and technology leaders with kind cooperation and hospitality by the Ambassador of Austria and the Austrian Embassy:
First speaker was Professor Hisashi Kobayashi, Founder of the IBM Tokyo Laboratory, former Dean of Engineering of Princeton University. He showed how Entropy and noise in communications is linked to Boltzmann’s generalized Entropy and the H-Theorem. Coming from Princeton, Hisashi also showed us elegantly how strongly Einstein’s work is linked to Boltzmann’s.
Professor Kiyoshi Kurokawa, former Dean of Medicine of Tokai University, former President of Japan’s Science Council and Advisor to two Japanese Prime Ministers and now Professor at Japan’s new Political Science University, gave an intense and passionate speech about which changes are necessary to live in our future which will be hot (as in global warming), flat (as in global communications and internet) and crowded (due do population growth). Kiyoshi also made a passionate appeal to Japanese organisations (including the S&T leaders participating at our Symposium) to change, open up and compete globally.
Kazu Ishikawa of Exa Japan gave a fantastic demonstration how Boltzmann’s equations are used to simulate airflow for the construction of cars, airplanes, jet engines … Boltzmann’s equations replace the macroscopic Navier-Stokes equations as numerical wind tunnels. Boltzmann’s equations are particularly needed for the simulation of transients.
Finally, Gerhard Fasol, Ludwig Boltzmann’s Great-Grandson, gave two talks: one talk about Ludwig Boltzmann’s scientific achievements, his search for understanding the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics with mechanics, the effects of collisions and the generalization to non-equilibrium – leading the H-Theorem, and the generalization of Entropy and Boltzmann’s philosophical work. The second talk introduced the human side of Ludwig Boltzmann: his life and his passions.
Photo: Hisashi Kobayashi shows why Boltzmann’s work is important for telecommunications, and how Einstein’s work is linked to Boltzmann’s. Her Excellency, the Austrian Ambassador follows closely:
Hisashi Kobayashi at the Ludwig Boltzmann Symposium – the Ambassador of Austria listens
Photo: Hot, flat and crowded. In a passionate speech, former science and tech advisor of two Japanese Prime-Ministers, Kiyoshi Kurokawa talks about the future, and how to be prepared to compete:
Kiyoshi Kurokawa: Hot, flat and crowded
Photo: The Austrian Ambassador invited the participants of the Ludwig Boltzmann Symposium to the Austrian Residence:
Excellent science in Japan, for example Shuji Nakamura’s GaN LEDs and Lasers
Fasol mentions that there is excellent science in Japan, for example Shuji Nakamura’s invention and development of blue and white GaN based LEDs and Lasers (see: Nakamura and Fasol: the Blue Laser Diode).
Transition from “old Japan” to “new Japan” needed
Fasol also mentions the necessary transition from “old Japan” to “new Japan”. “Old Japan” is run by a tightly knit group of older men, without space for women or foreigners. Shuji Nakamura escaped this “Old Japan” for Santa Barbara in California.
Japan needs to transition as soon as possible from an “old Japanese men” controlled society, to a Japan that embraces diversity, engaging the power of women and people with different backgrounds and ideas, not just inbreeding by old men from the same schools of thought.
With the right know-how, foreign companies can take advantage of Japan’s excellent human resources
Fasol also mentions that Japan has excellent human resources, and foreign companies can today take advantage of opportunities in Japan, which did not exist, or were unaccessible for foreign companies 50 years ago.
Japan needs to encourage spin-out companies from Universities and research labs
When Fasol was Faculty at Tokyo University, Faculty essentially did not register almost any inventions for patents, and there were essentially no companies started at Japan’s No. 1 Elite University. To stimulate innovation and growth is it necessary to change the mind-set at Japan’s elite Universities, encourage commercialization of inventions through spin-out companies.
Gerhard Fasol was one of the invited speakers of the “Device Applications of Nanoscale Materials Symposium” at the 1998 National ACS Meeting in Dallas, Texas, which was organized by John St. John of Texas Christian University.
Gerhard Fasol’s talk: “Selective Electrodeposition of Magnetic and Metallic Nanowires: A New Approach to a Fundamental Technology”
Symposium purpose: The two main purposes of this symposium are (1) to demonstrate current, innovative applications of chemistry in the nanometer size regime for use in optoelectronics and (2) to identify potential areas for partnerships between industry and academia where research in nanoscale chemistry can be applied to emerging technologies. It is hoped that this symposium will benefit chemists working in nanotechnology by providing a forum for discussing applications with leading industries.
Press Conference participants:
James R. Von Ehr II, Zyvex LLC;
Howard E. Katz, Bell Laboratories-Lucent Technologies;
Jie Han, NASA Ames Research Laboratory;
Gerhard Fasol, Eurotechnology Japan K. K.;
Technical program
8:00 am: Marye Anne Fox , University of Texas, Austin; Imaging With Chromophore-Modified Self Assembled Monolayers
8:40 am: Howard E. Katz, Bell Laboratories-Lucent Technologies; Chemical Structure, film Morphology, and Deposition Process Optimization of Organic Transistor Semiconductors
9:20 am: James R. Von Ehr II, Zyvex LLC; Building a Molecular Nanotechnology Industry
10:00 am: William Hinsburg, IBM Research Division; Resist Requirements for Sub-100 nm Microlithography
10:30 am: Gerhard Fasol, Eurotechnology Japan K. K.; Selective Electrodeposition of Magnetic and Metallic Nanowires: A New Approach to a Fundamental Technology
11:10 am: Alan J. Heeger, IPOS, UCSB, and UNIAX Corp.,.; Polymer Light Emitting Electrochemical Cells: A Device Application of Nanscale Chemistry
11:50 am: Jie Han, NASA Ames Research Laboratory; Exploring Carbon Nanotubes for Nanoscale Devices
2:00 pm: Richard BrotzmanNanophase Technologies Corporation; Nanoscale Materials for Optoelectronics
2:30 pm: Louis Brus, Columbia University; Spectroscopy and “Blinking” of Single Semiconductor Nanocrystals at Room Temperature
3:10 pm: Jeffery L. Coffer, Texas Christian University; Nanophase Silicon as an Optoelectronic / Biocompatible Material
4:00 pm: James M. Tour, University of South Carolina; Molecular Scale Electronics
4:40 pm: Tapesh Yadav, Nanomaterials Research Corporation; Device Applications of Nanoscale Materials
Gerhard Fasol and Katharina Runge: “Selective Electrodeposition of nanometer scale magnetic wires” Applied Physics Letters, 70, p. 2467-2468 (5 May 1997)
G. Fasol, “Spontaneous Spin Polarization in Quantum Wires”, Proc. 22nd International Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors (ICPS), edited by D. J. Lockwood, (World Scientific, Singapore, 1995), p. 1739-1742.
G. Fasol and H. Sakaki, “Spontaneous Spin Polarization due to Electron- Electron Interaction in Quantum Wires”, in “Nanostructures and Quantum Effects”, edited by H. Sakaki and H. Noge, [Proceedings of the JRDC Int. Symposium on Nanostructures and Quantum Effects, 17—18 Nov. 1993, Tsukuba (Japan)], Springer-Verlag, Berlin, p. 121-130 (1994).
G. Fasol and H. Sakaki, “Spontaneous Spin Polarization in Quantum Wires”, Philosophical Magazine, 70, 601-616 (1994).
G. Fasol and H. Sakaki, “Prediction of Spin-Polarization Effects in Quantum Wire Transport”, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 33, 879-886 (1994).
G. Fasol, Y. Nagamune, J. Motohisa und H. Sakaki, “Determination of Quantum Wire Potential and Hot Electron Spectroscopy Using Point Contacts”, Surface Science, 305, 620-623 (1994).
G. Fasol, “Calculation of Electron Coherence Lengths for Quantum Wires”, in: 21st International Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors, ed. by Ping Jiang and Hou-Zhi Zheng, World Scientific, (Singapore, 1992), p. 1411.
G. Fasol and H. Sakaki, “Electron-electron Scattering in Quantum Wires and its Possible Suppression due to Spin Effects”, Physical Review Letters, 70, 3643-3646 (1993).
G. Fasol and H. Sakaki, “Spontaneous Spin-Polarization of Ballistic Electrons in Single Mode Quantum Wires Due to Spin Splitting”, Applied Physics Letters, 62, 2230-2232 (1993).
G. Fasol and H. Sakaki, “Electron-Electron Scattering in Quantum Wells and Wires”, Proceedings of the 19th Int. Symposium on Gallium Arsenide and Related Compounds, (Karuizawa 1992), Institute of Physics Conference Series No. 129, p. 311 (1992).
G. Fasol, “Absence of Low Temperature Saturation of Electron–Electron Scattering in a Single Mode Quantum Wire”, Applied Physics Letters, 61, 831-833 (1992)
G. Fasol, “Electron Dephasing Due to Coulomb Interaction”, Applied Physics Letters 59, 2430-2432 (1991)
