Japan's MIRAI project: An interview with leader Masataka Hirose

摘要

Japan's MIRAI (Millennium Research for Advanced Information Technology) project, a joint venture of the government's Advanced Semiconductor Research Center and the industry organization Association of Super Advanced Electronics Technologies (ASET), aims to develop 70-50nm semiconductor production technology over the next seven years (see table). Budget for fiscal 2001 is $32 million (¥3.8 billion). Roughly half the 100+ researchers come from the 24 makers of chips, tools, and materials who belong to ASET, including foreign companies Intel and Samsung. Another 34 come from the government's ASRC lab, and 13 are from universities. Below, MIRAI project leader Masataka Hirose details his plans for the organization to Masahide Kimura, an editor at Nikkei Microdevices.