Scientists earn accolades, funding from storage disk

And local manufacturers of DVD drivers and research institutes have offered cooperative partnerships with the lab.

When the ISOM/ODS Joint International Symposium on Optical Memory and Optical Data Storage 2002 was held last month in Hawaii, Taiwan's achievement on producing super-sized optical disks was widely publicized.

Next month, Tsai's team will attend the 7th International Conference on Near-field Optics and Related Techniques being held at the University of Rochester in the US to publish several academic research articles.

Financial support

The team's success in developing ultrahigh-density nano-storage technology will earn NTU generous funding from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

NTU will sign a contract with the ministry on Aug. 1 that will include five years of funding.

Research into the recording performance of media using nano-optics and nano-magnetics technologies will cost about NT$166 million of the ministry's money and another NT$22.5 million from the NSC.

The funding will also help establish a center devoted to nano-storage research to encourage professionals to enter the field, Chang Ching-ray (張慶瑞), director of NTU's department of physics, told the Taipei Times.

NTU will also focus on bio-medical imaging applications and nano-lithography in the semiconductor industry.

NSC Chairman Wei Che-ho (魏哲和) told the Taipei Times that Taiwan's high-tech development is heading in the right direction as a result of cooperation between industry and academia.

"I think the NTU's research on high-density optical disks is just one good example that demonstrates how academic circles are gradually increasing their influence on industry," Wei said.