A research team sponsored by the National Science Council (NSC) has successfully developed a "laser encoder system" involving nano-optical technologies, the utilization of which could reduce the operating costs of high-tech industries due to improvement in both manufacturing processes and measurement systems, officials said yesterday.
The four-year research project, which cost NT$40 million and was led by the Institute of Applied Mechanics at National Taiwan University (NTU), resulted in 11 professional papers, 17 patents and 7 component system products pertaining to technologies ranging from nano-optics to Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS).
The team's achievement gained international attention in January 2000, when Applied Optics, a journal of the Optical Society of America, put the teams' work on a holographic printer named Sparkle on the cover.
Yesterday, C.K. Lee (
Lee said that it performs much better than major rivals produced by the Japanese firm Cannon.
"It has 10 times greater precision and its signal strength will be increased by a factor of 10," Lee said at a press conference.
For years, Canon has developed many kinds of highly accurate laser encoder systems, which can ensure enhanced performance of positioning sensors involved with nanotechnology.
For national defense and business considerations, however, Japan has forbidden the sale of key components of domestically produced laser encoder systems to Taiwan.
Lee said that the laser encoder system technologies play key roles in positioning systems required by diverse high-tech industries, ranging from semiconductor to flat- panel display manufacturing.
According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan's output of high-tech semiconductor industries next year will value NT$1 trillion. However, the cost of importing manufacturing facilities for high-tech semiconductor industries exceeds NT$200 billion, about one fifth of the output value.
By adopting Taiwan-produced laser encoder systems with better performance, Lee said, the rate of domestic production for high-tech manufacturing facilities, 5 percent, could be significantly increased,further reducing costs.
According to Lee, domestic companies can successfully adopt the high-precision laser encoder in manufacturing facilities involved with anti-counterfeit technology.
"The team's achievement will influence domestic industries, whose total output value exceeds trillions of Taiwanese dollars," said Tsay Chung-biau (
Tsay said that domestic firms would be the council's highest priority in transferring related technologies developed by the team, which was composed of nearly 100 professional researchers, including nine professors.
Lee said, however, that Taiwan needs innovative strategies to share existing position systems' markets needed by manufacturing facilities for high-tech industries, because long-term reliance on familiar brands still dominates consumers' behavior.
Other competitors, Lee said, include firms in Germany and the US.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS