Keiichi Tanabe

President

Superconductivity Sensing Technology Research Association

Message from President

Sensing Technology Research Association (SUSTERA) was established in February 2016, with the approval of Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry of Japanese government. SUSTERA aims at industrialization of superconducting sensors with ultrahigh sensitivity and equipment utilizing these sensors, and eventually growth of industry relating to superconducting sensing technology. The members of SUSTERA as of April 2017 are Fujitsu Ltd., The Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc., and Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. (Mitsui Kinzoku). The headquarter of SUSTERA is located at Hiyoshi Laboratory of the former Superconductivity Research Laboratory of International Superconductivity Technology Center (ISTEC) in Yokohama which has a function of a core laboratory to conduct R&D in collaboration with the members.

The main target of R&D at SUSTERA is the superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetic sensor using a thin-film multilayer structure including high-temperature superconducting (HTS) materials, which has been developed at ISTEC since around 2007. The HTS-SQUID magnetic sensor with the multilayer structure has advantages such as ultrahigh sensitivity independent of frequency and high durability against application of magnetic field and can be operated by easy cooling using liquid nitrogen which is inexpensive and can be purchased everywhere in the world. These advantages enable realization of compact testing, exploration or monitoring equipment for use in magnetically-unshielded environment such as outdoor fields. For example, the electromagnetic metal exploration equipment with such HTS-SQUID sensors (SQUITEM3) which was developed in 2013 by ISTEC and Mitsui Mineral Development Engineering Co. Ltd. (MINDECO) in commission by Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) has been already used for exploration of overseas metal resources and trial exploration of geothermal resources in Japan. At ISTEC we have also conducted R&D of a monitoring system for oil fields in commission by JOGMEC, magnetic non-destructive testing equipment for the purpose of maintenance of social infrastructure and bio-sensing system both in commission by Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). SUSTERA has taken over these R&D projects and will accelerate application of our HTS-SQUID sensors to fields of natural resources, social and industrial infrastructure, and bio-sensing or medical equipment toward their industrialization. SUSTERA will also try to explore a new application field such as civil engineering and construction field. We sincerely ask more support and cooperation from personnel and companies relating to superconductivity and sensor technologies, and also their application fields.

3rd April 2017