Project “Ultra Fine Particles” -A Closing Remarks

Research and Development Corporation of Japan inaugurated a new research system in 1981 which is called Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO). The “Ultra Fine Particles Project” is one of its four projects launched in 1981. Each project is termed for 5 years with 15-20 researchers including few group leaders. The project leader C. Hayashi discusses in this paper, at the end of the five year project, a variety of subjects which he thinks should be pursued further hopefully by other organizations or individuals. Utilization of front end technologies for high resolution electron microscopy (HREM) and for providing well defined sample, Ultra Fine Particles (UFP), has been successfully made by R. Uyeda and S. Iijima; which revealed details of atom-layer structure and its change by electron flux of the HREM. Some of those results are exciting both for scientist and application engineers. For industrial use of UFP, gas deposition technique investigated by S. Kashu et al. should be further developed for a variety of specific applications UFP of a high moleculer organic substance made by H. Toyotama are easily dispersed in water, which may make a great contribution in pharmaceutical applications. Materials in the form of UFP may open new field both in new industries and science.