At a glance
| Booth | N0482 |
| Country | TW |
| Website | www.ncir.niar.org.tw |
Company profile
National Center for Instrumentation Research, National Institutes Applied Research is a Taiwan public research organization under the National Institutes of Applied Research (NIAR), and NIAR is a public research foundation under Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council. The center conducts instrument-technology research and development to support advanced academic research, scientific discovery, and environmental or ecological applications, and it develops customized instruments and equipment for academic research. The National Center for Instrumentation Research was established in ROC Year 63 and describes itself as a key instrument R&D hub in Taiwan and a pioneer of vacuum and optical technologies in Taiwan. Its core forward-looking instrument technologies include vacuum equipment, precision optics, and intelligent transmission, and the center states that it is Taiwan's only R&D organization able to provide cross-disciplinary customized advanced instruments and equipment to academic users in science, engineering, medicine, and agriculture. In response to technology-development trends, the center builds domestic instrument-technology foundation platforms and service systems, strengthens core and key technical capabilities, and works as a research partner for academic teams needing customized special-specification instruments for advanced science. The center states that it develops advanced key instruments described as Taiwan-first or internationally leading and promotes autonomous R&D and application of next-generation advanced instrumentation to improve the use and sustainable management of national science and technology resources. Its innovation platforms include advanced semiconductor equipment and materials localization, optical systems, and organ-on-chip technologies, and it supports localization of the semiconductor equipment supply chain. The center reports a total workforce of 168 people, with about 80% holding master's or doctoral qualifications; research and engineering personnel account for about 80%, technical personnel 6%, and administrative personnel 14%. Based on its established vacuum and optical technology foundations, the center develops basic instrument engineering technologies, provides emerging-instrument application and testing platforms for academia and industry, and works with universities through industry-academia collaboration. Technologies developed by the center are transferred to related companies to help improve technical capabilities, and the center states that its R&D has repeatedly received awards in important international competitions. By integrating vacuum equipment, precision optics, and intelligent transmission, the center develops next-generation semiconductor processes and equipment, advanced defense and space payload systems, and epidemic-prevention-related instruments, while also building academic smart-machinery test fields and validation platforms. The center provides diversified commissioned development and commissioned testing services by integrating its core technologies and facilities, enabling researchers and customers to turn technical concepts into instrument systems and measured results. For quality management, the center maintains a national-level calibration laboratory operating under ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation and states that its quality-management and information-security management systems have passed ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certification. Its technical-service activities include innovative instrument-system development, human-machine-interface development, calibration and testing services, technology transfer, and consulting, together with publications and instrument-technology training courses for schools and industry. The center also supports graduate-student participation in research projects, instrument-technology science outreach, international scientific-instrument technology training for Asian science-association member countries, and visiting-researcher programs for collaborative projects and technical exchange. Looking ahead, the center states that it will continue improving the research environment, supporting academic research and high-tech industry, building instrument-technology platforms, and providing advanced research instrument technologies and equipment while pursuing international-level laboratory R&D. Its stated future participation includes development of the 福衛八號 remote-sensing payload instrument, integrated biomedical-instrument and disaster-prevention application-technology projects, instrument-environment service platforms, and intelligent human-machine-interface development services.
Exhibits
The center has developed hyperspectral microscopy by integrating hyperspectral technology with microscopy, combining micrometer-scale positioning and microscopic imaging with quantitative spectral-image analysis. Unlike general hyperspectral instruments that are described as mostly limited to qualitative application analysis, the center's hyperspectral microscopy technology is specifically presented as capable of quantitative spectral-image analysis. The hyperspectral microscopy technology can measure important physical parameters such as transmittance, reflectance, and absorptance and can be applied to microscopic imaging analysis of micro- and nanomaterials and biological tissues. The center develops advanced semiconductor processes and key equipment technologies and operates a vacuum-technology and application platform for localization services involving advanced semiconductor equipment and materials. Its advanced semiconductor equipment and materials localization platform supports future next-generation semiconductor-device process needs for domestic wafer-foundry industry and research involving novel materials, core process technologies, and defect analysis. The same platform supports academic research into the special physical, chemical, optoelectronic, and material properties of novel two-dimensional materials as well as in-situ monitoring applications. The platform also helps domestic equipment and material suppliers enter high-value semiconductor process-equipment supply chains and develop semiconductor process inspection-equipment businesses, with the stated aim of strengthening domestic process and inspection-equipment development capability. Semiconductor-platform services include optical thin-film component measurement and design development, advanced coating-process equipment development, customized vacuum-chamber design and system integration, nano- and micro-scale thin-film processing and analytical inspection, and in-situ thin-film deposition monitoring-system development. Additional semiconductor services include sub-angstrom-resolution atomic-structure R&D and applications, atomic-layer deposition and etching technologies and equipment, Cluster ALD, an 8-inch hot-wall tube CVD with convertible horizontal and vertical flow-field design, a Taiwan-only 4D STEM service platform, and clustered semiconductor in-situ process-inspection equipment. The center's autonomous optical-system R&D platform provides key high-precision optical components and supports national space-program missions with development services for large-aperture aspheric optical payloads, ultra-precision optical lenses for low-Earth-orbit communication satellites, and CubeSat optical payloads. Optical-platform services include customized precision optical lens and component design and development, aerospace-grade lens polishing and inspection, customized aerospace optical coatings, reflective telescope optomechanical systems, optical-payload experimental units, and hyperspectral instrument and sensing-application development. The center also operates an intelligent transmission and biomedical photonics technology service platform that provides multimodal-sensing and feedback-control assistive robots, multifunction unmanned vehicles, long-term-care assistive systems, and home-use instruments. For chronic-disease management and health-care needs, the platform adds AI real-time image correction and multipoint synchronous sensing to existing optical inspection systems and applies photonics technologies to chip-based physiological monitoring and modular preclinical validation. Biomedical service items include customized biomedical photonics instruments, customized common key modules for biomedical chips, biomimetic microfactory culture-chain and system development, customized smart medical-care assistive devices, and medical-device engineering certification guidance. Together, these platforms connect vacuum equipment, semiconductor equipment localization, precision optics, hyperspectral sensing, intelligent transmission, and biomedical photonics with customized development, system integration, measurement, testing, and technology-transfer-oriented support.
Capabilities and products
- hyperspectral microscopy with quantitative spectral-image analysis
- optical thin-film component measurement and design development
- advanced coating-process equipment development
- custom vacuum-chamber design and system integration
- nano/micro thin-film processing and analytical inspection
- atomic-layer deposition and etching equipment
- Cluster ALD equipment
- 4D STEM measurement service
- in-situ semiconductor process inspection equipment
- custom precision optical lens/component development
- in-situ thin-film deposition monitoring systems
- 8-inch hot-wall tube CVD
- custom aerospace-grade optical coating development