Our Mission

The ultimate goal of CEMS is to develop radical energy solutions based on the science of emergent matter, and by doing so to contribute to the development of a better society. To achieve this, it has two major missions.

The first is to achieve high efficiency in the collection and conversion of energy. Great expectations have been placed on technologies such as photovoltaics, which create energy without relying on fossil fuels, but it has proven a challenge to increase the efficiency with which they convert sunlight to useful energy. CEMS is working to create materials that will help resolve energy problems by, for example, developing organic solar cells that raise the energy conversion efficiency by controlling the position of molecules based on the principles of supramolecular chemistry. Further, through strongly correlated physics, researchers are working to control the atoms within a solid, which interact with one another, in order to develop technology that will allow for the highly efficient conversion of heat into electricity.

Today, we are on the verge of a third energy revolution. The first revolution made use of steam energy derived from the burning of fossil fuels, and the second harnessed the power of nuclear energy. Now, CEMS is pioneering a third revolution, by making use of the properties of groups of electrons within solids.

The second mission of CEMS is to create electronic devices that use very little energy. At present, information processing requires huge amounts of energy. By using strongly correlated electron systems, materials can quickly change between a metal state and insulator state with only a tiny electric stimulation. By leveraging this property, CEMS is endeavoring to create extremely low-power memory devices and circuits. Developing quantum information electronics and quantum computers will contribute not only to saving energy, but will also make it possible to safely and rapidly process large amounts of complex information.

Through collaborations between physics, chemistry, and electronics, CEMS will fulfill its crucial missions, contributing to the establishment of a sustainable society that co-exists in harmony with nature.