With nanotechnology, advanced sensing technology, and artificial intelligence as keywords, the center is engaged in a wide range of activities from the development of advanced basic technologies to product development. Aiming to go beyond the “monozukuri” (manufacturing) in which Fujikura has excelled, the center aims to develop solutions that incorporate hardware with cutting-edge digital and software technologies. In addition, the development activities will be promoted in active collaboration with external partners, including our R&D subsidiary in Germany and a collaborative research organization in the United States.

The Optical Technologies R&D Center is conducting R&D on a variety of new technologies by applying a wide range of optics related technologies cultivated in the field of optical fibers for communications. The amount of information carried by optical communication networks continues to increase at an astonishing speed, and optical fibers are required to be multiplexed and densified for high speed, large capacity communications. Fujikura has the technology to design and manufacture multicore fibers, each of which has several cores inside, and is promoting development for their practical use.
We are also engaged in research and development in fields other than telecommunications, such as high power fiber lasers and fiber sensors that use optical technology.
(Photograph shows an example of multicore fiber.)

The Electronic Technologies R&D Center is engaged in research and development of new technologies in the fields of information and communications. For the next-generation mobile communication, 5G, we have been developing millimeter-wave communication modules. One of them, a 28 GHz RF-IC (radio-frequency integrated circuit) has excellent beam forming accuracy, high output power and high efficiency, which are important features for telecommunication service providers. The module called PAAM (phased-array antenna module), which combines an RF-IC and phased-array antennas in one plane, offers the ease of building mm-wave base stations. Another product is a communication module used in the license-free 60 GHz millimeter-wave band and high-speed communication equipment for mobility or the expansion of backhaul capacity in wireless network.
(Photograph shows the equipment to test the millimeter-wave communication module.)

The Medical Business Development Center develops and fabricates functional modules for medical equipment to maintain people’s health and improve their quality of life (QOL) by leveraging visualization and miniaturization techniques.
Regarding visualization, Fujikura’s imaging optical fibers have been widely used in reusable endoscopes to support minimally invasive diagnosis and therapy. In addition, our newly developed miniature CMOS camera module for disposable endoscopes has now been mass-produced and delivered to medical equipment manufacturers. Using an endoscope only a single time will help to prevent infection.
Regarding electronics miniaturization, a die-embedded package called the WABE (wafer and board level device embedded) package has been in mass production and contributed to the miniaturization of electronic modules especially for implantable or wearable devices such as pacemakers and hearing aids.
(Photograph shows a miniature CMOS camera module for endoscope.)

The Superconductor Business Development Division develops and manufactures rare-earth-based high temperature superconductors as the world's top manufacturer. Conventional superconducting applications use metal-based low temperature superconductors cooled by liquid helium (minus 269 degrees Celsius), but the rare-earth-based high temperature superconductors we at Fujikura are developing and manufacturing are expected to be put into practical use soon as next-generation superconducting applications without liquid helium.
Since the discovery of high temperature superconducting materials in 1987, we have vigorously developed rare-earth-based high temperature superconductors and have achieved world's top superconducting performance. At present, we are developing further mass-production technology and will continue to work toward the realization of a low-carbon society by providing rare-earth-based high temperature superconductors and applications.
(Photo: rare-earth high temperature superconductor)

Our goal is to create technologies that will blossom in 10 years by envisioning the society 20 years from now, and to make this a reality, we aim to foster creative researchers with a far and wide view of the world.
In order to respond to the rapidly changing times, our research activities are based on collaboration with leading research institutions around the world toward a single goal that we have set. We would also like to create a flexible work style that allows researchers to focus on their true purpose of “creating new things and enriching the world”.
We are taking on the challenge of creating new technologies in new ways for the next era.

We at Fujikura Technology Europe GmbH are a proud part of the Japanese technology group, Fujikura Ltd.

As an important subsidiary of the R&D area, we were founded in 2018 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, with the task of developing and marketing innovative and cross-industry solutions. Always committed to our customer benefit, we have focused on the areas of software, artificial intelligence, radar technologies and sensors since our foundation.
Born out of an international group, we decided in 2020 to set up two international subsidiaries ourselves. So FTES AG (Switzerland) and FTET (Turkey) were created to support our development department.

Technical Center for Fundamental Technologies has two roles with the mission of continuously supporting the promotion of existing businesses and the creation of new businesses of Fujikura. One of these is the role of “further developing and providing technologies commonly used by each in-house development department, especially material technologies,” and we are working to acquire and utilize promising technologies that support manufacturing. The other role is to “lead the intellectual property activities of each Fujikura division,” and we are working to protect and promote to utilize our originated intellectual property. In the event where unauthorized use of intellectual property rights owned by Fujikura, such as patent, design or trademark rights, is found, we take any proper action from the viewpoint of legal justice. On the other hand, we promote activities to fully respect intellectual property rights of third parties.

We aim to dramatically improve the productivity of manufacturing by making use of advanced IT technologies. Using AI and IoT technologies, we are moving forward with activities aimed at creating a smart factory through a cycle of acquisition, analyzing, and optimizing manufacturing information. We will optimize the entire manufacturing process, from individual process control, such as unmanned by automated, quality control, and facility maintenance, to factory management, such as production/performance control, inventory control, and procurement control.
As for process control, we were the first to introduce inspection systems using AI to actual production lines. We have made it unmanned and are continuing to operate stable quality inspections not depend on person. In the future, we aim to apply AI to a wide range of fields, from inspection to anomaly prediction.

Our company's Facilities & Equipment Management Center is responsible for the development of technologies related to production facilities and plant maintenance to manufacture products in a wide range of fields. In addition to installing highly productive production facilities, improving facilities, and improving the quality of facility maintenance to ensure stable plant operation, we are also developing automatic assembly and inspection technologies for future manufacturing, and process operation and monitoring systems that apply IoT technologies to enable smooth process operation without human intervention. We are also responsible for training maintenance staff at overseas plants, introducing automated machines, and developing and manufacturing precision dies necessary for advanced manufacturing.
In recent years, CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) by computer simulation has been used in any technical field. CAE is indispensable for product development, advanced technology development, and development efficiency. The Product Fundamental Technology Development Department develops various CAE technologies, creates new products with CAE-based designs, and promotes the development of new processing technologies with CAE technology.