Plasma accounts for more than 99% of matter in the universe: a passion for endless possibilities.
Professor of Plasma Science Engineering Laboratory, Department of Electronic Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University
Toshiro Kaneko
The possibilities of plasma: a wide range of research themes.
Professor Kaneko wanted to conduct further research in a familiar research environment. More than anything, he wanted to continue his research at an academic institution that joined the hands of multiple disciplines together in cooperation. For Professor Kaneko, the only place that could fulfill these needs was Tohoku University. “After completing the secondary part of my doctor’s degree program, I immediately became a research associate, and fortunately I was able to take the first step as a researcher from that position.” At 34 years old, he became an associate professor, and at 42 years old, a professor. Presently, he is mainly involved in these four research themes: plasma nanomaterial syntheses, medical applications of plasma, agricultural applications, and fusion plasma physics. These are very wide-ranging, multi-directional research themes. When asked what runs through these themes, he replied, “the possibilities of plasma.” He adds, “Research into plasma itself began in earnest about half a century ago, and it can be said that as an engineering research field, it is still young. In the beginning, plasma research was aimed at the actualization of nuclear fusion, and then research into semiconductor manufacturing was tied to engineering, and it even developed into research into solving environmental problems. From this point, it expanded into atmospheric pressure plasma, and then into the origin of life, as well as applications in the fields of medicine and agriculture.” In the past, plasma research was only conducted inside vacuum devices, but it now allows for the creation of plasma in the atmosphere, and it is going beyond the constraints of its field. Professor Kaneko wants to bet on its possibilities, and has continually expanded his research themes in concert with the increasing viability of plasma for general applications.
A new way of using plasma: an attempt at pesticide-free vegetable production.
The stage for Professor Kaneko and his students’ project is a strawberry farm in Yamamoto-cho, an area that was devastated by the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. Here, the implementation of plasma’s agricultural applications—one of Professor Kaneko’s research themes—is underway. The aim is organic farming via plasma. By exposing the entire strawberry crop to an atmospheric pressure plasma jet, they say that pathogens can be eliminated without the use of pesticides. He says, “There is no plasma residue on the crops. Aside from the initial costs of the equipment and its installation, there are hardly any other costs, and we will be able to produce safe crops.” After about two years of conception and planning, the project started two years ago. Research has been conducted in the past into using plasma in seeds and post-harvest, but there has been no research on exposure to plants at the crop stage. They set out with no way of knowing the result, no way to formulate a prediction. Differing from experiments conducted solely on devices, this was an experiment involving living things. Despite conducting the experiment under controlled conditions, there were times when they struggled with not producing consistent results. “It was an experiment that fused science and living things through engineering. We have keenly felt those difficulties these past two years. But our experiments are steadily proceeding. The farmers are also cooperating because they said that they would be happy if they could grow safe, organic vegetables. Our results may be commercially viable after two years.”
The joy of finding something new borne out of repeated effort.
These are the reasons why Professor Kaneko chose Tohoku University as his place for research, and why plasma research is advancing from a new angle. The ‘active collaboration among divisions’ was deeply ingrained in the Yamamoto-cho strawberry project. “Actually, I was consulted by a person involved in agriculture, so it all started when I looked for a professor in the Faculty of Agriculture and called that professor. The project turned into what it is today from knowledge that didn’t exist in my field, from learning other people’s ways of thinking and from mutual cooperation. Even with regards to medical applications, they developed from encountering teachers of medicine. Tohoku University is truly a valuable place where the breadth of your research expands endlessly.” Engineering and agriculture, engineering and medicine: it’s fun when things with different characters meet and enhance each other, says Professor Kaneko with a twinkle in his eye. Find a small problem, and approach it: an unpredictable result follows. A new question springs forth from that result, and it is then approached again and again. It is an endless cycle of processes that may result in major discoveries and developments. “When you don’t understand something even if you look it up, it’s best to consult someone who seems to know the answer. Based on what you learn from that person, ponder it more. I often say this to students too. Not limiting yourself and not creating barriers will be useful later on. The possibilities of plasma are yet unknown, and I’d like to challenge myself to go ever further and higher.”
Professor of Plasma Science Engineering Laboratory, Department of Electronic Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University
Toshiro Kaneko
Graduated from the School of Engineering, Tohoku University in 1992. Completed the primary part of his doctor’s degree program from the same university’s Graduate School of Engineering in 1994. Completed the secondary part of his doctor’s degree program in 1997 and became a research associate of the same Graduate School of Engineering in the same year. After being an associate professor, he was appointed as professor in 2012. His research fields are: plasma science, plasma nanoelectronics, and electronic and electric materials engineering. He received the “Chen Ning Yang Award” from the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies in which the Physical Society of Japan and the Japan Society of Applied Physics are members.