The invention is a drying system and a method for its use, the drying system having a container containing a product to be dried and a dryer. The dryer includes an inlet for providing the drying air, a drying air pathway, and a furnace for heating the drying air. The drying air flows through a supply route to the container, where the drying air dries the product and is converted into a return air. The return air flows through a return route back to the dryer. The return air flows through a return air pathway and a heat exchanger which intersects the return air pathway and the drying air pathway. The heat exchanger transfers heat from the return air to the drying air. The return air is exhausted through an outlet. In a preferred embodiment, the container is a tobacco barn and the product is tobacco.

The curing of bright-leaf (or flue-cured) tobacco is particularly energy intensive, due to the large amount of moisture which must be removed from the freshly harvested leaf. For example, to dry a typical tobacco barn containing 10,000 pounds of green tobacco leaves, one must remove as much as 8,500 pounds of water. Conventional tobacco curing methods are relatively inefficient, requiring an input of heat energy approximately three times that theoretically needed for vaporizing the moisture contained in the harvested leaf. The curing and drying of bright-leaf tobacco is conventionally carried out by the xe2x80x9cbulk curingxe2x80x9d method, in which tobacco leaves are loaded in a relatively compact mass in racks or in containers and placed inside of an enclosed curing barn, where a furnace circulates a forced flow of heated air through the tobacco leaves under prescribed conditions of temperature and humidity.
The curing process involves several distinct phases. Energy demand in the tobacco curing process differs at various phases during the curing cycle. The first phase, called yellowing, typically takes from about36 to 72 hours. During this phase, energy demand is relatively low, with the air temperature from about 95xc2x0 F. to about 105xc2x0 F. and with high air recirculation and relatively high humidity. After yellowing, the drying phase begins, and energy demand increases significantly as the curing air temperature is gradually increased up to about 165xc2x0 F. to about 170xc2x0 F. with low humidity during most of the drying phase and reduced air recirculation. These conditions fix the color and promote drying of the tobacco leaves. The thin, leafy portions of the tobacco dries first, and the thicker stem portions dry later. The total drying phase, including leaf and stem drying, requires about 3 to 4 days. The final phase is conditioning of the tobacco. When the cure is complete, the tobacco is generally dry and brittle, and requires the addition of sufficient moisture to soften it enough to allow it to be handled for removal from the barn. The total time for processing one xe2x80x9cbatchxe2x80x9d of tobacco is generally about 5 to 8 days, depending upon maturity of the freshly harvested leaf and other factors. Harvest of an entire crop generally occurs over a 5-7 week period, with successive batches of tobacco cured in the same barn.
In the past, tobacco was flue-cured: an open flame furnace was used to generate heat. A drawback of this system was that the resulting combustion gases were introduced, along with the hot air, into the barn containing the tobacco. These combustion gases can produce harmful compounds in the cured tobacco such as nitrosamines. Moreover, the hot air used to evaporate water from the tobacco leaves was usually exhausted. The exhaust air was still hot, and therefore large amounts of heat energy were wasted. Heat from exhaust air has typically not been recovered because the exhaust is undesirably wet, and conventional methods have not been able to separate the heat from the humidity.
Recently, heat exchangers have been added to prevent combustion gases from entering the barn, using an indirect firing system. However, most heat exchangers are only about 60 to 80 percent efficient at transferring heat from the furnace to the drying fluid, which is air in most cases. Thus, the technologies employing heat exchangers often contribute to even greater energy waste because the furnace must generate more heat than is actually used in the drying process. The need exists for a drying system which saves energy and allows for adjustments and control of the temperature, circulation, humidity of the drying air.
The invention is a drying system and a method for its use, the drying system having a drying chamber or container containing a product to be dried and a dryer unit. The dryer includes an inlet for providing the drying air, a drying air pathway, and a heating source, typically a furnace, for heating the drying air. The drying air flows through a supply route to the container, where the drying air dries the product and is converted into a return air. The return air flows through a return route back to the dryer. The return air flows through a return air pathway and a heat exchanger which intersects the return air pathway and the drying air pathway. The heat exchanger transfers heat from the return air to the drying air. The return air is exhausted through an outlet. In a preferred embodiment, the drying chamber is a tobacco barn, the product is tobacco, and the heat exchanger is a heat recovery heat pipe.

Energy efficient tobacco curing and drying system with heat pipe heat recovery


Provided is a battery pack processing apparatus and a processing method with which discharge can be performed in a short time when a battery pack is discharged by immersing the battery pack in a discharge liquid.

Having excellent characteristics such as a high energy density and a high cell voltage, lithium ion batteries are widely used mainly for electronic equipment such as cellular phones, portable video cameras and notebook personal computers. Batteries used for such electronic equipment are often commercially available in the form of a battery pack having the number of single cells as required accommodated in a case made of resin, considering safety, ease of use, a required voltage and the like.
In secondary batteries such as lithium ion batteries, charge/discharge is repeated on the order of several hundred times, leading to deterioration of an electrode, an electrolytic solution or the like. This causes reduction in a quantity of chargeable electricity. Such batteries are regarded as reaching their end of life and discarded as waste batteries. Here, valuables including rare metals such as cobalt and nickel are used for lithium ion batteries, and therefore, a process for disassembling cells, collecting valuable metals and recycling them is performed.
Batteries are generally recycled by crushing the cells, followed by concentrating valuable metals with using various methods.
However, if non-discharge cells are included at the time of crushing cells, heat may be generated due to a short circuit resulting from crushing the cells. This may cause an organic solvent included in an electrolyte in the cell to volatilize, thereby jetting gas. In some cases, the cell may burst into flame when exceeding an ignition point. In particular, such heat generation or explosion significantly occurs in lithium ion battery cells having a high voltage, leading to danger.
Various methods for safely crushing cells have been proposed in order to solve such a problem. As an example, disclosed is a method for suppressing an influence of heat generation or ignition by throwing cells, as they are, into a furnace with a high temperature regardless of a state of charge/discharge, followed by firing the cells (for example, Patent Literature 1). As another example, disclosed is a method for immersing cells in a liquid having conductivity (hereinafter, referred to as a discharge liquid), causing the cells to discharge, and then, crushing the cells (for example, Patent Literature 2).
As for the method for performing the firing process, there is a problem that lead is scattered because a circuit board is included in the battery pack. There is also a problem that an exhaust gas treatment facility is required because a case made of resin is decomposed to emit a nitrogen compound.
As for the method for discharging cells by immersing the cells in the discharge liquid, it takes relatively a short time, on the order of several hours to 24 hours, to discharge single cells in the case of immersing the single cells individually in the discharge liquid. On the other hand, when the battery pack is immersed in the discharge liquid, it takes on the order of several times to 10 times as long as the case of immersing the single cells individually. This is because the battery pack includes a protection circuit for preventing an over-discharge. Even if the battery pack is immersed in the discharge liquid, the protection circuit suppresses a discharge current.
As described above, it disadvantageously takes longtime to discharge the battery pack, costing much labor during the operation and much money.

Battery pack processing apparatus and processing method

Abstract: A processing apparatus A is for discharging a battery pack P having single cells c and a case b by immersing the battery pack P in the discharge liquid. The processing apparatus A includes an aperture-forming machine 20 forming an aperture through which the discharge liquid can flow inside the case b by pressurizing the battery pack P. A state can thus be achieved which is the same as the state that results if the single cells c accommodated in the case b are individually immersed in the discharge liquid. A protection circuit f for preventing an over-discharge is prevented from suppressing a discharge current from the battery pack P, enabling the discharge in a short time.


Embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for analyzing conformity to restrictions on the use of a wireless communication device to allow a user to make application usage decisions based on cost and application performance. In a particular embodiment, a method provides identifying restrictions on the use of a wireless communication device having applications available to the wireless communication device. The method further provides identifying a first application of the applications available to the wireless communication device that uses resources of a wireless communication network. The method further provides determining a first measure of conformity by the first application to the restrictions on the use of the wireless communication device and generating an instruction to display to a user an indication of the first measure of conformity by the first application to the restrictions on the use of the wireless communication device.

The increased popularity and widespread use of mobile applications has created many challenges to the provisioning and delivery of wireless communication services. While mechanisms are in place to control access to the finite resources of most wireless networks, the relative unfamiliarity of most users with the impact of applications on network performance and service costs may lead to degraded service levels and unforeseen billing charges.
For example, it is common for a user to launch an application on a mobile phone, only to have that application run in the background nearly perpetually. The application may not only require network resources to operate— such as wireless bandwidth between the mobile phone and a base station— but it may also over use resources of the phone itself, such as battery life. Multiplied many times over across many phones, network performance in a wide area can degrade, leading to customer complaints and dissatisfaction.
In the past, a wide variety of pricing plans have been used to control access to network resources. But with the wide variety of applications available pre-installed on modern phones and available via applications stores online, it is difficult for a user to understand the potential impact of any particular application on both the performance of the network and the performance of his own phone. This is made even more difficult by the fact that network conditions vary, and thus so will the impact of an application. In addition, the performance of the application itself may degrade based on network conditions at any given time.
Regardless of performance issues, it is also difficult for a user to understand the cost implications of running an application. For instance, in a case where a user subscribes to a pricing plan that discourages data usage during peak periods, the user may not be aware of the relative data-intensity of a given application relative to any others. This can lead to unexpected charges for exceeding data limits, and ultimately to dissatisfied customers.

Conformity analysis system for analyzing conformity to restrictions on the use of a wireless communication device


A cover for an electronic device comprises a back sheet portion comprising a first section and a second section and a front sheet portion comprising a first section and a second section. The second end of the front sheet portion is connected to the second section of the back sheet portion, and the first end of the front sheet portion is connected to the first section of the back sheet portion at a distance of the first end of the back sheet portion, the cover having an end section. The cover is foldable between a cover position and a support position. In the cover position, the back sheet portion and the front sheet portion are substantially planar and resting against each other. In the support position, at least a part of the end section rests against at least a part of the first section of the front sheet portion.

Covers are available for various electronic devices, such as portable or mobile devices which may comprise a display, to protectively cover at least a part of the device, such as the display or the entire body of the device. Some covers may be divided into rigid sections that may be folded to form a shape, such that the device may rest against or hang on the folded cover, for instance when hung over the headrest of a car. Covers may be pivoted about an attachment, for instance a magnetic attachment, to the device.
The design and structure of the cover may affect the stability of the folded cover and the angle at which an electronic device may rest against or be otherwise attached to the folded cover.


Embodiments of the present invention provide methods, apparatuses, systems, and computer software products for data storage. A first copy of a logical volume is created. A second copy of the logical volume is created based on the first copy of the logical volume, such that the first and second copies are represented by respective first and second sets of pointers to physical storage locations in which data used by the copies is stored. Responsively to a corruption of at least part of the data that is used by the first copy. The first copy is restored from the second copy by replacing the first set with the pointers in the second set.

The present invention relates generally to data storage, and particularly to methods and systems for restoring data in data storage systems.
Data storage systems typically store data on physical media in a manner that is transparent to host computers. From the perspective of a host computer, data is stored at logical addresses located in file systems, or logical volumes. Logical volumes are typically configured to store the data required for a specific data processing application. Data storage systems map such logical addresses to addressable physical locations on storage media, such as direct access hard disks.
System administrators frequently make copies of logical volumes, for example in order to perform backups or to test and validate new applications. Such copies are commonly referred to as snapshots.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Data storage with snapshot-to-snapshot recovery

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed are various embodiments for routing communications to service agents based on a workflow. A computing device identifies a user intent object corresponding to a user interaction with the computing device. The computing device then generates a search criterion based on the identified user intent object and uses the search criterion for identifying the user intent in subsequent user interactions. After identifying the user intent, the computing device can identify a workflow corresponding to the user intent object. Later, the computing device can process one or more tasks associated with the workflow.

Service agents often interact with users to resolve user problems or issues. For example, a user may communicate with a service agent in order to change or cancel an order placed through an electronic commerce application. As another example, a user may communicate with a service agent in order to receive technical support. However, not every service agent is necessarily equally capable to resolve a customer issue. For example, some service agents may be experts or specialists in one field (e.g., technical support) but be unable to handle billing inquiries. As another example, some tasks may be satisfactorily performed using an automated system rather than relying on an employee.


Reciprocating-piston machine (10), in particular a combustion machine, with a variable compression ratio, having    an adjustment device for adjusting the compression ratio,    having a sensor device for detecting the compression ratio,    and having a controller which is designed to repeatedly activate the adjustment device if a deviation and a detected compression ratio and a setpoint compression ratio exists.

A compression ratio refers, in particular in the context of internal combustion engines, to the ratio of the entire cylinder space prior to the compression, that is to say the total volume, to the remaining space after the compression, that is to say the remaining volume. To realize optimum combustion or power values, it is known that the compression ratio can be varied for this purpose. Examples of such reciprocating-piston machines are described in WO 2014/019683 A1, WO 2014/019684 A1, WO 2015/173412 A1 and WO 2015/193437 A1.
In the known reciprocating-piston machines, different compression ratios are realized for example by changing the effective length of the connecting rod, for example by varying the crank radius, the connecting rod length itself, and/or the compression height. For this purpose, use is made of a generally hydraulically operated adjustment mechanism with one or more piston/cylinder support units, the working volumes of which are interconnected by means of a hydraulic circuit operated with engine oil. The hydraulic circuit includes inter alia also a switch for reversing the hydraulic flow direction from one piston/cylinder support unit to the other or from one working volume to the other. Examples of a connecting rod for a reciprocating-piston machine with variable compression ratio can be found in DE 31 48 193A1, DE 197 03 948 01, DE 103 04 686 A1, DE 10 2010 061 360A1, DE 10 2010 061 363A1, DE 10 2011 056 298A1, DE 10 2011 108 790A1, EP 1 424 486A1, EP 1 426 584 B1, WO 2014/019683 A1, WO 2015/082722 A1, WO 2015/104253 A1, WO 2015/173412 A1, WO 2015/173411 A1, WO 2015/155167 A1.
The above-described switch, incorporated into the hydraulic circuit, of the connecting rod commonly has a switchover element in the form of a bolt, which can be transferred from a first switching position, which is defined by a first stop in the connecting rod, into a second switching position (and vice versa), which is defined by a second stop in the connecting rod. In each of the two switching positions, the switchover element projects beyond a different one of the two outer sides of the connecting rod. The two switching positions correspond to different compression ratios.
The transfer of the switchover element of the switch from one switching position into the other is realized, in many embodiments in the prior art, by means of an actuating element, which has two mutually spaced-apart actuating surfaces which each extend in radial planes in relation to the crankshaft central axis. Linear movement of the actuating element parallel to the crankshaft central axis causes the switchover element, when it comes into contact with one of the actuating surfaces, to be displaced, likewise parallel to the crankshaft central axis. The actuating surfaces run in particular at an acute angle with respect to the movement plane of the switchover element in which the latter moves when the connecting rod is moved by the crankshaft.
In tests using in particular reciprocating-piston machines operated at high rotational speeds, it has been found that the transfer of the switchover element from one switching position into the other does not always take place with adequate reliability, which may be the case in particular at rotational speeds above for example 3000 rpm.

Variable compression ratio reciprocating piston engine


Digital phase shifter bits of predetermined phase shift capability and lumped element network component fabrication arrangement are described. A variety of phase shifter bits including the capability of eleven and one-quarter, twenty-two and one-half, forty-five, ninety, and one hundred eighty degrees of phase shift are included. Also included are a number of high-pass/low-pass and switching transistor inclusive phase shifter bit arrangements. Both electrical schematic diagram and integrated circuit embodiments of the phase shifting networks are also disclosed.

This invention relates to the field of integrated circuit electronic networks providing selectable degrees of signal phase shift at microwave operating frequencies.
Phased array radar antennas and other microwave apparatus have need of digitally selectable phase delaying networks which are both low in fabrication cost and of the smallest possible physical size. For operating frequencies above ten gigahertz the use of distributed components in these phase shifting networks has become an accepted design practice in the microwave art. For frequencies below ten gigahertz, however, distributed component phase shifting components such as quarter wavelength microstrip delay lines become prohibitively long in physical size for implementation on an integrated circuit chip. In addition to the difficulty of containing these large phase shifting network components in an electronic apparatus--an apparatus which is almost always limited in physical size--the cost of fabricating these unduly large sized networks is found to be directly related to the physical size of the integrated circuit chip used to contain the network so that the large size in itself promotes undesirable apparatus cost.
The prior patent art includes several examples of previous phase shifting network practices. Included in these prior patents is the U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,329 of E. C. d'Oro which concerns a microstrip waveguide structure; the U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,330 of Naster et al which shows a conventional digital phase shifting bit that incorporates high frequency transmission lines; the U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,808 of Coats in which integrated lumped element pi-networks replace quarter wavelength transmission lines in a switching circuit arrangement; the U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,520 of Borie et al which describes a wideband 180 degree phase shifter bit that includes both transmission line segments and a pi-network; the U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,010 of Yarman which shows a low pass digital phase shifter for use at extra high frequencies; and the U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,883 of Andricos which concerns a signal phase shifter for use in a phased array radar system. None of these prior patents, however, achieves the advantages of the lumped element digital phase shifter bit of the present invention.

Lumped element digital phase shifter bit

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


An apparatus and method are provided which are capable of independent adjustment of the heat and power in a combined system. Intermediate heat and pressure exhaust is extracted from an intermediate point in the main turbine system. This exhaust goes to a regenerator and then an auxiliary turbine. The exhaust that is not extracted continues to power the main turbine system and flows from the low pressure end to the turbine system to a waste heat boiler.

In one aspect, the invention relates to a method for operating a combined heat and power supply system. According to another aspect, the invention relates to an apparatus for supplying heat and power.
In a gas turbine process, compressed air is fed to a combustion chamber in which combustion of a fuel takes place. The combustion produces high pressure and temperature exhaust gas. This high pressure and temperature gas drives the turbine blades which turn a shaft. The mechanical power of the shaft is used to drive a load; typically an electrical generator.
Most gas turbine processes require waste heat recovery on the turbine exhaust to achieve an acceptable overall efficiency. This is called a combined cycle. Usually, the turbine exhaust gas is directed through a steam boiler to produce low-pressure steam or hot water that is used for operation of space heating equipment, domestic hot water heaters, and absorption refrigeration equipment.
A problem arises in utilizing a combined cycle because the waste heat boiler duty will be dependent on the shaft power load even though the steam demand may be totally unrelated to the shaft power load demand. Thus at times an excess of useful exhaust heat will exist, and at other times a deficiency will exist.
In the past a deficiency in useful exhaust heat has been overcome by burning additional fuel in the exhaust stream or by providing a supplemental furnace. The later is not thermally efficient, and the former is expensive and complex to install. On the other hand, an excess of exhaust heat results in wasted energy, lower thermal efficiency and lowered profitability.


A color image processing apparatus stores color image data, and an output device outputs the stored color image data to a connected device. A discriminator discriminates whether the connected device is a device that receives parallel image data or a device that receives color image data, and a controller controls the output device in accordance with the discrimination made by the discriminator.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a color image processing system, apparatus, and method.
2. Related Art
Digital color copy machines are known and used throughout the world. Such copiers are capable of printing an image through a data interface for an image source, e.g. computer, in addition to the color reader that is included in the digital color copy machine. However, there are various image forming methods for color copy machines, e.g., an electrophotography image forming method, a jet image forming method, and different image data transmission methods are used with each of the different image forming methods. Also, there are various different kinds of interface devices for the different color copy machines.
If an entity has plural kinds of color copy machines, e.g. a copy shop, plural kinds of interface devices are required. The plural kinds of interface devices makes system cost high since most interface devices include a large capacity memory device. The above problems are also associated with having plural kinds of color printing machines.
An object of the present invention is to provide a color image processing system that is adaptable to various types of connecting interface devices.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a color image processing device for a color image processing system.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a color image processing method that solve the shortcomings of the prior art.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a color image processing device which is capable of fast input or output in a color image processing system.
Still yet another object of the invention is to provide a color image processing apparatus which stores color image data, and an output device which outputs the stored color image data to a connected device, and a discriminator which discriminates whether the connected device is a device that receives parallel image data or a device that receives color image data, and a controller controls the output device in accordance with the discrimination made by the discriminator.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an interface that is suitable for a digital color copy machine.

Color image process system, color image apparatus, color image processing method


Embodiments described herein relate generally to electrochemical cells including a selectively permeable membrane and systems and methods for manufacturing the same. In some embodiments, the selectively permeable membrane can include a solid-state electrolyte material. In some embodiments, electrochemical cells can include a cathode disposed on a cathode current collector, an anode disposed on an anode current collector, and the selectively permeable membrane disposed therebetween. In some embodiments, the cathode and/or anode can include a slurry of an active material and a conductive material in a liquid electrolyte. In some embodiments, a catholyte can be different from an anolyte. In some embodiments, the catholyte can be optimized to improve the redox electrochemistry of the cathode and the anolyte can be optimized to improve the redox electrochemistry of the anode. In some embodiments, the selectively permeable membrane can be configured to isolate the catholyte from the anolyte.

Embodiments described herein relate generally to electrochemical cells having selectively permeable membranes and systems and methods for manufacturing the same. Batteries are typically constructed of solid electrodes, separators, electrolyte, and ancillary components such as, for example, packaging, thermal management, cell balancing, consolidation of electrical current carriers into terminals, and/or other such components. The electrodes typically include active materials, conductive materials, binders and other additives.
Some known methods for preparing batteries include coating a metallic substrate (e.g., a current collector) with slurry composed of an active material, a conductive additive, and a binding agent dissolved or dispersed in a solvent or water, evaporating the solvent or water, and calendering the dried solid matrix to a specified thickness. The electrodes are then cut, packaged with other components, infiltrated with electrolyte and the entire package is then sealed.
Such known methods generally involve complicated and expensive manufacturing steps such as casting the electrode. These known methods for producing electrodes result in batteries with lower capacity, lower energy density and a high ratio of inactive components to active materials. Furthermore, the binders used in known electrode formulations can increase tortuosity and decrease the ionic conductivity of the electrode.

Electrochemical cells including selectively permeable membranes, systems and methods of manufacturing the same


A silica-alumina composition characterized by having an essentially closed pore surface as measurable by low surface area consisting essentially of a range of alumina by weight therein of from about 40% to about 50% and the remainder by weight, silica, the surface area of said composition being substantially less in magnitude than that for silica-alumina compositions having a percentage by weight of alumina essentially outside of said range, and further characterized by having a skeletal density for percentages of alumina by weight within a portion of said range substantially less than the skeletal density of silica-alumina compositions having a percentage by weight of alumina substantially outside said portion of said range.

Silica-alumina compositions have been tested or studied for various properties to determine the characteristics of such materials in several different contexts. One such study examined the properties of hydroxyl groups on mixed silica-alumina gels involving from 0% to 50% alumina by adsorbing weak H bond accepting molecules onto the gels and recording the OH stretching infrared band. This study revealed the unexpected result that superficial OH groups were not found to be more acidic than those on the silica gel although adsorbed ammonia or pyridine molecules are protonated by the surface. Rouxhet and Sempels,"Hydrogen Bond Strengths and Acidities of Hydroxyl Groups on Silica-Alumina Surfaces and in Molecules in Solution," Journal Chem. Soc. Faraday Transactions, 70, 2021-2032, [1974].
Another study reported by Fripiat, Leonard, and Utterhoeven in The Journal of Physical Chemistry, Vol. 69, No. 10, pp. 3274-3279, Oct., 1965, examined surface acid sites for silica-aluminas with compositions ranging from pure silica to pure alumina. Specifically, schematic structures derived previously from coordination number measurements and infrared spectroscopy had suggested different possible origins for Bronsted and Lewis acid sites according to both the hydration state and surface structure, thereby reflecting to some extent the organization in the bulk. One aspect of this study was the observance of a linear relationship in the variation of surface density in NH.sub.3 irreversibly adsorbed by silica-alumina samples with varying proportions of alumina.
A study by Holm, Bailey, and Clark entitled "Acidity Studies of Silica-Alumina Catalysts" reported in the Journal of Physical Chemistry, Vol. 63, No. 2, pp 129-133, Feb. 1959, examined the relationship between acid content and catalytic properties for various compositions of silica-alumina. The results indicated a non-linear relationship in these aspects: The protonic acid content peaked where the composition was approximately 80% by weight of silica; the polymerization of propylene and hydrogen transfer peaked in the neighborhood of about 70% silica by weight.
Consequently, there is some basis in the prior art indicating a degree of non-linearity in certain observed characteristics of silica-alumina compositions as the ratio of silica to alumina is varied.

Low density/low surface area silica-alumina composition


A method and apparatus for illuminating and imaging two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects located at various distances. The apparatus includes a non-monochromatic light source, a diffractive optical element having a strong chromatic aberration that focuses the light beam generated from the source at various focal distances at where the various objects are located. The light beams are then reflected by the various objects and are received through the diffractive optical element onto an imager.

The recent commercialization of a class of optics known as diffractive optics have enabled some novel ideas to be realized in the area of imaging. Diffractive optics use the wave nature of light to bend and steer it to almost any shape imaginable A simple diffractive lens performs nearly the same function as its refractive counter part (focuses parallel light to a point or forms a real image) but does it in an entirely different way.
A refractive lens bends light in a predictable way as a light ray crosses a surface boundary of differing indices of refraction (a measure of the material's light slowing effect) at an angle to the surface normal. Thus a typical refractive lens has at least one curved surface to direct parallel light rays towards a common focus.
A diffractive lens uses small indentations etched or embossed in the surface of a transparent material to deflect light. This bending is a result of constructively interfering wave fronts (called orders) and is a predictable result of the wave nature of light.
A simple positive diffractive lens has rings of carefully etched grooves of varying width and depth. The grooves tend to get narrower (more dense) towards the edges of the lens because narrower grooves bend light at steeper angles towards the common focus. The lens, however, is more wavelength (color) sensitive than its refractive counterpart. This means light of different colors are focused at different distances from the lens. In normal imaging, this high degree of chromatic aberration is an undesirable effect and is termed "chromatic aberration."
Frequently it is necessary for an optical system to image objects which are located at various distances, at a fixed image plane. To avoid deterioration of the image sharpness as a result of defocusing, an axial adjustment is made to the optical system, which involves moving the entire optical system or any of its optical elements. Various autofocus systems have been developed through the years, which use several defocusing sensing techniques and optical element moving techniques. These are based on at least one moving optical element.
The conventional defocus detection and moving schemes, usually complicate such systems and affects their reliability and cost. The operation of such "autofocus" mechanisms is rime consuming, even with the advent of electronics and of computer processing speed. This can be sometimes detrimental to the operation of the system.
Furthermore, frequently the object surface is not planar or if it is planar, its plane is not parallel to the detector plane. Thus, the autofocus mechanism performance is still limited by the depth of field of the optical system.

Method and apparatus for imaging an object by diffractive autofocus


A process is provided for the selective removal of basic materials from plant products, in particular, for removing nicotine from tobacco without materially affecting the content of the other components of the tobacco. Tobacco is traversed with a solvent at high pressure and in a physical state which is either a liquid at a pressure of from about 500-300 atmospheres or a supercritical fluid wherein nicotine and the other components dissolve in the solvent. As the single means of removing substances from the solvent, the solvent is then passed through an acid-containing trap where the solvent is essentially freed of nicotine. The solvent, depleted of nicotine and enriched in the other components, is then recycled to the tobacco to reextract nicotine. In addition, the tobacco may be pretreated with a chemical base which does not substantially react with the tobacco components under ambient conditions and which are not necessarily affected by the process conditions but are nonetheless effective in increasing the amount of nicotine which can be extracted by the process of this invention. Pretreatment of the tobacco with a chemical base neutralizes nicotine salts and permits the extraction process to be carried out under milder conditions.

Various processes have been proposed for the removal of nicotine from tobacco. Most of these processes, however, are not sufficiently selective for nicotine and remove other ingredients from the tobacco. Removal of these other ingredients adversely affects the desirable flavor and aroma properties of the tobacco. Other processes generally have been found to be limited in their scope and effectiveness and are often complex and expensive to carry out.
Nicotine has been extracted from tobacco using organic solvents with and without neutralization of the nicotine salt. Representative of such processes are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 678,362 (Froehling), 1,196,184 (Villiers-Stuart), 2,048,624 (Roselius), 2,128,043 (Garner), 2,227,863 (Rhodes) and 3,096,773 (Neukomm et al.). Nicotine has also been extracted from tobacco with aqueous solutions with and without neutralization of the nicotine salt. Representative of such processes are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,822,306 (Thienemann et al.), 2,582,075 (Severi) and 3,874,392 (De Brunn et al.). Nicotine has been separated from solutions of tobacco extracts and the nicotine depleted solvent returned to the tobacco. Representative of such processes are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 283,622 (Liebreich et al.), 802,487 (Wimmer), 2,805,667 (von Bethmann), 3,046,997 (Hind), and 3,139,435 (Staley et al.). Nicotine has also been separated from solutions of tobacco extracts and the depleted solvent saturated with the other components recycled to the extraction vessel. Representative of such processes are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,294,310 (Sayre et al.), 1,577,768 (Smith), 1,813,833 (Andrews), 3,396,735 (von Bethmann) and 3,612,066 (Jones).
Nicotine has been transferred from tobacco to a substrate without the use of a solvent by contacting the tobacco intimately with a substrate which has been treated with an acid as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,706 (Larson). This process may be carried out with or without heat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,063 (Roselius) discloses a process for removing nicotine from tobacco in which tobacco is contacted with an extraction solvent in a supercritical state. In a single step extraction process, moist tobacco is extracted with a solvent in a supercritical state. Thereafter the solvent is evaporated. Because aroma components are also removed along with nicotine in this single step extraction process, a multi-step process has been suggested. In the first step, dry tobacco is extracted with a solvent in the supercritical state to remove the aroma components. In the second step, the tobacco is moistened and again extracted with a solvent in the supercritical state to remove nicotine which is separated by either evaporating the solvent, contacting the solvent in a separate vessel with an acid, or adsorbing the nicotine on an active carbon column. In the third step, the stored aroma components from the first step are redissolved in a supercritical solvent and returned to the tobacco. This multi-step extraction process is expensive and time consuming. In addition, the prolonged handling of the aroma components may adversely affect their properties.


A Universal Serial Bus (USB) switch includes a host port and a plurality of USB device ports. Each USB device port is configured to be coupled to a respective plurality of USB devices. A USB interface is coupled to the host port. A switch matrix is coupled between the USB interface and the plurality of USB device ports and is configured to switch the USB interface to one of the plurality of USB device ports. A switch controller is coupled to the plurality of USB interfaces, the host port, and the switch matrix. The switch controller is configured to control operation of the USB switch.

According to the USB standard, the address field for addressing a USB port is limited to seven bits. This limits a USB host to connecting to no more than 127 devices (i.e., 27=128 minus one allocated for enumeration). As computer systems become more complex, this limitation can cause problems with a computer that needs to connect to greater than 127 USB devices.
Once solution would be to change the standard to increase the number of address bits. However, older devices have been built to the seven bit address standard and would be unable to use devices that were designed to a new standard.


A semiconductor structure and fabrication method are provided. The method includes: providing a substrate with a first doped region and a second doped region; forming discrete first isolation structures in the second doped region; forming a third doped region in the second doped region between adjacent first isolation structures and under the first isolation structures; forming a gate structure; forming a source region in the first doped region; and forming a drain region in the second doped region. The first doped region includes first doping ions and the second doped region includes second doping ions with a conductivity type opposite to a conductivity type of the first doping ions. The third doped region includes third doping ions with a conductivity type opposite to the conductivity type of the second doping ions. A portion of the first isolation structure is located between the gate structure and the drain region.

Since lateral double diffusion metal-oxide-semiconductor (LDMOS) transistors have a high breakdown voltage and are compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies, the LDMOS transistors are widely used in power devices. In a MOS transistor, a source region and a drain region are disposed symmetrically with respect to a gate. In comparison with the MOS transistor, in an LDMOS transistor, a drain region is farther from a gate than a source region and there is a long lightly doped region between the drain region and the gate. The long lightly doped region is referred to as a drift region. When the source region and the drain region in the LDMOS transistor are connected to a high voltage, the drift region is used to withstand a high voltage drop to achieve a high breakdown voltage. In addition to the high voltage withstanding, the LDMOS transistor is required to have a low on-state resistance and a high safety operating range.
However, performances of the LDMOS transistors formed by current technologies cannot meet the above requirements simultaneously. Thus, there is a need to provide a LDMOS transistor with a high voltage withstanding, a low on-state resistance, and a high safety operating range.

Semiconductor structure with isolation structures in doped region and fabrication method thereof

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Beijing) Corporation


A modified latex drag reducer and methods of making and using the drag reducer in order to reduce friction losses resulting from turbulent fluid flow through a conduit. Particularly, the modified latex drag reducer is formed from an initial latex which is a product of an emulsion polymerization reaction. The initial latex is then modified, preferably by admixing with at least one low HLB surfactant or at least one solvent, or both, to form a modified latex with an enhanced dissolution rate in a hydrocarbon stream over the initial latex.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to latex drag reducers comprising high molecular weight polymers produced according to an emulsion polymerization reaction and methods of using the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A drag reducer is a composition capable of substantially reducing friction loss associated with the turbulent flow of a fluid through a conduit. Where fluids are transported over long distances, such as in oil and other hydrocarbon liquid pipelines, these friction losses result in inefficiencies that increase equipment and operations costs. Ultra-high molecular weight polymers are known to function well as drag reducers, particularly in hydrocarbon liquids. In general, drag reduction depends in part upon the molecular weight of the polymer additive and its ability to dissolve in the hydrocarbon under turbulent flow. Effective drag-reducing polymers typically have molecular weights in excess of five million.
In the past, it has been proposed that drag reducers comprising polymeric latex emulsions can be used to reduce friction loss associated with turbulent fluid flow through a conduit. The use of polymeric latex emulsion drag reducers has most commonly been proposed for application to the flow of hydrocarbon streams (e.g., crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, etc.) through pipelines. In order to be most effective, the drag reducer must be dissolved in the hydrocarbon stream. However, in many instances, great difficulty has been encountered in dissolving the polymeric material contained in the latex emulsion into the hydrocarbon stream.
Previous proposals for solving the dissolution problem associated with polymeric latex emulsions have involved the addition of large amounts of lower aliphatic alcohols to the hydrocarbon stream prior to the addition of the latex emulsion in order to promote dissolution of the polymer. This two-step process is generally referred to as a "pre-activation" technique. Other attempts have been proposed to lessen this problem by premixing the latex emulsion with a solution of hydrocarbon and alcohol to "break" the emulsion prior to adding pre-solvated polymer to a hydrocarbon stream. These methods can prove rather costly as they require purchasing significant quantities of alcohol or other polar additives and also necessitate additional storage and mixing equipment. As a result of this and other difficulties associated with past proposals for polymeric latex emulsion drag reduces, this type of drag reducer has never been a commercially viable option to conventional drag reducers.
Current commercial methods include drag reducing polymers in bulk. These polymers must react for periods as long as 21 days in order to achieve the desired molecular weight. The reacted polymer must then be compounded with a partitioning agent, milled to less than 800 microns under cryogenic conditions, and prepared into a high solids suspension. Suspensions prepared in this manner have a tendency to separate when stored in the field locations prior to injection. Special equipment is needed to maintain the suspensions to avoid separation. This equipment typically includes provisions for agitation and protection from excessive heat.
Currently, a number of different commercial approaches are being taken to address the problem of preparing, dissolving, transporting and using such drag reducing polymers. In use, the polymers form extremely dilute solutions ranging from about 1 up to about 100 parts per million polymer and hydrocarbon, yet remain effective in order to receive drag reduction or anti-misting. A common commercial method is to prepare the polymer in dilute solutions in an inert solvent such as kerosene or other solvating material. This method utilizes a solution of high molecular weight polymer suitable for use as a drag reducing agent when produced by polymerization of alpha olefins in a hydrocarbon solvent. The entire mixture, containing polyolefin, solvent, and catalyst particles is used without separation to form dilute solutions of the polymer in crude oil or finished hydrocarbons. However, one disadvantage of such approach is the use of a solvent which poses a shipping and handling difficulty and may constitute a hazard. In addition, the product itself forms a gel-like substance which is difficult to introduce into flowing hydrocarbon streams and which becomes extremely viscous and difficult to handle under cold temperature conditions, particularly when injection into conduits at remote locations is required.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved, stable, single-step, latex drag reducer that can be directly added to the hydrocarbon fluid and provide satisfactory drag reduction without the need to pre-activate or pre-dissolve the polymer in a mixture of alcohol or another polar molecule.

Modified latex drag reducer and processes therefor and therewith


The present invention relates to a process for preparing a cyclic diamine, comprising the reaction of at least one cyclic alkene with a gas mixture (G) comprising dinitrogen the subsequent conversion of monoxide to give at least one cyclic ketone and then converting the at least one cyclic ketone to a cyclic diamine. The invention also relates to the use of a cyclic diamine with primary and secondary amine functions thus obtained to prepare polyamides and polyurethanes.

The present invention relates to a process for preparing at least one cyclic diamine, comprising the reaction of at least one cyclic alkene with a gas mixture (G) comprising dinitrogen monoxide to give at least one cyclic ketone and the subsequent conversion of the at least one cyclic ketone to a cyclic diamine. The invention additionally relates to the use of the cyclic diamines with primary and/or secondary amine functions thus obtained to prepare polyamides and polyurethanes.
Processes for preparing cyclic diamines are known in principle from the prior art. For example, FR 1 537 011 discloses a process for preparing cyclic diamines by catalytically hydrogenating aminonitriles which are obtained from bicyclic lactams. The use of the amines to prepare polyamides and polyurethanes is likewise described.
DE 42 10 311 relates to a process for preparing cyclic diamines from symmetric aldazines and ketazines by hydrogenating azine cleavage by means of hydrogen, the hydrogenation being effected in the presence of ammonia and specific catalysts, for example Raney nickel or cobalt catalysts. DE 42 10 311 describes, for example, the preparations performed in this way of isophoronediamine and 3-methylaminocyclohexylamine.
EP 0 394 058 A1 also describes a process for preparing cyclic diamines for preparing polyamides and epoxy resins. This affords the diamines by catalytic hydrogenation of aromatic diamines.
It is known that cyclic diamines, including in particular commercial isophoronediamine (IPDA), can be used in the preparation of polyaddition resins from the group of the epoxy resins, polyurethane resins and polyurea resins. Reference is made by way of example to DE-A 31 37 898 , GB patent 1 515 473 and EP 0 564 818.
The synthesis methods described in the prior art for preparing such cyclic diamines are inconvenient and costly.


Connector structure for signal line and crimping tool thereof comprises a connector with a body having a plurality of passages formed therein for receiving a number of signal lines, and on the top surface adjacent to the rear end of the connector including a press member for pressing the signal lines. The passages includes a plurality of slots extended through the front end of the connector so that the cores of the signal lines can insert through the front end of the body, above the slots is provided with a through groove for inserting a guide member therein. Besides, a crimping tool includes two clippers which are pivotally connected together. Between the clippers is defined with a press mechanism for pressing the guide member and the press member, and the crimping tool includes a cutting mechanism to cut the cores evenly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector structure for a signal line that can cut the cores of the signal line evenly and easily.
2. Description of the Prior
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a signal line 10 and a conventional connector 20 are pressed by a crimping tool, wherein the connector 20 includes a body 21 and a guide member 22, the body 21 is integrally made of transparent material and includes a passage 211 formed therein, and includes a press member 212 pressed into the passage 211. Besides, the passage 211 includes a plurality of closed slots 213 extending to a front end thereof, each slot 213 includes a through groove 214 arranged thereabove to insert a guide member 22 with an end foot 221. The crimping tool 30 includes a first and a second clippers 31 and 32 axially connected together, the first clipper 31 includes a holder 311 mounted thereon and having a positioning recess 312 fixed on the holder 311 to receive the connector 20, and the second clipper 32 includes a coupling plate 321 to abut against the guide member 22 of the connector 20 and a clamping panel 322 to bias against the press member 212 of the body 21, such that as the first and the second clippers 31, 32 are pressed, the guide member 22 and the press member 212 of the connector 20 are pressed, and a blade 323 on one side of the second clipper 32 cuts the signal line 10. In operation, the crimpling tool 30 is used to peel the signal line 10, and then the signal line 10 is placed under the blade 323 of the second clipper 32. Thereafter, the first and the second clippers 31, 32 are pressed and the blade 323 of the second clipper 32 cuts and peels a covering layer 11 of the signal line 10 off so that a plurality of cores 12 of the signal line 10 expose, and then the cores 12 are pulled straight to be cut by using the blade 323, the suitable length of the signal line 10 is inserted the passage 211 of the body 21 so that the cores 12 of the signal line 10 are placed to the slots 213 of the body 21 to be checked whether they are inserted to exact positions to be pressed by the crimping tool 30 further, wherein the connector 20 is placed to the positioning recess 312 of the first clipper 31, and as the first and the second clippers 31, 32 are pressed, the guide member 22 and the press member 212 of the connector 20 are pressed so that an end foot 211 of the guide member 22 pierces an isolation layer of the core 12 to contact with the core 12. The press member 212 bends downward to contact with the covering layer 11 of the signal line 10, hence the signal line 10 and the connector 20 are coupled together securely.
However such a conventional connector and crimpling tool still have the following disadvantages:
1. The cores 12 of the signal line 10 are cut to be inserted to the exact pressing positions. Therefore if the cores are not be cut evenly, they can not be placed to the exact pressing positions so that the guide member 22 contacts with the cores 12.
2. Due to the slots 213 of the passage 211 of the connector 20 are closed, the cores 12 of the signal lines 10 have to be cut evenly first to extend a suitable length, but if the length is too short, it does not contact with the guide member 22, and while the length is too long, it does not abut against the covering layer 11 of the signal line 10, disengaging the signal line 10 from the connector 20 easily.
3. After the cut cores are inserted to the slots 213, the user can not check whether the cores 12 are inserted to the exact pressing positions precisely, causing poor signal contact.
4. If any core 12 does not contact with the guide member 22 of the connector 20, another connector 20 has to be pressed again, causing material and operation costs.
5. The cores 12 are easy to be damaged during cutting process, and the covering layer 11 of the signal line 10 can not be peeled off during improper cutting process.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.


A signal transmission includes a first transmission device that includes: a first output amplifier that outputs a first output signal; and a first impedance circuit that has one or a plurality of reactance element provided between the first output amplifier and a transmission line, where impedance of the first impedance circuit corresponds to frequencies belonging to a first band, and is smaller than impedance corresponding to frequencies outside the first band; and a second transmission device that includes: a second output amplifier that outputs a second output signal; and a second impedance circuit that has one or a plurality of reactance elements provided between the second output amplifier and the transmission line, where impedance of the second impedance circuit corresponds to frequencies belonging to a second band differing from the first band, and is smaller than impedance corresponding to frequencies outside the second band.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-86112 discloses an automotive navigation system that includes an information providing device that synthesizes a low frequency sound signal and a high frequency data signal by use of a synthesizer, to output from a speaker sound derived from the synthesized signals; and a guide terminal that, based on the sound received by a microphone, reproduces the sound signal and the data signal.
In a conventional automotive navigation system, a high frequency signal and a low frequency signal are uni-directionally transmitted from an information processing device to a guide terminal, by synthesizing signals of different bands, and a sound is then output that corresponds to the synthesized signals. However, a drawback exists in the art in that it is not possible to transmit, for example, a high frequency signal in one direction and a low frequency signal in another opposing direction.

Signal transmission system, transmission device, and communication unit


Transfer gate (TG) holding trenches are defined in a first interlayer insulating film 44 formed on a silicon substrate 10. TG 33 including side walls 34 are formed in their corresponding trenches. Contact holes are defined in portions adjacent to the TG 33 in a self-aligned manner on the condition that the first interlayer insulating film 44 is selectively removed. Contact plugs 50 are formed in their corresponding contact holes. Bit lines 60 respectively conducted over or to the contact plugs 50 and capacitors are formed over these.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same, and particularly to a semiconductor device having contact holes defined in a self-aligned manner and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Background Art
In the field of a semiconductor device typified by a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), a design size thereof has recently been reduced with a progress in scale down thereof. With a reduction in design size, a memory device such as the DRAM or the like needs to form both contact holes (capacitor contacts) which lead to capacitors for memory cells, and contact holes (BL contacts) which lead to bit lines, as a self alignment contact (SAC) structure.
In a COB (Capacitor Over Bit-line) structure which is currently in vogue for a DRAM""s structure, a capacitor contact normally has a depth of about 1 xcexcm. By a feasible etching selection ratio or the like, it is then not always easy to form the capacitor contact having the 1 xcexcm-depth in a suitable position in a self-aligned manner. Therefore, a method of forming first contact plugs in a self-aligned manner and defining contact holes (diameter-reduced contacts) small in diameter on the first contacts might be used as a method of manufacturing the DRAM having the COB structure. According to the method referred to above, since the depths of the contact holes to be defined at a time are reduced, difficulties accompanied by the formation of the capacitor contacts can be relieved.
FIG. 27A is a cross-sectional view of a memory cell section of an embedded DRAM device manufactured by the conventional method referred to above. FIGS. 27B and 27C respectively show cross-sectional views of a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) formed in a logic circuit section include in the embedded DRAM device. More specifically, FIG. 27B is a cross-sectional view of an NMOS transistor section in the logic circuit section, and FIG. 27C is a cross-sectional view of a PMOS transistor section in the logic circuit section, respectively.
Further, FIGS. 28A through 28C, FIGS. 29A through 29C and FIGS. 30A through 30C are drawings for respectively describing layouts of the embedded DRAM device in accordance with the progress of manufacturing processes. The flow of the processes used upon manufacturing the embedded DRAM device by the conventional method will be explained below with reference to these drawings.
Step 101: Insulating isolation films 12 are formed on a silicon substrate 10. As a result, active regions designated at numerals 13 in FIGS. 28A through 28C are formed.
Step 102: A P-type well 14 is formed in each of a memory cell section and an NMOS transistor section. A P-type channel is introduced into a surface region of the P-type well 14.
Step 103: An N-type well 16 is formed in a PMOS transistor section. An N-type channel (P-type channel layer in the case of a buried channel type) is introduced into a surface region of the N-type well 16.
Step 104: A gate insulating film 24 is formed so as to cover the surfaces of the active regions.
Step 105: A conductive gate electrode film 26, a polycide film 28, and a silicon insulating film 30 which serves as a mask for the gate electrode film 26, are formed over the gate insulating film 24.
Step 106: The silicon insulating film 30 is etched by a resist mask. The gate electrode film 26 and the polycide film 28 are etched with each processed silicon insulating film 30 as a mask. In order to form an N-type impurity layer 36 and a P-type impurity layer 40 in the memory cell section, the NMOS transistor section and the PMOS transistor section respectively, impurities are introduced into those regions in a self-aligning manner with respect to gate electrodes by using masks.
Step 107: A silicon nitride film 32 is formed so as to cover the whole surface of the semiconductor wafer. As a result, transfer gates (TG) 33 covered with the silicon nitride film 32 are formed in all of the memory cell section, the NMOS transistor section and the PMOS transistor section (see FIGS. 28A through 28C).
Step 108: The silicon nitride film 32 for covering the NMOS transistor section and the PMOS transistor section is anisotropically etched to thereby form in those regions side walls 34 which cover the sides of the gate electrode films 26.
Step 109: An N-type impurity and a P-type impurity are respectively introduced into the NMOS transistor section and the PMOS transistor section. As a result, an Nxe2x88x92 region 36 and an N+ region 38 are formed in the NMOS transistor section, whereas a Pxe2x88x92 region 40 and a P+ region 42 are formed in the PMOS transistor section.
Step 110: A first interlayer insulating film 44 is deposited on the whole surface of the semiconductor wafer.
Step 111: In the memory cell section, contact holes 46 are formed between the gate electrode films 26 in a self-aligned manner with the silicon nitride film 32 as a stopper film. Subsequently, etching for removing the stopper film 32 at the bottom of each contact hole is carried out to form the contact holes 46. At this time, the side walls 34 for covering the sides of each gate electrode film 26 are formed even in the memory cell section. Using mask patterns designated at numerals 48 in FIG. 29A forms the contact holes 46.
Step 112: Doped polysilicon is embedded inside the contact holes 46 to form conductive contact plugs 50 between the adjacent TGs 33.
Step 113: A second interlayer insulating film 52 is formed over the first interlayer insulating film 44 and the contact plugs 50.
Step 114: BL contacts 54, which lead to their corresponding bit lines, are formed in the memory cell section, the NMOS transistor section and the PMOS transistor section. The BL contacts 54 are formed by using mask patterns designated at numerals 56 in FIGS. 30A through 30C.
Step 115: Contact plugs 58 are formed inside their corresponding BL contacts 54, then bit lines 60 are patterned on the second interlayer insulating film 52.
Step 116: A third interlayer insulating film 62 is formed so as to cover the bit lines 60.
Step 117: Capacitor contacts 64, which extend through the second and third interlayer insulating films 52 and 62 and are opened above the contact plugs 50, are formed in the memory cell section. The capacitor contacts 64 are formed by using mask patterns designated at numerals 66 in FIGS. 30A through 30B.
Step 118: Doped polysilicon or W or the like is embedded inside the capacitor contacts 64 to thereby form conductive contact plugs 68.
Step 119: A fourth interlayer insulating film 70 is formed over the third interlayer insulating film 62.
Step 120: Lower electrodes 72, which conduct to the contact plugs 68, an insulating film 74 for covering the lower electrodes 72, and an upper electrode 76 for covering the insulating film 74 are formed in the memory cell section. According to the conventional manufacturing method, an embedded memory device equipped with the DRAM having the COB structure is manufactured by executing the aforementioned series of processes.
With high integration of an embedded memory logic device, a source-drain region of a logic circuit section has been reduced or scaled down in recent years. Namely, the N+ region 38 shown in FIG. 27B and the P+ region 42 shown in FIG. 27C have been reduced. It is therefore desirable to form not only the capacitor contacts in the memory cell section but also the BL contacts in the logic circuit section as the SAC structure as regarding the embedded memory logic device. However, the conventional method referred to above cannot form the BL contacts 54 in the logic circuit section as the SAC structure.
It is necessary for the conventional manufacturing method to deposit the silicon nitride film 32 on the silicon substrate 10 and thereafter deposit the first interlayer insulating film 44 such that spaces between the adjacent TGs 33 are buried. An interval between the TG 33 becomes narrow as the design size of the DRAM decreases. On the other hand, when the design size of the DRAM decreases, it is necessary to increase the height of the TG 33 for the purpose of suppressing electrical resistance of the gate electrode film 26. Therefore, a recent DRAM shows the tendency that an aspect ratio of the space ensured between the adjacent TGs 33 increases. When the aspect ratio of the space between the TGs 33 increases, it is difficult to bury its interior by the first interlayer insulating film 44. Thus, the conventional method is accompanied by a problem that the first interlayer insulating film 44 cannot properly be deposited as the scale down of the DRAM progresses.
Further, in the conventional method, such mask patterns 48 as shown in FIG. 29A, i.e., mask patterns 48 having separate openings for individual contact holes 46 are used to open the contact holes 46 between the adjacent TGs 33 in a self-aligned manner. When such mask patterns 48 are used over the TG 33 formed with narrow pitches, a short circuit is apt to occur between the adjacent contact holes 46 where, for example, the flatness of the interlayer insulating film is degraded. Even in this point of view, the conventional manufacturing method had a problem in terms of the manufacture of a scaled-down or micro DRAM.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. A first object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device having a structure suitable for the reliable formation of a miniaturized DRAM.
Further, a second object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, which is suitable for the reliable formation of a miniaturized DRAM.
The above objects of the present invention are achieved by a semiconductor device described below. The semiconductor device includes transfer gates and contact plugs adjacent to the transfer gates. The each transfer gate has a gate insulating film, a gate electrode layer, and side walls for covering sides of the gate insulating film and the gate electrode layer. The each contact plug has the same height as the transfer gate and is adjacent to the transfer gate over the whole height. The semiconductor device also includes a first interlayer insulating film having a surface which defines the same surface as the surface of the transfer gate and the surface of the contact plug. A second interlayer insulating film is formed on the first interlayer insulating film. The semiconductor device further includes diameter-reduced contact plugs which are smaller than the contact plugs and extend through the second interlayer insulating film to conduct to the contact plugs, respectively.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device having contact plugs adjacent to transfer gates. In the inventive method, a first interlayer insulating film is deposited on a silicon substrate. Transfer gate holding trenches is formed in the first interlayer insulating film. Side walls of the each transfer gate are formed in the transfer gate holding trenches. A gate insulating film and a gate electrode layer of the each transfer gate is formed within a space interposed between the side walls. Portions adjacent to the transfer gates of the first interlayer insulating film is etched under a condition that the first interlayer insulating film is capable of being removed at a high selectivity with respect to a material which constitutes the each transfer gate, to thereby form contact holes adjacent to the transfer gates in a self-aligned manner. Contact plugs are formed in the contact holes respectively. A second interlayer insulating film is formed on the first interlayer insulating film, the contact plugs and the transfer gates. Diameter-reduced contact holes which are smaller than the contact plugs and in communication with the contact plugs are formed in the second interlayer insulating film. Diameter-reduced contact plugs which conduct to the contact plugs are formed in the diameter-reduced contact holes.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Semiconductor device with transfer gate having gate insulating film and gate electrode layer


An apparatus is disclosed for use within a borehole for seismic surveying that has a vertical array of seismic receivers connected to a cable, a top inflatable bladder connected to the cable above the top seismic receiver, and a bottom inflatable bladder connected to the cable below the bottom seismic receiver. The top bladder acoustically isolates all seismic receivers from the borehole environment above the top bladder. The bottom bladder acoustically isolates all seismic receivers from the borehole environment below the bottom bladder. Additional inflatable bladders are placed between each separate seismic receiver in the array.

High amplitude tube-waves hamper seismic measurements in boreholes. By "tube-wave," we mean a Stonely wave that propagates along a borehole with a wavelength much greater than the diameter of the borehole. These tube-waves are created by the coupling of seismic waves in a liquid-filled borehole. They propagate within the borehole with very little attenuation.
In a seismic borehole survey many different seismic waves intersect the borehole, including the direct P and S waves, surface waves, and reflected P and S waves. Each of these waves generates tube-waves inside the borehole. In addition, tube-waves are reflected at the bottom of the well, at the top of the liquid column, at lithologic boundaries, and at changes in the borehole diameter. These tube-waves are generally recognized as high amplitude coherent wavetrains, but as the innumerable low amplitude tube-waves interfere with one another, they also create a background of incoherent seismic noise.
Because of these tube-waves, borehole seismic measurements are usually made with geophones, which can be tightly clamped to the borehole wall making them less sensitive to tube-wave motion. If it were not for the tube-waves, hydrophones would be preferred over geophones because a large number of hydrophones can be deployed at the same time, thereby shortening the time required to conduct the survey. Unfortunately, hydrophones are not clamped to the borehole wall and are thus much more sensitive to tube-wave noise than are geophones. In fact, this noise so dominates the record that hydrophones are seldom used in borehole seismic surveys.


A rubber composition of the present invention contains 100 parts by mass of a rubber component (A) containing 45 to 75% by mass of natural rubber and 25 to 55% by mass of a conjugated diene-based polymer, in which a bonded styrene amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is 25% or less, 1 to 40 parts by mass of a non-modified conjugated diene-based polymer (B) which has a weight average molecular weight of 5,000 or more but less than 40,000 in terms of polystyrene as measured by GPC and in which a bonded styrene amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is less than 10% and a bonded vinyl amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is 20% or more, and a filler (C), in which at least one of the conjugated diene-based polymers contained in the rubber component (A) is a modified conjugated diene-based polymer. With the rubber composition, a tire having further enhanced on-ice performance and having both excellent on-ice performance and excellent abrasion resistance is obtained.

Conventionally, as a tire for having safe driving even on ice in addition to common road surfaces, a studless tire with softened tread rubber has been used, and it is known that the on-ice performance of a tire is enhanced by softening the tread rubber. However, a tire with soft tread rubber generally has a problem that the tire has poor abrasion resistance on common road surfaces so that there is a trade-off relationship between on-ice performance and abrasion resistance of the tire.
In this regard, to provide a rubber composition having enhanced friction coefficient on ice and an excellence in flexibility at low temperatures, wet-grip property and on-ice grip property, a rubber composition having as a rubber component at least one diene-based polymer selected from the group consisting of a natural rubber, an isoprene rubber, a styrene-butadiene rubber, a butadiene rubber, and an isobutylene-isoprene copolymer is disclosed, in which the rubber composition contains foamable bubbles in a rubber matrix and also contains, in an amount of 2 to 50 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the rubber component, a low molecular weight styrene-butadiene copolymer in which (a) weight average molecular weight in terms of polystyrene is 0.2×104 to 8×104, (b) bonded styrene amount is 30% by weight or less, and (c) relationship of S+(V/2)<25, when S represents the bonded styrene amount and V represents the bonded amount of vinyl, is satisfied (refer to PTL 1, for example).


A small implantable stimulator(s) with at least two electrodes is small enough to have the electrodes located adjacent to a nerve structure at least partially responsible for headache and/or facial pain. The small stimulator provides a means of stimulating a nerve structure(s) when desired, and may be implanted via a minimal surgical procedure.

The present invention generally relates to implantable stimulator systems and methods, and more particularly relates to implantable stimulator systems and methods utilizing one or more implantable microstimulators for treating headache and/or facial pain.
The public health significance of headache and facial pain is often overlooked, probably because of their episodic nature and the lack of mortality attributed to them. Headache and facial pain disorders are, however, often incapacitating, with considerable impact on social activities and work, and may lead to significant consumption of drugs.
The International Headache Society (IHS) published xe2x80x9cClassification and Diagnostic Criteria for Headache Disorders, Cranial Neuralgias and Facial Painxe2x80x9d in 1988. IHS identified 13 different general groupings of headache, given below in Table 1.1.
The IHS classification of the most common types of headache is summarized in Table 2, below.
The IHS classification provides diagnostic criteria for migraine without and with aura, summarized in Tables 3 and 4 below.
The IHS classification includes several different types of migraine variants. Basilar migraine is defined as a migraine with an aura involving the brainstem. Symptoms include ataxia, dysarthria, vertigo, tinnitus and/or changes in consciousness and cognition. Ophthalmoplegic migraine is associated with acute attacks of third nerve palsy with accompanying dilation of the pupil. In this setting, the differential diagnosis includes an intracranial aneurysm or chronic sinusitis complicated by a mucocele. The ophthalmoplegia can last from hours to months. Hemiplegic migraine is distinguished by the accompanying hemiplegia, which can be part of the aura, or the headache may precede the onset of hemiplegia. Hemiplegic migraine can be familial and may last for days or weeks, clinically simulating a stroke. An additional differential diagnosis includes focal seizures.
Status migrainosus describes a migraine lasting longer than 72 hours with intractable debilitating pain, and typically occurs in a setting of inappropriate and prolonged use of abortive anti-migraine drugs. These patients may require hospitalization, both for pain control, detoxification from the abused drugs, and treatment of dehydration resulting from prolonged nausea and vomiting.
A migraine prevalence survey of American households was conducted in 1992, and included 20,468 respondents 12-80 years of age. Using a self-administered questionnaire based on modified IHS criteria; 17.6% of females and 5.7% of males were found to have one or more migraine headaches per year. A projection to the total US population suggests that 8.7 million females and 2.6 million males suffer from migraine headache with moderate to severe disability. Of these, 3.4 million females and 1.1 million males experience one or more attacks per month. Prevalence is highest between the ages of 25 and 55, during the peak productive years.
Based on published data, the Baltimore County Migraine Study, MEDSTAT""s MarketScan medical claims data set, and statistics from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it has been estimated that migraineurs require 3.8 bed rest days for men and 5.6 days for women each year, resulting in a total of 112 million bedridden days. Migraine costs American employers about $13 billion a year because of missed workdays and impaired work function; close to $8 billion is directly due to missed workdays. Patients of both sexes aged 30 to 49 years incurred higher indirect costs compared with younger or older employed patients. Annual direct medical costs for migraine care are about $1 billion, with about $100 spent per diagnosed patient. Physician office visits account for about 60% of all costs; in contrast, emergency department visits contribute less than 1% of the direct costs.
The diagnostic criteria for tension-type headaches are summarized in Table 5, below. However, migraine symptoms may overlap considerably with that of tension-type headaches. Tension-type headaches are believed by some experts to be a mild variant of migraine headache. Patients with tension-type headaches who also have migraines may experience nausea and vomiting with a tension headache, though when they do, it typically is mild and for a shorter duration compared to that with a migraine. Tension-type headache may be a disorder unto itself in individuals who do not have migraines, and may manifest as attacks of mild migraine in individuals with migraines.
Based on a telephone survey of 13,345 people, the 1-year period prevalence of episodic tension-type headache (ETTH) is estimated to be 38.3%, according to IHS criteria. Women had a higher 1-year ETTH prevalence than men in all age, race, and education groups, with an overall prevalence ratio of 1.16. Prevalence peaked in the 30- to 39-year-old age group in both men (42.3%) and women (46.9%). Prevalence increased with increasing educational levels in both sexes, reaching a peak in subjects with graduate school educations of 48.5% for men and 48.9% for women. Of subjects with ETTH, 8.3% reported lost workdays because of their headaches, while 43.6% reported decreased effectiveness at work, home, or school.
Chronic tension-type headache (CTTH) is a subtype of tension headaches, with patients experiencing headaches daily or almost every day. In practice, the term xe2x80x9cchronic daily headachexe2x80x9d is commonly used to describe headaches lasting for greater than 4 hours per day and for at least 15 days per month. The classification of chronic daily headaches is summarized below in Table 6.
In the study of 13,345 people cited above, the 1-year period prevalence of chronic tension-type headache (CTTH) was estimated to be 2.2%. This prevalence was higher in women and declined with increasing education. Subjects with CTTH reported more lost workdays (mean of 27.4 days vs. 8.9 days for those reporting lost workdays) and reduced-effectiveness days (mean of 20.4 vs. 5.0 days for those reporting reduced effectiveness) compared with subjects with ETTH.
Chronic daily headaches are best conceptualized as an umbrella category term, referring to a group of headache disorders characterized by headaches which occur greater than 15 days per month, with an average untreated duration of greater than 4 hours per day. There are many secondary causes of chronic daily headache, including post-traumatic headache, arteritis, intracranial mass lesions, etc. There are also short-lived primary headache disorders that occur greater than 15 days per month, such as chronic cluster headache or the paroxysmal hemicranias. These secondary and short-lived disorders are outside the scope of this discussion. The most common primary, chronic daily headache disorders include transformed migraine, chronic tension-type headaches, new daily persistent headache, or hemicrania continua. Each of these diagnoses can be complicated by medication overuse (e.g., barbiturates, acetaminophen, aspirin, caffeine, ergotamine tartrate and opioids). When used daily, all of these medications can lead to a vicious cycle of rebound headaches.
The 1988 IHS classification system recognized the uniqueness of cluster headache as a clinical and epidemiological entity. Formerly classified as a vascular migraine variant, cluster headache (a.k.a. suicide headache) is thought to be one of the most severe headache syndromes. It is characterized by attacks of severe pain, generally unilateral and orbital and lasting 15 minutes to 3 hours, with one or more symptoms such as unilateral rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, lacrimation, and conjunctival injection. In most patients, headaches occur in episodes, generally with a regular time pattern. These xe2x80x9ccluster periodsxe2x80x9d last for weeks to months, separated by periods of remission lasting months to years. It primarily affects men, and in many cases, patients have distinguishing facial, body, and psychological features. Several factors may precipitate cluster headaches, including histamine, nitroglycerin, alcohol, transition from rapid eye movement (REM) to non-REM sleep, circadian periodicity, environmental alterations, and change in the level of physical, emotional, or mental activity. The IHS classification system gives specific diagnostic criteria for cluster headache, as given in Table 7 below.
The estimated prevalence of cluster headache is 69 cases per 100,000 people. Men are affected more commonly than women in a proportion of 6:1. Although most patients begin experiencing headache between the ages of 20 and 50 years (mean of 30 years), the syndrome may begin as early as the first decade and as late as the eighth decade.
Cervicogenic headache (CEH) is a headache with its origin in the neck area. The source of pain is in structures around the neck that have been damaged. These structures can include joints, ligaments, muscles, and cervical discs, all of which have complex nerve endings. When these structures are damaged, the nerve endings send pain signals up the pathway from the upper nerves of the neck to the brainstem. These nerve fibers may synapse in the same brainstem nuclei as the nerve fibers of the trigeminal nerve. Since the trigeminal nerve is responsible for the perception of head pain, the patient experiences the symptoms of headache and/or facial pain.
While many patients who are diagnosed with CEH have the traditional symptoms of tension-type headache, some of the patients who have the traditional symptoms of migraine and cluster headache also respond to CEH diagnosis and treatment.
Facial pain may be due to a number of underlying disorders. Among the most common is Trigeminal Neuralgia (also known as tic douloureux). More than 50,000 people in the US suffer from trigeminal neuralgia. It is a disorder of the trigeminal nerve that causes episodes of intense, stabbing, electric shock-like pain in the areas of the face where the branches of the nerve are distributedxe2x80x94lips, eyes, nose, scalp, forehead, upper jaw, and lower jaw. A less common form of the disorder, Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia, may cause less intense, constant, dull burning or aching pain, sometimes with occasional electric shock-like stabs. Both forms of the disorder most often affect one side of the face, but some patients experience pain at different times on both sides. Onset of symptoms occurs most often after age 50, and it affects women more often than men. For patients with this disorder, an ordinary touch of the face, such as when brushing teeth or applying makeup, can trigger an attack. Trigeminal neuralgia is believed to be due to hyper-excitability of fibers of the trigeminal nerve or its ganglion. Microelectrode recordings from the trigeminal ganglion have demonstrated sustained high-frequency bursts during pain episodes of trigeminal neuralgia.
Trigeminal neuralgia may be treated medically with drugs that decrease neural excitability, e.g., carbamazepine or phenytoin. Such medications prove ineffective for many patients over the course of the disease. Thus, a number of surgical interventions (e.g., microvascular decompression of the trigeminal ganglion or it nerve fibers, radio-frequency rhizotomy) have been developed.
Another cause of facial pain is Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Dysfunction Syndrome. Most TMJ discomfort is temporary and can be treated with inexpensive remedies. However, some TMJ dysfunction patients are afflicted with persistent and sometimes unbearable pain. The symptoms of this chronic dysfunction include persistent pain in the facial muscles on one or both sides, a clicking or popping sensation when opening the mouth or working the jaw, recurring headaches, and difficulty chewing. Analgesics and anti-inflammatory medication may relieve the pain in some patients, and others turn to TMJ surgery in desperation.
Yet another cause of facial pain is Postherpetic Neuralgia, which is a possible complication of herpes zoster reactivation (xe2x80x9cShinglesxe2x80x9d). Shingles is a painful disease caused by reactivation of the herpes zoster virus (which causes chicken pox upon initial infection). It can affect the torso or limbs (spinal ganglia shingles) or the face (trigeminal ganglia shingles). Approximately one in five adults develops shingles, usually after age 50. For most people, shingles is an acute condition with pain typically lasting one month. However, in older patients or patients with a compromised immune system, postherpetic neuralgia, a very painful chronic condition, may develop. The incidence of postherpetic neuralgia is almost negligible before age 50, but at least 50% of patients older than 60 years and almost 75% beyond age 70 become affected following a shingles attack. Postherpetic neuralgia tends to improve over time without treatment. Some estimates suggest that only 2%-3% of patients have pain lasting more than one year. However, since more than 60,000 new cases develop annually in the US, the collective morbidity is still substantial. Treatment of postherpetic neuralgia consists of symptomatic relief of severe pain with tricyclic antidepressants and opioids.
The invention disclosed and claimed herein provides means for chronically stimulating a trigeminal ganglion or ganglia, a trigeminal nerve(s), or branch(es) of a trigeminal nerve(s) with a miniature implantable neurostimulator that can be implanted with a minimal surgical procedure. This invention also provides means for chronically stimulating any nerve(s) arising from the upper cervical spine (i.e., C1-C4), including a greater occipital nerve(s), a lesser occipital nerve(s), a third occipital nerve(s), a great auricular nerve(s), a transverse cervical nerve(s), a supraclavicular nerve(s), or a branch(es) of any of these neural structures with a miniature implantable neurostimulator that can be implanted with a minimal surgical procedure. Electrical stimulation of such targets may provide significant therapeutic benefit in the management of migraine, tension-type headache, cluster headache, cervicogenic headache, other types of headache, and/or facial pain.
To treat migraine, tension-type headache, cluster headache, cervicogenic headache, other types of headache, and/or facial pain, a miniature implantable neurostimulator, such as a Bionic Neuron (also referred to as a BION(trademark) microstimulator) may be implanted via a minimal surgical procedure (e.g., injection or small incision) adjacent to a trigeminal ganglion or ganglia, a trigeminal nerve(s), a branch(es) of a trigeminal nerve(s) (e.g., an ophthalmic nerve(s), a maxillary nerve(s), and/or a mandibular nerve(s)), or a branch(es) of any of these neural structures. A BION may additionally or alternatively be implanted adjacent to any nerve(s) arising from the upper cervical spine (i.e., C1-C4), including a greater occipital nerve(s), a lesser occipital nerve(s), a third occipital nerve(s), a great auricular nerve(s), a transverse cervical nerve(s), a supraclavicular nerve(s), or a branch(es) of any of these neural structures to treat migraine, tension-type headache, cluster headache, cervicogenic headache, other types of headache, and facial pain.
A microstimulator may be implanted via injection and/or via endoscopic means. A more complicated surgical procedure may be required for sufficient access to a particular nerve (e.g., a nerve surrounded by scar tissue) or for purposes of fixing the neurostimulator in place. A single microstimulator may be implanted, or two or more microstimulators may be implanted to achieve greater stimulation of one or more nerves.
The microstimulator used with the present invention possesses one or more of the following properties, among others:
at least two electrodes for applying stimulating current to surrounding tissue;
electronic and/or mechanical components encapsulated in a hermetic package made from biocompatible material(s);
an electrical coil or other means of receiving energy and/or information inside the package, which receives power and/or data by inductive or radio-frequency (RF) coupling to a transmitting coil placed outside the body, thus avoiding the need for electrical leads to connect devices to a central implanted or external controller;
means for receiving and/or transmitting signals via telemetry;
means for receiving and/or storing electrical power within the microstimulator; and
a form factor making the microstimulator implantable via a minimal surgical procedure.
A microstimulator may operate independently, or in a coordinated manner with other implanted devices, or with external devices. For instance, a microstimulator may incorporate means for sensing a patient""s condition, which it may then use to control stimulation parameters in a closed loop manner. The sensing and stimulating means may be incorporated into a single microstimulator, or a sensing means may communicate sensed information to at least one microstimulator with stimulating means.

Fully implantable miniature neurostimulator for stimulation as a therapy for headache and/or facial pain


A liquid crystal display device and a forming method of the electrode plate are disclosed. The forming method of the electrode plate includes providing one or more bottom plane electrodes, one or more conductive layers and a dielectric layer, floating the bottom plane electrodes, electrically connecting the conductive layers and an electrode of a thin film transistor, positioning the dielectric layer between the bottom plane electrodes and the conductive layers, utilizing the conductive layers, the dielectric layer and the bottom plane electrodes to form a coupling capacitor, and adjusting the capacitance of the coupling capacitor to control the voltage on the bottom plane electrodes. Therefore, the liquid crystal display device makes every sub-pixel have a predetermined voltage-transmittance characteristic curve by controlling the voltage on the bottom plane electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device and a forming method of the plate electrodes thereof, and more specifically, to an LCD device and a forming method of the plate electrodes, utilizing forming a corresponding couple capacitor in a sub-pixel unit to adjust the voltage on the electrode plates for correcting the voltage-transmittance characteristic curve (V-T curve) of the sub-pixel unit, resulting in the elimination of color tracking effects.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, the transmittance of the liquid crystal panel is determined in accordance with the polar vector of light that is controlled via an upper polarizer, a lower polarizer, and a liquid crystal layer. Because of physical characteristics of the liquid crystal, when light passes through the liquid crystal layer, the phase of the light is delayed, so the direction of polarization of the light is variant, and results in different transmittance. This means that when a fixed voltage is applied on two sides of the liquid crystal layer, light with different wavelengths corresponds to different transmittance after passing through the liquid crystal layer and the polarizers.
For a vertical aligned LCD device, the voltage-transmittance characteristic curve (V-T curve) is different with different wavelengths of light; therefore, for trichromatic colors R, G, and B, the corresponding V-T curves are different. Consequently, when the voltage between two sides of the liquid crystal layer is adjusted to regulate the gray-level value of the LCD device, due to the V-T curves of trichromatic colors R, G, and B being different, the mixing ratio of the trichromatic colors R, G, and B is also different, resulting in the named color tracking effect.
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a voltage-transmittance characteristic curve of trichromatic colors R, G, and B in a vertical aligned liquid crystal display device according to the prior art. The horizontal axis represents the voltage applied across the liquid crystal layer, the vertical axis represents normalized transmittance, and the V-T curves 10, 15, 20 correspond to blue light, green light, and red light respectively. As shown in FIG. 1, when the voltage between two sides of the liquid crystal layer is from 2 volts to 6 volts, the transmittance of blue, green, and red light is different, causing the color tracking effect. For example, if the voltage applied across two sides of the liquid crystal layer is 5.5 volts, the ratio of transmittance for red, green, and red light is approximately 1:1:1, and a pure white light is obtained. However, if the voltage applied across two sides of the liquid crystal layer is reduced to 3 volts, the brightness is decreased, and the ratio of transmittance for red, green, and red light becomes 7:7:12 approximately, therefore the original pure white light turns a little blue. As described above, the color tracking effect reduces display performance of related, vertical aligned LCD devices.

Liquid crystal display device with low color tracking and forming method of electrode plate