An apparatus is provided with an illumination optical system for irradiating illumination light from a light source onto a predetermined illumination area on a mask and a projection optical system for projecting a pattern formed on the mask onto a photosensitive substrate. The apparatus synchronously moves the mask and the substrate in predetermined scanning directions perpendicular to an optical axis of the projection optical system thereby to effect scanning exposure of a projected image of the pattern on the substrate. The apparatus comprises a device for inputting information on a distortion of a pattern having been already formed on the substrate, in a direction perpendicular to the scanning directions, and a device for controlling imaging characteristics of the projection optical system, based on the information thus input.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus which is used in the photolithography process for manufacturing microdevices, such as semiconductor elements, or liquid crystal elements, image pick-up elements (CCD), thin film magnetic heads, opto-magnetic discs, etc., and in particular, to a scanning exposure apparatus of the so-called slit scan method, the step and scan method, or the like, which scans a mask and a photosensitive substrate in synchronization so as to perform exposure of said substrate with a pattern image of said mask.
2. Related Background Art
In producing semiconductor elements or liquid crystal display elements by the photolithography process, a projection exposure apparatus is used for projecting an image of a pattern on a photomask or a reticle (the both will be hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9creticlexe2x80x9d) through a projection optical system onto a substrate (a wafer, a glass plate, or the like) on which a coating of photoresist or the like is given, and thereby effecting exposure of the image on the substrate. Such a projection exposure apparatus is required to perform such accurate overlay exposure that a presently exposed reticle pattern is accurately overlaid across the entire exposure field over a chip pattern on the substrate such as a wafer, which was formed by previous exposure and process treatments. Namely, it is necessary that the exposure is conducted while keeping high overlay accuracy between the pattern formed on the substrate and the pattern of the reticle.
A semiconductor element or the like is normally constructed in lamination of many layers of circuit patterns overlaid on a substrate. For example, if the circuit patterns in the layers are formed using different projection exposure apparatus and if there is a difference exceeding a predetermined acceptable value between a magnification error of a projection exposure apparatus which performed previous exposure of a circuit pattern in a previous layer and a magnification error of a projection exposure apparatus which is to perform present exposure of a circuit pattern in a next layer, the overlay accuracy is degraded so as to lower the yield of semiconductor elements. Also, an overlay error occurs if there is a difference in distortion of projected image of mask pattern between two projection exposure apparatus. There is also a case in which a substrate is distorted by heating due to various process treatments after exposure, which results in distorting a previously exposed pattern. The distortion of pattern in this case will eventually be similar to the distortion of projected image caused by a previously used projection exposure apparatus.
Concerning this, conventional projection exposure apparatus were generally apparatus (steppers) of the full exposure method (or xe2x80x9cfull field methodxe2x80x9d) which projected a reduced image of reticle pattern over the entire exposure field on a photosensitive substrate by one operation. In applications with such projection exposure apparatus of the full exposure method, imaging properties of a projection optical system are actively adjusted by driving some lens elements in the projection optical system or a reticle along the optical axis or inclining it with respect to the optical axis for example to change a projection magnification of projected pattern or to distort the projected pattern in the form of trapezoid or barrel. As described, there are suggestions for the method in which exposure is effected while the distortion of projected image of presently exposed pattern is kept correspondent to that of previously exposed pattern (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,734,746 and 5,117,255).
The suggestions for improvement in overlay accuracy as described above were made under a premise of use of the full exposure method (full field method). However, a recent trend is to increase the size of a chip pattern of semiconductor element, which requires the projection exposure apparatus to increase an exposure area, for permitting a pattern with a larger area on the reticle to be exposed on the photosensitive substrate. To handle the larger area exposure of transferred pattern and the limit of exposure field of projection optical system, there are suggested projection exposure apparatus of the so-called slit scan exposure method, which moves the reticle and the photosensitive substrate in synchronization relative to a rectangular, arcuate or hexagonal illumination area (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cslit illumination areaxe2x80x9d), for example, whereby patterns with a larger area than the slit illumination area on the reticle are successively projected and exposed on the substrate.
The scanning exposure method has such advantages that illumination uniformity on the reticle (or a wafer) is improved, a distortion, a curvature of the image field, astigmatism, and the like of the projection optical system are reduced, and the uniformity of focusing position in the exposure field is improved, because the illumination area on the reticle in the slit scan exposure method is smaller than that in the full exposure method. Also, the slit scan exposure method has another advantage that large area exposure is possible in the scanning directions of the reticle and the substrate without being affected by the limit of field size of projection optical system.
The conventional projection exposure apparatus of the slit scan exposure method as described above, however, had such a disadvantage that if the magnification error was simply corrected only by the projection optical system, the magnification error could be corrected in the non-scanning direction perpendicular to the scanning direction, but the magnification error could not be fully corrected in the scanning direction.
In addition, since the conventional projection exposure apparatus of the slit scan exposure method have the width of slit illumination area in the scanning direction different from that in the non-scanning direction, they are likely to have a difference between the magnification error in the scanning direction and the magnification error in the non-scanning direction in each shot area because of a bias of heat distribution caused by absorption of exposure light in the projection optical system and because of a difference between a shot size in the scanning direction and a shot size in the non-scanning direction on the substrate. Accordingly, it is to be desired that the apparatus are arranged to correct the magnification error in the scanning direction and the magnification error in the non-scanning direction independently of each other in particular.
Further, since the conventional slit scan exposure method uses only a part of field of the projection optical system and a same pattern passes through a plurality of portions in the field of projection optical system upon scanning exposure, it cannot be possible to distort the projected image as a whole in the trapezoidal shape or in the barrel shape by simply inclining a lens element in the projection optical system.
The method for improving the overlay accuracy in the slit scan exposure method as described above is disclosed for example in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-29129. The projection optical system in the exposure apparatus as disclosed in the publication is of the reflection type, using only mirrors such as a concave mirror and a convex mirror. Also, the mask and the substrate are held on a single scanning member (scanning frame) so that they are moved together in a same direction.
An amount of positional deviation between the mask and the substrate is measured at a plurality of portions during movement of the mask and the substrate. A fine feed mechanism for adjusting the position of wafer by a fine amount is driven based on the detection result to change a relative position between the mask and the substrate.
The above conventional technology, however, simply adjusts the position of wafer by a fine amount and has a disadvantage that, for example, if a shot area on the substrate is distorted in a trapezoidal shape or in a barrel shape, the pattern of mask cannot be overlaid with accuracy as a whole on a shot area.
Further, the scanning exposure method has such a disadvantage that the image quality may be deteriorated by a scanning exposure, depending on a distortion of a projected image due to an aberration of the projection optical system. This deterioration in the image quality will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 15A to 15C. In FIGS. 15A to 15C, a scanning direction of the photosensitive substrate is represented by +x direction (or xe2x88x92x direction), while a non-scanning direction perpendicular to the x direction is y direction. When a projection optical system has no aberration, an exposure field of said projection optical system (i.e., a projected image with no distortion) is a rectangular exposure area 141 having the width of D in the x direction.
When the rectangular exposure area 141 is deformed into an exposure area 142A in the form of a parallelogram which is inclined by the angle xcex3[rad] with respect to the axis x due to an aberration of the projection optical system, as shown in FIG. 15A, if the photosensitive substrate is scanned in the x direction, the projected image is moved to the non-scanning direction (y direction) on the photosensitive substrate only by Dxc2x7xcex3 or around while one point on the photosensitive substrate intersects the exposure area 142A, thereby deteriorating the quality of the image. Also, when the projection magnification with respect to the scanning direction (x direction) of the projection optical system is shifted by xcex2, the exposure area 141 having the width D is deformed into an exposure area 142B having the width (1+xcex2) D, as shown in FIG. 15B. In this case, since the projected image is moved on the photosensitive substrate in the scanning direction in excess by xcex2xc2x7D while the one point on the photosensitive substrate intersects the area having the width D within the exposure area 142B along the x direction, the image quality is also deteriorated.
Further, when the projection magnification of the projection system varies in the non-scanning direction and the sides of the exposure area 141 extending in the scanning direction are symmetrically inclined by the angle xcex4[rad], respectively, so that said exposure area 141 is deformed into an exposure area 142C in the form of trapezoid, as shown in FIG. 15C, the projected image is moved on the photosensitive substrate in the non-scanning direction by Dxc2x7xcex4 at the maximum while one point on the photosensitive substrate intersects the exposure area 142C along the x direction, which also results in image deterioration.
Here, a pattern on the reticle is a line-and-space pattern which is arranged periodically in the scanning direction, the pitch of the projected image of said pattern on the photosensitive substrate in the x direction is denoted by p, and this pitch p is about two times as much as the exposure wave length. In this case, the light intensity distribution I(x) of said projected image can be expressed by Icos{(2xcfx80/p)xc2x7x}. If, as an extreme example, only an optical image is synthesized by shifting a phase of a projected image thereof by xcex94/2, the light intensity distribution of said optical image IT(x) is expressed as follows:                                           IT                                      (              x              )                                =                      xe2x80x83                                                        (                              1                /                2                            )                        [                                          I                                                  xe2x80x83                                                cos                                                  {                                                                                (                                                  2                                                                                π                            /                            p                                                                          )                                                                  x                                        -                                          Δ                      /                      2                                                        }                                            +                                                                                xe2x80x83                                          I                                      xe2x80x83                                    cos                                      {                                                                    (                                          2                                                                    π                        /                        p                                                              )                                                      x                                +                                  Δ                  /                  2                                            }                                ]                                              =                      xe2x80x83                                          I                                      xe2x80x83                                                  cos                                            (                                  Δ                  /                  2                                )                                                  cos                                      {                                                (                                      2                                                              π                      /                      p                                                        )                                ·                x                            }                                            "AutoLeftMatch"
As clearly seen from the above equation, a contrast of said synthetic image is decreased to cos(xcex94/2) times as much a contrast as the original projected image. Thus, a degree of resolution of the synthetic image is lowered, which results in deterioration of the image quality.
The distortion of the projected image shown in FIGS. 15A to 15C is an anisotropic distortion which is differently distorted for each direction. On the contrary, when the distortion of said projected image is isotropic, that is, when only the projection magnification varies, the deterioration in the image quality caused by a change in the magnification can be easily coped with by, for example, regulating a ratio between a scanning speed of the reticle and that of the photosensitive substrate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a scanning exposure method and apparatus capable of overlaying exposure with high accuracy.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a scanning exposure method and apparatus which can independently correct a magnification error between a pattern image of the mask and a processing area on the photosensitive substrate in a scanning direction and the non-scanning direction.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a scanning exposure method and apparatus which can form the pattern image of the mask in a processing area on the photosensitive substrate without deteriorating the image quality even if said processing has been deformed.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a scanning exposure method and apparatus which does not deteriorate the quality of an image exposed on the photosensitive substrate (degree of resolution) even when a projected image by the projection optical system is anisotropically deformed.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing microdevices with high accuracy by performing the scanning exposure of the photosensitive substrate with the pattern image of the mask.
A scanning projection exposure apparatus according to the present invention, for example as shown in FIG. 1, is an apparatus provided with an illumination optical system (1-10) for irradiating illumination light from a light source onto a predetermined illumination area on a mask (R) and a projection optical system (PL) for projecting a pattern formed on said mask (R) onto a photosensitive substrate (W), which synchronously moves said mask (R) and said substrate (W) in predetermined scanning directions perpendicular to an optical axis (AX) of said projection optical system (PL) thereby to effect scanning exposure of a projected image of said pattern on said substrate (W), comprising:
means (16) for inputting information on a distortion of a pattern having been already formed on said substrate (W), in a direction perpendicular to said scanning directions; and
means (35) for controlling imaging properties of said projection optical system, based on said information thus input.
The apparatus of the present invention preliminarily obtains a state of a distortion for example of a chip pattern having been already formed on the substrate (W), in the direction perpendicular to the scanning directions. It can be obtained for example by detecting alignment marks provided around the chip pattern by means of distortion detecting means (30, 31). Or, characteristics of a distortion of projected image by an exposure apparatus for previous exposure may be input through input means (22). Then, in accordance with the state of distortion of the pattern on the substrate in the direction perpendicular to the scanning directions, the imaging properties control means (34, 35, 36) drives a lens element in the projection optical system (PL) or controls the pressure or the temperature of gas in a hermetically sealed space between some lenses, for example. This permits the projected image of the pattern on the mask to be overlaid with high accuracy on the pattern on the substrate in the direction perpendicular to the scanning directions.
Another scanning projection exposure apparatus according to the present invention, for example as shown in FIG. 1, is an apparatus provided with an illumination optical system (1-10) for irradiating illumination light from a light source onto a predetermined illumination area on a mask (R) and a projection optical system (PL) for projecting a pattern formed on said mask (R) onto a photosensitive substrate (W), which synchronously moves said mask (R) and said substrate (R) in predetermined scanning directions perpendicular to an optical axis (AX) of said projection optical system (PL) thereby to effect scanning exposure of a projected image of said pattern on said substrate (W), comprising:
input means (22) for inputting information on a distortion of a pattern having been already formed on said substrate (W);
first means (34, 35, 36) for controlling imaging properties of said projection optical system (PL) in accordance with said information thus input; and
second means (16, 17, 25) for controlling a relative scanning speed between said mask (R) and said substrate (W) in accordance with said information thus input;
wherein in said scanning exposure, a projection magnification of said projected image in said scanning directions is adjusted through said second means (16, 17, 25) and a projection magnification of said projected image is isotropically or anisotropically adjusted through said first means (34, 35, 36), whereby said projected image is overlaid on said pattern having been already formed on said substrate (W).
A further scanning projection exposure apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus provided with an illumination optical system (1-10) for irradiating illumination light from a light source onto a predetermined illumination area on a mask (R) and a projection optical system (PL) for projecting a pattern formed on said mask (R) onto a photosensitive substrate (W), which synchronously moves said mask (R) and said substrate (W) in predetermined scanning directions perpendicular to an optical axis (AX) of said projection optical system (PL) thereby to effect scanning exposure of a projected image of said pattern on said substrate (W), comprising:
distortion detecting means (30, 31) for detecting a state of a distortion of a pattern having been already formed on said substrate (W);
first means (34, 35, 36) for controlling imaging properties of said projection optical system (PL) based on a detection result of said distortion detecting means (30, 31); and
second means (16, 17, 25) for controlling a relative scanning speed between said mask (R) and said substrate (W) based on the detection result of said distortion detecting means (30, 31);
wherein in said scanning exposure, a projection magnification of said projected image in said scanning directions is adjusted through said second means (16, 17, 25) and a projection magnification of said projected image is isotropically or anisotropically adjusted through said first means (34, 35, 36), whereby said projected image is overlaid on said pattern having been already formed on said substrate (W).
The apparatus of the present invention preliminarily obtains a state of a distortion of a chip pattern having been already formed on the substrate (W), for example. This can be done by detecting the state of the distortion of the pattern on the substrate by the distortion detecting means (30, 31) or by inputting characteristics of the distortion of projected image by an exposure apparatus for previous exposure through the input means (22). Then, in accordance with the state of distortion of the pattern on the substrate, the first means (34, 35, 36) drives a lens element in the projection optical system (PL) or controls the pressure or the temperature of gas in a hermetically sealed space between some lenses, for example. This can adjust a projection magnification of the projected image of the pattern on the mask in the direction perpendicular to the scanning directions. Also, the second means (16, 17, 25) adjusts a relative speed between the mask (R) and the substrate (W) in accordance with the state of distortion of the pattern on the substrate. This can adjust a projection magnification of the projected image of the pattern on the mask in the scanning directions.
For example, consider a case in which only a magnification component of the pattern on the substrate is changed as shown in FIG. 6. Letting xcex20 be a projection magnification of the projection optical system and V be a scanning speed of the mask in its scanning direction (referred to as xe2x80x9cxe2x88x92X directionxe2x80x9d), a scanning speed of the substrate in the X direction is defined as xcex20V. If a magnification error of the pattern on the substrate in the scanning direction is a and a magnification error in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction is xcex3, the main control system (16) sets the projection magnification of projection optical system to (xcex20+xcex3) and the scanning speed of the substrate upon scanning exposure to (xcex20+xcex1)V. By this, the projected image of the pattern on the mask can be accurately overlaid on the pattern on the substrate.
Also, for example in case a pattern on the substrate is distorted in a trapezoidal shape as shown in FIG. 8 or in FIG. 9, the projected image of the pattern on the mask can be overlaid with high accuracy on the pattern on the substrate in accordance therewith by controlling the imaging properties of projection optical system (PL) so as to distort the projected image of the pattern on the mask and continuously changing the imaging properties of the projection optical system and the scanning speed of the substrate during scanning exposure.
A scanning exposure method according to the present invention is arranged, with respect to a projection optical system for projecting a pattern image on the mask to the photosensitive substrate, to scan the mask in a predetermined direction intersecting the optical axis of said projection optical system while scanning the substrate in a direction corresponding to said predetermined direction in synchronization therewith, thereby transferring the pattern image on said mask onto said substrate. Then, a distortion is given to the pattern image which is transferred from the mask onto the substrate during the scanning exposure in accordance with anisotropical component values (such as degree of parallelogram, degree of rectangle, degree of trapezoid, etc.) within the distortion of the projected image by the projection optical system. Further, in this case, it is preferable that the mask pattern should be distorted in advance so as to set off the anisotropic component values in the distortion of said projected image.
According to such scanning exposure method of the present invention, a pattern image of the mask is distorted by adjusting an angle between the scanning direction of the mask and that of the substrate, a relative scanning speed, a projection magnification, or the like, at the scanning exposure in accordance with the anisotropic component values within the distortion of the projected image by the projection optical system. For this reason, if there is an anisotropic distortion of the projected image, deterioration in the image quality of a pattern image which is finally formed on the substrate can be suppressed to the minimum. Therefore, the resolution of the image finally formed on the substrate is not lowered. Further, in the distortion of the projected image, the anisotropic components which can be adjusted and controlled at the scanning exposure are not necessarily adjusted exactly to predetermined allowable values at the time of assembling and regulating of the projection optical system, but may be roughly adjusted, which brings about an advantage that the manufacturing time of the projection optical system and, in its turn, that of the exposure apparatus can be reduced.
If there is no distortion in a pattern on the mask, an anisotropic distortion remains in an image which is formed on the substrate in accordance with a distortion of a projected image by the projection optical system. Thus, in order to remove this remaining distortion, the pattern on the mask is distorted in such a manner that it should set off the distortion of the projected image in advance. In other words, it is possible to obtain a pattern image without distortion after the scanning exposure by reversely correcting the pattern on the mask for the distortion of the projected image, thereby improving the overlay accuracy between adjacent layers.
A scanning exposure apparatus of the present invention is provided with a projection optical system for projecting a pattern image on a mask onto a photosensitive substrate, a mask stage for scanning the mask in a predetermined direction crossing the optical axis of said projection optical system, and a substrate stage for scanning the substrate in a direction crossing the optical axis of the projection optical system and corresponding to said predetermined direction, wherein the pattern image on the mask is transferred onto the substrate by synchronously scanning the mask and the substrate with respect to the projection optical system. The apparatus is further provided with a memory for storing anisotropic component values within a distortion of a projected image by the projection optical system, and a distortion control device for distorting the pattern image which is transferred onto the substrate at the scanning exposure in compliance with the anisotropic component values of the image distortion stored in said memory.
The distortion control device is, for example, an angle controller for varying a relative angle between a scanning direction of the mask by the mask stage and a scanning direction of the substrate by the substrate stage, or a speed controller for adjusting a relative speed between a scanning speed of the mask by the mask stage and a scanning speed of the substrate by the substrate stage, or a magnification controller for adjusting a projection magnification of the projection optical system. Further, the distortion control device may be constituted by combining any two out of the angle controller, the speed controller, and the magnification controller, or by combining all (three) of the controllers. It is preferable that an exposure amount distribution control device should be also provided for controlling distribution of an exposure amount on the substrate in accordance with an adjusted amount of the pattern image on the mask by the distortion control device.
According to the scanning exposure apparatus of the present invention, even if there is an anisotropic distortion in the projected image, deterioration in the quality of an image which is formed on the substrate can be finally suppressed to the minimum. Thus, the resolution of the pattern image is not damaged. Further, since the anisotropic components are not necessarily adjusted exactly to predetermined allowable values at the time of assembling and regulating of the projection optical system, but may be roughly adjusted, the manufacturing time of the projection optical system (exposure apparatus) can be reduced. By distorting the mask pattern in such a manner that a distortion of the projected image should be set off in advance, it is possible to obtain a pattern image without distortion after the scanning exposure, thereby improving the overlay accuracy between adjacent layers.
If the distortion control device is an angle controller which changes a relative angle between the scanning direction of the mask by the mask stage and the scanning direction of the substrate by the substrate stage, a distortion, for example, in the form of a parallelogram can be corrected. If the distortion control device is a speed controller which adjusts a relative speed between the scanning speed of the mask by the mask stage and the scanning speed of the substrate by the substrate stage, a distortion, for example, in a rectangular shape can be corrected. If the distortion control device is a magnification controller which adjusts a projection magnification of the projection optical system, a distortion, for example, in a trapezoidal shape which is symmetrical with respect to the axis parallel to the scanning direction can be corrected. Further, a trapezoidal distortion which is symmetrical in the non-scanning direction can be also corrected by combining the angle controller and the magnification controller and by adjusting a relative angle and a projection magnification during the scanning exposure.
When there is provided an exposure amount distribution control device for controlling an amount of exposure on the substrate or the distribution thereof in accordance with an amount of adjustment of a pattern image on the mask by the distortion control device, even if a distortion of the image on the substrate is corrected by the distortion control device, no unevenness occurs in the amount of exposure on the substrate, or an amount of exposure exceeding or less than a predetermined range is not given, that is, an amount of exposure on the entire region on which a pattern image can be formed on the substrate can be made substantially uniform and the amount of exposure can be maintained at a proper value.


A residue-removing solution for removing residues after a dry process, which includes an amine salt of a monocarboxylic acid and/or a salt of a polycarboxylic acid that forms a 7- or more-membered ring chelate with copper, and water, the residue-removing solution containing aqueous solution (A) or (B) as described herein. Also disclosed is a method for removing residues present on a semiconductor substrate after dry etching and/or ashing. Further, a method for manufacturing semiconductor devices is further disclosed, which includes subjecting a semiconductor substrate having Cu as an interconnect material, and a low dielectric constant film as an interlayer dielectric material, to dry etching and/or ashing; and bringing the processed semiconductor substrate into contact with the above residue-removing solution.

Heretofore, semiconductor devices with an Al/SiO2 multilayer interconnect structure, which uses Al, Al alloy or the like as an interconnect material, and uses an SiO2 film as an interlayer dielectric, have been mainly manufactured. In recent years, in order to reduce the interconnect delay caused by the miniaturization of semiconductor devices, semiconductor devices with a Cu/low-k multilayer interconnect structure, which uses Cu with low resistance as an interconnect material and a low-k film (a low dielectric constant film) with low interconnect capacitance as an interlayer dielectric, are being manufactured in large quantities.
Cu/low-k multilayer interconnect structures are produced by a process called damascene. In this process, an interconnect structure is obtained by forming trenches or holes (via holes) in an interlayer dielectric substrate, and then filling the trenches or holes with an interconnect material such as Cu.
In a process called dual damascene, trenches for an interconnect and via holes are formed continuously in an interlayer dielectric substrate made of a low-k film or the like, and then filled with an interconnect material such as Cu. A dual damascene structure can be formed by a via-first process, wherein via holes are formed prior to trenches for an interconnect; or conversely, by a trench-first process, wherein trenches for an interconnect are formed prior to via holes; or by other processes such as a middle-first process or a dual hard mask process.
In, for example, processes such as the via-first process via holes are formed in an interlayer dielectric substrate by dry etching, and then filled with a filling material and planarized. Lithography is subsequently performed to form trenches, and dry etching follows. Subsequently, ashing or a like process is performed to remove unwanted substances such as resist or filling material from the substrate having trenches and via holes.
Even after this process, however, unwanted substances (hereinafter referred to as "residues after a dry process") that cannot be completely removed remain on the substrate.
Moreover, dry processes using plasma, such as dry etching and ashing, cause damage to Cu used as the interconnect material and the low-k film as the interlayer dielectric. Further, when the substrate is exposed to air while being transferred from one process to another, a Cu oxide film is formed on the surface of the Cu metal interconnect.
In a damascene structure, when trenches and via holes are filled with TaN as a barrier metal and metals such as Cu as an interconnect material, the presence of residues or Cu oxide film after a dry process leads to defective semiconductor devices. For this reason, these residues are typically removed using a polymer-removing solution. Because the damaged low-k film is structurally more fragile than the original, it is easily etched by a chemical solution or the like, and undergoes changes in pattern dimensions. Thus, during removal of these residues, it is necessary to prevent the corrosion of Cu caused by the chemical solution, and inhibit etching of the low-k film.
When commercially available known polymer-removing solutions or etchants are used to remove the residues and Cu oxide films after a dry process, problems with workability arise. For example, the residues can be removed using hydrochloric acid or fluoric acid diluted with water, but a large number of dissociated H+ tend to cause Cu corrosion. Moreover, if the interlayer dielectric film (especially when it is a porous low-k interlayer dielectric film) has been damaged by dry etching, the surface condition of the interlayer dielectric may be degraded by etching, or the substrate cannot be processed to the dimensions as designed.
Further, dry processes are becoming more diverse due to the miniaturization of device structures, different types of low-k films, and the like. For example, in addition to known dry processes such as dry etching using a resist mask and ashing using oxygen plasma, dry processes such as dry etching using a hard mask and ashing using He/H2 plasma are now being used. Along with such changes, there is a desire for the residues and Cu oxide films after a dry process to be selectively removed without damaging Cu or low-k films.
Low-k films, however, are often damaged by a dry process; and, when cleaned with a polymer-removing solution, they are thus easily etched and undergo changes in pattern dimensions. Further, apparatuses for cleaning semiconductor devices are changing from batch-type apparatuses to single-wafer-type apparatuses. Accordingly, with a method that uses a known removing solution, it is difficult to completely remove, in a short period of time, the residues after a dry process, which strongly adhere to the Cu/low-k structure. Although the Cu bulk is not corroded by cleaning, a close examination thereof often reveals the presence of cracking and roughness along the grain boundaries of the Cu surface. It is very likely that the device performance is adversely affected by the minor cracking and roughness of the Cu surface. Further, the growth of Cu oxide films caused by exposure of processed wafers to air after the cleaning process may also cause device defects.
When Cu/low-k multilayer interconnect structures are formed using known chemical solutions such as hydrochloric acid and fluoric acid, it is difficult to inhibit Cu corrosion and etching of low-k films, and to selectively remove the Cu oxide films and residues after a dry process.
Polymer-removing solutions intended for Cu/low-k multilayer interconnect structures have recently been developed (for example, Patent Literatures 1 to 4). With these polymer-removing solutions, however, it is difficult to inhibit Cu corrosion and completely remove the residues after a dry process in a short period of time without damaging the low-k film. Further, it poses a greater challenge to inhibit cracking and roughness of the Cu surface.
In view of the above-described current situation, the inventors of the present invention proposed a chemical solution capable of inhibiting cracking and roughness of the Cu surface without damaging Cu and low-k films, and that is also capable of removing the residues after a dry process in a short period of time (Patent Literatures 5 and 6).
Today, however, there is a demand for a polymer-removing solution for higher quality Cu/low-k multilayer interconnect structures. Specifically, it is necessary to prevent Cu corrosion and minimize cracking and roughness of the Cu surface while causing little damage to newly introduced porous low-k films. In order to prevent further roughness of the Cu surface, it is imperative to leave, rather than remove, a Cu thin film layer, which is formed on the Cu surface as a result of damage during a dry process after residues are removed by the chemical solution. Additionally, methods for leaving this thin film as a protection film until the next process are spreading. Leaving the thin film is considered to be useful for improving the yield. There is a demand for a polymer-removing solution that satisfies the above-described requirements and that can completely remove residues after a dry process in a short period of time.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Solution for removal of residue after semiconductor dry process and residue removal method using same


A multi-terrain transport apparatus, such as a motorized wheelchair, that allows adjustment of the terrain-contacting surface area of a continuous track depending on the terrain encountered by the transport apparatus.

This disclosure relates to multi-terrain transport apparatuses. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, this disclosure relates to adaptive track assemblies for use in motorized wheelchairs or other personal transport apparatuses.
Conventional wheelchairs face difficulties when traversing uneven terrain or negotiating obstructions in the terrain. One difficulty is being unable to proceed when a wheel becomes stuck in a depression, such that when the user attempts to free himself/herself, the chair may be upset. A similar problem, with the same consequences, occurs when attempting to traverse obstructions, such as rocks, logs, or curbs, in the path of the wheelchair.
Other personal transport apparatuses may face similar challenges when traversing uneven terrain.


An audio correcting apparatus includes a speaker provided on a television apparatus, a microphone provided on a remote controller, an identifying unit which identifies an acoustic characteristic from the speaker to the microphone, and an acoustic characteristic setting unit having the acoustic characteristic. A signal obtained by allowing an audio signal input to the speaker to pass through the acoustic characteristic setting unit, and a signal representing ambient noise are input to an audio-correcting filter and a loudness-compensation-gain calculating unit. Based on both signals, the sound pressure level of sound output from the speaker is corrected so that the sound output from the speaker is clearly heard when reaching the user without being affected by the ambient noise.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an audio correcting apparatus in which the level of sound output from a piece of equipment, such as a television set or an audio apparatus, is corrected in response to ambient noise or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, when sudden noise is generated while a person is listening to sound from a television set or the like in the home, it becomes difficult for the person to hear the sound clearly. For example, when people in the vicinity speak or make some kind of noise, or there is some external noise, such as noise from a car, it becomes difficult for the person to listen clearly to what the person is watching or listening to. In such a case, in general, the person will then naturally increase the volume. To actually increase the volume after the sudden generation of noise or the like, a certain amount of time is required during which the person may fail to hear some of the sound.
As an example of the related art which enables a person to listen to sound even if ambient noise is generated, an in-vehicle speech correcting apparatus (for a car navigation apparatus) using volume correcting technology based on acoustic theory is known (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-166835, pages 3 to 7, FIGS. 1 to 10). This speech correcting apparatus includes a microphone provided at a listening position and performs gain correction on output sound in response to a noise level at the listening position. This enables the user of the apparatus to always be able to hear that which is represented by the sound, even if the noise level changes.
For the above speech correcting apparatus, the microphone must be provided at a position where the user listens to the sound. When considering the inside of the vehicle, in the case in which the user sits in the driver's seat, the listening position is almost fixed. Accordingly, the microphone may be actually provided at the listening position. However, when considering the case of listening to sound which is output from a television set or an audio apparatus for household use, the user will listen to the sound at his or her chosen position in a room. Accordingly, it is almost impossible to provide the microphone at that position since the required wiring is complicated. Although it is possible for the microphone to be mounted on part of the housing of the television set or the audio apparatus, it is difficult to employ such a solution because measurement of a sound pressure level at the listening position is essential for accurate volume adjustment based on volume correcting technology.


A device (124) receives information regarding allocation of an enhanced dedicated channel radio network temporary identifier (E-RNTI) (460) to user equipment (110) in a cell forward access channel (Cell_FACH) state, and receives information regarding a state change (520) associated with the user equipment (110). The device (124) determines that the E-RNTI (460) can be released based on the state change (520), and provides, to another device (122), a request (530) to release the E-RNTI (460) in response to the state change (520) and so that the E-RNTI (460) can be used by other user equipment (110).

An enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH) is used as a transport channel for user equipment in a Cell_FACH state. The E-DCH is used for common control channel (CCCH), dedicated control channel (DCCH), and/or dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) transmissions. One CCCH message can be sent at multiple transmission timing intervals (TTIs) so that re-ordering is needed. On the E-DCH channel temporarily granted to particular user equipment, the data packets are set to the network. There are control channels in the downlink direction used to control the granting of resources to the user equipment. The user equipment recognizes which control messages that are relevant by the E-DCH Radio Network Temporary Identifier (E-RNTI). The E-RNTI is allocated by a base station (or Node B) when the user equipment establishes an E-DCH, and is unique within a cell carrying the E-DCH. The E-RNTI may be included in a media access control (MAC) header when the user equipment accesses the E-DCH common channel. An E-DCH absolute grant channel (AGCH) with the E-RNTI is used for contention resolution. No contention resolution is performed for CCCH.
The E-RNTI allocated to the user equipment has to be unique within the cell among all of the user equipment that are using the E-DCH (i.e., the user equipment that are in the Cell_FACH state and the user equipment that are in the Cell_DCH state).
For the enhanced Cell_FACH in the uplink, MAC-i and MAC-is are used to support the E-DCH transmission in the Cell_FACH state. One MAC-is entity per user equipment is located in the serving radio network controller (RNC) for handling DCCH/DTCH transmissions in the Cell_FACH state for the E-DCH. The MAC-is for CCCH is located in the controlling RNC.
For the downlink, Cell_FACH users may also use a high-speed packet access (HSPA) channel. User equipment in the Cell_FACH state receive data packets on a HS-DSCH instead of on the FACH. A HS-DSCH is a channel used in the high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) that sends packets on a downlink to user equipment. With enhanced Cell_FACH in the downlink, users in a Cell_FACH state are allocated a HS-DSCH Radio Network Transaction Identifier (H-RNTI). An H-RNTI is allocated by a controlling RNC (CRNC) when the user equipment establish a HS-DSCH channel, and is unique within a cell carrying the HS-DSCH.
As described above, the E-RNTI is allocated by the base station whereas the H-RNTI is allocated by the controlling RNC. Even if allocation of E-RNTI in the base station has the advantage that the same node allocates the E-RNTI to users in both the Cell_FACH state and Cell_DCH state, and thus guarantee uniqueness of E-RNTI in the cell, such arrangements have several disadvantages. For example, such arrangements do not remove (or release) unused E-RNTIs allocated to Cell_FACH user equipment when required. Furthermore, as different nodes allocate the H-RNTI and the E-RNTI, the relation between a dedicated H-RNTI (e.g., used for enhanced FACH) and the E-RNTI is unknown to the nodes supporting the user equipment using the E-DCH in the Cell_FACH state. The base station needs to know this relation for discontinuous reception (DRX) and other radio channel handling purpose.

Handling identifiers for enhanced dedicated channels in cell forward access channel states


A running board is provided by the invention. The running board includes a deck, a stepping surface material, and a step cover. The stepping surface material includes raised portions that prevent foot slippage. The cover portion partially overlaps the stepping material to secure it in a place on the deck. A motor vehicle with a running board and methods for installing the running board are also provided.

Many types of vehicles, including sports utility vehicles, pick up trucks, and vans, are raised off the ground farther than normal passenger automobiles. The increased height of the floor of the passenger cab from the ground makes it difficult to enter and exit these vehicles. In addition, if the vehicles are driven over rough terrain, their lower body panels and door panels are susceptible to being scratched, dented, or otherwise damaged by rocks or other ground debris. Accordingly, running boards provide a stepping surface to assist the driver and passengers in entering and exiting these vehicles. In addition, the running boards protect the body of the vehicles from being damaged from below.
Running boards commonly include a least two different materials that are attached together, namely, a first material for the body of the running board and a second material for the stepping surface of the running board. There exist numerous references describing various running board designs. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,979 to Bernard; U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,589 to Delgado et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 1,861,430 to Bronson; 300,536 to Holloway et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,638 to Straka; U.S. Pat. No. 2,122,240 to Smith; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,021,522 to Schacht.

Running board, motor vehicle including a running board, and a method for installing a running board to a motor vehicle


An assembly includes a gas turbine engine, a compartment wall, and a gutter system. The gas turbine engine has a spool connected to a fan shaft via a gear system. The compartment wall is positioned radially outward from the gear system. The gutter system is positioned radially outward from the gear system for capturing lubricating liquid slung from the gear system and positioned radially inward of the compartment wall. The gutter system includes a gutter and a flow passage fluidically connected to the gutter. The flow passage has a plurality of holes that allow the lubricating liquid to pass through the flow passage into a space between the flow passage and the compartment wall.

The present invention relates to a lubrication system, and more particularly, to a lubrication system for a fan drive gear system in gas turbine engines.
In many gas turbine engines, a low pressure spool includes a low pressure turbine connected to and driving a low pressure compressor, and a high pressure spool includes a high pressure turbine connected to and driving a high pressure compressor. In some gas turbine engines, a fan at the front of the engine is connected to the low pressure spool through a fan drive gear system. One or more supply pumps supply lubricating liquid to the fan drive gear system and one or more scavenge pumps typically scavenge the lubricating liquid from the fan drive gear system. If the scavenged lubricating liquid is highly aerated, a small scavenge pump may not be suitable to scavenge the lubricating liquid from the fan drive gear system, thus causing flow to back up and potentially lead to oil leakage, excess heat generation, and low oil quantity alarms. If a larger scavenge pump is used, that can add weight and take additional space, which is undesirable in systems where weight and space are a premium.

Oil bypass channel deaerator for a geared turbofan engine


Disclosed herein is an object image capture apparatus. The object image capture apparatus includes a first camera unit, a second camera unit, and a control unit. The first camera unit obtains a wide-area view image by capturing a wide-area view region. The second camera unit obtains a close-up view image by capturing the close-up view region of the wide-area view region. The control unit controls the second camera unit by dividing the wide-area view image into a plurality of blocks, analyzing the resulting blocks, and defining a target block, in which a moving object is detected, as a close-up view region from among the plurality of blocks.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an object image capture apparatus and method, and, more particularly, to an object image capture apparatus and method which effectively improves the capture of object information in video surveillance, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Human Robot Interaction (HRI), and smart appliance fields.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technologies for detecting and tracking an object or an interest region using a video image captured by a camera have been applied to various regions, such as a video surveillance system based on a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV), a user interface based on a gesture, human identification at a distance, an intelligent vehicle, and robot vision processing. Such an application system should essentially obtain detailed image information by effectively searching for a region in which an object or a motion was detected from a long distance away.
First, the simplest moving object tracking method corresponds to a technology for obtaining and analyzing an image in a predetermined region using one or more fixed camera apparatuses, thereby detecting an object. A second moving object tracking method corresponds to a technology for using a camera apparatus which can be controlled by a security and surveillance system in a Pan/Tilt/Zooming (PTZ) manner, with the result that the camera apparatus is manually controlled at a remote place, so that an image is obtained in a desired region and the obtained image is analyzed, thereby detecting a target. However, a method of tracking a moving object using a manual operation from among existing methods reaches the limit because the number of cameras increases in geometric progression. Further, conventional moving object tracking methods are lacking in flexibility in terms of the mutual cooperation between camera apparatuses used to effectively track a moving object. Therefore, conventional moving object tracking methods have problems in that effective performance cannot be provided to systems for controlling a camera and tracking a moving object at high speed, and in that the advantages of the camera systems, which can be controlled in a PTZ manner, cannot be effectively used.

Object image capture apparatus and method

ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE


Provided herein are conductive glass-metal compositions, as well as methods of making and using such compositions. In one example, the compositions include gold (Au) doped lithium-borate glasses shown to exhibit a transition from ionic to electronic conduction within the same sample. This is achieved via appropriate heat treatment, and particularly by heat treatment after annealing, wherein the post-annealing heat treatment is performed at temperatures below the glass transition temperature (Tg). The methods described herein are believed to introducing polarons formed from the trapping of electrons at partially ionized gold atoms. This unique electrical response provides new functionality to this class of nanocomposites. Additionally, increased thermal conductivity can be provided to an otherwise low conductive glass composition using the inventive methods and other subject matter provided herein.

Gold doped ruby glasses are classic examples of glass-metal composites that have been investigated for their striking optical properties. Manipulation of such glass-metal composites has been performed to alter the optical properties, such as to polarize or otherwise filter light.
In another field, transparent conducting oxides (TCO) are known to be used as a coating layer in a variety of technologies. For example, Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO), a subcategory of TCO, is becoming increasingly useful for a growing number of high tech applications, including liquid crystal display (LCD), phones, aircraft windshields, transparent antistatic panels, de-icing and heater applications, among others. However, Indium is in limited supply, as there is barely enough to meet U.S. needs, let alone global demands. Therefore, there exists a continuing and unmet need for conductive materials that provide the benefits of TCOs such as ITO, but that do not require rare metals such as Indium.

Conductive doped metal-glass compositions and methods


Various embodiments identify a design including circuit features and identify an operation that produces an aggressor for victim(s). The operation on the aggressor and the set of victims are implemented using local maximally spanning spacetile(s) while satisfying some design requirements. Where the set of victims includes interconnects, the design may allow no bend in some interconnects. One or more spacetiles are used to perform the operation on the aggressor and implement the interconnects while introducing no bends in the interconnects by using local maximally spanning spacetile(s). Some implementation may perform block modeling for the aggressor to perform the operation on the aggressor and implement a set of victims while preserving the relative order of the interconnects by using the block modeling for the aggressor.

Integrated circuits, or ICs, are created by patterning a substrate and materials deposited on the substrate. The substrate is typically a semiconductor wafer. The patterned features make up devices and interconnections. This process generally starts with a designer creating an integrated circuit by hierarchically defining functional components of the circuit using a hardware description language. From this high-level functional description, a physical circuit implementation dataset is created, which is usually in the form of a netlist. This netlist identifies logic cell instances from a cell library, and describes cell-to-cell connectivity.
Many phases of these electronic design activities may be performed with computer aided design (CAD) tools or electronic design automation (EDA) systems. For example, an integrated circuit designer may use a set of layout EDA application programs, such as a layout editor, to create a physical integrated circuit design layout from a logical circuit design. The layout EDA application uses geometric shapes of different materials to create the various electrical components on an integrated circuit and to represent electronic and circuit IC components as geometric objects with varying shapes and sizes. After an integrated circuit designer has created an initial integrated circuit layout, the integrated circuit designer then verifies and optimizes the integrated circuit layout using a set of EDA testing and analysis tools. Verification may include, for example, design rule checking to verify compliance with rules established for various IC parameters. The EDA layout editing tools are often performed interactively so that the designer can review and provide careful control over the details of the electronic design.
Typically, geometric information about the placement of the nodes and components onto the chip is determined by a placement process and a routing process. The placement process is a process for placing electronic components or circuit blocks on the chip and the routing process is the process for creating interconnections between the blocks and components according to the specified netlist. The task of all routers is the same—routers are given some pre-existing polygons consisting of pins on cells and optionally some pre-routes from the placers to create geometries so that all pins assigned to different nets are connected by wires and vias, that all wires and vias assigned to different nets do not overlap, and that all design rules are obeyed. That is, a router fails when two pins on the same net that should be connected are open, when two pins on two different nets that should remain open are shorted, or when some design rules are violated during routing.
A layout file is created from the placement and routing process, which assigns logic cells to physical locations in the device layout and routes their interconnections. The physical layout is typically described as many patterned layers, and the pattern of each layer is described by the union of a set of polygons. The layout data set is stored, for example in GDSII ("Graphic Data System II") or OASIS ("Open Artwork System Interchange Standard") formats. Component devices and interconnections of the integrated circuit are constructed layer by layer. A layer is deposited on the wafer and then it is patterned using a photolithography process and an etch process.
In modern integrated circuits, complex routing rules have led some customers to use restrictive routing rules. For example, some foundries impose upon the circuit designers some routing rules that require certain interconnect segments or certain areas of an electronic circuit design are not allowed to have any bends. Nonetheless, a subsequent addition to or modification of an electronic circuit design may lead to a certain feature encroaching upon a space claimed by another circuit feature such as an interconnect segment and thus requires the latter to be modified, often resulting in multiple bends to free up the space encroached upon to accommodate the addition to or modification of the electronic circuit design. Another commonly seen requirement is the preservation of the relative order of a bundle of interconnects connected to, for example, a computer bus that transfers data among components of a computing system with parallel or bit serial connections.
Thus, there exists a need for a method, a system, and an article of manufacture for implementing multi-layer local maximal spanning routing paths. There also exist a need for a method, a system, and an article of manufacture for implementing multi-layer routing paths while preserving the relative order of the routing paths.

Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for generating multi-layer local maximal orthogonal routing paths in fractured space


A cord management apparatus includes a housing, a reel rotatably disposed within the housing, and a button operably coupled to the reel and configured to control extension and retraction of a window blind cord attached to the reel, according to various embodiments. The housing may include a back portion and a front portion. The front portion may be at least one of detachably and pivotally coupled to the back portion such that the housing is openable to allow a user to have access to an internal chamber defined by the housing.

Window blind cords have been known to cause injuries and strangulations of children and animals. The greatest risk occurs when window blinds are pulled open and excess lengths of cord are made accessible, often dangling down near or onto the ground. While there are a variety of conventional solutions that aim to help prevent injury or death to small children and pet animals from window blind cords, these conventional solutions are often cumbersome and unsightly. For example, some conventional devices leave the window blind cords exposed, others require the user to manually wind the cords, and other are difficult and/or time consuming to install.


A model controller includes a trackball, a first sensor adjacent to the trackball to detect a first coordinate movement of the trackball, and a second sensor adjacent to the trackball to detect a second and a third coordinate movement of the trackball. The model controller further includes a third sensor to detect movement of the model controller along a surface, and a fourth sensor to detect movement of a wheel coupled to the model controller.

Input devices such as a controller, a mouse, a touchpad, a pointing stick, a touchscreen, a joy stick, and a trackball, among others, may be used to control the movement of on-screen position identifiers such as pointers. Further, input devices may be used to move objects on the screen, or perform other selection and positional processes with regard to objects displayed on a display device. For example, a controller may be used to manipulate the position, location, and perspective of a two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) object in a computer-aided design (CAD) program in up to six degrees of freedom.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An HVAC remote controller for use in an HVAC system is described. In some instances, the HVAC remote controller may include a wireless interface for communicating with one or more HVAC controllers and/or other HVAC devices. The HVAC remote controller may be configured to automatically determine whether the HVAC system is a zoned HVAC system or a non-zoned HVAC system, and operate accordingly.

Heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) systems are often used to control the comfort level within a building or other structure. Many HVAC controllers include a controller that activates and deactivates one or more HVAC components of the HVAC system to affect and control one or more environmental conditions within the building. These environmental conditions can include, but are not limited to, temperature, humidity, and/or ventilation.
In some but not all cases, the HVAC controllers are embodied in a thermostat that is mounted to a wall or the like within a building. A typical thermostat includes a local temperature sensor, and/or in some cases, accesses other sensors such as one or more remote temperature sensors. The sensors are used to sense one or more environmental conditions of the inside space, and provide a measure of the sensed environmental condition to the HVAC controller. The HVAC controller may use the measure provided by the sensor to control the one or more HVAC components to achieve desired programmed or set environmental conditions. In many cases, the sensors are provided within the housing of the HVAC controller itself, which is typically mounted at or near the walls of the building, and/or the sensors are mounted at particular fixed locations within the building, which are also typically located at or near the walls of the building. In some cases, the environmental conditions at or near the walls of the building can be different from the environmental conditions away from the walls. As such, the environmental conditions sensed by the sensors sometimes do not accurately represent the actual environmental conditions felt by the occupants of the building.
HVAC controllers often have a user interface that can be used to program or otherwise operate the HVAC controller. By interacting with the user interface, the user may, for example, change a set point, program a schedule, enable or disable certain HVAC components, and/or perform some other action or tasks. In order to interact with the user interface, the user must typically physically walk over to the HVAC controller. In zoned systems, which typically include a plurality of HVAC controllers, the user must typically often walk over and interact with each HVAC controller where changes are desired.

Remote control for use in zoned and non-zoned HVAC systems


A method for forming an ocular drug delivery device includes the steps of: (1) forming a drug core containing an active agent, wherein the drug core has a barrier disposed all surfaces thereof except for a drug release surface which is left free of the barrier; (2) forming a drug release membrane over the drug release surface; and (3) forming the remaining portion of the device body by an overcast (overmold) process.

There are a vast number of ways for delivering an active agent, such as a drug, to the body. For example, the active agent can be delivered topically or can be ingested in pill form, etc. In addition, mechanisms for sustained release of the active agent over a predetermined period of time are also known.
One type of drug delivery device is an ocular drug delivery device that delivers an active agent to the eye. The idea of placing a solid device into or near the eye to deliver a drug or a lubricant over time is not new. Most recent scientific interest in this field stems from advances in surgical techniques, pharmacology and pharmacokinetics, as well as the availability of improved polymer systems that can be tailored to the specific needs of ocular drug delivery. For clarity, the distinction should be made between a device that is "inserted into the eye", meaning placed under the eyelids, external to the eyeball itself, and traditionally referred to as an "ocular insert", vs. a device that is inserted into the eye surgically, meaning an intraocular insert placed inside the eyeball, or partly inside the eyeball itself. In fact, some devices are implanted in the layers of connective tissue forming the globe of the eyeball, and may even extend through these layers into the eyeball. And some that could be inserted topically under the eyelids could also be surgically implanted under the outermost layer, the conjunctiva, anteriorly, or Tenon's capsule, posteriorly, and would correctly be referred to as subconjunctival or sub-Tenon's inserts. This would be done via a minimally invasive procedure that does not open into the eyeball itself, but rather into the space currently utilized by ophthalmologists for subconjunctival or sub-Tenon's injections.
While there are conventional ocular drug delivery devices that include a drug core holding drug for release, these devices are constructed such that the drug delivery device is formed with a recess (well) that receives a separate drug core. A release membrane is then disposed over the drug core in the situation where a delayed/sustained release profile is desired. This process for forming the drug delivery device is time consuming and has certain limitations and deficiencies as discussed herein.

Method for forming an ocular drug delivery device


A journaling subsystem on a mobile device stores event data related to applications or other subsystems running on the mobile device. The event data can be stored and indexed in a journal database so that a timeline of past events can be reconstructed in response to search queries. In some implementations, a timeline can be reconstructed with markers on a map display based on search results. When the user interacts with a marker on the map display, the event data collected by the mobile device is made available to the user.

Modern mobile devices, such as a smart phone, can include a variety of applications. Some examples of applications include but are not limited to: a map or navigation service, digital photography, a media player, telephony, email, text messaging, a web browser, an address book, a voice memo recorder, and many other useful applications. A typical user may use one or more of these applications many times a day. These applications can capture, generate and receive information, which can then be stored or communicated to other devices.
To support these applications, a modern mobile device can have a variety of subsystems, including but not limited to: a camera subsystem, a wireless communications subsystem (e.g., WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth), a radio broadcast receiver (e.g., FM stereo receiver), an audio/video subsystem, a power management subsystem, a geographic positioning device (e.g., a GPS receiver), a stereo receiver, a memory subsystem, motion sensors (e.g., accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer), light sensors, touch sensitive displays and pads, etc.
For many mobile devices, there is no mechanism available for reconstructing past events occurring on the mobile device in a comprehensive manner.


An oxide superconductor contains carbonate radicals and compositions represented by the general formula (Ba.sub.1-x Sr.sub.x).sub.2 Cu.sub.1+y C.sub.w O.sub.3+Z, wherein x, y, w and z satisfy the following relations: 0.25.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.64, -0.11.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.0.77, 0.89.ltoreq.w.ltoreq.1.77 and 1.67.ltoreq.z.ltoreq.4.33. The superconductor has a transition temperature of 20 K. or higher and a coherence length of 30 .ANG..

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to oxide superconducting materials and method for their preparation. It especially relates to a novel copper oxide superconducting material containing carbonate radicals and preparation methods thereof without using an apparatus for storing and supplying CO.sub.2 gas. Furthermore, this invention relates to Josephson junctions using the novel superconducting material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Several types of copper oxide superconductors have been discovered since high-T.sub.c superconductivity was detected in the La--Ba--Cu--O system. Superconductivity would arise from the layered perovskite-like structure having CuO.sub.6 octahedra, or CuO.sub.5 pyramids, or CuO.sub.2 square planes as a building unit. The layered perovskite-like structure and a sufficient carrier concentration of the material are essential factors for making the material superconducting as indicated by Osamura & Zhang (Japan.J.Appl.Phys.26, L2094-L2096, 1987). In this reference, a series of samples with nominal composition Ba.sub.8 YCu.sub.4 O.sub.16-d did not show any superconducting properties. It is considered that these samples have not sufficient hole concentrations to generate such properties.
On the other hand, a compound Sr.sub.2 CuO.sub.2 CO.sub.3 having CO.sub.3 anions is known to contain layers of CuO.sub.6 octahedra (Hirai et al., Nikkei Chyodendo 6-7, Feb. 3, 1992), but this compound was not made superconducting. The presence of carbonate as an impurity is known to degrade superconducting properties. Therefore, in the preparation of copper oxide superconductors much effort has been given to eliminate the carbonate impurity, and thus nobody is convinced of a superconducting material in which carbonate radicals are incorporated in the structure.

Copper oxide superconductor containing carbonate radicals

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


A first and a second instance of a common structured stack are formed, respectively, on a first fin and a second fin. The common structured stack includes a work-function metal layer, and a barrier layer. The barrier layer of the first instance of the common structured stack is etched through, and the work-function metal layer of the first instance of the common structure is partially etched. The partial etch forms a thinner work-function metal layer, having an oxide of the work-function metal as a new barrier layer. A gate element is formed on the new barrier layer.

Conventional techniques are used in large scale integrated circuit chips, such as system-on-chip (SOC) devices, to provide different transistor devices with different voltage thresholds (hereinafter "Vt"). One reason is to reduce power consumption. For example, high Vt (hereinafter "HVT") devices may be used where timing is not a critical concern. On the other hand standard Vt (hereinafter "SVT") and low Vt (hereinafter "LVT) device may be used where timing is a critical concern. One conventional technique for varying the Vt in transistor devices is to vary the channel doping. However, the conventional technique of varying Vt by varying channel doping can have shortcomings. One is that is in smaller devices, such as FinFETs, the channel doping may provide a lower than desired range of Vt tuning. Another manifestation, particularly in FinFETs, can be a random dopant fluctuation, e.g., due to fabrication tolerances. The random dopant variation may cause unwanted variance in channel mobility, including an increase percentage of devices having unacceptable channel mobility.
One pursuit of a solution is to find a means to control the work-function of the gate. One conventional technique is to fabricate the gates of devices using different work-function metals. For example, one work-function metal may be used in the gate LVT devices, another in the gate of SVT devices, and still another in the gate of HVT devices. This conventional technique may be termed a "conventional multi work-function metal" technique. The conventional multi work-function metal technique, however, can have substantial shortcomings, such as a significant increase in complexity and cost of fabrication.

Method and apparatus of multi threshold voltage CMOS