A desolderer and heater assembly therefor wherein the heater assembly includes at least a heating element and a solder transfer means where the forward end of the solder transfer means is adapted to receive a desoldering tip and where the thermal characteristics of the rear end portion of the solder transfer means are such that the heater element raises the rear end portion of the solder transfer means to a solder melting temperature shortly after the tip reaches this temperature. The desolderer includes a solder collection chamber into which molten solder is ejected from the solder transfer means where the solder collection chamber may be disposed either inside or outside the desolderer handle. Various embodiments are described whereby the heater assembly may be adapted to receive a seal mounting member so that the forward end of the solder collection chamber can be sealed at a surface which is removed from the path the molten solder traverses through the solder transfer means.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to desolderers and heater assemblies for use therewith.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In FIG. 1, there is illustrated a desolderer which corresponds to that shown in FIG. 6 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,897 granted to W. J. Siegel and assigned to the assignee of the present application, the foregoing patent being incorporated herein by reference. Other prior art references of interest related to U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,897 are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,422,247; 3,469,759 and 4,023,724.
Referring to FIG. 1, the desolderer 10 may comprise a removable tubular tip 12 which extends forward from a heater assembly 14. Rearward of heater assembly 14 is thermal baffle assembly 16, then handle assembly 17 and finally a vacuum fitting assembly 19.
Referring to heater assembly 14, a metallic tube 50 may have a resistance wire heating element 49 wound thereabout and an insulating ceramic 54 around the resistance wire where elements 49 and 54 together comprise heating element 52. Tube 50 may be formed by machining down one end of a bi-metallic tubular blank, having an outside tube of copper and an inner thinner tube of steel, to the relatively thin steel tube at rear end portion 51. At the untouched central portion 53 of the copper-steel bi-metallic tube, resistance wire 52 and ceramic insulator 54 may be placed. A terminal shoulder or flange 60 on which a sleeve 62 seats may be provided on a thick forward end portion 56 of tube 50.
A plurality of elongated circumferential slits 64 may be cut into sleeve 62 near the rearward terminus thereof to provide a thermal barrier between the front and rear ends of sleeve 62. In a similar manner the thin character of the wall at rear portion 51 of tube 50 acts to diminish conduction of heat rearward from resistance heater wire 52.
Axially rearward of sleeve 62 is thermal barrier assembly 16 formed by a pair of axially spaced apart circular plates 18 (metal) and 20 (non-metallic). Plates 18, 20 may each have a relatively large central aperture therein. The plates 18 and 20 may be maintained in their spaced apart relation by a plurality of screws 22 (or bolts) and spacer elements 24 symmetrically disposed near the periphery of plates 18, 20. At its rearward terminus sleeve 62 is attached (e.g. press fit, swaged, etc.) to plate 18 at the bounding edge of its central aperture. The essentially open air space provided between plates 18, 20 acts as thermal insulation between sleeve 62 and handle assembly 17 of solder extractor 10. Moreover the same air space acts to cool the exposed rear portion 51 of central tube 50 which extends through the central apertures of plates 18, 20.
A hollow hub 28, desirably of non-metallic construction (e.g. wood, bakelite), may be mounted on the back face of plate 20. The rearmost extent of tube 50 passes through the central aperture in plate 20 to a termination inside hub 28 at a forward seal 30, which may be of silicone rubber. Seal 30 is disposed between the bounding edges of the central aperture on plate 20 and hub 28 being maintained there by a washer member 31 which bears against the flanged rim of seal 30 and the body of hub 28 at recesses 33 therein.
Rearwardly of hub 28 from a circular seat thereon extends tubular handle grip 32 which may be formed of glass or of a transparent plastic. Handle grip 32 and hub 28 are the held parts of solder extractor 10. The power supply cord 28 may end at a junction box 34 mounted at the end of grip 32. From junction box 34 electrical leads 36 pass inside handle grip 32 then internally of hub 28, through an aperture in plate 20 and inside of sleeve 62 to the resistance wire heating element 52. The ground wire may be grounded to rear portion 51 of tube 50.
Central tube 50 extends rearwardly into hub 28 to forward seal 30. Seated on forward seal 30 is a solder collection chamber 72. This solder catcher tube 72 may comprise an elongated open cylinder which is sealed at its forward end by seating on forward seal 30 and at its rearward end by seating on the hollow (rubber) rear seal 80. A passage for flow of molten solder is provided by tip 12, tube 50 and chamber 72. Application of vacuum to vacuum fitting assembly 19 at the rear of chamber 72 transmits suction to the forward end of tip 12.
The vacuum fitting assembly 19 may include rear seal 80. Extending therethrough may be a baffle tube 82 whose front end is shaped into a flat imperforate base 90 and a reduced neck 92 having a radial hole 94. Rearward of seal 80 may be a spring biased bayonet lock formed by a spring 100, spring plate 102, a grooved stop or retainer 104 and lock member 105. The vacuum fitting assembly serves to retain chamber 72 inside handle grip 32 but readily removable therefrom.
In operation, desolderer 10 is applied in a well known manner to a terminal or the like which is to be desoldered. Although desolderer 10 is useful in many applications, it is desirable in many instances to work in very close quarters where the operator must be able to exercise fine control over the desoldering operation. The operator is aided in doing this, the shorter the tip-to-grip dimension is. This dimension is indicated in FIG. 1.
Accordingly, it is an important object of this invention to provide an improved desolderer having a short tip-to-grip dimension to thereby permit the operator to exercise more control over the desoldering operation.
As will be brought out in more detail hereinafter, a shortened tip-to-grip dimension is compatible with the employment of a smaller heater 52 whereby less wattage is needed to produce the same tip temperature as that produced by desolderer 10 of FIG. 1. Further, not only does the smaller heater make the desolderer more efficient but it also has less tendency to raise the temperature of handle 32. Since the handle temperature typically should not rise above about 120.degree. F. to ensure operator comfort, this, of course, is another important advantage of being able to employ a smaller heater.
Accordingly, it is another important object of this invention to provide an improved desolderer having a small heater whereby the desolderer operates more efficiently than conventional desolderers while at the same time there is less tendency for the handle of the desolderer to rise to an uncomfortable temperature for the operator.
It has typically been necessary to employ a relatively high wattage heater 52 in desolderer 10 of FIG. 1 so that the heat produced by heater 52 raises not only the temperature of tip 12 to a point where solder can be melted but also raises the temperature of the rear end 51 of tube 50 to a point where the molten solder will remain molten as it traverses from tip 12 to rear end portion 51 under the influence of the vacuum applied through assembly 19. Otherwise, the molten solder will tend to solidify before it reaches rear end portion 51 and thus clog or otherwise impede the passageway through tube 50.
It is thus a further object of this invention to provide an improved desolderer wherein a small heater may be employed and yet the tip and rear end of the solder transfer tube thereof are both maintained at at least the solder melting temperature.
Not only is it desirable to maintain both the tip and the rear end of the solder transfer tube at the solder melting temperature, but it is also desirable the tip be maintained at a temperature higher than that of the rear end of the transfer tube. Otherwise, the intermediate portion of the desolderer tends to draw more heat from the heater 52 than does tip 12 whereby the heater efficiency is diminished and the intermediate portion of the desolderer tends to overheat.
It is thus a further object of this invention to provide an improved desolderer wherein the tip is maintained at a higher temperature than the rear end of the solder transfer tube.
It is further desirable that the rear end of the solder transfer tube be raised to the solder melting temperature shortly after the temperature at tip 12 is raised to this temperature. When the FIG. 1 desolderer is first energized, tip 12 may reach the solder melting temperature in three minutes, for example, while rear end portion 51 may sometimes require 15 minutes, for example, to reach this temperature. Thus, if the operator uses the desolderer six minutes after it has been energized, he will initially be able to desolder a terminal connection; however, due to the fact that rear portion 51 has not reached the solder melting temperature, the molten solder formed at tip 12 may re-solidify in tube 50 before it reaches rear portion 51. Such solidification of the solder in tube 50 may cause blockage and is, of course, contrary to the desired object of maintaining the solder in its molten state until it reaches tube 72 where it may be collected.
Thus, it is a further object of this invention to provide an improved desolderer where the rear portion of the solder transfer tube is raised to the solder melting temperature shortly after the tip reaches this temperature.
As discussed above, not only does a large heater tend to be inefficient, but it also tends to increase the tip-to-grip dimension. That is, this dimension tends to be increased in order to provide a sufficiently long path (that is, sufficiently drop the temperature) from the heater to grip 32 whereby the grip may be maintained at a comfortable temperature for the operator. In the FIG. 1 desolderer, circumferential slits 64 are employed to assist in dropping the temperature along the support path which extends from heater 52 to handle 32 via sleeve 62, plate 18, screws 22, plate 20 and hub 28. Further, the air space between plates 18 and 20 is also an important factor in dropping the temperature along the foregoing path. Nevertheless, in the FIG. 1 embodiment, sleeve 62 has been elongated and preferably provided with circumferential slits 64 to assist in lowering the handle temperature to a comfortable level. However, this does result in a lengthening of the tip-to-grip dimension with an attendant diminution in operator control over the desolderer. Thus, by being able to employ a smaller heater in accordance with an important aspect of this invention, sleeve 62 need not be so long nor need it be provided with elongated slits 64 and yet the temperature at handle 32 can be reduced to a point comfortable for the operator.
Another factor which tends to raise the temperature of the handle 32 is the presence of the heated rear end portion 51 of tube 50 within the handle as can be seen in FIG. 1. As stated above, the rear portion 51 must be maintained at a solder melting temperature (typically 375.degree. F.) while the grip should be at a temperature of no more than 120.degree. F.
Accordingly, it is another important object of the present invention to provide an improved desolderer where in conjunction with other features of the invention, the rear end of tube 50 is not disposed within handle 32 and where it may, for example, be disposed within air space 16 or within sleeve 62 to thereby remove it from the handle and thus prevent it from tending to raise the handle temperature to a level uncomfortable for the operator.
There has now been described two paths by which heater 52 can heat handle 17 to an uncomfortable level. The first one is via the support path including sleeve 62, plate 18, screws 22 and hub 28, while the second one is via tube 50 to rear end portion 51.
It is a further important object of this invention to provide an improved desolderer whereby either or both of these paths are modified to thereby prevent the tendency for the handle temperature to rise to an uncomfortable level and/or to substantially lessen the tip-to-grip dimension of the improved desolderer compared with conventional desolderers.
As stated above, it is necessary to maintain the inner walls from tip 12 to rear end 51 of tube 50 at the solder melting temperature. Otherwise, the molten solder tends to re-solidify and clog tube 50. However, the necessity of maintaining rear end 51 at the solder melting temperature introduces a complication in that the seal surface A (FIG. 1) between seal 30 and rear end portion 51 is also raised to approximately this high temperature. Hence, there is a tendency for seal 30 to be short-lived since it is separated from the interior wall of tube 50 only by the thickness of the tube. From the foregoing it can be appreciated there are conflicting requirements to be met at the rear portion of tube 50. First, portion 51 should be hot enough to ensure that the solder is still in its molten state as it is ejected into collector tube 72. However, portion 51 should be cool enough to permit the formation of an effective, long-lived seal at the front end of collector tube 72. Otherwise, the vacuum applied through fitting 19 will not be efficiently transmitted to tip 12. Although there are provisions in U.S. Pat. No. 3,163,145 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,234 (assigned to the assignee of the present invention) for providing a separate seal point on the transfer tube, there is no explicit recognition in either of these patents of substantially dropping the temperature at the seal point with respect to the transfer tube to thereby provide a relatively cool seal point.
Accordingly, it is another important object of the present invention to provide an improved desolderer wherein the solder can be maintained in a molten state until it reaches the collection tube while at the same time the forward end of the tube can be sealed at a point which is maintained at a temperature which enhances seal longevity and effectiveness.
As discussed above, there are basically two rearward heat paths from heater 52 of FIG. 1. One extends to handle 17 via the support path (that is, sleeve 62, screws 22 and hub 28) while the other extends to solder collector tube 72 via tube 50 and seal 30. As also discussed above, the latter path serves two purposes which tend to conflict with one another--that is, (1) the maintenance of the solder in a molten state until it reaches tube 72 and (2) the provision of a surface upon which seal 30 can be mounted.
Hence, in accordance with a further important object of this invention there is provided an improved desolderer wherein three separate paths are provided. The first of these paths generally corresponds to the support path defined by sleeve 62, plate 18, screws 22, plate 20 and hub 28 of FIG. 1. The second of these paths is employed solely for the purpose of maintaining the solder in a molten state until it reaches solder collector tube 72 and the third path is employed for providing a surface upon which the forward end of collector tube 72 can be sealed.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved desolderer wherein the path including sleeve 62 of FIG. 1 also includes means for providing a seal for the forward end of collector tube 72 whereby only two paths extend rearwardly from heater 52.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that in addition to the paths extending rearwardly from the heater, there is, of course, the forward path extending to the tip. Accordingly, it is a further important object of this invention to so implement the various paths extending from the heater that the most heat is directed to the tip whereby the highest temperature of the desolderer is located at the tip. The path which draws the next greatest amount of heat extends through the transfer tube whereby the solder may be maintained in a molten state until it is ejected from the tube into the solder collector tube. The path which draws the least amount of heat is that which is connected to the seal for the forward end of the solder collector tube. If the support path including sleeve 64 is not also the path to the seal, the support also draws a small amount of heat.
Together with the above characteristics, it is an important object of this invention to provide a desolderer having all or most of the following features: (1) short tip-to-grip dimension, (2) small heater, (3) comfortable handle temperature, (4) solder maintained in molten state until ejected into solder collector tube, (5) rear end of solder transfer tube reaches solder melting temperature shortly after tip does whereby operator may, for example, use desolderer as soon as solder is quickly melted, (6) seal at forward end of solder collector tube is maintained at a relatively cool temperature and (7) tip is maintained at a higher temperature than rear end of solder transfer tube, which in turn is maintained at higher temperature than seal point for forward end of solder collector tube.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved desolderer combining all or many of the above features wherein the desolderer may be of (1) the in-line type (either straight or curved) disclosed in aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,897, where the solder collector is disposed within the handle, (2) the parallel collector tube type as disclosed in aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,163,145 (which is incorporated herein by reference) where the collector tube is outside and usually parallel to the handle although it need not necessarily be parallel or (3) a "hammer head" type where the heating element is arranged at an angle with respect to the handle and where the collector tube is typically parallel to the handle, the "hammer head" type (3) differing from the parallel collector tube type (2) basically in that in the type (2) desolderer the heating element is substantially aligned with the handle while in the "hammer head" type (3), the heating element is angularly disposed with respect to the handle.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved heater assembly for use in a desolderer, the heater assembly including at least a heating element and a solder transfer means where the forward end of the solder transfer means is adapted to receive a desoldering tip and where the thermal characteristics of the rear end portion of the solder transfer means are such that the heating element raises the rear end portion of the solder transfer means to a solder melting temperature shortly after the tip reaches this temperature.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved heater assembly which is adapted to receive a seal mounting means which provides a sealing surface for a seal for the forward end of the solder collection chamber of a desolderer, the sealing surface being separated from the path through which molten solder traverses in the desolderer.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from a reading of the following specification and claims taken with the drawing.

Desolderer and heater assembly for use therewith


A nitride semiconductor light-emitting device has an active layer of a single-quantum well structure or multi-quantum well made of a nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium. A first p-type clad layer made of a p-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum and gallium is provided in contact with one surface of the active layer. A second p-type clad layer made of a p-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum and gallium is provided on the first p-type clad layer. The second p-type clad layer has a larger band gap than that of the first p-type clad layer. An n-type semiconductor layer is provided in contact with the other surface of the active layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor light-emitting device such as a light-emitting diode (LED) or a laser diode (LD), and in particular to a light-emitting device having a semiconductor structure formed of all nitride semiconductor materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
As materials for a light-emitting device such as an LED or LD device which is expected of emitting a light ranging from ultraviolet to red, nitride semiconductor materials (InxAlyGa1-x-yN; 0xe2x89xa6x, 0xe2x89xa6y, x+yxe2x89xa61) are known, and blue and blue-green LEDs have been put to practical use in, for example, displays or signals.
The light-emitting device such as a blue LED or a blue-green LED formed of nitride semiconductor materials and now actually used has a double-heterostructure. This light-emitting device is fundamentally constructed such that an n-type contact layer consisting of an n-type GaN, an n-type clad layer consisting of an n-type AlGaN, an n-type active layer consisting of an n-type InGaN, a p-type clad layer consisting of a p-type AlGaN and a p-type contact layer consisting of a p-type GaN are superimposed on a substrate made for example of sapphire in the order mentioned. The active layer is doped with a donor impurity such as Si or Ge and/or an acceptor impurity such as Mn or Mg. The light emission wavelength of the LED device can be changed from the ultraviolet region to the red region by varying the content of In in the composition of InGaN of the active layer or by changing the kind of impurities to be doped into the active layer. The LED now put to practical use is an LED having an emission wavelength of 510 nm or less, with its active layer doped with both of donor and acceptor impurities. This LED is has a buffer layer formed of, for example, GaN or AlN between the substrate and the n-type contact layer.
On the other hand, there have been many proposals on a structure of an LD device to date. For example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication (Kokai) 6-21511 discloses a separation confinement type LD having a structure wherein an active layer consisting of InGaN and having a thickness of not more than 100 angstroms is interposed between an n-type GaN layer and a p-type GaN layer, and the resultant composite is further sandwiched between an n-type AlGaN layer and a p-type AlGaN layer. Both of the AlGaN layers functioning as a light confinement layer.
Through the realization of a double-heterostructure in an LED device as explained above, it has become possible to improve the light-emitting output, thus enabling the LED device to be actually used. However, since an InGaN layer doped with impurities is utilized as an active layer in this LED device, this LED device is accompanied with a drawback that the half band width of emission spectrum can not avoid from becoming wide. For example, a full color display provided with an LED device having a luminescent spectrum of wide half band width will exhibit a whitish luminescent light, thus narrowing the color-reproducing region thereof.
As for LD device, it is theoretically possible to realize a laser oscillation in a double-heterostructure comprising an active layer formed of a non-doped InGaN as described in the above-mentioned Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication 6-21511, but the laser oscillation is not yet realized with such a double-heterostructure. It is expected to greatly improve the emission output by making the active layer into a quantum well structure as described in this Publication. However, there are many problems to be solved, such as the preparation of an optical resonance surface or of an optical confinement layer, before the LD device can be actually realized.
In order to realize an LD device, the active layer thereof is required to exhibit a sharp and strong band-to-band emission. Even with an LED device, it is possible to obtain an emission spectrum having a narrow half band width, provided a band-to-band emission can be realized. However, the thickness of the active layer in the conventional LED device is relatively thick, i.e., 0.1 to 0.2 xcexcm, thus the thickness of InGaN layer hetero-epitaxially grown on an AlGaN layer already exceeds over the critical thickness, so that it was impossible with the conventional LED device to realize a strong band-to-band emission, thus failing to realize a laser oscillation. Meanwhile, if an LED device is formed into a quantum well structure by greatly thinning the active layer as shown in the above-mentioned Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication 6-21511, it may be possible to obtain a strong band-to-band emission. However, if the thickness of the active layer is thinned, the light confinement may then become insufficient thus making it impossible to realize a laser oscillation.
Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device which is capable of generating an excellent laser oscillation.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device which is capable of exhibiting an improved emission output.
These and other objects which will become apparent from the following detailed description have been achieved according to the present invention by a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising:
an active layer of a quantum well structure comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium, and having first and second main surfaces;
a first p-type clad layer comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum and gallium, and provided in contact with the second main surface of the active layer;
a second p-type clad layer comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum and gallium, having a larger band gap than that of the first p-type clad layer, and provided on the first p-type clad layer; and
an n-type semiconductor layer provided in contact with the first main surface of the active layer.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising:
an active layer comprising of a quantum well structure comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium, and having first and second main surfaces;
a first n-type clad layer made of an n-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum and gallium or of an n-type GaN, and provided in contact with the first main surface of the active layer, the first n-type clad layer having a thickness within a range of 10 angstroms to 1.0 xcexcm;
a second n-type clad layer comprising an n-type nitride semiconductor having a larger band gap than that of the first n-type clad layer, and provided on the first n-type clad layer; and
a p-type semiconductor layer provided in contact with the second main surface of the active layer.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising:
an active layer of a quantum well structure comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium, and having first and second main surfaces;
a first n-type clad layer made of an n-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum and gallium, or of an n-type GaN, and provided in contact with the first main surface of the active layer;
a second n-type clad layer comprising an n-type nitride semiconductor having a larger band gap than that of the first n-type clad layer, and provided on the first n-type clad layer;
a first p-type clad layer comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum and gallium, and provided in contact with the second main surface of the active layer; and
a second p-type clad layer comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum and gallium, having a larger band gap than that of the first p-type clad layer, and provided on the first p-type clad layer.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising an active layer of a quantum well structure comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium and interposed between an n-type nitride semiconductor layer and a p-type semiconductor layer, the p-type semiconductor layer including a p-type clad layer provided in contact with the active layer, the p-type clad layer comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum and gallium and having a thickness within a range of 10 angstroms to 1.0 xcexcm.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising an active layer of quantum well structure interposed between an n-type nitride semiconductor layer and a p-type semiconductor layer, the active layer comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium, and provided with a well layer having a thickness of not more than 70 angstroms.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising an active layer of a quantum well structure having first and second main surfaces, and comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium; and a first n-type clad layer comprising an n-type nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising an active layer of a quantum well structure having first and second main surfaces, and comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium; and a first p-type clad layer comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising:
an active layer comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium, and having first and second main surfaces;
a first n-type clad layer comprising an n-type nitride semiconductor not containing aluminum, and provided in contact with the first main surface of the active layer; and
a p-type clad layer comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor and having a surface region, at least the surface region comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum and gallium, the p-type clad layer being provided in contact with the second main surface of the active layer.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising an active layer of a quantum well structure comprising a nitride semiconductor; an negative electrode; a positive electrode; an n-type GaN contact layer provided in contact with the negative electrode; and a p-GaN contact layer provided in contact with the positive electrode.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising an active layer having first and second main surfaces, and comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium; and a first n-type clad layer comprising an n-type nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium, having a larger band gap than the active layer, and being provided in contact with the first main surface of the active layer.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising an active layer having first and second main surfaces, and comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium; and a first p-type clad layer comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium, having a larger band gap than the active layer, and being provided in contact with the second main surface of the active layer.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising:
an active layer comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium, and having first and second main surfaces;
a first n-type clad layer comprising an n-type nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium, having a larger band gap than that of the active layer, and provided in contact with the first main surface of the active layer;
a first p-type clad layer comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor containing indium and gallium, having a larger band gap than that of the active layer, and provided in contact with the second main surface of the active layer;
a second n-type clad layer comprising an n-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum and gallium, having a larger band gap than that of the first n-type clad layer, and provided in contact with the first n-type clad layer; and
a second p-type clad layer comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum and gallium, having a larger band gap than that of the first p-type clad layer, and provided on the first p-type clad layer.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising an active layer comprising a nitride semiconductor containing at least indium and interposed between a first n-type clad layer comprising an n-type nitride semiconductor having a smaller thermal expansion coefficient than that of the active layer and a first p-type clad layer comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor having a smaller thermal expansion coefficient than that of the active layer, wherein the active layer is of a single-quantum well structure or of a multi-quantum well structure, thereby to emit a light of lower energy than the inherent band gap energy of the nitride semiconductor forming the active layer.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising a first n-type clad layer made of an n-type nitride semiconductor containing indium or of an n-type GaN; and an active layer comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium, having a larger thermal expansion coefficient than that of the first n-type clad layer and provided in contact with the first n-type clad layer, wherein the active layer is of a single-quantum well structure or of a multi-quantum well structure, thereby to emit a light of lower energy than the inherent band gap energy of the nitride semiconductor forming the active layer.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device comprising an active layer comprising a nitride semiconductor containing indium; and a first p-type clad layer comprising a p-type nitride semiconductor containing aluminum, having a larger thermal expansion coefficient than that of the active layer and provided in contact with the active layer wherein the active layer is of a single-quantum well structure or of a multi-quantum well structure, thereby to emit a light of lower energy than the inherent band gap energy of the nitride semiconductor forming the active layer.

Nitride semiconductor light-emitting devices


Apparatus and method for connecting two electrical conductors (102,104) by means of a fluid bladder (110) interacting between a backing member (106) and one of the conductors (104). The bladder forms a compliant membrane surface (108) that transmits fluid pressure nearly hydrostatically from one conductor (104), to the other (102) such that the intimate contact of the surfaces (116) between the conductors provides an improved electrical connection, especially for small scale multi-conductors.

This invention relates to electrical connectors, and particularly to the type used in computers and similar electronic equipment.
In a variety of electronic applications, electrical connections must be made between one or a group of components, such as a circuit board, with one or a group of different components, such as a power source, a data bus, or the like. Commonly, these connections are not made directly between the components, but rather an intermediate connector is interposed between the components, usually the electrical connection between the components and the connector has been accomplished by some form of mechanical spring force between exposed contacts.
Until recently, such spring loading of the contacts was reasonably cost effective and posed few problems. As the size and/or complexity of circuit components and their associated printed or etched circuit conductors shrink, however, the size of the contacts for interconnecting components has also decreased. As the contact width of the electrical conductors and the spaces between the conductors drop below about 0.025 inch and now approach the range of 0.002-0.005 inch, known spring biased connectors cannot be effectively used. The forces required to make a mechanical spring connection between micro chips or miniature circuit boards cannot be provided by the small cross section of the contacts. The result is that a single chip must be mounted in a lead frame or similar device to provide expanded circuit paths and spaces, then the expanded paths must be connected to still another circuit board to expand the spacing enough to communicate with other devices and peripherals.
Another problem encountered not only with small multi-conductors but in larger ones as well, is the difficulty of assuring that all individual contacts associated with a given connection, are properly engaged and in intimate contact for efficient electrical conduction. Known connectors typically rely on rigid mechanical interaction between the connector and the conductors. This results in a wide variation in the force available for engaging individual contacts on the conductors.
Even in connections between single strand conductors, only a portion of the available contacting surfaces are actually mated, the rigid mechanical connector typically producing a distribution of point or line contacts rather than the desired intimate mating of the full contact surfaces.


An laser crystallization device and a method for crystallizing silicon by using the same is disclosed, to carry out the crystallization process at both the X-axis and Y-axis directions without rotation of a stage, wherein the laser crystallization device is includes a mask including first and second regions, the first region having an open part oriented in the X-axis direction, and the second region having an open part oriented in the Y-axis direction. A crystallization method includes positioning a substrate having an amorphous silicon layer on a stage; arranging a mask corresponding to the substrate to form first and second crystallizing blocks on irradiation of laser beam, the mask including a first region having a plurality of open parts oriented along the X-axis direction, and a second region having a plurality of open parts oriented along the Y-axis direction; crystallizing the substrate along the X-axis direction when the first region is open, and the stage is moved along the X-axis direction; and crystallizing the substrate along for the Y-axis direction of when the second region is open, and the stage is moved along the Y-axis direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, and more particularly, to a method for crystallizing silicon in both the X-axis and Y-axis directions without a rotation of a stage.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
As information technologies develop, various displays are in demand. Recently, many efforts have been made to research and develop various flat display panels such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an electroluminescent display (ELD), a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), and the like. Some types of the flat display panels have already been applied to various display devices.
LCD devices are widely used because of their characteristics and advantages, including high quality images, light-weight, thin and compact size, and low power consumption so as to be used in place of cathode ray tubes (CRT) for mobile image display devices. An LCD device has also been developed to receive broadcast signals to display, such as a television, a computer monitor, and the like.
Even if there are significant developments in LCD the technology for an image display in various fields, the image quality fails to meet the characteristics and advantages of an LCD display. In order to use a liquid crystal display device as a display device in various applications, development of an LCD device depends on realizing high image qualities, such as high resolution, high brightness, wide screen, and the like, as well as maintaining the characteristics of lightweight, compactness, and low power consumption.
An LCD display device includes an LCD panel displaying an image and a driving unit that applies driving signals to the LCD panel. The LCD panel includes first and second glass substrates bonded to each other so as to secure a space therebetween, and a liquid crystal layer is injected between the first and second glass substrates.
Formed on the first glass substrate (TFT array substrate) are a plurality of gate lines arranged in one direction at fixed intervals a plurality of data lines arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to the gate lines at fixed intervals, a plurality of pixel electrodes in pixel areas defined by the gate and data lines crossing each other, and a plurality of thin film transistors switched by signals on the gate lines to transfer signals of the data lines to the pixel electrodes. Formed on the second glass substrate (color filter substrate) are a black matrix layer that shields light in areas outside the pixel areas, an R/G/B color filter layer for realizing colors, and a common electrode for producing an image.
The above-described first and second substrates are separated from each other by spacers to provide a space therebetween, and are bonded to each other through a sealant having a liquid crystal injection inlet. Further, liquid crystal is injected between the two substrates. At this time, the liquid crystal injection method is carried out by maintaining a vacuum state within the gap between the two substrates bonded by the sealant. Then, the liquid crystal injection inlet is dipped in a vessel containing liquid crystal, so as to allow the liquid crystal to be injected into the gap between the two substrates by osmosis. After the liquid crystal is injected as described above, the liquid crystal injection inlet is sealed with an air-tight sealant.
The operating principle of a general liquid crystal display device uses the optical anisotropy and polarization characteristic of liquid crystal. Because of the thin and long structure of liquid crystal, the liquid crystal molecules are aligned to have a specific direction. Also, the direction of the alignment may be controlled by applying an induced electric field to the liquid crystal molecules. Therefore, when the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules is arbitrarily controlled, the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules is eventually altered. Subsequently, due to the optical anisotropy of liquid crystal, light rays are refracted in the direction of the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules, thereby producing image information.
Among current technologies, the active matrix liquid crystal display (LCD), which is formed of a thin film transistor and pixel electrodes aligned in a matrix and connected to the thin film transistor, is considered to be excellent for its high resolution and its ability to represent moving images.
A poly-silicon, having a high electric field mobility and low photocurrent, may be used to form a semiconductor layer of the above-described thin film transistor. The method for fabricating a poly-silicon can be divided into a low temperature fabrication process and a high temperature fabrication process depending upon the fabrication temperature.
The high temperature fabrication process requires a temperature condition approximate to 1000° C., which is equal to or higher than the temperature for modifying substrates. Accordingly, because glass substrates have poor heat-resistance, expensive quartz substrates having excellent heat-resistance should be used. And, when fabricating a poly-silicon thin film by using the high temperature fabrication process, deficient crystallization may occur due to high surface roughness and fine crystal grains, thereby resulting in deficient device application, as compared to the poly-silicon formed by the low temperature fabrication process. Therefore, technologies for crystallizing amorphous silicon, which can be vapor-deposited at a low temperature, to form a poly-silicon are being researched and developed.
The low temperature fabrication process can be categorized into laser crystallizing and metal induced crystallization processes. The laser crystallizing process includes irradiating a pulsed laser beam on a substrate. By using the pulsed laser beam, the solidification and condensation of the substrate can be repeated at a cycle unit of about 10 to 102 nanoseconds. This low temperature fabrication process is known for having the advantage that the damage caused on a lower insulating substrate may be minimized.
The related art silicon crystallization method using laser crystallizing will now be explained in detail. FIG. 1 illustrates a graph showing sizes of amorphous silicon particles by laser energy density. As shown in FIG. 1, the crystallization characteristic of the amorphous silicon may be described as having a first region, a second region, and a third region depending upon the intensity of the laser energy.
The first region is a partial melting region, whereby the intensity of the laser energy irradiated on an amorphous silicon layer melts only the amorphous silicon layer. After the irradiation, the surface of the amorphous silicon layer is partially melted in the first region, whereby small crystal grains are formed on the surface of the amorphous silicon layer after a solidification process.
The second region is a near-to-complete melting region, whereby the intensity of the laser energy, being higher than that of the first region, almost completely melts the amorphous silicon. After the melting, the remaining nuclei are used as seeds for a crystal growth, thereby forming crystal particles with an increased crystal growth as compared to the first region. However, the crystal particles formed in the second region are not uniform. Also, the second region is narrower than the first region.
The third region is a complete melting region, whereby laser energy with increased intensity, as compared to that of the second region, is irradiated to completely melt the amorphous silicon layer. After the complete melting of the amorphous silicon layer, a solidification process is carried out, so as to allow a homogenous nucleation, thereby forming a crystal silicon layer formed of fine and uniform crystal particles.
In the method for fabricating poly-silicon, the number of laser beam irradiations and degree of overlap are controlled in order to form uniform, large and rough crystal particles by using the energy density of the second region. However, the interfaces between a plurality of poly-silicon crystal particles act as obstacles for the electric current flow, thereby decreasing the reliability of the thin film transistor device. In addition, collisions between electrons may occur within the plurality of crystal particles causing damage to the insulating layer due to the collision current and deterioration, thereby resulting in a performance degradation. In order to resolve such problems when using a method for fabricating a poly-silicon by sequential lateral solidification (SLS) crystallization, the crystal growth of the silicon crystal particle occurs at a surface interface between liquid silicon and solid silicon in a direction perpendicular to the surface interface. The SLS crystallization method is disclosed in detail by Robert S. Sposilli, M. A. Crowder, and James S. Im, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 452, pp. 956-957, 1997.
In the SLS crystallization method, the amount of laser energy, the irradiation range of the laser beam, and the translation distance are controlled, so as to allow a predetermined length of lateral growth of the silicon crystal particle, thereby crystallizing the amorphous silicon into a single crystal. The irradiation device used in the SLS crystallization method concentrates the laser beam to a small and narrow region, and so the amorphous silicon layer deposited on the substrate cannot be simultaneously changed into polycrystalline. Therefore, in order to change the irradiation position on the substrate, the substrate having the amorphous silicon layer deposited thereon is mounted on a stage. Then, after an irradiation in a predetermined area, the substrate is translated so as to allow an irradiation to be performed on another area, thereby carrying out the irradiation process on the entire surface of the substrate. Alternatively, the laser may be mounted on a stage allowing it to move relative to the substrate.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a general SLS (Sequential Lateral Solidification) device. Referring to FIG. 2, the general SLS device includes a laser beam generator 1 for generating a laser beam, a focusing lens 2 for focusing the laser beam generated from the laser beam generator 1, a mask 3 for irradiating the laser beam to a substrate 10, and a reduction lens 4 for reducing the laser beam passing through the mask 3 to a smaller size. The laser beam generator 1 generally generates a light beam with a wavelength of about 308 nanometers (nm) using XeCl or 248 nanometers (nm) using KrF in an excimer laser. The laser beam generator 1 discharges an untreated laser beam. The discharged laser beam passes through an attenuator (not shown), in which the energy intensity is controlled. The laser beam is then irradiated to the focusing lens 2.
The substrate 10 having an amorphous silicon layer deposited thereon is fixed to an X-Y stage 5, which faces the mask 3. In order to crystallize an entire surface of the substrate 10, the X-Y stage is minutely displaced, thereby gradually expanding the crystallizing region. The mask 3 includes an open part 'A' allowing the laser beam to pass through, and a closed part 'B' absorbing the laser beam. The width of the open part 'A' determines the lateral growth length of the grains formed after the first exposure.
A method for crystallizing silicon using the general SLS device of FIG. 2 according to the related art will be described as follows. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating the laser crystallizing process according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 3, a buffer layer 21 and an amorphous silicon layer 22 are sequentially formed on a substrate 20. Then, a mask (not shown) with sequentially alternating open parts and closed parts is placed over the substrate 20 having the amorphous silicon layer 22 deposited thereon. Thereafter, the laser irradiation process is performed on the amorphous silicon layer 22. The amorphous silicon layer 22 is generally deposited on the substrate 20 by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, which results in a high content of hydrogen within the amorphous silicon layer 22 immediately after the deposition. However, when heated, hydrogen tends to escape from the thin film. Therefore, a primary heat treatment may be carried out on the amorphous silicon layer 22 in order to perform the dehydrogenation process. When the hydrogen is not eliminated during a prior process, the surface of the crystallized silicon layer becomes rough, thereby resulting in the poor electrical characteristics.
Hereinafter, a method for crystallizing the silicon by using the mask having the alternating open and closed parts of the same width in the aforementioned general SLS device will be described as follows. FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a related art mask. Referring to FIG. 4, the related art mask includes a plurality of open parts A and closed parts B, wherein the open and closed parts A and B alternate. The width of the open and closed parts A and B may be controlled. In FIG. 4, the width of the open part A is similar to that of the closed part B. Because there may be uncrystallized portions of the amorphous silicon layer left after the primary laser irradiation process, a second laser irradiation process is performed thereto. In the aforementioned silicon crystallization process, the size of crystal particle grown in the X-axis direction or Y-axis direction on the substrate is limited to 0.3 μm to 1 μm. Thus, a silicon crystallization process for producing large-sized crystal particles having great mobility characteristics is proposed by the crystallizing the substrate in the Y-axis direction after completion of the crystallization in the X-axis direction by moving the substrate.
Hereinafter, the silicon crystallization process performed in the X-axis and Y-axis directions will be described as follows. FIG. 5A to FIG. 5E are plan views illustrating a related art method for crystallizing the silicon by using the mask of FIG. 4. In FIG. 5A to FIG. 5E, the arrow designates a direction that the crystallization proceeds. Also, a substrate 30 is moved along the X-axis or the Y-axis by moving a stage having the substrate 30 placed thereon.
As shown in FIG. 5A, a mask 25 is placed above the substrate 30, and one laser pulse is irradiated thereon, whereby crystallation regions are formed on a first crystallizing block H of the substrate 30 depending upon the number of open parts A of the mask 25. In this case, each first crystallizing block H has a width 'L' and a length 'S'. Generally, a laser beam irradiation device places a reduction lens below the mask 25, whereby a laser beam pattern irradiated on the substrate 30 through the mask 25 is reduced by a constant rate of the reduction lens. For example, if the reduction rate is '5', as shown in FIG. 4, and a length and a width of the open part A are set as 'l ' and 's', one part on the crystallizing block H irradiated with the laser beam through the open part A of the mask has a length of l/5 and a width of s/5. As one laser pulse is irradiated onto the substrate through the mask 25, the crystallization process is carried out with the first crystallizing block H having the width 'L' and the length 'S'.
As shown in FIG. 5A, after arranging the mask 25 corresponding to the substrate 30, the substrate 30 is moved along the X-axis direction to the right a distance corresponding to the width L of the first crystallizing block H ({circle around (1)}), thereby carrying out the crystallization on a number of lines corresponding to the number of the open parts A of the mask 25.
As shown in FIG. 5B, after completing the crystallization for the open parts A along the X-axis direction to the right, the substrate 30 is moved upward along the Y-axis direction a distance corresponding to a width 't' of one part in the first crystallizing block H ({circle around (2)}). Subsequently, the substrate 30 is moved along the X-axis direction to the left a distance corresponding to the width L of the first crystallizing block H ({circle around (3)}), whereby the crystallization proceeds on the substrate in areas corresponding to the number of the open parts A of the mask 25. Upon completion of the crystallization along a horizontal direction of the substrate 30, a crystallization using the open parts A along a vertical direction of the substrate 30 a distance corresponding to (S+t) is carried out. Subsequently, after moving the substrate 30 upward along the Y-axis direction at a range corresponding to the length S of the first crystallizing block H, the process of ({circle around (1)}) to ({circle around (3)}) is repetitively performed to completely crystallize the entire surface of the substrate on the X-axis direction.
Referring to FIG. 5C, when the crystallization in the X-axis direction on the substrate 30 is completed, the substrate 30 is rotated at 90°. Then, as shown in FIG. 5D, after arranging the mask 25 corresponding to the substrate 30, the substrate 30 is moved along the X-axis direction towards the right a distance corresponding to the width L of the first crystallizing block H, to carry out the crystallization on a number of lines corresponding to the number of the open parts A of the mask 25. When the substrate is rotated at 90° during the crystallization process such as explained in FIG. 5A, the grains primarily grown in one direction on the substrate act as seeds to further crystal growth in a direction perpendicular to the previous crystals, thereby increasing the size of the grains.
After completing the crystallization in the X-axis direction to the right corresponding to the open parts A along a horizontal direction of the substrate 30 (which corresponds to the vertical direction of the substrate 30 in FIG. 5A), as shown in FIG. 5E, the substrate 30 is moved upward along the Y-axis direction a distance corresponding to the width 't' of one part in the first crystallizing block H ({circle around (6)}). Then, the substrate 30 is moved along the X-axis direction to the left a distance corresponding to the width L of the first crystallizing block H ({circle around (7)}), to carry out the crystallization on a number of lines corresponding to the number of the open parts A of the mask 25. Accordingly, when the crystallization in the X-axis direction to the left is completed along the horizontal direction of the substrate 30, the crystallization process continues after moving the substrate 30 vertically a distance corresponding to (S+t). After the substrate 30 is moved upward along the Y-axis direction a distance corresponding to the length S of the first crystallizing block H, the aforementioned process including ({circle around (6)}) is repetitively performed to complete the crystallization on the entire surface of the substrate 30 perpendicular to the first crystallization direction.
Generally, the crystallization process is carried out where the mask is in a fixed state, and the substrate 30 is moved for crystallization. At this time, the substrate 30 is moved in a direction opposite to the direction of the crystallization (the arrow direction). That is, in case of ({circle around (1)}), the crystallization progresses on the substrate 30 through the mask as the substrate 30 is moved along the X-axis direction to the right a distance corresponding to the beam length L of the open part A. During the process of ({circle around (2)}), the substrate 30 is moved upward along the Y-axis direction a distance corresponding to half (½) of the total width of the open and closed parts ((a+b)/2), and then again moved along the X-axis direction to the left a distance corresponding to the beam length L of the open part A, whereby the crystallization proceeds on the substrate 30 through the mask. Accordingly, after the crystallization on the substrate 30 corresponding to the mask along the X-axis direction through the movement of ({circle around (1)}) to ({circle around (3)}), the substrate 30 is moved upward along the Y-axis direction at the range corresponding to the length of the mask, so that the crystallization is progressed again through the process of ({circle around (1)}) to ({circle around (3)}).
However, the related art laser crystallization device and the method for crystallizing the silicon by using the same have the following disadvantages.
In the process of the X-axis and the Y-axis directions for improving the device characteristics, the crystallization on the substrate is progressed along the X-axis direction with the laser crystallization device including the mask having the open parts of the same shape, and then the substrate is rotated at 90° for crystallization in the perpendicular direction. However, if the substrate is large, it is difficult to rotate the substrate. Also, the process of rotating the substrate takes long time, thereby increasing the time for crystallizing the silicon on the substrate.

Crystallizing silicon using a laser beam transmitted through a mask


The ceramic material of the present invention contains a crystalline phase of a complex oxide containing a Group II element M and a rare earth element RE. The Group II element M is Sr, Ca, or Ba. An XRD diagram of the ceramic material shows a first new peak between peaks derived from the (040) plane and the (320) plane of MRE2O4. Such a ceramic material may be manufactured by, for example, preparing a material containing MRE2O4 or a material capable of reacting in thermal spray flame to produce MRE2O4 as a thermal spray material, and thermally spraying the thermal spray material onto a predetermined object.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a ceramic material, a method for manufacturing the same, and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus member.
2. Description of the Related Art
In semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses used in dry processes or for plasma coating in manufacture of semiconductors, highly reactive Cl-based plasma or the like is used for etching or cleaning. Accordingly, the members of these apparatus are required to be resistant to corrosion. The material of these embers is likely to corrode gradually through a long-time use, thus causing dust generation. This is a cause of contamination of semiconductor devices. Accordingly, a highly corrosion-resistant material is desired. Alumina, aluminum nitride, yttria, and the like are known as highly corrosion-resistant material and are Used in semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses. In addition to these materials, PTL 1 discloses a member containing a SrY2O4 crystalline phase or a SrYb2O4 crystalline phase as a corrosion-resistant member satisfying the above requirement. The etching rate of these corrosion-resistant members can be lower than those of Y2O3 and Al2O3.

Ceramic material, method for manufacturing the same, and semiconductor manufacturing apparatus member


A method for controlling remote configuration includes: a configuration management terminal requesting a configuration file to be remotely configured and managed from a configuration management server; the configuration management server returning a configuration item of the configuration file to the configuration management terminal according to a configuration definition corresponding to the configuration file, with the configuration definition including the attributes of the configuration item in the corresponding configuration file; and the configuration management terminal modifying the configuration item and then submitting the modified configuration item to the configuration management server, and the configuration management terminal modifying the configuration file after modifying and verifying the submitted configuration item according to the attributes of the configuration item. A system for controlling remote configuration maintains and manages the configuration items of various configuration files according to the configuration definitions corresponding to the configuration files, so as to achieve universal management of configuration files.

The modification and view of the configuration files are necessary for installation, upgrade and daily maintenance, however, with the enlargement of the application systems, there are more and more configuration files and configuration items, the management method of manually operating the configuration files has to switch among different hosts and repeatedly perform operations such as opening file, modifying file, saving file, etc., and when there are lots of file contents, the modification location cannot be positioned rapidly. The requirements on the operation and maintenance personnel are high, and they are required to be able to skillfully operate the edit tools of the operating systems. When directly modifying the files, there is no restriction on the input contents, which tends to result in modification errors and operation failure of the system. For example, characters are inputted where numbers should be inputted, and the input values where an IP address should be inputted fail to comply with the specification of the IP address. It is also difficult to manage the right of the configuration files and configuration items, i.e. different configuration files and configuration items are exhibited to different users. For example, the configuration files and configuration items which different types of users concern may be different; those files which need to be modified during installation may not be necessary during daily maintenance; and those configuration items which the short message service is interested in need not to be modified for the multimedia message service. The modification history cannot be recorded, and the modification history cannot be compared, which will bring certain risk to the maintenance work.
In the related art, although the interface configuration method for managing the configuration file partially solves the above problems, i.e. the user needs not to directly operate the files, instead, the modification of the file is achieved by a program, such method still has the following defects:
1. the program is dedicatedly written for a certain or some configuration files and not suitable for other configuration files, i.e. it has not universality; and
2. if there is a new configuration file, then a configuration page needs to be developed, which requires redeveloping a new program and has to go through steps such as test, issue, upgrade, etc., the period is rather long.

Control method and system for remote configuration


The invention includes a chimeric virus for use in a vaccine preparation having a genome comprising nucleic acid sequences encoding at least one structural protein from one flavivirus and nucleic acid sequences encoding nonstructural protein from another flavivirus. The genome preferably includes mutations within the viral genome that reduce virus virulence and in a particularly preferred embodiment these vaccines are directed to flaviviruses such as dengue virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus and Japanese encephalitis virus. The invention also includes a baculovirus having a recombinant dengue cDNA sequence which encodes: (1) dengue virus capsid protein, pre-matrix protein, envelope glycoprotein and NS1 and NS2a nonstructural proteins or (2) dengue envelope glycoprotein or (3) dengue non-structural proteins NS1 and NS2a. The invention further includes a baculovirus having a recombinant Japanese B encephalitis virus cDNA sequence which encodes the Japanese B encephalitis virus capsid protein, pre-matrix protein, envelope glycoprotein and non-structural proteins NS1 and NS2a. The invention further includes a vaccine and a method to produce that vaccine.

The family Flaviviridae includes approximately 60 enveloped, positive strand RNA viruses, most of which are transmitted by an insect vector. Many members of this family cause significant public health problems in different regions of the world (Monath, T. P. (1986) In: The Togaviridae and Flaviviridae. S. Schlesinger et al., eds. pp. 375-440. Plenum Press, New York). The genome of all flaviviruses sequenced thus far has the same gene order: 5'-C-preM-E-NS1-NS2A-NS2B-NS3-NS4A-NS4B-NS5-3' in which the first three genes code for the structural proteins the capsid (C), the premembrane protein (pre M) and the envelope protein (E).
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease which occurs in tropical and sub-tropical regions throughout the world. The dengue virus subgroup causes more human disease than any other member of the flavivirus family. Dengue is characterized by fever, rash, severe headache and joint pain. Its mortality rate is low. However, over the past few decades, a more severe form of dengue, characterized by hemorrhage and shock (dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome; DHF/DSS) has been observed with increasing frequency in children and young adults. DHF/DSS occurs most often during dengue virus infection in individuals previously infected with another dengue virus serotype. This has led to the suggestion that immune enhancement of viral replication plays a role in the pathogenesis of the more severe form of disease (Halstead, S. B. (1988) Science 239, 476-481).
Dengue epidemics are a major public health problem in many tropical and subtropical areas where the vector mosquito species are abundant. Despite 40 years of intensive research, safe and effective vaccines for dengue virus disease are not available. The WHO has assigned dengue virus as a high priority target for accelerated research and vaccine development.
Soon after their isolation in 1944, dengue viruses were passaged repeatedly in mouse brain, resulting in the selection of mouse neurovirulent mutants (Sabin, A. B. (1952) Amer. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 1:30-50). Interestingly, studies performed in volunteers showed that mouse brain-adapted neurovirulent mutants of three strains of type 1 or type 2 dengue virus were attenuated, but still immunogenic for humans (Sabin, A. B. (1952) Amer. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 1:30-50; Sabin, A. B. (1955) Amer. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 4:198-207; Sabin, A. B. (1955) Amer. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 4:198-207; Schlesinger, R. W. et al. (1956) J. Immunol. 77:352-364; Wisseman, C. L. et al. (1963) Amer. J. Trop. Med. 12:620-623). However, the mutants were not developed further as candidate vaccine strains because of concern for mouse brain antigens in the vaccine preparations. Since that time, virus mutants that: (i) exhibited the small plaque size phenotype, and/or (ii) were temperature sensitive, and/or (iii) were adapted to cell cultures derived from an unnatural host (i.e., host range mutants), have been selected and evaluated as candidates for inclusion in a live attenuated virus vaccine (Harrison, V. R. et al. (1977) Infec. Immun. 18:151-156; Hoke, C. H. et al. (1990) Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 43:219-226; Bhamarapravati, N. etal. (1987) Bull. WHO. 65:189-195). However, despite 25 years of such efforts, safe, effective dengue vaccines are still not available for general use. Inactivated whole dengue virus vaccines have been shown to be insufficiently immunogenic. Live virus vaccines attenuated by serial passage in cell culture have suffered from genetic instability under attenuation or poor immunogenicity. The present invention represents a technical breakthrough by providing chimeric dengue and flavivirus vaccines.
These four serotypes of dengue viruses (type 1 to type 4) are distinguishable by plaque reduction neutralization using serotype-specific monoclonal antibodies and by less specific tests using polyclonal sera (Bankcroft, W. M. et al. (1979) Pan Am. Hlth. Org. Sci. Publ. 375:175-178; Henchal, E. A. et al. (1982) Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 31:548-555). The existence of serotypes was first discovered during early studies in human volunteers, which showed that infection with one dengue serotype induced durable homotypic immunity, whereas heterotypic immunity lasted only 3 to 5 months (Sabin, A. B. (1952) Amer. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 1:30-50). An effective dengue vaccine that contains all four serotypes in order to induce broad immunity to dengue viruses in general would help to preclude the occurrence of DHF/DSS.
The complete nucleotide sequenece have been determined for dengue virus types 3 and 4 and several strains of type 2 virus including the mouse-neurovirulent New Guinea C, however, only the 5' portion of the type 1 virus genome has been sequenced (Mackow, E. et al. (1987) Virology 159:217-228; Zhao, B. et al. (1986) Virology 155:77-88; Osatomi, K. & Sumiyoshi, H. (1990) Virology 176:643-647; Irie, A. et al. (1989) Gene 75:197-211; Mason, P. W. et al. (1987) Virology 161:262-267; Hahn, Y. S. et al. (1988) Virology 162:167-180). The results of these studies indicate that the four dengue virus serotypes share a common genome organization. The genome of the dengue type 4 Caribbean strain 814669 was found to contain 10646 nucleotides (Mackow, E. et al. (1987) Virology 159:217-228; Zhao, B. et al. (1986) Virology 155:77-88). The first 101 nucleotides at the 5' end and the last 384 at the 3' end are non-coding. The remaining sequence codes for a 3386 amino-acid polyprotein which includes the three structural proteins, namely, capsid (C), premembrane (pre-M), and envelope (E), at its N-terminus, followed by seven non-structural proteins in the order, provided above, that is consistent with all Flavivirus genomes identified thus far. The polyprotein is processed to generate 11 or more viral proteins by cell signal peptidase(s) and by viral proteases (Markoff, L. (1 989) J. Virol, 63:3345-3352; Falgout, B. et al. (1989) J. Virol, 63:1852-1860; Falgout, B. et al. (1991) J. Virol. 65:2467-2476; Hori, H. & Lai, C. J. (1990) J. Virol. 64:4573-4577).
Previously we constructed a full-length dengue virus cDNA that could serve as the template for transcription of infectious RNA. We have obtained stably cloned full-length dengue virus cDNA and in vitro RNA transcripts derived from the DNA template were shown to be infectious for cells in culture. However, this infectious construct and infectious RNA transcripts generated therefrom are pathogenic. Moreover, the attenuated dengue viruses generated thus far are genetically unstable and have the potential to revert back to a pathogenic form over time. Yet, attenuated viruses are desirable since they are generally known to provided long-lasting immunity. Therefore, modifications to this construct or to chimeric constructs that then direct the production of a less pathogenic virus would be a considerable advance to attenuated flavivirus vaccine technology. Accordingly, we have constructed a series of deletions in the 3' non-coding region of cDNA, as disclosed herein, and have recovered viable dengue virus mutants for analysis of growth characteristics.
Other members of the Flavivirus family are also pathogenic. Examples include tick-borne encephalitis virus and Japanese Encephalitis Virus. Like attenuated dengue virus vaccines, attenuated tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) virus has tended to be genetically unstable and poorly immunogenic. Therefore, other attenuated flavivirus vaccines would also be a considerable advance in the art. Thus, this invention additionally employs modified full-length recombinant cDNA constructs of dengue virus or another flavivirus as a framework for gene manipulation and chimeric virus development for the production of vaccines to other Flaviviruses.
Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is transmitted exclusively by ticks and can be divided into two serologically distinguishable subtypes: the Eastern subtype (prototype strain Sofjin), prevalent in Siberian and Far Eastern regions of Russia, and the Western subtype (prototype strain Neudorfl), common in eastern and central Europe. TBEV causes a serious encephalitic illness with a mortality rate ranging from 1 to 30%. For a review of TBEV see Calisher, et al. (J. Gen. Virol 70: 37-43). Currently, an experimental TBE vaccine produced by formalin inactivation of TBEV is available, but this vaccine has several limitations. For example, the vaccine is not sufficiently immunogenic, therefore repeated vaccinations are required to generate a protective immune response. Even when antibody responses to the vaccine are present, the vaccine fails to provide protective responses to the virus in 20% of the population. Therefore, there remains a need for an improved TBEV vaccine.
Dengue viruses continue to cause major epidemics throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Despite many years of research effort, an effective vaccine is not available. The predominant disease associated with dengue viral infection is a debilitating illness known as dengue fever. Less frequently, dengue virus causes a hemorrhagic shock syndrome in young children, which has a very high mortality rate. Thus, control of dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic shock is a major global concern. Consequently, the WHO has designated the dengue viruses as one of five high priority targets for accelerated vaccine development. The industry is lacking a vaccine formed from a genetically engineered dengue protein.

Chimeric and/or growth-restricted flaviviruses

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


An optical fiber multi-ribbon and method for making the same is disclosed. The optical fiber multi-ribbon comprises N, where N is an integer greater than one, optical fiber ribbon members arranged in a common plane. Each of the N optical fiber ribbon members further comprise a plurality of optical fibers arranged in a planar array and an ultraviolet light curable primary matrix ribbonizing layer enveloping the plurality of optical fibers. The material forming the primary matrix ribbonizing layer of at least one of the N optical fiber ribbon members has a surface cure of at least about 80 percent. An ultraviolet light curable secondary matrix ribbonizing layer envelopes the primary matrix ribbonizing layers of the N optical fiber ribbon members. The secondary matrix ribbonizing layer material has a percent elongation to break greater than about 20 percent. The combination of the 80 percent surface cure of the primary matrix ribbonizing layers and the percent elongation to break greater than 20 percent of the secondary matrix ribbonizing layer provide an optical fiber multi-ribbon that has good handleability in terms of peeling of the secondary matrix ribbonizing layer from the primary matrix ribbonizing layer and good separation between the N optical fiber ribbons.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to optical fiber telecommunication cables. More particularly, the present invention relates to optical fiber multi-ribbon transmission elements for optical fiber telecommunications cables in which at least two independent optical fiber ribbons are adjacently disposed in a common plane and surrounded by a common exterior sheath.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Optical fiber cables are now widely used in the telecommunications field to transmit information. Optical fiber cables are frequently relying on optical fiber ribbons or multi-ribbons to achieve optimum packing density in high fiber count cables. Ribbonized fibers are chosen because they provide an organized structure which increases packing efficiency and permits rapid splicing and connectorization.
As the frequency of ribbonized fiber use has increased, the handleability of such ribbons has become very important. According to Lochovic et al., An Overview of Key Ribbon Handleability Attributes, International Wire & Cable Symposium Proceedings 1997, page 260, "handleability" is defined as the handling stages that a ribbon undergoes during installation and potential subsequent fiber access of a cable; beginning with the separation of a ribbon from the cable and concluding with the final fixation in the fiber optic system. According to this article, some of the attributes of handleability include: thermal strip; peelability; separability; furcatability; and robustness. The authors of the aforementioned article have found that manipulation of only the adhesion at the matrix and fiber interface to optimize peelability can degrade other handleability characteristics such as separability and robustness.
The optical fiber multi-ribbon of the present invention addresses the problems of peelability, splitability (also referred to as separability) and robustness which has been lacking in prior art optical fiber ribbons and multi-ribbons.

Optical fiber multi-ribbon and method for making the same


Immunoassay methods and reagents for the specific quantification of amitriptyline or nortriptyline in a test sample are disclosed employing antibodies prepared with amitriptyline or nortriptyline derivatives of the Formula III: ##STR1## wherein for amitriptyline, R is CH.sub.3, and for nortriptyline, R is H. The present invention also describes the synthesis of unique fluorescein tracers of the structure of Formula IV and Formula V: ##STR2## wherein for a specific amitriptyline immunoassay, W.sub.1 is a heteroatom linked to the aromatic ring at the 2 or 3 position, and for a specific nortriptyline immunoassay, W.sub.2 is two heteroatoms linked together and attached to the aromatic ring at the 2 or 3 position, and wherein Q is a detectable moiety, preferably fluorescein or a fluorescein derivative.

Amitriptyline and nortriptyline are tricyclic antidepressant drugs which are prescribed for the treatment of chronic depression and are represented by Formula I and Formula II, respectively: ##STR3##
When amitriptyline is the primary drug for such treatment, nortriptyline is usually present as a naturally occurring metabolite produced by demethylation of the tertiary nitrogen of amitriptyline. Accordingly, nortriptyline is not only present when it is prescribed as the primary drug for treatment of chronic depression, but is also present when amitriptyline is employed as the primary drug for such treatment.
The monitoring of therapeutic drug levels of amitriptyline and nortriptyline in biological fluids such as serum, plasma, whole blood, urine, and the like, has become very useful to provide physicians with information to aid in patient management. The monitoring of such drug levels enables adjustment of patient dosage to achieve optimal therapeutic effects, and helps avoid either subtherapeutic or toxic levels, especially in the case of treatment with amitriptyline which results in the presence of both amitriptyline and nortriptyline. In this regard, since high levels of amitriptyline and nortriptyline have been associated with central nervous system disorders, cardiovascular toxicity, hypertension, seizures, coma and death, the concentration of amitriptyline and nortriptyline in a patient's blood must be maintained in a therapeutic range, particularly since a wide interpatient variation normally exists in human plasma for a given dose.
Accordingly, since individuals vary greatly in their response to treatment with amitriptyline or nortriptyline, it is necessary to monitor the therapy by measuring both the levels of amitriptyline and nortriptyline where amitriptyline is the primary drug for treatment, or measuring the level of nortriptyline where nortriptyline is the primary drug for treatment, in, for example, the serum or plasma of the patient. Concentrations below the desired therapeutic ranges are proposed to be subtherapeutic for the treatment of depression, while levels higher than the range can be associated with undesirable effects including cardiovascular complications, anticholinergic effects, and sedation, without any increase in antidepressant efficacy.
The measurement of amitriptyline and nortriptyline levels by chromatographic techniques, such as high pressure liquid chromato-graphy [Dorey, et al., Clin. Chem., 34, 2348-2351 (1988)], gas chromatography [Garland, et al., Clin. Pharmacol. Ther., 25, 844-856 (1979)], thin-layer chromatography [Nagy, et al., J. Pharm. Pharmacol., 25, 599-603 (1973)], have been described. However, such techniques are labor intensive, requiring highly skilled personnel to perform various cumbersome steps which are time consuming and tedious.
The immunoassay determination of the levels of tricyclic antidepressant drugs, such as by radioimmunoassay (RIA) techniques [Sayegh, Neurochem. Res., 11, 193-206 ( 1986); Virtanen, Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Invest., 40, 191-197, (1980)], by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques [Denis, et al., Clin. Chem. Acta, 159, 257-267 (1986)], by fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) techniques [U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,568 and European Patent Application No. 226,730], and by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) techniques [U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,245, U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,013 and Pankey et. al., Clin. Chem., 32, 768-772 (1986)], have been described. However, these techniques suffer from either a lack of specificity, i.e. determination of amitriptyline in the presence of nortriptyline and amitriptyline metabolites and determination of nortriptyline in the presence of amitriptyline and nortriptyline metabolites, or require labor-intensive column purification to overcome the lack of antibody specificity in the presence of the analyte's metabolites. In particular, a non-specific fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) for the detection of the total amount of the four major tricyclic antidepressant drugs is commercially available and described in European Patent Application Publication No. 226,730 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,568 wherein the concentration determined by this assay is only an estimation of the total amount of tricyclic antidepressant in plasma or serum. Accordingly, such assay cannot be used to accurately quantify a specific individual tricyclic antidepressant drug, for example, in a patient treated with amitriptyline, but instead, would give the total amount of amitriptyline and nortriptyline in the patient's plasma or serum.

Reagents and methods for the quantification of amitriptyline or nortriptyline in biological fluids


An acoustic panel is provided that includes a first layer, a perforated second layer, a core and a noise attenuating feature. The core forms a chamber between the first and the second layers. The noise attenuating feature projects partially into the chamber. The noise attenuating feature is formed integral with the first layer, the second layer and/or the core.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to an acoustic panel and, more particularly, to an acoustic panel for attenuating noise generated during, for example, operation of a turbine engine.
2. Background Information
A gas turbine engine may include an acoustic sandwich panel for attenuating noise generated during turbine engine operation. A typical acoustic sandwich panel includes a honeycomb core bonded between a solid face sheet and a perforated face sheet. The honeycomb core includes a plurality of resonating cavities. The honeycomb core has a thickness sized to tune the resonating cavities to a specific target frequency of noise to be attenuated. As a result, noise energy reflected by the acoustic sandwich panel interacts with noise energy traveling towards the panel. Differences in phase between the noise energy in an acoustic field adjacent the perforated face sheet may enable the reflected noise energy to destructively interfere with and attenuate the noise energy traveling towards the acoustic sandwich panel.
Modern engine designs may require acoustic sandwich panels to attenuate noise energy with relatively low frequencies while utilizing substantially the same or less space than previous panels. Attenuating low frequencies, however, may increase the thickness of the honeycomb core and, thus, the thickness of the acoustic sandwich panel. There is a need in the art therefore for an improved noise attenuating acoustic panel.


A graphical user interface system for a thermal comfort controller. The user interface system has a central processing unit coupled to a memory and a touch sensitive display unit. The memory stores a temperature schedule data structure and perhaps a temperature history data structure. The temperature schedule data structure is made up of at least one set-point. The temperature history data structure is made up of at least one Actual-Temperature-Point. The display presents the set-points and/or the Actual-Temperature-Points. One representation of the display is a graphical step-function. The user uses a finger or stylus to program the set-points by pointing and dragging a portion of the step-function.

The present invention relates to thermostats and other thermal comfort controllers and particularly to a graphical user interface for such thermal comfort controllers.
Current thermal comfort controllers, or thermostats, have a limited user interface which typically includes a number of data input buttons and a small display. Hereinafter, the term thermostat will be used to reference a general comfort control device and is not to be limiting in any way. For example, in addition to traditional thermostats, the present such control device could be a humidistat or used for venting control. As is well known, thermostats often have setback capabilities which involves a programmed temperature schedule. Such a schedule is made up of a series of time-scheduled set-points. Each set-point includes a desired temperature and a desired time. Once programmed with this temperature schedule, the controller sets-up or sets-back the temperature accordingly. For example, a temperature schedule could be programmed so that in the winter months, a house is warmed to 72 degrees automatically at 6:00 a.m. when the family awakes, cools to 60 degrees during the day while the family is at work and at school, re-warms to 72 degrees at 4:00 p.m. and then cools a final time to 60 degrees after 11:00 p.m., while the family is sleeping. Such a schedule of lower temperatures during off-peak hours saves energy costs.
It is well known that users have difficulty using the current form of a user interface for thermostats because such an interface is not intuitive and is somewhat complicated to use. Therefore, users either do not utilize the energy saving programmable functions of the controller, or they do not change the schedule that is programmed by either the installer or that is the factory default setting.
Another limitation of the current user interfaces for thermostats is that once programmed, the temperature schedule cannot be easily reviewed. Usually, the display is configured to show one set-point at a time in a numerical manner. Using the input buttons, the user must xe2x80x98page forwardxe2x80x99 to the next set-point in the schedule or xe2x80x98page backwardxe2x80x99 to the previous set-point.
Although the user can, with difficulty, determine the temperature schedule that is programmed into the controller, the user cannot determine how closely this temperature schedule was followed. Of course, when a new set-point determines that the controller should either raise or lower the temperature in a house or other building, the temperature does not immediately change to that new temperature. It can take some time for the room or building to warm up or cool down to the desired temperature. The thermostat typically tracks this information to allow adjustment to be easily made. At present, the user has no way of viewing this information and no way of correlating the temperature schedule with actual house temperatures.
What is needed in the art is a user interface for a thermostat in which the temperature schedule is more easily programmed. The user interface should display a more user friendly representation of the schedule so that the user can review an entire day""s schedule all at once.
The user interface should also easily display alternative schedules, such as a weekend and weekday schedule. Further, the graphical representation should itself be the intuitive means to programming the schedule. The user interface should also be able to compare the temperature schedule against the actual historical temperature over a period of time.
This invention can be regarded as a graphical user interface system for thermal comfort controllers. In some embodiments, the user interface system is mounted on the wall as part of a thermostat. In other embodiments, the user interface system is a hand held computing unit which interfaces with a thermostat located elsewhere. The user interface system includes a central processing unit, a memory and a display with a touch-sensitive screen used for input. The memory stores at least one temperature schedule. The temperature schedule has at least one set-point, which associates a desired temperature to a desired time. The display graphically represents the temperature schedule and allows the user to easily and intuitively program the temperature schedule. The temperature schedule may be displayed as a step-function graph, as a listing of set-points, or as a clock and temperature control (such as a dial). In some embodiments, the display can also graphically represent the actual temperature history compared to the desired temperature schedule. In other embodiments, the temperature schedule can be displayed and changed in other graphical ways, such as with slider or scroll bar controls.
Several objects and advantages of the present invention include: the temperature schedule is more easily programmed than in past user interfaces; the step-function or other display is more informative and intuitive; historical data can be displayed to the user; and multiple schedules can be programmed.

Graphical user interface system for a thermal comfort controller


The present invention is a method of use for the prevention or reduction of the effects of stroke in a subject susceptible to or at risk of stroke with ketamine. The method also includes combination of ketamine and a benzodiazepine in the use.

The present invention relates to a method of use in the prevention of or limiting of brain injury due to stroke, preferably as an anesthetic in a subject having an increased risk for stroke, comprising administering to said subject a compound, ketamine, in an effective amount for preventing or reducing the effect of stroke. The compound may be administered in admixture with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier in a unit dosage form.
Ketamine is well known as a general anesthetic. See, for example, paragraph "5133.Ketamine," The Merck Index, 10th edition, published by Merck and Company, Inc., Rahway, N.J., (1983) page 5138.
This invention is not suggested by the disclosure in, thus is not obvious over the following publications: D. Lodge, et al, "Reduction of Ischemia Induced Brain Damage and of Glutamate Induced Calcium Uptake by Subanesthetic Concentrations of Ketamine," Neuro-Science Letters, Abstracts of the Fourth National Meeting of the Brain Research Association, Birmingham, UK, Apr. 14-16, 1986, supplement 24 (1986), page S35. S. M. Rothman, et al, "Ketamine Blocks Anoxic Neuronal Death in vitro," Stroke, A Journal of Cerebral Circulation, Volumes 17, number 1, January-February (1986), 11th International Joint Conference on Stroke and Cerebral Circulation, p. 124. Particularly, the publications do not disclose or make obvious protective benefits of ketamine as regards stroke because the references do not teach that critical administration of the present invention is before in time the incidence of the stroke and in an amount that is at least sufficient to be said to be behaviorally active in the subject of the stroke.
Thus, the present invention relates to the now discovered novel method of use for the prophylactic treatment of stroke with a compound known as ketamine in an effective amount for preventing or reducing the effect of stroke in unit dosage form.
Additional references regarding related subject matter teach that ketamine acts as a noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist (NMDA), Martin, D., et al, Neuropharmacology, Vol. 24, No. 10, pp 999-1003 (1985); Thomson, A. M., et al, Nature, Vol. 313, pp 479-481 (7 February 1985); and teach that 2-amino-7-phosphoheptanoic acid (2-APH), also an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist, shows prevention of brain damage associated with stroke, SCRIP, number 1067, p 22 (Jan. 13, 1986). However, although a rationale for testing 2-APH in stroke is presented in SCRIP the reference does not suggest the use of ketamine as such for treatment of stroke, and particularly, there is no disclosure to make obvious the critical administration of the present invention.
Further, the present invention is the use of ketamine for treating a subject at risk of stroke as disclosed herein wherein the treatment is administration of ketamine in combination with a benzodiazepine, such as diazepam. Again, although references show the combined use of ketamine and benzodiazepines, Langrehr, D., et al, Acta Anaesthesiologica Belgica, number 2, pp 165-187 (June 1984), the combination is not obvious for use in the present invention administration of ketamine.

Method for using ketamine for prevention or reduction of the effects of stroke in a subject having increased risk for stroke


A capacitance (Cp) is a capacitance formed between a transmitting-device-side passive electrode and a receiving-device-side passive electrode. A capacitance (Ca) is a capacitance formed between a transmitting-device-side active electrode and a receiving-device-side active electrode. A bridge circuit formed by Z1 to Z4 is connected to a secondary side of a step-up transformer, where Z1 represents an impedance of a first element, Z2 represents an impedance of a second element, Z3 represents an impedance of a series circuit formed by the capacitance (Ca) and a load, and Z4 represents an impedance of the capacitance (Cp). By determining the impedances Z1 to Z4 such that this bridge circuit is balanced, a potential at a receiving-device-side reference potential point is made equal to a ground potential. This reduces variation in receiving-device-side reference potential, reduces noise, and stabilizes the operation of a load circuit on the receiving device side.

Patent Document 1 is disclosed as a system that transfers power by means of capacitive coupling.
The power transfer system described in Patent Document 1 includes a power transmitting device and a power receiving device. The power transmitting device includes a high-frequency high-voltage generator, a passive electrode, and an active electrode. The power receiving device includes a high-frequency high-voltage load, a passive electrode, and an active electrode.
FIG. 33A illustrates a basic configuration of the power transfer system described in Patent Document 1. FIG. 33B illustrates a basic configuration of another system that transfers power by means of capacitive coupling. The power transmitting device includes a high-frequency high-voltage generator 1, a passive electrode 2, and an active electrode 3. The power receiving device includes a high-frequency high-voltage load 5, a passive electrode 7, and an active electrode 6. The active electrode 3 of the power transmitting device and the active electrode 6 of the power receiving device are placed close to each other with a gap 4 therebetween, so that the two electrodes are capacitively coupled to each other.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2009-531009