A predoping method for lithium, which is characterized by mixing and kneading, in the presence of a solvent, lithium metal with (a) silicon and a composite dispersion of silicon and silicon dioxide, (b) particles represented by SiOx (wherein 0.5≦x<1.6) and having a fine structure wherein fine silicon particles are dispersed in a silicon-based compound, and (c) an Si-based material that is a mixture of one or more oxides selected from among the lower oxides of silicon represented by the above-mentioned formula and that is capable of absorbing and desorbing lithium ions; a lithium-predoped electrode which uses the predoping method for lithium; and an electricity storage device.

In recent years, active efforts have been made to develop various types of high-energy-density batteries as the power source for compact-size portable devices as typified by mobile phones, nighttime power storage systems, household distributed electric energy storage systems based on photovoltaic power generation, electric energy storage systems for electric vehicles and the like. In particular, since lithium ion batteries have a volume energy density exceeding 350 Wh/L, and are superior in reliability in terms of safety and cycle performance, to lithium secondary batteries using metallic lithium as the negative electrode, the market for lithium ion batteries as the power source for compact portable devices is dramatically growing. Lithium ion batteries use a lithium-containing transition metal oxide such as LiCoO2 or LiMn2O4 as the positive electrode and a carbon-base material, typically graphite as the negative electrode. While the current challenge is to develop lithium on batteries with a further increased capacity, the approach of increasing the capacity of lithium ion batteries by improving the positive electrode oxides and negative electrode carbon-base materials, which are on practical use, has almost reached the limit. It is thus difficult to meet the demand for high energy density from the equipment side. Further, in a combination of a high-efficiency engine with an electric energy storage system (for example, in hybrid electric vehicles), or in a combination of a fuel cell with an electric energy storage system (for example, in fuel cell electric vehicles), constant output operation is essential in order for the engine or the fuel cell to operate at a maximum efficiency. Thus, in order to accommodate output fluctuations or energy regeneration on the load side, high-power discharging characteristics and high-rate charging characteristics are demanded on the electric energy storage system side. To comply with these demands, in the area of electric energy storage systems, research and development is performed on lithium ion capacitors to increase the output of lithium ion batteries featuring high energy density, or to increase the energy density of electric double-layer capacitors featuring high output.
On the other hand, the technology of electric energy storage devices such as lithium ion batteries and capacitors has placed attention on the technique that increases the capacity and voltage of electric energy storage devices by preloading (hereinafter referred to as predoping) active materials with lithium ions. When the predoping technique is applied to high-capacity materials such as insoluble and infusible substrates having a polyacene skeletal structure as described in Patent Document 1, Non-Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3, for example, electric energy storage devices can be designed so as to take full advantage (high capacity) of the predoping technique as described in Non-Patent Document 4. This makes it possible to meet the demand for higher energy density or output in the electric energy storage device. Predoping technique has long been used in practice. For example, Non-Patent Document 5 and Patent Document 2 disclose an electric energy storage device having high voltage and high capacity, in which an insoluble and infusible substrate having a polyacene skeletal structure, which is a negative electrode active material, is predoped with lithium. For lithium predoping, an electrochemical system in which an electrode to be predoped is used as the working electrode and lithium metal is used as the counter electrode is set up whereupon doping can be electrochemically performed. With this method, however, it is necessary to take the predoped electrode out of the electrochemical system and to reassemble it into a battery or capacitor. Therefore, as the practical predoping method, a method involving the steps of attaching a lithium metal foil to an active material-containing electrode to keep them in contact, injecting an electrolytic solution, and letting dope the active material with lithium has long been used. This method is effective for coin-type batteries having a small number of relatively thick electrodes. However, when the method is applied to multilayer structure batteries having a plurality of thin electrodes laminated or roll structure batteries, there arise problems including a complicated process and handling of thin lithium metal. There remains a need for a simple and practical predoping method.
As one solution to the above problems, Patent Documents 3 to 6 disclose a predoping method using a perforated current collector. For example, Patent Document 3 discloses an organic electrolyte cell characterized in that current collectors are provided with pores extending between front and back surfaces, a negative electrode active material is capable of reversibly carrying lithium ions, lithium originating from the negative electrode is carried by electrochemical contact with a lithium layer, the lithium layer is opposed to the negative or positive electrode, and an opposed area of the lithium layer is up to 40% of the area of the negative electrode. In this cell, electrode layers are formed on current collectors provided with through-pores for short-circuiting lithium metal and the negative electrode arranged in the cell, whereby lithium ions pass through the through-pores of the current collector after injection of electrolytic solution, whereby the negative electrode is wholly doped. Patent Document 3 discloses in Example an organic electrolyte cell using an expanded metal as the perforated current collector, LiCoO2 as the positive electrode active material, and an insoluble and infusible substrate having a polyacene skeletal structure as the negative electrode active material. The negative electrode active material may be easily predoped with lithium ions from the lithium metal arranged in the cell.
Also, it is disclosed that lithium metal powder is admixed in an electrode, or that lithium metal powder is uniformly dispersed on a negative electrode, a solution is injected therein, and local cells are constructed on the electrode, thereby absorbing lithium uniformly within the electrode, as described in Patent Document 7. Further, Patent Document 8 discloses a method involving admixing polymer-coated Li fine particles in a negative electrode material, forming a negative electrode, assembling a capacitor, impregnating the negative electrode with an electrolytic solution, dissolving away the polymer portion of the polymer-coated Li fine particles in the electrolytic solution to cause conduction (short-circuiting) between the Li metal and the carbon of the negative electrode, for thereby doping the carbon of the negative electrode with Li.
In all the above predoping techniques, once a battery or capacitor is assembled, an electrolytic solution is injected therein to start predoping. On the other hand, alternative methods are known, for example, a method of producing an electrode from a lithiated electrode material which is obtained by immersing an electrode material in a solution of n-butyl lithium in an organic solvent such as hexane, and reacting lithium with the electrode material (Patent Document 9); a method of intercalating lithium into graphite by reacting lithium kept in gas phase with graphite according to a process known as the Tow-Bulb process (Patent Document 10); and a method of mechanically alloying lithium by the mechanical alloying process (Patent Document 10).
As mentioned above, the predoping technique is important to the development efforts toward increasing the output of lithium ion cells or the energy density of capacitors, with a variety of predoping techniques being proposed. The predoping technique that is currently believed most practical is an electrochemical technique involving assembling a cell while an active material (electrode) and lithium are kept in direct contact or short-circuited via an electric circuit, and injecting an electrolytic solution therein, thereby achieving predoping. With this technique, however, a long time is necessary for achieving uniform doping throughout the material, metal lithium incorporated in the cell is not completely predoped, with some lithium being left, or lithium sites which are lost by predoping become vacancies to affect the internal resistance or other properties of the cell. Also, the use of perforated current collectors encounters the problem that the electrode material must be coated to the perforated collectors. The method of attaching a lithium metal foil to an active material-bearing electrode offers relatively high uniformity, but there are left many problems to be solved from the manufacture aspect, such as the problems of thickness accuracy and handling of a very thin lithium metal foil of up to 0.03 mm.
Also, a method of immersing an active material in a solution of alkyl lithium in an organic solvent such as hexane to directly predope the active material enables uniform predoping, but requires a large amount of lithium-containing reagent, as compared with the use of lithium metal as the lithium source, and very cumbersome steps of taking out the active material and separating the residual reagent at the end of reaction. Further, the doping techniques based on the Tow-Bulb process (gas phase) and mechanical alloying (solid phase) are difficult to implement in practice because the conditions are complex, special large-size equipment are necessary, and there are fatal problems including exposure of the material to be predoped to high temperature and breakage of material structure by grinding with violent forces.
As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, Patent Document 11 proposes a method of predoping a material with lithium by kneading and mixing a lithium-dopable material with lithium metal in the presence of a specific solvent for thereby simply predoping the material with lithium in the electrode preparing step. Patent Document 11 discloses in Example that when lithium metal foil of 0.03 mm thick is kneaded and mixed with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) obtained from thermal reaction of coal-based isotropic pitch at 680° C. and acetylene black in the presence of propylene carbonate, the lithium metal foil disappears, and the resulting mixture containing PAHs has a potential of 129 mV versus Li metal. Patent Document 11 describes that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons having a hydrogen/carbon atomic ratio of 0.05 to 0.5, such as insoluble/infusible substrates containing polyacene skeletal structure, carbon base materials, graphite base materials, conductive polymers, tin or tin oxide, silicon or silicon oxide, or the like may be used as the material to which the predoping method is applicable, but specifically describes nowhere the predoping conditions for each of these materials (e.g., silicon or silicon oxide) other than the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and the predoped electrodes thereof.
On the other hand, as alluded to previously, efforts for improvements toward a higher capacity have been made by mainly using carbon materials such as graphite as the negative electrode material in lithium ion cells. However, the attempt to increase the capacity of carbon materials has almost reached the limit, and new high-capacity negative electrode materials of the next generation are proposed. One promising candidate of the next generation high-capacity negative electrode materials is a silicon-base material, with active development efforts being devoted thereon. For example, Patent Document 12 discloses, as the silicon-base material having a high capacity and improved cycle performance, silicon (Si), particles of composite structure having nanoparticles of silicon (Si) dispersed in a silicon-base compound, and a material obtained by covering the surface of silicon oxide of the general formula: SiOx (wherein 0.5≦x<1.6) with a graphite coating having a specific structure.
Also, Patent Document 13 discloses a negative electrode material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, which is prepared by coating the surface of silicon-silicon oxide composite particles with a carbon coating, mixing the coated silicon-silicon oxide composite particles with a lithium dopant such as lithium hydride or lithium aluminum hydride, and heating the mixture for thereby doping the carbon-coated particles with lithium in the form of a compound, typically Li2SiO3. There are left some problems, for example, high-temperature heat treatment at 600° C. is necessary.

Predoping method for lithium, lithium-predoped electrode, and electricity storage device


A synchronous processor unit is divided into two sections, and each separately clocked by different clock signals. One section, containing an instruction execution unit and memory for storage of instructions and data, is clocked at a higher frequency, while the other section, containing those elements of a processor unit less frequently used, are clocked with a slower-frequencied clock. The elements of each section are intercoupled by separate and independent data buses, and selectively to one another by a buffer unit. The clock signals used by both sections are produced by a clock-generating unit which also monitors the instructions being executed by the instruction execution unit. When an instruction requiring communication between the two sections is detected, at least one predetermined transition of each of the fast and slow clocks are synchronized, and during this synchronization the separate buses of each section are coupled to one another by the buffer unit for information exchanges therebetween.

The present invention is directed generally to data processing systems, and in particular to a processor unit having one portion of the logic circuitry clocked at one clock frequency, and another clocked at a different clock frequency.
Many, if not all, processor units in use today are synchronous machines in that operations are performed in synchronous fashion, to the tune of a periodic clock signal ("clock"). Thus, for example, instructions are executed, data transferred, signals generated, in response to transitions from one level to another of the clock.
Typically, all portions of a synchronous processor unit are operated at the same clock speed. However, it is well known that certain processor operations occur much more frequently than other processor operations; in fact, it has been established that as much as 95% of the more frequently occurring operations are often performed, for example, in about 50% of the logic circuitry making up the processor unit. Thus, operation of the processor unit can be enhanced by running that section of the circuitry performing the majority of processor operations with a faster clock, while operating the remainder of the logic circuitry with a slower clock. This allows the slower-run section to be run in a manner that consumes less electrical power, emits less electrical noise, generates less thermal power, necessitating less heat sinking capability, and can be implemented in less expensive technology, and fabricated in less semiconductor area. At the same time, the overall processor speed (i.e., work throughput) is increased.

Synchronous processor unit with interconnected, separately clocked processor sections which are automatically synchronized for data transfer operations


A modular gas turbine system for on-shore LNG plants is disclosed. The module comprises a base plate having a top side and a bottom side and supports on the top side thereof at least a gas turbine engine, a control and electrical room wired to the gas turbine engine, at least part of auxiliaries of the gas turbine engine. Additionally, at least one compressor is supported on the base plate and mechanically coupled to the gas turbine engine and driven into rotation by said gas turbine engine.

Gas turbines are widely used as prime movers in power generation or industrial plants, for driving electric generators or other rotary machines, such as compressors. In off-shore installations, compressors driven by aeroderivative gas turbines having a power rate lower than 40 MW are often used, due to their compact structure and reduced overall dimensions. Modularization of gas turbines having a power rate lower than 40 MW is a quite common practice. The gas turbine and the load are arranged on a common frame, thus forming a single unit which is tested in the erection and testing yard or site prior to being transported to final destination. The common frame is then transported to final destination and mounted on a skid. A modular arrangement of this kind is particularly useful, since it allows complete assembling and testing of the rotary machines prior to shipping and installation to final destination.
Large gas turbines, both aero-derivative as well as heavy duty gas turbines above 40 MW, are usually not modularized due to their large dimensions. Commonly, the various components of a gas turbine plant are transported separately from the site of manufacturing to the final destination. The foundation is prepared at the final site of destination and the individual machines are then mounted on the foundation. Due to the different radial dimensions of the various plant components, such as the gas turbine, the electric generator and the starter, the foundation is sometimes designed with machine-supporting surfaces at various different levels. The rotary machines must then be aligned, mechanically connected to one another and tuned. The entire process is extremely time-consuming.
US2015/0184591 discloses a modularized heavy-duty gas turbine engine for power generation, used for driving an electric generator.
There is still a need for improvements in the field of large, heavy-duty gas turbine engines, specifically for certain kinds of mechanical drive applications.

Gas turbine and compressor module for on-shore LNG plants


The multi-spectral imaging system for real-time measurement of combustion efficiency of an industrial flare is provided. The system includes four spectral bands, one for a hydrocarbon group (fuel), one for carbon dioxide (CO2), product of complete combustion), one for carbon monoxide (CO, product of partially completed combustion), and one for background reference. More spectral bands can be added to measure combustion efficiency of specific compounds or enhance the background reference adjustment. The analysis apparatus includes a machine readable storage medium, which provides instructions that cause the analysis apparatus to perform operations to obtain the combustion efficiency of the flare. The operations includes acquiring at least three spatially and temporally synchronized intensities from an imaging unit capturing images of the flare, and producing the combustion efficiency of the flare from said at least three intensities, and absorption coefficients of materials contained in the flare.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-spectral infrared imaging system that provides real-time measurement of flare combustion efficiency, which would enable operators to adjust flare operating conditions to achieve higher efficiency. The multi-spectral infrared imaging system includes a machine readable storage medium, which provides instructions that cause the multi-spectral infrared imaging system to perform operations to obtain a combustion efficiency of a flare.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flares are widely used in chemical process industries (e.g., petroleum refineries, chemical plants, etc.). Due to the intended function and nature of flare design and operations, determination of flare combustion efficiency (CE) and destruction and removal efficiency (DRE) is extremely challenging. There has been a protracted debate on how much air pollutants are emitted from flares. The fact is that no one has a good answer to this question and this level of uncertainty regarding flare emissions is problematic for both regulators and industry.
In 2010, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) contracted University of Texas at Austin (UT) to conduct a comprehensive study on flare CE and DRE. The field work was conducted at John Zink facility in Tulsa, Okla. The results were reported in "2010 TCEQ Flare Study Project Final Report," written by David T. Allen and Vincent M. Tones, on May 23, 2011. The results from this study were very valuable in characterizing flare CE and DRE, and had a lasting impact on flare operations and emission management. It should be noted that the study was successful in characterizing flare efficiency under the specific conditions targeted by the experiment design, however it did not cover flare operations under upset or emergency conditions, hydrogen flares, or flares specifically designed for routinely low flow applications.
The TCEQ-UT flare study was a major undertaking. The method used in this study could be referred to as "grab and measure" or "extractive sampling" method. However, it is not practical to use the same approach to measure or monitor flare operations on a regular basis. The TCEQ-UT study did include two supplemental remote sensing based measurement systems with an intention to evaluate their effectiveness for practical flare monitoring. The two systems were an infrared (IR) Hyper-Spectral Imager by Telops Inc. (Hyper-Cam) and a passive and active Fourier transform infrared (PFTIR and AFTIR, respectively, or FTIR for either) spectroscopy by Industrial Monitor and Control Corporation (IMACC).
The study results suggested that the flare CE determined by IMACC's PFTIR/AFTIR was generally consistent with the CE determined by analysis of pre- and post-combustion gas samples thru the "grab and measure" method. The mean differences between the two methods were about 2% to 2.5%, and average standard deviations were 2.8% to 3.2%. The data availability was 99% to 100%. The performance of Telops's Hyper-Spectral Imager was less desirable. The mean differences were 19.9%, standard deviations were 57.8%, and data availability was 39%.
Both the Telops's Hyper-Spectral Imager and the IMACC's FTIR are powerful instruments for many applications, particularly research projects. However, they have some significant shortcomings if they are to be used as industrial analyzers to determine flare CE. These shortcomings are identified below.
Fundamental/Technical Issues:
Telops' Hyper-Cam can be considered a two-dimensional array of FTIR spectrometers that can be combined to form images (i.e., each pixel in the image is equivalent to a single FTIR spectrometer). It has a scan rate of approximately 1 second per scan (depending on spectral resolution and other parameter settings). The flare plume changes rapidly in shape and position, and the resulting path length of the pixels in the Hyper-Cam Imager may change dramatically within the same data cube. This variability introduces unknown and uncontrollable factors into the pixel intensity-concentration equation, rendering calculations and results unreliable.
IMACC's FTIR is a path measurement instrument. The results only represent the region where the IR light path intersects the flare plume. Due to the heterogeneous and dynamic nature of a flare, using the measurement from a small path to represent the entire flare is a concern. The IMACC FTIR also has a relatively long scan time (seconds) and suffers the same problem as the Telops Hyper-Cam. Since the IMACC FTIR is a single-path measurement instrument, this variability can be minimized by pointing the instrument to the middle, thick portion of the flare plume where the relative change in path length is small. If the IMACC FTIR is aimed at the fringe of the flare plume, or if the flare diameter is small, the effect of this temporal mismatch due to flare plume dynamics is expected to be much more salient and problematic. Selection and alignment of the measurement path could significantly influence results. This makes it impractical for routine monitoring as the system would need some sort of targeting system to ensure it is consistently aimed at the correct position in the flare plume while the plume may be constantly shifting in wind.
Practical/Implementation Issues:
Both the Telops's Hyper-Cam and the IMACC FTIR are delicate research instruments and require expert-level personnel to operate. They require significant effort to set up and maintain, and significant effort is required for post-processing/analyzing data in order to derive flare CE results. They do not provide real-time or near real-time measurements, and are not suitable instruments to provide continuous real-time feedback to operational personnel. The total ownership cost is very high (this is particularly true for Telops' Hyper-Cam).
Flare emissions can swing over a wide range depending on operating conditions (e.g., amount of steam used to assist the flare). The current problem is that there is no mechanism to measure flare efficiency and provide timely feedback to flare operators to adjust operating conditions for a higher efficiency.

Multi-spectral infrared imaging system for flare combustion efficiency monitoring


The invention provides a silicon-on-insulator semiconductor substrate structure and a method of fabricating the same. The structure includes a base silicon substrate, a mono-crystalline silicon film formed on the base silicon substrate in a predetermined region, a poly-crystalline silicon film formed on the base silicon substrate in opposite region to the predetermined region, an insulator film formed on the polycrystalline silicon film, and a mono-crystalline silicon layer overlaying both the insulator film and the mono-crystalline silicon film so that the mono-crystalline silicon layer is electrically connected to the base silicon substrate through the mono-crystalline silicon film. The mono-crystalline silicon film permits not the mono-crystalline silicon layer only but also the base silicon substrate to serve as active regions.

The invention relates to a semiconductor substrate structure, and more particularly to a semiconductor substrate having a silicon-on-insutator structure and a method of fabricating the same.
With respect to semiconductor devices made of silicon, the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure is important for improvements in a high speed performance, a high reliability and a high withstand voltage. The silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure which has been formed thereon with a semiconductor integrated circuit device permits the circuit device to exhibit the high speed performance, the high reliability and the high withstand voltage.
In recent years, a wafer bonding method has been employed to form the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure. In this wafer bonding method, a bonded wafer which has been formed with an insulator film at its one or opposite surfaces is bonded with a base wafer by using a heat treatment such as annealing. Generally, the wafer bonding method permits a low density of crystal defects which are generated in the bonded mono-crystalline silicon wafer formed on the insulator film. Further, the wafer bonding method permits a low cost manufacture of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure. One of the wafer bonding methods is disclosed in "Proceeding of the 4th International Symposium on Silicon-on-Insulator Technology and Device", 1990, pp. 61-71.
A conventional wafer bonding method will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1C.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a first silicon substrate 16 which has been doped with a p-type dopant such as boron is prepared. The doped first silicon substrate 16 has a specific resistance of 10 ohm.multidot.cm. An entire surface of the first silicon substrate 16 is so oxidized that a dioxide silicon film 17 having a thickness of approximately 5000 angstroms is formed on the entire surface of the first silicon substrate 16.
As shown in FIG. 1B, a second silicon substrate 18 which has been doped with the p-type dopant such as boron is also prepared. The second silicon substrate 18 has a specific resistance of approximately 15 ohm.multidot.cm. The first and second silicon substrates 16 and 18 are contacted through the insulator film 17, after which a heat treatment of the device is accomplished in a nitrogen atmosphere for an hour at a temperature of 1100.degree. C. This results in that the first and second silicon substrates 16 and 18 are bonded through the insulator film 17.
As shown in FIG. 1C, an opposite surface to the dioxide silicon film 17 formed on the first silicon substrate 16 is subjected to a mirror polishing so that the first silicon substrate 16 is made into a mono-crystalline silicon layer 19 having a thickness of 5 micrometers.
Other conventional wafer bonding method will subsequently be described with reference to FIGS. 2A to 2C.
As shown in FIG. 2A, a first silicon substrate 16 which has been doped with an n-type dopant such as arsenic or phosphorus is prepared. The doped first silicon substrate 16 has a specific resistance of 15 ohm.multidot.cm. An entire surface of the first silicon substrate 16 is so oxidized that a dioxide silicon film 17 having a thickness of approximately 2000 angstroms is formed on the entire surface of the first silicon substrate 16.
As shown in FIG. 2B, a second silicon substrate 18 which has been doped with the n-type dopant such as boron is also prepared. The second silicon substrate 18 has a specific resistance of approximately 20 ohm.multidot.cm. The first and second silicon substrates 16 and 18 are connected through the insulator film 17, after which a heat treatment of the device is accomplished in a nitrogen atmosphere for an hour at a temperature of 1100.degree. C. This results in that the first and second silicon substrates 16 and 18 are connected through the insulator film 17.
As shown in FIG. 2C, an opposite surface to the dioxide silicon film 17 formed on the first silicon substrate 16 is subjected to a mirror polishing so that the first silicon substrate 16 is made into a monocrystalline silicon layer 19 having a thickness of 3 micrometers.
In the conventional silicon-on-insulator structure fabricated by the above described wafer bonding methods, the monocrystalline silicon layer 19 is electrically separated from the second silicon substrate 19 serving as a base wafer through a dioxide silicon film 17 serving as an insulator film. Thus, a semiconductor integrated circuit is generally formed only on the monocrystalline silicon layer 19. The second silicon substrate 18 serving as a base wafer is not available as an active region to be formed thereon with any integrated circuit device. The first silicon layer 19 only is available as an active region to be formed thereon with an integrated circuit device. It is desirable that the silicon-on-insulator structure has double silicon substrates sandwiching an insulator film, both of which are available as active regions to be formed thereon with semiconductor integrated circuit devices. A development of such silicon-on-insulator structure having the active double silicon substrates permits a novel and attractive semiconductor integrated circuit device to be realized.
In addition, in the fabrication processes, the conventional silicon-on-insultor structure do not allow a gettering process to be applied to the fabrication processes, although it is applicable to fabrication processes for other semiconductor devices such as bulk semiconductor devices. The gettering process is important to allow the semiconductor device to exhibit excellent performances. The gettering is able to remove undesirable heavy metal impurities from an interior of the semiconductor device to a region outside the active region. The gettering process is generally accomplished by a high temperature heat treatment thereby removing the heavy metal impurity. The semiconductor device fabricated through the gettering process is able to exhibit an excellent property, because the active region of the device has no heavy metal impurity. It is, thus, desired to develop a novel silicon-on-insulator structure which makes a gettering process applicable so as to realize an excellent device performance.

Semiconductor substrate having a silicon-on-insulator structure and method of fabricating the same


A sclerotomy implant intended to be set in place in the sclera of the eye in order to provide for a continuous flow of aqueous humor through the trabecula for the treatment of a glaucoma. This implant is configured like a platelet made of biocompatible material and comprising an intrascleral portion (1) and a sub-conjuctival portion (5), the latter being adapted to come out of the sclera and penetrate under the conjunctiva. Retaining flanges (7a, 7b) provide for the blocking of the implant in the trap under the scleral flap. The implant comprises at least one continuous flow passage from its trabecular extremity (2) applied against the trabecula up to its external extremity (6) inserted in the conjunctiva.

At the present time glaucoma is treated in the most serious cases by a surgical operation known as a trabeculectomy. This operation consists, following conjunctival disinsertion, of making an opening in the sclera by cutting out a scleral flap (division in the planes of the sclera as far as the trabeculum) and incising the trabeculum to enable the aqueous humor contained in the anterior chamber to flow out, thus reducing the intra-ocular pressure and limiting the pathological consequences of glaucoma. Such an operation, which has been performed for about fifteen years, generally produces a temporary improvement, but in time, healing of the scleral flap is liable to obstruct the flow of aqueous humor and a renewed increase in the intra-ocular pressure is then noted.
An attempt has been made to overcome this defect by applying antimitotic substances on the scleral flap so as to retard healing. However, the results are variable and it is even possible to observe an excessive flow of aqueous humor which can bring about too great a fall in the intra-ocular pressure.
Another type of operation is currently practiced for treating glaucoma. It consists of putting a valve in place associated with a tube which emerges in the anterior chamber to enable aqueous humor to flow out in the case of an increase in pressure in this chamber. This technique has disadvantages however. In the first place, it requires a complex operation affecting the anterior chamber, with the risk of a deleterious effect on the corneal endothelium, and surgeons who are used to trabeculotemies are reluctant to perform this type of complex and risky surgical operation. Moreover, the tube tends to block up so that the efficiency of the device, which is good after it has been put in place, decreases rapidly with time. In addition, the pipe is sometimes expelled from the anterior chamber. It should be noted that these valves have a relatively complex structure which makes them costly to manufacture.
In addition, several publications have proposed novel techniques which are at the experimental stage (or have remained at the experimental stage on account of basic defects) and which consist of inserting an implant under the scleral flap with a view to preventing the flow of aqueous humor through the incision in the trabeculum from being obstructed too rapidly.
A first technique is described in the following publication "Hyun Bong Bae et al., A Membranous Drainage Implant in Glaucoma Filtering Surgery: Animal Trial, Kor. J. Ophthalmol., vol. 2, 1988, 49-56". It consists of placing a hydrophobic membrane under the scleral flap which penetrates into the anterior chamber by means of an incision in the trabeculum. By virtue of its hydrophobic nature, this membrane opposes the formation of fibroses close to its surface and enables aqueous humor to flow out along it. However the permanent flow thus produced is small and the presence of such a membrane appears to be insufficient to restore the intra-ocular pressure to a normal value. Moreover, its insertion involves an operation on the anterior chamber with risks to the corneal endothelium, this operation being much more delicate than a simple trabeculectomy as already indicated.
The following publication: "M. Kamoun et al., Microtrabeculoprothese, Ophtalmologie, 1988, vol. 2, 227-229", describes a trabeculoprosthesis made of a very hydrophilic porous hydrogel which is put in place in the dry state in the sclera so as to penetrate the incision in the trabeculum by a tapered part. Hydration causes the hydrogel to swell and the incision to be hermetically sealed. The aqueous humor then flows out through pores in the material from the anterior chamber to the sclera. This filtration though a porous material of this type brings about a reduction in the intra-ocular pressure. However, the aforementioned defect, which lies in a rapid obstruction of the flow, is not overcome by this prosthesis, since fibroses which form in the sclera rapidly lead to obstruction of the flow. Moreover, as in the previous technique, insertion of this prosthesis affects the endothelium because a tapered part of the prosthesis is made to penetrate inside the anterior chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,210 describes an implant with an elongated shape which is placed above the choroid at the interface between this and the sclera. This implant has a tapered part which penetrates the anterior chamber. It has the same disadvantages as the previous one, even though its long length and the hole and passages provided in it ensure better discharge of the aqueous humor. In addition, its insertion would appear to be extremely delicate, considering the dimensions of this implant and its position at the choroid/sclera interface.
Another implant is described in the following publication "Nancy Michel, A Wick that promotes fluid drainage treats glaucoma successfully in Russia, Ocular Surgery News 1993, vol. 11 (23) p 26". This implant consists of a bundle of reabsorbable fibres which is put in place under the scleral flap facing the incision in the trabeculum. The inventors have very little information on this technique which has been proposed very recently. However, it is probable that such an implant of a biological origin (pig), buried in the sclera, will experience the same blockage problems as the previous implants. Moreover, displacements in the opening, or even expulsion, are to be feared.
Another implant is described in International Application PCT/US 90/06216. This implant, inserted in the sclera, does not resolve the aforementioned defect of blockage of the flow by the fibroses which form in this tissue.
It should be noted that all the known implants previously referred to are put in place following a trabeculectomy during which the trabeculum is incised.


An exposure device with a shutter operating in such a manner that the size of aperture opening defined by the shutter blades first increases from zero and then starts to decrease in predetermined timing, comprises a mechanism for opening the shutter with the help of an electric motor, while charging a spring as the drive source for closing movement of the shutter, an electromagnet arranged upon current supply to change the driving of the shutter from the opening mechanism to the spring, and a control circuit for controlling the operation of the shutter in such a manner that when taking one picture, the shutter blades reciprocate two times continuously to recycle substantially twice the exposure operation, as the operation of each of the motor and the electromagnet is recycled twice.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to exposure devices for use in optical instruments such as cameras or observation instruments.
2. Description of the Related Art
For ordinary cameras, the exposure device such as shutter and diaphragm to be used therein is available in many forms corresponding to the photographic characteristics or the like. Yet, no exposure device suited to the still video camera which necessitates far higher an accuracy of exposure control has been developed.
Of the conventional, publicly known exposure devices, what is so-called a diaphragm-cum-shutter has features adaptable to be used in the still video camera. But, the conventional, publicly known diaphragm-cum-shutter, because of its having the following drawback, has been difficult to use in the still video camera.
Most of the conventional diaphragm-cum-shutters are constructed with the use of a sub-diaphragm arranged in front of the light receiving element to open and close at the same time when the diaphragm of the photographic lens opens and closes, that is, in the form of a diaphragm-cum-shutter with sub-diaphragm. In operating this diaphragm-cum-shutter with sub-diaphragm, as an exposure operation goes on, at the same time that the diaphragm is opened, the sub-diaphragm also is opened. Since the sub-diaphragm has been opened, light enters the photosensitive element arranged behind the sub-diaphragm. The light that has entered the photosensitive element is integrated to a value which is detected as an amount of light incident on the image sensing plane. When that integrated value has reached a predetermined value (the exposure value determined depending on the result of light measurement), a current is supplied to an electromagnet for controlling the closing operation of the diaphragm. Thus, the diaphragm is closed.
This publicly known diaphragm-cum-shutter with sub-diaphragm has the feature that in the photographic situation where the brightness is so high that the diaphragm should be opened to a minimum aperture, even if, soon after the light having passed through the sub-diaphragm has entered the photosensitive element, the diaphragm closing signal is output to the electromagnet, the diaphragm, because of the response delay of the electromagnet, cannot immediately close and, therefore, an over-exposure always results.
Meanwhile, for the photographic situation of middle brightness level where the diaphragm does not fully open, the ratio of the amount of exposure during the opening operation of the diaphragm to the amount of exposure during the closing operation of the diaphragm is almost constant, permitting premature production of the diaphragm closing signal to the electromagnet by previously estimating the amount of exposure to be made during the closing operation of the diaphragm. Therefore, good linearity of exposure control can be assured. This leads to the possibility of controlling the exposure with very high accuracy.
However, for a photographic situation of lower brightness level than that at which the diaphragm fully opens, because the ratio of the exposure integrated until the diaphragm closing signal is given to the electromagnet to the exposure integrated during the closing operation of the diaphragm does not become constant, the amount of exposure during the closing operation of the diaphragm cannot previously be estimated. Hence, there are many occasions that an under-exposure or over-exposure is caused to make.
As a result, with the publicly known diaphragm-cum-shutter with sub-diaphragm, the exposure cannot be controlled in linear manner over the entire range of the high brightness region, the middle brightness region and the low brightness region. Therefore, fluctuations take place in the exposure value over the aforesaid three regions. For this reason, the publicly known diaphragm-cum-shutter with sub-diaphragm could not be used as the exposure device for the camera which requires high accuracy of exposure such as the still video camera.
So, to remove the above-described drawback of the publicly known diaphragm-cum-shutter with sub-diaphragm, use of an encoder for detecting the amount of movement of the diaphragm, or a diaphragm-cum-shutter with encoder, is proposed. This diaphragm-cum-shutter with encoder is arranged so that the amount of movement, or the position, of the diaphragm is detected by the encoder to determine what position the diaphragm takes or what size the exposure aperture has, at every one time unit, thereby giving an advantage that in best timing based on that result, the diaphragm closing signal can be applied to the electromagnet.
However, this diaphragm-cum-shutter with encoder, too, because of the following reason, is not suited to perform a highly accurate exposure control. In more detail, the running characteristic of the diaphragm at the time of the opening operation varies with environment such as temperature, humidity, the lattitude, aging variation, of the diaphragm, etc. Therefore, while the amount of opening movement, or the position, of the diaphragm can be determined, the running characteristics (the speed and acceleration at any given moment) of the diaphragm are left unknown. Hence, however accurate the detection of the amount of opening movement, or the position, of the diaphragm may be, the position, or the time at which the diaphragm starts to close cannot accurately be controlled. Also, in a case where a motor or like drive source is used as arranged to give the diaphragm a movement controlled in the opening direction, the variation of the drive voltage of the motor, the variation of the resistance value of the motor coil due to the elevation of the motor temperature by the current supply, and other factors cause the running characteristics of the diaphragm to vary. Therefore, even if the amount of opening movement, or the position, of the diaphragm has accurately been detected by the encoder, the position at which the diaphragm starts to close cannot accurately be controlled, because the running characteristics of the diaphragm are not detected. Hence, in the case using the encoder in determining the position of the diaphragm at a time during the opening operation of the diaphragm so that based on this determined value, the electromagnet is actuated to close the diaphragm, for fast and slow opening speeds of the diaphragm, even though their values determined by the encoder are equal to each other, the positions at which the diaphragm starts to close differ from each other. Therefore, the exposure times and the exposure quantities are caused to differ.
FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating different manners in which the diaphragm-cum-shutter of the type described above in which the opening movement of the diaphragm blades are driven by the motor, where the exposure quantity varies with variation of the running characteristics of the diaphragm blades due to the causes such as that of varying the drive voltage of the motor. In FIG. 5, what is represented by solid lines L is the ideal running characteristic. In the case of too fast an opening speed of the diaphragm blades, the running characteristic is shown by dashed lines L.sub.1. In the case of too slow an opening speed of the diaphragm blades, the running characteristic is shown by double dot and single dash lines L.sub.2. Also, in FIG. 5, P.sub.1 to P.sub.3 represent points of time at which a signal for closing the diaphragm blades is given to the electromagnet in the aforesaid cases respectively. P.sub.1 ' to P.sub.3 ' represent points of time at which the electromagnet actually starts to operate and also represent a size of aperture opening at each of these times.
As is apparent from FIG. 5, it is understood that when the opening speed of the diaphragm blades varies, the exposure quantity integrated during one cycle of opening and closing operation of the diaphragm blades is caused also to vary. Hence, the conventional diaphragm-cum-shutter with encoder which is characterized in that it is only the amount of opening movement of the diaphragm blades that the encoder is used to detect, has been unable to make a sufficiently highly accurate exposure control.

Exposure device having an actuatable shutter release


Techniques for performing space accounting for volume families. The techniques include maintaining two counters for each volume family, including a first counter that tracks a first amount of physical space allocated to volumes in the volume family based on the number of pages written to the volumes, and a second counter that tracks a second amount of physical space owned by the volume family, and maintaining a third counter for each volume in each branch of the volume family that tracks a number of pages among a total number of pages written to the volume that were overwritten in the immediate sequential next volume in the same branch as the volume. By maintaining, for each volume family, the first counter and the second counter, and, for each volume in the volume family, the third counter, space accounting metrics can be obtained that allow data storage activities to be performed efficiently.

Data storage systems include storage processors coupled to arrays of non-volatile storage devices, such as magnetic disk drives, electronic flash drives, and/or optical drives. The storage processors are configured to service storage input/output (IO) requests received from host computers, which send the storage IO requests to the data storage systems over one or more networks. The storage IO requests specify data pages, data files, data blocks, and/or other data elements to be written to, read from, created on, and/or deleted from data volumes, file systems, and/or other storage objects stored on the respective non-volatile storage devices. Computer software application programs running on the storage processors are configured to manage the received storage IO requests, and to perform various data processing tasks to organize and/or secure the data elements and/or storage objects on the non-volatile storage devices.

Mechanisms for performing accurate space accounting for volume families


A series of printing plate imagers for imaging lithographic printing plates onto a continuous web are combined in a single imaging process line. The imageable web is passed through a series of properly spaced imaging stations in the line with multiple plate sections being selectively imaged in one or another of the stations or with each individual plate section being partially imaged in two or more stations. The imaging stations may operate in different modes, such as the digital mode with a laser and the analog mode with actinic radiation, with the prepared web capable of being imaged by either of the modes.

The present invention relates to a process for imaging a continuous web of printing plate stock in a single web processing line having a plurality of imaging stations. In the preferred embodiment, the web is prepared to be imageable by either of two or more separate imaging modes. The process employs a continuous web imaging line having at least two imaging stations in the line, one station operating in a first imaging mode and the other preferably operating in a second imaging mode. Specifically, the invention relates to lithographic printing plates.
Conventional lithographic printing plates, such as those typically used by both newspaper and commercial printers, are usually made of a grained, anodized aluminum substrate which has been coated with a light sensitive coating. The anodized aluminum is generally post treated to enhance the hydrophilicity of the anodized substrate sheet prior to the application of the light sensitive coating.
Graining of the aluminum is commonly accomplished in a variety of ways including mechanical brush graining, chemical graining and electrochemical graining. The grained surface has better adhesion to the light sensitive coating and carries fountain solution in the background areas of the plate on the press more efficiently than an ungrained surface. Anodizing is the process of electrolytically generating aluminum oxide on the surface of an aluminum sheet. Since the anodic aluminum oxide is harder and more abrasion resistant than the aluminum, an anodized printing plate has a greater press life than a bare plate.
Conventional lithographic printing plates with a positive working light sensitive coating are imaged with actinic radiation, such as ultra violet light, through a photographic positive to solubilize the light sensitive coating in the non-image areas. The plate is then developed with a solvent for the solubilized coating. With such positive working plates, the coating remains in the areas which have not been exposed to the light and it is these areas which are oleophilic and comprise the image to be printed.
Lithographic printing plates are also available which are imageable by the use of infrared lasers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,317 to Fromson et al., discloses a printing plate based on a substrate which is brush grained in a slurry comprising alumina followed by successive treatments in dilute sodium hydroxide and nitric acid, and subsequent anodizing to achieve an oxide coating weight of 1.5 milligrams per square inch. The substrate may also be silicated after anodizing to improve hydrophilicity. The anodized plate is coated with a diazo resin which is transparent to the radiation of a YAG infrared laser (1064 nanometers), but is sensitive to the longer wavelengths generated within the areas of the anodic oxide exposed to the laser. In this case, the plate is negative working since the diazo is rendered insoluble where the plate is exposed to the laser. Following laser exposure, the unexposed diazo is removed with a solvent to reveal the hydrophilic oxide.
Several options are available for forming an image on a lithographic plate. Digital imaging by a computer controlled laser is a relatively new technology that eliminates the need for imaging and processing film. The digital imaging can take place as a result of selective ablation, curing or photolytic alteration of the solubility of the coating. At the present time, the cost of digital plates is typically higher than for conventional analog type plates. Another alternative imaging technique involves the use of electrostatic ink jet deposition technology. There are again several approaches. One can ink jet an oleophilic material directly onto a hydrophilic substrate. An ink jet material can be coated onto a photosensitive coating and serve as a photomask for actinic exposure in either a positive or negative mode. U.S. Pat. No. 5,750,314 to Fromson et al discloses an insoluble ink jet coating selectively applied over a soluble lithographic coating which need not be photosensitive. The insoluble ink jet mask prevents the soluble coating from being removed by the solvent. Each of these imaging techniques has a particular advantage. It would, therefore, be desirable to have different types of imagers available without consuming excess space in the printing plant.
Another factor in the conventional production of lithographic printing plates is that the typical process involves the handling of a stock of individual sensitized plates with all of the required handling time and equipment. Each plate must be loaded into an imager, imaged and then unloaded. Imaging the printing plates in a continuous process line on a web including accurate registration and cutting the imaged plates from the web to form the individual plates would greatly simplify the process. Therefore, such imaging on a continuous web is the subject matter of the copending U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09/041,615 of Fromson et al. filed Mar. 12, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,118 and 08/955,041 of Fromson et al. filed Oct. 21, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,513.

Method and apparatus for the multiple imaging of a continuous web


A device is disclosed having a first Field Effect Transistor having a channel region controlled by a gate, a second Field Effect Transistor having a first channel region substantially controlled by a first gate, and a second channel region substantially controlled by a second gate. The gate of the first Field Effect Transistor and the first gate of the second Field Effect Transistor are coupled to a memory write line. The second gate of the second Field Effect Transistor receives a control signal from a memory bit cell.

In an effort to reduce the size of mobile electronic devices and increase the battery life of such devices, an emphasis has been placed on implementing low voltage circuit designs. However, designers of low voltage, nano-scale circuits face many challenges. One such challenge includes the design of reliable low voltage memory circuits. In particular, static random access memory (SRAM) cells can suffer performance degradation at low supply voltages. A typical SRAM memory can have millions of bit cells wherein each bit cell stores one bit of data. At low supply voltages, conventional memory systems cannot always reliably read, write, and retain data.
Operation of a SRAM is influenced by many factors. Specifically, when integrated circuits are manufactured, small variations in doping, layer thicknesses, and other procedures manifest as imprecise threshold voltages, leakage currents, and junction mismatches. These variations can effect operation of a SRAM. The ability of a memory to read and write data is measured in terms of static noise margin (SNM), write margin (WM), and cell current (Icell). The SNM of a SRAM memory cell is generally defined as the minimum noise voltage that, when present at a bit cell storage node, will make a bit cell flip to a wrong state. A bit cell is most vulnerable to noise during a read phase, during which, if a cell changes state a destructive read is said to occur. Cell current is the amount of current the memory cell can source or sink during a read phase. Wherein, write margin can be defined as a minimum voltage required on a bit line to pull a storage node low and flip the state of the bit cell from a high state to a low state during a write phase. A low write margin can lead to unsuccessful writes because it indicates that it is difficult to get data lines to drop to near zero volts. It is well known that design changes that improve one characteristic nearly always degrade at least one of the other characteristics, often to unacceptable levels. Accordingly, there is a need for a SRAM memory cell configuration that can overcome these problems


An electronic book reader has a processor, a display surface, and access to a memory card upon which is stored a digitally-formatted creative work such as a book. In addition, the reader has access to a plurality of precompiled condensed content descriptions of respective books that are subject to copy restrictions. Before reading a given book, the reader creates a condensed content description of the book and compares it to the stored descriptions to determine whether the book is subject to copy restrictions. If it is, the reader checks for a valid license before allowing the user to read the book.

The threat of so-called "pirating" of digitally-formatted works has been a significant obstacle to the adoption and widespread use of the Internet for distribution of media such as books, musical works, and motion pictures. Although such network distribution would at first glance seem ideal for these media, which are easily represented in electronic format, there has been no easy way to prevent widespread copying of such works once they are introduced on the public network. In many cases, one person will buy a legitimate copy and then distribute further copies to friends and others without any further payments to the publisher. This threatens the financial well-being of the publishers, and makes them very reluctant to introduce their works on the Internet.
One approach to solving this problem is to provide content protection mechanisms. For example, songs might be distributed encrypted, with the decryption key hidden from the user.
Encryption, however, does not completely solve the problem. Rather, it merely makes the original content more difficult to recover. Even in the face of encryption, a user might discover the decryption key and distribute the original work, unencrypted. Even more simply, a song might be captured after it is decrypted and converted to analog, resulting in only a small reduction in quality. Similarly, a digitally-formatted book might be viewed and simultaneously retyped to create a new, unencrypted version of the book.
With video and audio, some progress has been made in the use of so-called "watermarking," in which a known pattern of digital "noise" is introduced to the sequential samples of a digital data stream. The amplitude of this noise is designed to be quite small, so that it does not degrade the audio or video quality in any perceivable way.
Through the user of watermarks, publishers can verify their ownership of given works. In addition, different watermarks can be used with different copies of the same work, thereby allowing the publisher to trace a pirated work back to its original source.
Although watermarking can be effective with audio and video, it is not easily adaptable to text. This is because text generally becomes unreadable in the presence of even the smallest noise in the data representing the text—a 1-bit noise element changes a given letter to a completely different letter. Although there is some redundancy in formatted text—for instance, in the formatting itself—such redundancy can be easily removed and reinserted, meaning that it is not useful for holding watermarks. Thus, watermarking has not been used successfully in conjunction with textual works.
Furthermore, it is not well understood the extent to which watermarking—even in audio and video—can be overcome by simply playing the original work in analog format and re-recording the work from the analog presentation. Such an attack may have the potential to erase or otherwise degrade the watermark.
Another method of detecting copy violations involves actually searching the Internet for documents containing significant portions of protected works. This can be facilitated by the use of so-called "sketches" of textual matter, described in an article entitled "Syntactic Clustering of the Web," by Andrei Broder, Steve Glassman, Mark Manasse, and Geoffrey Zweig, in Proceedings of the Sixth International World Wide Web Conference, April, 1997, pages 391–404. Using this scheme, a sketch is prepared of each work that is to be protected. A sketch is simply a list of hash values, wherein each hash value is created based on a different textual string of the base text. Each such string preferably encompasses a number of words, such as a sentence, paragraph, or some arbitrary number of characters. In the embodiment described in the article, a document is broken into a number of overlapping text segments or substrings, and a hash is calculated for each segment. The twenty smallest hash values are then chosen, and stored to create a sketch. Sketches of documents found on the Internet are then compared with the sketches of the works to be protected to determine whether some are substantially the same. Documents and works are considered the same if more than a given number of their twenty hash values match.
Although "sketches" such as described above allow a more efficient comparison of documents, the described method still requires that potentially violating works either be known ahead of time, or that the publisher undertake costly Internet searching. Furthermore, this method makes it impossible to find illegal copies that are not visible in an Internet search—such as copies that are e-mailed rather than distributed on publicly accessible Internet sites.
The scheme described below addresses some of the shortcomings of these prior methods, in a system that is effective and easy to implement.

Copy detection for digitally-formatted works


A soldering portion (4) and a Ni plating mark (5) are simultaneously forming by plating on a wiring pattern (2) of an insulating substrate (1). A semiconductor chip (6) is mounted on the insulating substrate (1). A position of the insulating substrate (1) is recognized by the Ni plating mark (5) and a wire (7) is bonded to the semiconductor chip (6). An electrode (8) is joined to the soldering portion (4) by solder (9). The insulating substrate (1), the semiconductor chip (6), the wire (7), and the electrode (8) are encapsulated in an encapsulation material (13).

To secure an insulating property of a semiconductor device, an encapsulation material such as silicone gel is injected into the device. Holes for recognition of the position of an insulating substrate in a process step, e.g., wire bonding are provided in a wiring pattern on the insulating substrate (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


This present invention relates to a drawer latch mechanism, implementing to a drawer for removable hard drives in a server computer. The drawer latch mechanism comprises a latch member, which extends from the front edge of the drawer to the lateral edge of the drawer. The latch member is installed on the front edge of the drawer to be moved back and forth thereon. The latch member is applied to insert to a corresponding a lock hole to secure the drawer to a drawer shelf. The drawer latch mechanism further comprises a swivel member to withdraw the latch member from the lock hole.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a drawer latch mechanism. More particularly, the present invention relates to a latch mechanism of a drawer for accommodating removable sever hard drives.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional drawer latch mechanism, which has two parallel guide columns 21 located on a front edge 20 of a drawer. A latch member 10 has two guide slots 11 to respectively engage with two guide columns 21 such that the latch member 10 can be slid along the front edge 20 of the drawer back and forth to lock or unlock the drawer to a drawer shelf.
The latch member 10 has a handle 12 for users to be exerted force upon such that the latch member 10 can be pulled against a resilient spring 14 to unlock the drawer. The handle 12 needs to be long enough at least for fingers to exert force upon such that the handle 12 usually occupies more space. For the forgoing reasons, there is a need for improving the drawer latch mechanism.


Disclosed is a nitride semiconductor light emitting device including: one or more AllnN layers; an In-doped nitride semiconductor layer formed above the AllN layers; a first electrode contact layer formed above the In-doped nitride semiconductor layer; an active layer formed above the first electrode contact layer; and a p-type nitride semiconductor layer formed above the active layer. According to the nitride semiconductor light emitting device, a crystal defect of the active layer is suppressed, so that the reliability of the nitride semiconductor light emitting device is increased and the light output is enhanced.

In general, GaN-based semiconductors are applied to fields of light devices, such as blue/green light emitting device (LED), high speed switching elements, such as MESFET(Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor), HEMT(High Electron Mobility Transistors) and the like, and electronic devices as high power devices.
In the general types of the GaN-based semiconductor LEDs, the GaN-based semiconductor LED is fabricated by a method including growing a thin polycrystalline film as a buffer layer on a substrate (e.g., sapphire substrate or SiC substrate) at a low growth temperature, forming an n-GaN layer on the buffer layer at a high growth temperature, and forming a magnesium (Mg)-doped p-GaN layer on the buffer layer. An active layer emitting light is sandwiched between the n-GaN layer and the p-GaN layer.
Meanwhile, in the conventional pn-junction LED and fabrication method thereof, crystal defects may be generated due to a difference in lattice constant and a difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the sapphire substrate and the GaN semiconductor. To suppress the occurrence of such crystal defects, a low temperature GaN-based or AlN-based buffer layer is applied, obtaining a GaN semiconductor having a crystal defect size of ˜108/cm1. Hereinafter, the occurrence path of the crystal defect and the conventional method employed to suppress the crystal defect will be described.
In brief, if amorphous GaN-based or AlN-based buffer layer is formed at a low temperature and is then recrystallized at a high temperature, a 'poly-like' crystal is formed, which is very rough in surface state and is not good in flatness. However, as the crystal growth continues, a vertical growth is preferrentially performed at a first stage and then two-dimensional growth is preferentially performed at a second stage, so that good quality of nitride semiconductor can be obtained.
At this time, in the vertical growth period corresponding to the initial growth phase, the crystal defect is generated at a boundary fused with a GaN island. The crystal defects are generated in a variety of forms, for example, 'threading dislocation', 'screw dislocation', 'line dislocation', 'point defect' that are propagated to a surface of the LED, or 'mixture' of the aforementioned defects. Eventually, the crystal defects badly influence the device reliability. In particular, while the 'threading dislocation' is propagated to the surface of the LED from the sapphire substrate, it passes through the active layer emitting light. In the future, the 'threading dislocation' serves as a current path of leakage current or the like, and accordingly, when a high voltage such as ESD is instantly applied to, the active layer is destroyed or light power is lowered, which serves as a basic reason badly influencing the reliability.
Under this circumstance, to further enhance the light power of the LED and the operation reliability against an external factor such as ESD (electrostatic discharge) or the like, the growth of a GaN semiconductor having less crystal defect is required.
To solve this problem; a variety of growth techniques, such as 'lateral overgrowth', 'pendeo-growth' or the like using insulator or refractory metal have been employed to decrease the crystal defect to ˜107/cm1 at most. However, the conventional fabrication method has a problem that the process is complicated. Also, although the conventional fabrication method can effectively suppress the crystal defect, it is disadvantageous in terms of costs and still has the need to continue technical development in order to meet the possibility of mass production.
Accordingly, in order to effectively enhance the light power and reliability of the LED, a crystal growth method that can minimize the crystal defect propagated from the substrate is essentially required.

Nitride semiconductor light emitting device and fabrication method therefor


A dynamic mask exposure system includes a support, a source of a beam, and a transmissive dynamic phase-shifting mask with orthogonally arranged matrices of actuator lines and binary pixel units which are opaque or transparent as a function of control inputs to the actuator lines. A control system is connected to supply pixel control signals to the actuator lines of the mask to form a pattern of transparent regions and opaque regions. The beam is directed onto the mask. A pattern detection element is located on the support. The beam passes through the transparent regions and projects a pattern from the mask onto the support or onto the image detection element. Where the image detection element is the target, there are means for providing signals representing the pattern to the control system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to masks for semiconductor manufacturing and more particularly to phase-shifting masks.
2. Description of Related Art
This invention teaches an electronically controlled universal phase-shift mask in a stepper exposure system. The pixel dynamic mask e.g., a SLM (Spatial Light Modulator) can be controlled to have phase-shift features.
Pfauler et al. xe2x80x9cHigh-Throughput Optical Direct Write Lithographyxe2x80x9d, Solid State Technology (June 1997), pp. 175-176, 178, 180, 182 describes a direct write lithography system using a programmable phase-modulated spatial light modulator (SLM) system in which the image is reflected from the SLM onto a semiconductor wafer. The spatial light modulator comprises an array of rectangular electrodes with a reflective, deformable viscoelastic layer on top. The SLM serves as a plane mirror in an optical system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,937 of Nelson for xe2x80x9cMethod for High Resolution Printingxe2x80x9d shows an SLM in a printing system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,485 of Iwaki et al. for xe2x80x9cOptical Pattern Recognition System and Method of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulatorxe2x80x9d shows a pattern recognition system using a SLM (spatial light modulator).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,447 of Fukushima for xe2x80x9cOptical Transform System for Three-Dimensional Object Recognitionxe2x80x9d shows an image detection system for phase-shift masks using an SLM and a CCD.
Levenson et al xe2x80x9cImproving Resolution in Photolithography with a Phase-Shifting Maskxe2x80x9d, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, VOL. ED-29. No. 12, (Dec. 1982), pp. 1828-1836.
Levenson xe2x80x9cPhase-Shifting Mask Strategies: Isolated Dark Linesxe2x80x9d, Microlithograpy World, (March/April 1992) pp. 6-12).
A problem with the prior art is that it is necessary to prepare entire sets of various layer masks for a single device. With a conventional binary mask the resolution is limited at the near exposure wavelength which is a disadvantage.
In accordance with a first aspect of this invention, a dynamic mask exposure system and method employs a support for a workpiece, a source of a beam of exposure radiation, a transmissive dynamic mask with matrices of actuator lines arranged orthogonally and binary pixel units which are opaque or transparent as a function of control inputs to the actuator lines, the transmissive dynamic mask has a top surface and a bottom surface. A control system is connected to supply pixel control signals to the actuator lines of the transmissive dynamic phase-shifting mask to form a pattern of transparent regions and opaque regions. The beam is directed down onto the top surface of the mask. The beam which passes through the transparent regions projects a pattern from the mask onto the support where the workpiece is to be located. Preferably the control system comprises a computer and a direct access storage device for storing patterning data; the transmissive dynamic mask comprises a transmissive spatial light modulator; the source of the beam of exposure radiation comprises a collimated light beam, preferably provided by at least one condenser lens projecting the collimated light beam onto the top surface of the mask. A projection lens system projects and focuses the pattern from the mask onto the support from the bottom surface of the mask.
In accordance with another aspect of this invention, a dynamic mask exposure system and method employs a support for a workpiece and a source of a beam of exposure radiation. A transmissive dynamic phase-shifting mask with orthogonally arranged matrices of actuator lines and binary pixel units which are opaque or transparent as a function of control inputs to the actuator lines, the transmissive dynamic mask having a top surface and a bottom surface is employed. A control system is connected to supply pixel control signals to the actuator lines of the transmissive dynamic mask to form a pattern of transparent regions and opaque regions. The beam is directed down onto the top surface of the mask. An image detection element for detecting a pattern of radiation projected thereon is located on the top surface of the support. The beam passes through the transparent regions and projects a pattern from the mask onto the support where the image detection element is to be located. Means for providing signals represent the pattern to the control system. The source of the beam of exposure radiation comprises a collimated light beam provided by at least one condenser lens projecting the collimated light beam onto the top surface of the mask. Preferably the control system comprises a computer and a direct access storage device for storing patterning data; the transmissive dynamic mask comprises a transmissive spatial light modulator; and a projection lens system projects and focuses the pattern from the mask onto the support from the bottom surface of the mask.

Electronically controlled universal phase-shifting mask for stepper exposure system

Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation


There is provided a cryptographic key determination device for determining one or more cryptographic keys in a cryptographic device, the cryptographic device being configured to execute one or more test programs, the cryptographic device comprising one or more components (11-i), each component (11-i) being configured to generate static and dynamic data, the dynamic data being generated in response to the execution of the one or more test programs, wherein the cryptographic key determination device comprises: a data extraction unit configured to extract at least one part of the static data and at least one part of the dynamic data generated by the one or more components (11-i), and a key generator configured to combine the at least one part of static data and the at least one part of dynamic data, and to determine the one or more cryptographic keys by applying a cryptographic function to the combined data.

Cryptographic devices are used in many fields to ensure security, authentication, protection and privacy of data during their storage and/or their transmission. With the huge and continuous advances made in the fields of computer sciences and computer hardware technologies, cryptographic devices have become essential items. Low-cost, fast, and small cryptographic devices are deployed in various systems, such as communication systems and data processing systems, for many applications.
Cryptographic devices use one or more cryptographic keys to generate secured data from original data for preventing a hacker or an attacker from recovering the original data, while access to the secured data requires access to the cryptographic keys. Cryptographic devices accordingly store sensitive private data (e.g. cryptographic keys). An attack on the cryptographic hardware can have disastrous implications on data security including, for example, loss of privacy and loss of protection and security.
The target of an attacker with respect to a cryptographic device depends on the application. For example, an attacker can target learning private parameters, such as the cryptographic key(s), or try to exploit leaked information of the attacked cryptographic device without learning private parameters or damaging the normal serviceability of the system.
In secured cryptographic devices, it is intended that an attacker cannot acquire any knowledge on the private data by observing or manipulating the inputs/outputs of the units storing sensitive data or implementing cryptographic mechanisms involving sensitive private data. An attacker can try to recover sensitive data by performing an exhaustive search (e.g. an exhaustive search over the full space of cryptographic keys if the goal of the attacker is to extract one or more cryptographic keys).
Several attacks on cryptographic devices exist comprising for example hardware attacks that target the physical implementation of cryptographic algorithms and cyber-attacks that target the behavior of a cryptographic device when executing a software code/program on a processor. Exemplary physical hardware attacks comprise side-channel attacks and fault attacks.
Side-channel attacks use any physically leaked information (e.g. power consumption, processing time, electromagnetic radiations, sound and infrared radiations) that could be used by an attacker as an additional source of knowledge of the physical implementation of cryptographic mechanisms. Leaked information can reveal characteristics on the internal structure of the attacked device and on the running cryptographic mechanisms. For example, measuring power consumption of a cryptographic device over time or measuring the time required to run cryptographic mechanisms or to run computational operations for the generation of cryptographic keys might disclose information about private data.
In fault attacks, an attacker forces a cryptographic device to perform some erroneous operations, with the purpose of exploiting any leaked information during the wrong behavior of the attacked device to determine the private parameters involved during the running of the erroneous operations. Several methods for inducing fault attacks exist comprising for example supplying noisy power or clock signals, incorrect voltage, or excessive temperature.
Cyber-attacks exploit the machine-code execution performed by the processing elements/components/units to access and gain control of attacked devices. In particular, memory-based attacks on hardware/software designs rely on corrupting memory addresses (locations) to hijack control flow. For example, arbitrary program execution can be achieved by corrupting a code/program memory location (as example the return address).
Several protection techniques against hardware attacks and cyber-attacks exist.
Side-channel attacks can be countered by providing cryptographic mechanisms and algorithms that run in a constant time or developing cryptographic programs that operate under a constant program flow, regardless of the secured data. These techniques allow mitigating side-channel attacks. However, their practical implementation is not feasible in applications where the hardware resources (storage space, processing capabilities) are limited due for example to cost or size considerations. Besides, the value of the data manipulated by the algorithm can also leak. Therefore, other side-channel mitigation solutions have been disclosed in:    "S. Chari, C. S. Jutla, J. R. Rao, and P. Rohatgi. Towards Sound Approaches to Counteract Power-Analysis Attacks. Advances in Cryptology-CRYPTO. Volume 25 1666 of the Series Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Pages 398-412. 1999";    "S. Chari, J. R. Rao, and P. Rohatgi. Template Attacks. Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (CHES). Volume 2523 of the Series Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Pages 13-28. 2003", and    "J-S. Coron and L. Goubin. On Boolean and Arithmetic Masking against Differential Power Analysis. Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (CHES). Volume 1965 of the Series Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Pages 231-237. 2000".
These solutions are based on randomization techniques such as secret splitting or masking schemes aiming at adding a protection layer to the cryptographic mechanisms through the use of random unknown numbers that prevent unintended receivers or attackers from predicting secret values from leaked information. Masking schemes are efficient in scenarios where the attacker exploits physical leaked information observed in one instant. However, for some attacks, which are based on multiple leaked information in multiple instants (such as high-order differential analysis), randomization techniques fail to inhibit attackers to successfully recover desired secret values (in "P. C. Kocher, J. Jaffe, and B. Jun. Differential Power Analysis. Advances in Cryptology-CRYPTO. Volume 1666 of the Series Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Pages 388-297. 1999").
Protections against fault attacks in hardware or software aim at helping the circuits to avoid detecting and/or correcting faults. Passive and active protections exist. Exemplary passive protections comprise the randomization of the clock cycles, bus and memory encryption. Exemplary active protections comprise the use of sensors and detectors to infer abnormal circuit behaviors.
Protections against cyber-attacks comprise:                antivirus programs used to detect/identify the presence of malware codes;        the use of canaries to detect overflows;        dynamic information flow tracking to identify and track the unsafe data;        the use of virtual memory addresses rather than physical addresses in combination with the deployment of non-executable stack and heaps, address space layout randomization, and stack canaries; such protection measures provide memory access restrictions and prevent from code injection and/or execution by attackers, and        control flow integrity based on the detection of any modifications on the flow control.
Existing protections against hardware and software attacks that target the extraction of cryptographic keys stored in/used by cryptographic devices provide a partial protection and are not sufficient to completely protect cryptographic devices.
There is accordingly a need for developing efficient cryptographic keys generation techniques that prevent from attacks that aim at recovering cryptographic keys implemented in cryptographic devices.

Methods and devices for secure secret key generation


A pedestrian protection apparatus for a vehicle, including a plate member which is disposed at a front face of the vehicle, which includes front and rear portions, and which is fixed at the rear portion to the vehicle with at least a leading end part of the front portion protruded from the front face of the vehicle, the apparatus being arranged to sweep a leg portion of a pedestrian, thereby protecting the leg portion, wherein the leading end part includes at least one horizontally extending portion and a plurality of vertically extending portions each having an anterior surface substantially orthogonal to a horizontal plane, the horizontally extending portion and the vertically extending portions being formed integrally with the leading end part so as to be alternately disposed in the frontward and backward direction of the vehicle and extend in a staircase-like form.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a pedestrian protection apparatus for a vehicle, and in particular to an improved structure of the pedestrian protection apparatus disposed at a lower part of a front face of the vehicle and arranged to sweep a leg portion of a pedestrian by contact with the leg portion of the pedestrian that has collided with or contacted the front face of the vehicle, thereby protecting the leg portion of the pedestrian.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In vehicles such as automotive vehicles, there are conventionally disposed, at a front face, a rear face, or a side face, of the vehicles, various types of protection apparatus which absorb an impact energy generated upon a collision for thereby protecting a vehicle body and passengers of the vehicle. In recent years, there is disposed, at the front face of the vehicle, an apparatus for protecting a pedestrian upon collision or contact of the pedestrian with the front face of the vehicle.
As one type of the pedestrian protection apparatus, there is known a so-called leg-sweep apparatus which is disposed inside of a front bumper or disposed independently of the front bumper. The leg-sweep apparatus is arranged to apply, to a leg portion of the pedestrian, counterforce with respect to an impact load that is inputted upon collision of the pedestrian with the front face of the vehicle and sweep (scoop up) the leg portion of the pedestrian, thereby causing the pedestrian to fall down or to be thrown over toward the vehicle. Thus, it is possible to minimize occurrence of injuries to the knee such as bone fractures, thereby assuring protection and safety of the pedestrian.
Examples of the leg-sweep apparatus as one type of the pedestrian protection apparatus are disclosed in a patent publication document 1 (JP-A-2001-277963) and a patent publication document 2 (JP-A-2004-25976), for instance. The pedestrian protection apparatus disclosed in the patent publication document 1 is arranged to be disposed at the lower part of the front face of the vehicle and includes resin foam body which extends in a vehicle width direction with at least a part of the resin foam body protruded from the front face of the vehicle and a beam member which extends in the vehicle width direction while being in contact with the back surface of the resin foam body. The pedestrian protection apparatus disclosed in the patent publication document 2 is arranged to be disposed at the lower part of the vehicle and includes a metal pipe or the like which is fixed to the lower part of the front face of the vehicle so as to extend in the vehicle width direction. However, the pedestrian protection apparatus disclosed in those documents have drawbacks which should be rectified. In the former pedestrian protection apparatus including the resin foam body and the beam member, the number of the components is undesirably large, and therefore the cost of the components is high. Further, it is troublesome to install or mount the apparatus on the vehicle. In the latter pedestrian protection apparatus including the metal pipe, the weight of the apparatus inevitably increases. In addition, it is difficult to form into a configuration following that of the front face of the vehicle.
Under such situations, there has been proposed, in a patent publication document 3 (JP-A-2004-203183), for instance, a pedestrian protection apparatus arranged to be disposed to extend in a frontward and backward direction of a vehicle. The disclosed apparatus includes a plate member which is formed of a synthetic resin, which includes a front portion and a rear portion, and which is fixed at the rear portion to the vehicle with at least a leading end part of the front portion protruded from the front face of the vehicle. The pedestrian protection apparatus disclosed in the patent publication document 3 is arranged to sweep a leg portion of a pedestrian that has collided with the front face of the vehicle by contact of the leading end part of the front portion of the plate member protruding from the front face of the vehicle, with the leg portion of the pedestrian. In this conventional pedestrian protection apparatus, there are formed, on one surface of the front portion of the plate member, a plurality of first ribs having a planar shape and extending in the frontward and backward direction of the vehicle and a plurality of second ribs having a planar shape and extending in the width direction of the vehicle, which first and second ribs are assembled in a lattice. In this structure, the front portion of the plate member is reinforced, that is, the rigidity of the front portion of the plate member is increased, owing to the ribs formed thereon.
In such a pedestrian protection apparatus, the number of the components is small. Further, the plate member whose leading end part is protruded from the front face of the vehicle is made of the synthetic resin that is excellent in formability. Accordingly, the disclosed apparatus assures protection of the pedestrian while eliminating the drawbacks of the above-indicated apparatus including the resin foam body and the beam member and the drawbacks of the above-indicated apparatus including the metal pipe. Further, the front portion of the plate member is reinforced, that is, the rigidity of the front portion is increased, by the plurality of first and second ribs formed as described above, whereby, when the front portion of the plate member comes into contact with the leg portion of the pedestrian, the front portion is prevented from being deformed due to impact upon the contact or the deformation amount of the front portion is made sufficiently small. Therefore, it is possible to stably assure counterforce with respect to the impact load inputted to the plate member.
However, the conventional pedestrian protection apparatus having the plate member formed of the synthetic resin experiences the following drawbacks.
The above-described pedestrian protection apparatus is generally disposed inside of the front bumper such that the planar second ribs provided on the front portion of the plate member are opposed to the inner surface of the front bumper. The cross sectional shape of the front bumper taken along a vertical plane which is parallel to the frontward and backward direction of the vehicle is a convex curved shape protruding forward. Where the inner surface of the front bumper has a convex curved surface configuration in correspondence with the shape of the front bumper, there is inevitably formed a comparatively large clearance between the inner surface of the front bumper and the planar second ribs of the plate member.
Further, in the pedestrian protection apparatus described above, in general, the leading end part of the front portion of the plate member is positioned so as to protrude from the front face of the vehicle with the rear portion of the plate member fixed to a radiator support, a cross member or the like. Accordingly, the dimension of the plate member as measured in the frontward and backward direction of the vehicle is relatively large. The increase in the dimension of the plate member as measured in the frontward and backward direction of the vehicle, however, leads to insufficient rigidity (insufficient strength with respect to deformation) against the impact load inputted thereto upon collision of the leg portion of the pedestrian with the front face of the vehicle. Where the flexural or bending rigidity of the plate member is insufficient, the front portion of the plate member is initially deflected or bent with ease, so that the timing of initial rise of the impact load in the load characteristics (abrupt rise of the load in the load-displacement curve) is delayed, thereby making it impossible to instantaneously exhibit sufficient counterforce with respect to the impact load. In this case, the pedestrian protection apparatus fails to instantaneously or promptly sweep the leg portion of the pedestrian.
In the meantime, as the pedestrian protection apparatus which is to be disposed inside of the front bumper with the leading end part of the front portion of the plate member opposed to the inner surface of the front bumper having the convex curved surface configuration, there is known a structure that the surface of the leading end part of the plate member that confronts the inner surface of the front bumper is made as a convex curved surface corresponding to the inner surface of the front bumper, as disclosed in a patent publication document 4 (JP-A-2002-274298), for instance. The disclosed structure prevents formation of a large clearance between the leading end part of the plate member and the inner surface of the front bumper.
In the pedestrian protection apparatus having such a structure, however, the impact load that acts in a backward direction of the vehicle when the leg portion of the pedestrian collides with the front bumper is inputted to the convex curved surface of the leading end part of the plate member. Accordingly, upon the input of the impact load, there is a generated force that lifts up the leading end part of the plate portion. In this instance, the leading end part of the plate member is deformed so as to be rolled up, resulting in a delay in the rise of the impact load in the load characteristics. Accordingly, the pedestrian protection apparatus in which the leading end part of the plate member has a shape that corresponds to the shape of the inner surface of the front bumper also suffers from the problem that the leg portion of the pedestrian cannot be promptly swept.

Pedestrian protection apparatus for vehicle


Methods for enhancing or automating a review process of annotation tags for a set of tokens is described. A system may receive a list of tokens with associated tags for each token for a data set and may output any identified inconsistencies where a token is assigned at least two different tags. For example, instead of a human looking at each token individually or taking a sample set of the tags for review, the described techniques may look at all tokens with the associated tags in a set of data and may leverage reorganizing the tokens and associated tags to highlight errors to be fixed. Accordingly, the system may look across all tokens within an entire data set, while a review (e.g., by a human) of possible errors of the data set is limited to the highlighted errors flagged by the system.

Computer networks permit the transport of data between interconnected computers. Search engine technology permits a user to obtain information from a vast array of sources available via a computer network. A search engine may be a program that searches for and identifies content in a database that correspond to keywords or characters input by the user and may return websites available via the Internet based on the search. To generate a search, a user may interact with a user device, such as a computer or mobile phone, to submit a search query via a search engine. The search engine may execute the search and display results for the search query based on communication with other applications and servers.
In some implementations, when generating search results, search engines and other applications may use annotation tags assigned to tokens in a data set. For example, an annotation tag may indicate a contextual meaning assigned to a token within the context of a data set. Search engines, for instance, may parse a received search query to identify a token, and may use a corresponding annotation tag for the token to identify a contextual meaning assigned to the token to produce higher quality search results. Conventional annotation techniques are deficient.

Techniques for enhancing the quality of human annotation