The present invention provides a heating member that can be molded inside cavities, between individual members or encapsulating components to provide efficient and uniform heat transfer. The invention may be used to advantage around pipes or vessels for heating the contents, within members for providing heat to adjacent members or workpieces, and in any other application where heat can be more efficiently or uniformly provided by intimate contact with a member to be heated, whether or not the member to be heated is the ultimate member or workpiece requiring heat. In one aspect of the invention, a heating member is disposed within an electrostatic chuck to provide direct conductive heating of the electrostatic chuck and, ultimately, a silicon wafer up to temperatures as high as about 600 degrees Celsius. The preferred electrostatic chuck incorporates a composite heating element intimately molded within the electrostatic chuck, wherein the composite is resistively heated over a large surface area of the electrostatic chuck.

In the manufacture of many electronic or electrical components such as integrated circuits, there is a need to deposit thin films on substrates. Materials such as aluminum, titanium, tungsten, tantalum, tantalum nitride, cobalt, and silica may be deposited on ceramic, glass or silicon-derived substrates using physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes such as a physical sputtering process. Another method of deposition of solid materials upon a substrate is chemical vapor deposition (CVD), wherein a solid material is deposited from a gaseous phase onto a substrate by means of a chemical reaction. The deposition reaction involved is generally thermal decomposition, chemical oxidation, or chemical reduction. The CVD process can be used to deposit many elements and alloys as well as compounds including oxides, nitrides and carbides. The thin film deposited may be subsequently etched or otherwise fabricated into circuits and/or other electrical components.
In a typical PVD process, such as physical sputtering, a low pressure atmosphere of an ionizable gas such as argon or helium is introduced in a vacuum chamber. The pressure in the vacuum chamber is reduced to about 10.sup.-6 to about 10.sup.-10 Torr, after which argon, for example, is introduced to produce an argon partial pressure from about 0.0001 Torr (0.1 mTorr) to about 0.020 Torr (20 mTorr). Two electrodes, a cathode and an anode, are generally disposed in the vacuum chamber to generate a plasma in the chamber. The cathode is typically made of the material to be deposited or sputtered, and the anode is generally formed by the enclosure (particular walls of the vacuum chamber, or the support member upon which the substrate sits, for example). At times, an auxiliary anode may be used or the article to be coated may serve as the anode. Typically, a high voltage is applied between these two electrodes to strike a plasma in the chamber, and the substrate to be coated is disposed upon a platform positioned opposite the cathode.
The platform upon which the substrate sits during processing is often heated and/or cooled, and heat is transferred between the platform and the substrate, to assist in obtaining the desired film coating upon the substrate. As device geometries shrink, the coating is preferably a thin film which needs to have an even thickness, controlled stress and the desired material morphology, while providing excellent step coverage. To obtain such a thin film coating, it is desirable to maintain the substrate at a uniform temperature within a few degrees Celsius. Preferably, the temperature is near but below the melting point of the material from which the film is being formed. It is very important that the substrate temperature be repeatable each time a given process is carried out. Thus, the heat transfer between the platform and the substrate must be uniform and repeatable.
In a typical CVD process, to facilitate uniformity of deposition coverage of the substrate, the deposition is carried out in a vacuum chamber under a partial vacuum. The pressure in the CVD chamber commonly ranges from about 0.070 Torr (for plasma enhanced CVD) to about 200 Torr (for "high pressure" CVD). As reactive gases are fed into the chamber, they are directed via a pressure differential (created by the vacuum system applied to the CVD chamber) across the surface of the substrate to be coated in a manner which provides an even flow of reactant gases over the substrate surface. The deposition is also controlled by the temperature of the surfaces which contact the reactant gases. Thus, it is critical that the substrate surface be controlled at a desired uniform temperature.
The substrate support member upon which the substrate sits is commonly used as the means for transferring heat to and from the substrate. Radiant, inductive, or resistance heating are the most commonly used techniques to heat a support platform, but it is also possible to circulate a heat transfer fluid internal to the support platform to provide heating or cooling of the support platform.
When the pressure in the process chamber is about 5 Torr or less, convective/conductive heat transfer between the substrate and the platform becomes impractical. Since the substrate and the platform typically do not have perfectly level surfaces which would enable sufficiently even heat transfer by direct conduction, it is helpful to provide a heat transfer fluid between the platform and the substrate, to assist in providing even heat transfer between the support platform and the substrate. Preferably the heat transfer fluid used between the substrate and its support platform is in constant movement (flowing) to provide yet another improvement in the uniformity of the heat transfer. The heat transfer fluid commonly used between the support platform and the substrate is one of the gases used in the sputtering, CVD or etch process.
A frequently-used substrate support platform design is one having a substrate contact surface which is principally flat-faced with openings and/or exposed channels spaced at various locations upon this surface. The fluid used to transfer heat between the platform and the substrate flows through the openings or is fed through an opening into exposed channels in the flat-faced surface of the platform. The heat transfer fluid can be provided to the platform from a fluid supply source via tubing which connects the fluid supply source to the platform. The platform itself may include various means for directing fluid to the openings and/or exposed channels in the surface of the platform.
In operation of a semiconductor processing apparatus, the substrate to be processed is typically mechanically or electrostatically clamped along its edges to the substrate-facing surface of the support platform. The fluid used to transfer heat between the support platform and the substrate is typically a gas such as helium, argon, hydrogen, carbon tetrafluoride, or hexafluoroethane, for example, or other suitable gas that is a good heat conductor at low pressure. This heat transfer fluid is applied through openings or supplied into exposed channels in the substrate-facing surface of the support platform.
Electrostatic clamping of semiconductor substrates on a support platform, such as a pedestal, is typically accomplished with an electrostatic chuck. An electrostatic chuck typically includes at least a dielectric layer and an electrode, which may be located on a chamber pedestal or formed as an integral part of the chamber pedestal. A semiconductor substrate is placed in contact with the dielectric layer, and a direct current voltage is placed on the electrode to create the electrostatic attractive force to adhere the substrate on the chuck. An electrostatic chuck is particularly useful in vacuum processing environments where the maximum differential pressure which can be established between the low pressure chamber and the face of the chuck is insufficient to firmly grip the substrate on the chuck, or where mechanical clamping of the substrate is undesirable.
Although a simple electrostatic chuck may be formed from as little as a single dielectric layer and an electrode, the materials and construction of an electrostatic chuck will vary from one application to another, particularly in high temperature or low temperature processes. A typical low temperature electrostatic chuck is configured as a thin laminate member supported on a chamber pedestal to receive and support the substrate. The laminate member preferably includes an electrode core, preferably a thin copper member, which is sandwiched between upper and lower dielectric layers of an organic material such as polyamide. An adhesive such as polyamide may be used to attach the polyamide layers to the electrode core. The lower dielectric layer of the laminate member is attached directly to the upper surface of the chamber pedestal, usually with an adhesive such as polyamide, and the upper dielectric layer forms a planar surface on which the substrate is received. To prevent exposure of the electrode to the chamber environment, the upper and lower dielectric layers and adhesive layers extend beyond the edges of the electrode core, and are interconnected at that location to form a dielectric barrier between the electrode core and the chamber environment. To supply the high voltage potential to the electrode, a strap, formed as an integral extension of the laminate member, extends through or around the edge of the pedestal and connects to a high voltage connector on the underside of the pedestal.
Low temperature electrostatic chucks used in certain physical vapor deposition processes are made of a dielectric coated aluminum shell. In both high and low temperature electrostatic chucks, the aluminum shell will typically enclose equipment such as a thermocouple, electrical conductor leads to the electrostatic chuck and a heat transfer gas supply line. When a heating element is included in the shell, the heater must be configured to avoid interference with the other equipment. Unfortunately, the necessary heater configurations do not provide uniform heating of the substrate support platform and, ultimately, the substrate. Temperature nonuniformity of the substrate leads to nonuniform film deposition.
Therefore, there remains a need for a substrate support member that can provide substantially uniform heating over the surface of a substrate and allow for equipment, sensors, wires or the like to pass through or be positioned within the support member. It would be desirable to have a substrate support member with an integral electrostatic chuck in an intimate thermal relationship with a heater. Furthermore, it would be desirable to have a heater that would provide substantially uniform and repeatable heating of a substrate surface.

Substrate support member for uniform heating of a substrate


A semiconductor oscillator circuit for an EEPROM high voltage charge pump utilizes a current generating means to charge a first and a second capacitor alternatively. The charging current produced by the current generating means is inversely proportional to the ambient temperature. The charging current is proportional to the supply voltage and consequently, the oscillator frequency output remains constant over a variable voltage supply. Such a constant frequency characteristic makes a low voltage operation possible, but slows down the oscillator frequency as temperature increases. The slowing of oscillator frequency limits the charge pump output voltage and enhances the lifespan of the EEPROM cells.

In a typical non-volatile memory device such as electrically erasable programmable read only memories (EEPROM), a charge pump is needed to generate the high internal programming voltage necessary to achieve electron tunneling during programming steps. The charge pump circuit takes in a low voltage input and generates a high voltage output using multiple voltage pumping stages.
FIG. 1 shows a simple charge pump circuit, which is commonly known as a Dickson charge pump. The Dickson charge pump includes a plurality of diode ladder stages 10 wherein complementary charge pump clock signals 18, 20 are provided to successive stages. Each diode ladder stage 10 comprises a diode 12 and a capacitor 14 connected together. The charge pump circuit operates by passing charges along successive stages of the diode ladder 10 using capacitive coupling of the complementary charge pump clock signals 18, 20 that are provided by an oscillator circuit. Since the voltage is not reset after each pumping cycle, the average node potential increases progressively from the input terminal 16 to the output terminal 17 of the diode ladder 10. The maximum output voltage Vmax reached by the Dickson charge pump can be derived from equation (1) below:Vmax=(N+1)×(Vdd−Vt)  (1)where N is the number of diodes 12 in the ladder, Vdd is the supply voltage, and Vt is the threshold voltage of the diodes 12.
The output current Iout provided by the Dickson charge pump can be derived from equation (2) below:Iout=N×C×(Vdd−Vt)×Fosc  (2)where C is the capacitance of capacitors 14, and Fosc is the oscillator output frequency.
These two equations shows the output sensitivity of the Dickson charge pump to the power supply Vdd. As shown in equations (1) and (2), both the maximum voltage output Vmax and the output current Iout decrease with decreasing supply voltage Vdd. Equation (2) also shows that output current Iout is proportional to the oscillator frequency.
FIG. 2 shows a simple ring oscillator that can be used to drive the Dickson charge pump circuit shown in FIG. 1. The ring oscillator is composed of a number of inverter elements 32 connected in a circular manner. An input NAND gate 30 provides a means for disabling the oscillator when a low voltage signal is presented at an ENABLE terminal 28. The oscillator outputs are stable (i.e., φ1=1, φ2=0) when the enable signal 28 is low. When enabled, the input NAND gate 30 inverts the signal from the terminal "A." The signal is then propagated through the inverters 32 back to point "A." This process continues until the ENABLE signal 28 goes back to low. The amount of time taken to propagate the signal back to point "A" is determined by the inverter delay. This inverter delay is dependent on the supply voltage Vdd because the supply voltage Vdd is the maximum gate-source voltage that can be applied to the transistors within each inverter stage 32. It is the gate-source voltage that determines the current drive of each inverter stage, which ultimately determines the propagation speed of each inverter stage 32. The signal that is present at point "A" is then provided to a first clock driver portion 24, which is composed of a NAND gate 34, and two inverters 36 connected in a serial manner and generates the φ1 signal 18. The signal that is present at point "B" is provided to a second clock drive portion 26, which is composed of a NAND gate 38 and two inverters 40 connected in a serial manner and generates the φ2 signal 20. The φ1 18 and φ2 20 signals are 180° out of phase with each other.
A drawback of the ring oscillator is that the output frequency φ1 18 and φ2 20 changes with the supply voltage Vdd. More specifically, a lower Vdd causes the oscillator to generate a lower operating frequency output. Together with a lower voltage input level, a charge pump system that employs such an oscillator would generate a relatively weak charge pump output voltage. As a result, the charge pump may fail to provide the desired output current. Therefore, it would be desirable to have an oscillator that is not sensitive to the supply voltage Vdd.
For charge pump systems that supply output voltages to an EEPROM array, a major consideration pertains to leakages through the transistors that are connected to the output voltage terminal Vout 17 (FIG. 1) of the charge pump. There are two main mechanisms for such leakages: the first mechanism is a drain to source current (punch-through) leakage that increases with increasing temperature. The second mechanism is a breakdown leakage that has a threshold that decreases with increasing temperature. FIG. 3 shows the relationship between leakage current 56 and voltage output 58. As shown in FIG. 3, at a low voltage output region 60 (between 0 and 15 volt output), current leakage increases with increasing temperature. In this region, punch-through leakage dominates. However, breakdown leakage occurs at a lower threshold when the temperature is low. For instance, the breakdown occurs at about 15 Volts when the temperature is 25° C. (as denoted by numeral 50) and at about 16 Volts when the temperature is 125° C. (as denoted by numeral 54). Since the programming voltage for EEPROM cells is at about 15.5 volts, when the ambient temperature is at 25° C., the major leakage during programming is due to breakdown leakage. As is shown in FIG. 3, once the breakdown leakage threshold is reached, the leakage current goes up exponentially. As a result, the programming operation of the EEPROM cells may fail, as the charge pump may not be able to keep up with the leakage current.
On the other hand, when the temperature is high, such as 125° C., the breakdown threshold voltage is raised to about 16 V. As a result, the breakdown leakage remains low during the EEPROM cell programming stage. Thus, a charge pump oscillator producing a stable frequency throughout the operating temperature range leads to a heightened programming voltage at high operating temperatures. The drawback of having a heightened programming voltage is that the lifetime of EEPROM cells reduces significantly even with a relatively small increase in programming voltage. For instance, studies have shown that as the temperature rises from 25° C. to 85° C., the endurance of the EEPROM cells is reduced by a factor of three due to the corresponding increase in programming voltage. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a charge pump oscillator that produces an output frequency that is inversely proportional to temperature changes and stable with regard to the supply voltage.

Oscillator circuit for EEPROM high voltage generator


An image processor includes: an receiving module configured to receive a video signal of a content; an image quality adjusting module configured to adjust image quality of the video signal received by the receiving module using image quality adjustment parameters including at least a contrast-related parameter; a 3D video detecting module configured to determine whether the video signal is of a 3D content; and a control module configured to control the image quality adjusting module to adjust the image quality of the video signal using the contrast-related parameter being set to a second parameter setting for enhancing contrast more than at a first parameter setting, when the video signal is determined to be the 3D content by the 3D video detecting module while the image quality adjusting module is adjusting the image quality using the contrast-related parameter being set at the first parameter setting.

In recent years, an image quality adjusting function and an audio quality adjusting function are generally provided in TV receivers. A user can adjust output video and audio to the user's favorite states using these adjusting functions. Also, TV receivers are widely used, which have an automatic adjusting function for setting the image quality and the sound quality to predetermined preset values of a movie mode, a brilliant mode, or the like according to a category such as a program genre or a video type of the video image.
For example, JP-A-2005-094072 discloses an image quality adjusting technique using a preset mode in which predetermined image/sound quality is set in advance and an equalizing mode in which the image/sound quality is adjusted by the user. In the preset mode, this technique enables learning of the user's favorite adjustment values by making it possible to add, as image/sound quality of a new mode that is correlated with a particular keyword, image/sound quality as adjusted in the equalizing mode.
However, although the publication, JP-A-2005-094072, discloses the function of customizing the image quality adjustment based on a keyword and content-related information as well as the presetting function and the equalizing function which are commonly used in the image quality adjustment, it discloses no image quality adjusting technique for a situation that there are plural categories relating to the program genre, the video type, etc. and one of those categories is three-dimensional (3D) video.
That is, the image quality cannot be adjusted automatically so as to be suitable for 3D video in the case where plural categories exist for video to be subjected to image quality adjustment and one of those categories is video for 3D visual recognition.

Image processor and method for adjusting image quality


A transmitting-side device (1) generates an image data by performing an image analysis toward the actually photographed two-dimensional image (100) and also generates depth information useful for converting the two-dimensional image into a stereoscopic vision-use image. Furthermore, the transmitting-side device generates additional subordinate information such as scale information, function specifying information, table specifying information, and the like, and transmits such the information to a receiving-side device (2). The receiving-side device (2) receives the image data, the depth information, and the additional subordinate information, generates a parallax image on the basis of such the information, and allows an observer to perform stereoscopic vision.

As a prior art, there is proposed a stereoscopic image receiver and a stereoscopic image system that generate a stereoscopic image on the basis of depth information extracted from a two-dimensional video signal and the two-dimensional video signal (see Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2000-78611).
With the above-described prior art, it is possible to generate a stereoscopic vision-use image that is allowed to have parallax information from an actually photographed two-dimensional image. However, in the above-described prior art, it has not been realized to display various stereoscopic images and reduce an amount of information to be transmitted.

Three-dimensional video providing method and three-dimensional video display device


A panel is provided on a front side of an electronic device. A driving unit opens and closes the panel. A position detecting unit detects whether the panel is open. An object detecting unit detects whether there is an object on the panel when the panel is open. A control unit controls the driving unit not to close the panel when there is an object on the panel.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric panel of an electronic device that opens and closes when a recoding medium is set in or removed from a recording-medium loading slot of the electronic device.
2) Description of the Related Art
Conventional audiovisual electronic devices typically have an operation panel (hereinafter, "panel") with buttons for manual operation and a liquid crystal display, and a loading slot to set recording mediums such as mini discs (MDs), compact discs (CDs), and digital versatile discs or digital video discs (DVDs). However, in-car electronic devices such as car stereos or car navigation systems need to be compact enough to fit within a specified area. One approach is to provide the panel in front of the loading slot, such that the panel opens when a recording medium is to be set in the loading slot. FIGS. 1A to 1C are perspective views of an in-car electronic device 1 (hereinafter, "electronic device 1") with a panel 3 provided on a front side 2a of the electronic device 1. Playback devices 21a to 21c that playback MDs, CDs, or DVDs are located inside a device body 2 of the electronic device 1. The playback devices 21a to 21c have recording-medium loading slots 22a to 22c that are located at the front side 2a of the device body 2, behind the panel 3. The panel 3 is driven from a close position, as shown in FIG. 1A, to an open position, as shown in FIG. 1C, when setting or removing a recording medium. The bottom edge of the panel 3 slides toward the front, and a display surface 31a of the panel 3 tilts upward as shown in FIG. 1B, until the display surface 31a becomes substantially horizontal, as shown in FIG. 1C. As a result, the recording-medium loading slots 22a to 22c appear, so that a recording medium can be set or removed. After the recording medium is set or removed, the panel 3 closes automatically or by a user's instruction.
However, as the panel 3 protrudes outside when open, it can be a safety hazard in case of an accident. To address this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2001-270390 discloses a technology in which a warning sound is emitted when the panel 3 is open while the car is running, to urge a driver (passenger) to close the panel. However, the hazard remains unresolved if the driver ignores the sound.
Another conventional technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2000-105990 automatically closes the panel 3 after a predetermined time duration from when the car starts running, but causes the panel 3 to remain open if the car is not running. However, the users sometime put object, such as CD cases or coffee cups, on the open panel 3. These objects fall off when the panel 3 closes automatically.


A semiconductor pressure sensing apparatus includes a metallic stem having a diaphragm and a semiconductor sensor bonded to the diaphragm. The semiconductor sensor includes a gauge section and first and second bonding pads. The gauge section is configured to be deformed according to a deformation of the diaphragm. The first and second bonding pads are respectively connected to different positions of the gauge section so that an electrical resistance between the first and second bonding pads can change with a change in the deformation of the diaphragm. The gauge section is formed to a semiconductor layer of an silicon-on-insulator substrate. The semiconductor sensor is directly bonded to the diaphragm by activating contact surfaces between the semiconductor sensor and the diaphragm.

In a semiconductor pressure sensor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,635,910, a heavily-doped region serving as a gauge section is formed to a surface portion of a semiconductor substrate by an ion-implantation process, a thermal diffusion process, and the like. The semiconductor substrate of the semiconductor pressure sensor is attached to a thinned portion of an object to be detected. When receiving pressure, the thinned portion of the object is deformed according to an amount of the received pressure. The semiconductor substrate (i.e., the gauge section) attached to the thinned portion is deformed accordingly. An electrical resistance of the gauge section changes according to a degree of the deformation of the gauge section. Therefore, the pressure applied to the object can be detected based on the electrical resistance of the gauge section. A thickness of the surface portion of the semiconductor substrate, where the gauge section is formed, is approximately 2 micrometer (μm), and a total thickness of the semiconductor substrate is between 10 μm and 14 μm.
It is difficult to adjust a depth to which ions are implanted to form the heavily doped region. In such a conventional pressure sensor, therefore, after the ion-implantation process is finished, the thermal diffusion process is performed to achieve uniform impurity concentration of the heavily doped region.
However, it is difficult to control the diffusion in the semiconductor substrate. Therefore, even when the thermal diffusion process is performed, variations in impurity profile may occur. The variations in the impurity profile result in variations in the electrical resistance of the gauge section. The variations in the electrical resistance of the gauge section cause a reduction in detection accuracy. The same problem can arise for other semiconductor sensors such as a semiconductor temperature sensor, which detects a volume change due to a temperature change of an object as an electrical resistance change of a gauge section.
In a pressure sensing apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,067 corresponding to JP-A-H7-11461, such a semiconductor pressure sensor is attached to a diaphragm integrally formed with a metallic stem through a low-melting glass. To reduce thermal stress, the metallic stem (i.e., diaphragm) is required to be made of a material having a thermal expansion coefficient close to a thermal expansion coefficient of a semiconductor substrate (i.e., silicon) of the semiconductor pressure sensor. Therefore, the metallic stem is made of a special material such as kovar, which is more costly and has less workability than a general material such as a stainless steel (SUS). Since a housing for accommodating the metal stem is made of such a general material, the stem cannot be fixed to the housing by welding. Further, the low-melting glass is melt during a bonding process in which the semiconductor pressure sensor is attached to the diaphragm of the stem. Therefore, the low-melting glass may not be accurately positioned with respect to the diaphragm. As a result, the semiconductor pressure sensor may be displaced from a correct location on the diaphragm. The displacement of the semiconductor pressure sensor causes a reduction in detection accuracy.

Semiconductor sensor for measuring a physical quantity and method of manufacturing the same


An optical interconnect (200) includes: a reflective body (230) having a first reflective surface (235) and a second reflective surface (240) opposite the first reflective surface (235); a first optical waveguide (205) that directs a first optical signal received from a first communicating device (105) to the first reflective surface (235); a second optical waveguide (210) that directs the first optical signal from the first reflective surface (235) of the reflective body (230) to a second communicating device (110); a third optical waveguide (215) that directs a second optical signal received from the second communicating device (110) to the second reflective surface (240) of the reflective body (230); and a fourth optical waveguide (220) that directs the second optical signal from the second reflective surface (240) of the reflective body (230) to the first communicating device (105).

Light beams or optical signals are frequently used to transmit digital data. For example, modulated optical signals can carry data between electronic components on circuit boards or through fiber optic networks.
Consequently, optical technology plays a significant role in modern telecommunications and data communication. Examples of optical components used in such systems include optical or light sources such as light emitting diodes and lasers, waveguides, fiber optics, lenses and other optics, photo-detectors and other optical sensors, optically-sensitive semiconductors, optical modulators, and the like.
Systems making use of optical components often rely upon the precise manipulation of optical energy, such as a beam of light, to accomplish a desired task. This is especially true in systems utilizing light for high-speed, low-energy communication between two nodes. Optical waveguides can be used to route modulated optical beams along a predetermined path. An optical waveguide is typically able to transmit optical beams received at a first end of the waveguide to a second end with minimal loss using the inherent physical characteristics of the optical waveguide material.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers may designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Provided are an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device and a method for making such a device. In one example, the ESD protection device includes a Zener diode region formed in a substrate and an N-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) device formed adjacent to the Zener diode region. The Zener diode region has two doped regions, a gate with a grounded potential positioned between the two doped regions, and two light doped drain (LDD) features formed in the substrate. One of the LDD features is positioned between each of the two doped regions and the gate. The NMOS device includes a source and a drain formed in the substrate and a second gate positioned between the source and the drain.

Many integrated circuits include electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection to prevent the damage that may be caused by ESD. ESD protection has become increasingly important as integrated circuit technologies have advanced in both integration density and integration complexity. However, conventional ESD protection devices may not work well in a die having multiple types of integrated devices. For example, when high voltage devices and low voltage devices are integrated in a same semiconductor die or wafer, an ESD protection circuit may need to be designed differently to protect both types of devices. However, an ESD protection circuit fabricated using an additional ESD implantation or without a silicide structure may lead to low yield and high cost in manufacturing and leakage concern in operation.

Electrostatic discharge protection device having light doped regions

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


In a cylindrical knife holder rotatable about its longitudinal axis, at least one groove is present. The groove extends in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the knife holder. Inserted exchangeably in this groove is a perforating knife, the perforating edge of which protrudes over the peripheral surface of the knife holder. The perforating knife, which can be clamped in the groove by a releasable clamping device, is supported, at its end lying opposite the perforating edge, on a stop element disposed in the groove. The stop element rests on supporting elements distributed over the length of the groove, which are adjustable in directions running transversely to the longitudinal extent of the groove. The supporting elements define the once set radial position of the perforating knife.

An apparatus of this type is known from DE-A-39 26 640 (FIGS. 1-3) and has a cylindrical knife holder in which two diametrically opposing cutting blades are inserted, which cutting blades protrude with their cutting edge over the peripheral surface of the knife holder. For the reception of the cutting blades, the knife holder is provided with radial grooves, which extend in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the knife holder and which are open towards the peripheral surface of the knife holder. Inserted in these grooves are holding bars, into which are screwed adjusting screws, which are supported by their front ends on the bottom of the grooves. Each holding bar has a projection, on which the associated cutting blade is supported by its end lying opposite the cutting edge. For the clamping of the cutting blades, clamping screws screwed into the knife holder are present, which engage on the holding bars on that side thereof which lies opposite the cutting blades.
For the radial adjustment of a newly inserted cutting blade, the adjusting screws, once the clamping screws are loosened, are screwed individually. Following completion of the adjusting operation, the clamping screws are tightened. The setting of the cutting blades is then checked on the basis of sample cuts. If need be, this adjusting operation has to be repeated one or more times until the correct setting is found. It is clear that this adjusting operation is very time-consuming. To enable the holding bars to receive the adjusting screws, which, for reasons of strength, must have a certain minimum diameter, they must be relatively wide. The effect of this is that the grooves, too, must be made correspondingly wide.

Apparatus for the cross-perforation or cross-cutting of continuous material webs


A modular conveyor belt having a plurality of substantially identical thermoplastic modules in end-to-end arrangement. The forward and rearward ends of the modules are provided with interlocking hinge barrels. A plurality of pivot pins extend through the hinge barrels and are retained by means of inserts received in sockets formed at each side of the modules. The upper surface of each module is flat and the corners formed at the forward and rearward ends are rounded to form a smooth transition between modules. The lower surface of each module is flattened somewhat to avoid increased apparent wear, and the side of the modules are rounded slightly to avoid height disparities between adjacent belts as the modules wear.

This invention relates generally to conveyor belts and, more particularly, to modular conveyor belt providing a flat, substantially continuous conveying surface.
The trend in many industries, particularly the beverage industry, is toward the use of modular conveyor belts. Such belts are formed of a plurality of linked, repeating modules and provide a substantially flat upper surface that is well suited for conveying cans and other containers. The modules are economically molded of thermoplastic materials and are pivotally linked to one another by any one of a variety of means.
Despite the many advantages of molded plastic modular belting, numerous problems remain to be solved. During use, the modular belting is typically advanced by means of a powered sprocket engaging the undersurface of the belt. The belt, in turn, slides along wear strips in the conveyor structure. Typically, the undersurface of the belt includes a plurality of cylindrical barrels, crossribs and conveyor belt edges that develop flat spots as the belt is used. Such wear reduces the apparent thickness of the modules and can create height differences or steps between adjacent belts. These discontinuities, in turn, can upset the cans as they are transferred between parallel belts. This is particularly troublesome when new conveyor belts are used in conjunction with older, worn belts.
Another problem with existing modular conveyor belts is that the various arrangements for linking the modules can be complex, difficult to use and prone to failure. Some methods require the user to melt and deform the ends of the pivot pins which is a difficult, time consuming task. Frequently, this step of linking the module is improperly done or is neglected altogether, and, in turn, the conveyor can jam during operation.
Still another difficulty with existing modular conveyor belts is that some applications, particularly those found in the food and beverage industries, require compliance with strict sanitary standards. These standards can be difficult to meet with existing modules which include numerous sharp corners and crevices which can trap foreign matter.
Finally, since each complete conveyor belt is typically made up of hundreds or thousands of individual modules, modules which have a structure that is easy and economical to manufacture and assemble are preferred.
In view of the foregoing, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved modular conveyor belt providing a flat, substantially continuous conveying surface.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved modular conveyor belt which avoids the difficulties associated with uneven wear of the individual conveyor belt modules.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved modular conveyor belt which includes linking means that are effective and easy to use.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved modular conveyor belt which can be kept clean and sanitary with minimal difficulty.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved modular conveyor belt which can be manufactured easily and economically.


Burning and flickering effects of a display screen in a matrix-type liquid crystal display device using an anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal medium are avoided by controlling the duration of the holding period to a certain length. A control circuit measures the cycle of the input of the picture signals to one picture frame, and the duration of the blanking period is controlled according to the result of the measurement in order to keep the duration of the holding period constant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a matrix type liquid crystal display device using an anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal medium.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a matrix type liquid crystal display device using an anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal medium is designed, for example, as shown in FIGS. 14A-14D, to display an image by driving scanning electrodes and signal electrodes while scanning the scanning electrodes according to the sequence of scanning lines so that a blanking period during which picture elements are dark displayed, a selecting period during which only picture elements necessary for bright display are inputted, and a holding period during which a pre-existing display condition is maintained, are repeated on a time-series basis.
In general, a picture signal such as a video signal is inputted to a liquid crystal display device in the form of a serial picture data so that a picture screen can be scanned both horizontally and vertically according to the drive mode of the display.
Thus, the selecting cycle of the scanning electrode has to be equalized to the vertical cycle of the picture signal to be inputted, unless the picture signal undergoes special data conversion processing. That is, the variation of the transmission cycle of image data for one picture frame directly corresponds to the picture producing cycle of the picture frame.
For example, in the case of the NTSC system, when a horizontal scanning period is 1 H, the frame period is 525 H. Also, in the case of the CRT, the field consists of odd-numbered fields and even-numbered fields in order to enable interlace scanning.
However, in the case of the liquid crystal display device, in general, interlace scanning is not carried out. Instead, the odd-numbered fields and the even-numbered field are superimposed on each other and displayed on a single display screen. Thus, the selecting cycle of the scanning electrode for displaying the odd-numbered fields differ by 1 H at a minimum from that for displaying the even-numbered fields.
In this case, the anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal medium needs to be driven with alternating current; however, if the voltage polarity is inverted from positive to negative or vice-versa for each selecting period, the difference in the selecting period corresponds to the difference in duration of the holding period. on the other hand, the voltage for maintaining the display condition is applied during the holding period. Thus, a DC voltage is applied to the anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal medium according to the above-described difference in duration of the holding period. This leads to phenomena such as burning or flickering of the display screen. These phenomena will be discussed in detail in the following with reference to FIGS. 14A-14D. Since the blanking period for each picture frame is constantly 4 H, the holding period of the picture frame corresponding to the odd-numbered field becomes 257 H, while the holding period of the picture frame corresponding to the even-numbered field is 258 H. When the polarity of the drive voltage is inverted for each selecting period, the difference in holding period by 1 H is applied, as a DC voltage, to the anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal medium, and this causes the above-described phenomena.

Matrix type liquid crystal display device


A UART interface communication circuit includes a plurality of communication devices, and each includes a UART interface, a selecting apparatus, a CPU, and a multiplexer (MUX). The communication devices connect with each other via the UART interfaces thereof. The selecting apparatus is connected to the CPU for defining one of the communication devices as a master communication device and the rest as slave communication devices. The MUX is connected between the UART interface and the CPU. When the master communication device transmits data carrying an ID to the slave communication devices, a slave communication device corresponding to the ID receives and processes the data, and transmits return data to the master communication device, and then the MUX receives the return data from the slave communication device and passes it to the CPU of the master communication device for processing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication circuits, and particularly to a communication circuit for universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) interfaces.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally speaking, UARTs are commonly used with some communication standards such as RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485 for embedded systems communications. UART interfaces such as RS-232 ports are commonly used in computer serial ports, enabling communication between two computers. However, the UART interface does not enable communication between more than two computers.
What is desired, therefore, is to provide a UART interface communication circuit which overcomes the above problem.

Communication system for devices with UART interfaces


A rapidly solidified aluminum based alloy consists essentially of the formula Al.sub.bal Fe.sub.a M.sub.b Si.sub.c R.sub.d, wherein M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of V, Mo, Cr, Mn, Nb, Ta, and W; R is at least one element selected from the group consisting of La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Er, Yb, and Y; "a" ranges from 3.0 to 7.1 atom %; "b" ranges from 0.25 to 1.25 atom %; "c" ranges from 1.0 to 3.0 atom %; "d" ranges from 3.0 to 0.3 atom % and the balance is aluminum plus incidental impurities, with the provisos that (i) the ratio [Fe+M]:Si ranges from about 2.0:1 to 5.0:1 and (ii) the ratio Fe:M ranges from about 16:1 to 5:1. The alloy exhibits improved elevated temperature strength due to the rare earth element additions without an increase in the volume fraction of dispersed intermetallic phase precipitates therein. This enhancement of elevated temperature strength makes the alloys of the invention especially suited for use in high temperature structural applications such as gas turbine engines, missiles, airframes and landing wheels.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to aluminum based alloys having improved strength at elevated temperatures through the addition of rare earth elements, and to powder products produced from such alloys. More particularly, the invention relates to Al-Fe-Si-X-RE alloys (RE signifies rare earth elements) that have been rapidly solidified from the melt and thermomechanically processed into structural components having improved elevated temperature strength.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Methods of obtaining improved tensile strength in aluminum based alloys have been taught by U.S. Pat. No. 2,963,780 to Lyle et al.; U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,967,351and 3,462,248 to Roberts et al.; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,828,632, 4,878,967 and 4,879,095 to Adam et al. However, these teachings alloys propose increasing quantities of transition element and/or higher cooling rates during casting of the alloys for the elevated temperature strength thereof to be increased. It would be desirable if rare earth elements could be added to rapidly cooled alloys containing transition metal elements to improve the elevated temperature strength without the necessity of forming further intermetallics or increasing the quench rate. Yet, prior art workers have heretofore not pursued this course.
The addition of rare earths to aluminum has been attempted by U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,719 to Hilderman et al., where rapidly quenched aluminum alloy powder contains 4 to 12 wt% iron and 1 to 7 wt% cerium or other rare earth metals from the lanthanum series. Other examples of rare earth additions include: A.K. Gogia et al.; J. of
Mat. Science, 20, pp. 3091-3100 (1985); S.J. Savage et al.; Processing of Structural Metals by Rapid Solidification, Conf. Proc. ASM Materials Week '86 Orlando, FL, Ed. F.H. Froes and S.J. Savage, ASM International, pp. 351-356 (1986); Y.R. Mahajan et al., J. of Mat. Science, 22, pp. 202-206 (1987); A. Ruder et al., J. of Mat. Science, 25, pp. 3541-3545 (1990) and C.S. Sivaramakrishnan et al., J. of Mat. Science, 26, pp. 4369-4374 (1991). However, these rare earth additions are integral in the formation of the strengthening intermetallics having general composition Al.sub.x Fe.sub.y Re.sub.z (where Re refers to the rare earth).
There remains a need in the art for rapidly solidified aluminum base alloys having improved elevated temperature strengths.
3. Summary of the Invention
The present invention provides rapidly solidified aluminum base alloys wherein elevated temperature strengths are markedly improved without the necessity of increasing the volume fraction of intermetallics therewithin. Generally stated, the aluminum based alloy of the invention consists essentially of the formula Al.sub.bal Fe.sub.a M.sub.b Si.sub.c R.sub.d, wherein M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of V, Mo, Cr, Mn, Nb, Ta, and W; R is at least one element selected from the group consisting of La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Er, Yb, and Y, "a" ranges from 3.0 to 7.1 atom %; "b" ranges from 0.25 to 1.25 atom %; "c" ranges from 1.0 to 3.0 atom %; "d" ranges from 0.02 to 0.3 atom % and the balance is aluminum plus incidental impurities, with the provisos that (i) the ratio [Fe+M]:Si ranges from about 2.0:1 to 5.0:1 and (ii) the ratio Fe:M ranges from about 16:1 to 5:1.
To provide the desired levels of ductility, toughness and strength needed for commercially useful applications, the alloys of the invention are subject to rapid solidification processing, which modifies the alloy's microstructure. The rapid solidification processing method is one wherein the alloys are placed into the molten state and then cooled at a quench rate of at least about 10.sup.5 .degree.Cs.sup.-1 and preferably about 10.sup.5 to 10.sup.7 .degree.Cs.sup.-1 to form a solid substance. More preferably this method should cool the molten metal at a rate greater than about 10.sup.6 .degree.Cs.sup.-1 i.e. via melt spinning, splat cooling or planar flow casting which forms a solid ribbon or sheet. These alloys have an as cast microstructure which varies from a microeutectic to a microcellular structure, depending on the specific alloy chemistry. In alloys of the invention the relative proportion of these structures is not critical.
Consolidated articles of the invention are produced by compacting particles composed of an aluminum based alloy consisting essentially of the formula Al.sub.bal Fe.sub.a M.sub.b Si.sub.c R.sub.d, wherein M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of V, Mo, Cr, Mn, Nb, Ta and W; R is at least one element selected from the group consisting of La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Er, Yb and Y; "a" ranges from 3.0 to 7.1 atom %; "b" ranges from 0.25 to 1.25 atom %; "c" ranges from 1.0 to 3.0 atom %; "d" ranges from 0.02 to 0.3 atom % and the balance is aluminum plus incidental impurities, with the provisos that (i) ratio [Fe+M]:Si ranges from about 2.0:1 to 5.0:1 and (ii) the ratio Fe:M ranges from about 16:1 to 5:1. The particles are heated in a vacuum during the compacting step to a pressing temperature ranging from about 300.degree. C. to 500.degree. C., which minimizes coarsening of the dispersed intermetallic phases. Alternatively, the particles are put in a can which is then evacuated, heated to between 300.degree. C. and 500.degree. C. and then sealed. The sealed can is heated to between 300.degree. C. and 500.degree. C. in ambient atmosphere and compacted. The compacted article is further consolidated by conventional methods such as extrusion, rolling or forging.
The consolidated article is composed of an aluminum solid solution phase containing a substantially uniform distribution of dispersed intermetallic phase precipitates of approximate composition Al.sub.13 (Fe,M).sub.3 Si. These dispersoids are fine intermetallics measuring less than 100 nm in all linear dimensions thereof. Alloys of the invention, containing these fine dispersed intermetallics are capable of withstanding the pressures and temperatures associated with conventional consolidation and forming techniques such as forging, rolling and extrusion without substantial growth or coarsening of these intermetallics that would otherwise reduce the strength and ductility of the consolidated article to unacceptably low levels. The rare earth elements added to the alloys of the invention do not form any new intermetallic phases therein; but instead substantially stay in solid solution of the aluminum matrix phase. At elevated temperatures in excess of approximately 260.degree. C. the action of the rare earth elements in the aluminum solid solution is to impede the motion of dislocations around the dispersed intermetallic phase through the retardation of the climb process necessary for these dislocations to circumvent the dispersed intermetallic phase therein. This retardation process causes a marked increase in strength of the material at these elevated temperatures, such strength increase ranges from about 5 to 15 percent.
Advantageously, the improved elevated temperature strength of articles produced in accordance with the invention makes such articles especially suited for use in gas turbine engines, missiles, airframes, landing wheels, and the like.

Elevated temperature strength of aluminum based alloys by the addition of rare earth elements


A packet switching communication network (10) includes a number of switching nodes (16). The switching nodes include a switch (18) and at least one data processor (20). When selected packets (34), as identified by routing codes (40), arrive at one of the switching nodes (16), they are passed (58) to the data processor (20). The data processor (20) is configured to perform a network processing function, such as packet broadcasting (74) or error correction (60). In performing these functions, user data (38) conveyed by the selected packets (34) are processed to generate processed packets. The processed packets are re-introduced to the switch (18) and routed onto their destinations.

Communication networks include a collection of resources that are employed to transport user information from source nodes to destination nodes. The resources include switching nodes and communication links. In a packet switching network, user information takes the form of packetized digital data. The user information is carried in discrete individual packets, and each individual packet carries its own destination address along with at least a portion of the user information. Switching nodes evaluate the destination addresses to determine how to appropriately route the packets.
Services providers which operate communication networks as well as their users benefit from improved network efficiency. Service providers want improved efficiency because they can generate greater revenue by transporting a greater amount of user information using a given collection of network resources. Users want improved efficiency because the costs of providing the network resources can then be spread over a greater number of user information transfers to lower the costs of transporting any single item of user information.
Unfortunately, conventional packet switching and other networks are operated in a relatively inefficient manner. Inefficiencies are particularly onerous in connection with the consumption of communication links to transport redundant or nearly redundant user information. The portion of link bandwidth which is used to transport redundant or nearly redundant user information cannot be used to transport more independent user information, and this results in an inefficient use of network resources.
The transportation of redundant or nearly redundant user information results, at least in part, from the tendency of conventional networks to view the processing of user information as a user responsibility. For example, when a single source node wishes to broadcast certain user information to a number of destination nodes, the source rode has the responsibility of duplicating and separately transmitting packets as needed for each destination node. Many network communication links and switching nodes repetitively handle substantially the same data merely addressed to different destinations.
Likewise, error detection and correction of user information is conventionally performed by users on an end-to-end basis. A source node encodes user data so that certain errors may be detected and perhaps corrected. The destination node decodes the encoded data to check for errors. In typical data communication protocols, when errors cannot be corrected the destination node returns a message to the source node requesting repetition of at least certain portions of the user data. The conditions which lead to errors in the first place may still be present during a repeated transmission, and a good likelihood exists that user data is transmitted several times before the destination node can make a reconstructed error-free version of the user data.
These are only two of many examples where conventional communication network resources are inefficiently utilized.
While the problems associated with the inefficient use of network resources plague a wide variety of communication networks, they have more serious consequences in networks which rely on RF communication links. Such links may, for example, trunk communications between ground stations and satellites, between pairs of satellites, or between pairs of ground stations. RF communication links are constrained to using an assigned portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, and this assigned portion is a scarce resource which should be managed efficiently. In addition, the efficient use of RF communication links dictates decreasing link margins to increase communication traffic thoughput. When a desirable balance is found between link margin and communication traffic throughput, noise will cause data errors on occasion. These data errors lead to the redundant and inefficient use of communication links through end-to-end error detection and correction schemes.

Network node for packet switching with selective data processing and method therefor


An optical component for use in a lithographic apparatus. The optical component includes an optical element having an optical surface for reflecting electromagnetic radiation, and a protective zone covering the optical surface. The protective zone is provided with a material that substantially protects the optical surface against sputtering when the optical component is in use. The material has a refractive index that approximately equals unity for at least a predetermined wavelength of electromagnetic radiation to which the optical surface is exposed.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. including part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Known lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at one time, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the "scanning"-direction), while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
The imaging of the pattern may be performed with a projection system that often includes a plurality of optical elements, such as mirrors and/or lenses. The term "projection system" should therefore be interpreted broadly as encompassing various types of projection systems, including refractive optics, reflective optics, and catadioptric systems, for example.
In a lithographic apparatus, the size of features that can be imaged onto the substrate is limited by the wavelength of the projection radiation. To produce integrated circuits with a higher density of devices, and hence higher operating speeds, it is desirable to image smaller features. While most current lithographic projection apparatus employ ultraviolet light generated by mercury lamps or excimer lasers, it has been proposed to use shorter wavelength radiation, in the range of 5 to 20 nm, in particular around 13 nm.
Such radiation is termed extreme ultra violet (EUV) or soft X-ray and possible sources include, for example, laser produced plasma sources, discharge plasma sources, or synchrotron radiation from electron storage rings. These types of radiation require that the beam path in the apparatus be evacuated to avoid beam scatter and absorption. Because there is no known material suitable for making a refractive optical element for EUV radiation, EUV lithographic apparatus use mirrors in the radiation (illumination) and projection systems. Even multilayer mirrors for EUV radiation have relatively low reflectivities and are highly susceptible to contamination, which further reduces their reflectivity and, hence, the throughput of the apparatus. This may impose further specifications on the vacuum level to be maintained, and may necessitate especially that hydrocarbon partial pressures be kept very low.
Plasma sources produce, as a by-product of the generation of radiation, debris particles that include ions, atoms, molecules, and tin droplets. The ions often have a high speed. Also the atoms, molecules and tin droplets may be ionized due to, for example, photo-ionization. These particles also may have a high speed.
A problem associated with optical elements exposed to the fast particles is oxidation of the top layer of these optical elements. In an attempt to solve this problem, European Patent Application Publication No. EP-A-1 369 744 discloses a capping layer that includes an alloy of Mo and Cr for protection against a chemical attack.
European Patent Application Publication No. EP-A-1 065 568 discloses a capping layer formed of a relatively inert material, for example, diamond-like carbon, boron nitride, or another material resistant to oxidation.
European Patent Application Publication No. EP-A-1 416 329 discloses a capping layer that includes one or more fullerenes. The fullerenes may be provided on an outer layer of a mirror. Being chemically inert, the fullerenes substantially lower the probability of incoming particles sticking to the mirror.
Another problem encountered in multi-layered mirrors is the intermixing of the multi-layers. According to EP-A-1 416 329, fullerenes may be provided between layers of a multi-layered mirror, thereby preventing the layers from intermixing. EP-A-1 416 329 also mentions the use of ruthenium-molybdenum layers as a protective capping layer.
Yet another problem encountered is the sputtering of the outer layer of optical elements due to the impact of the fast particles. This is a damaging effect to the optical elements of the projection system. The mirror surface roughens due to the sputtering, thereby leading to loss of reflection and imaging deterioration. Furthermore, as the removal of material from the mirror surface is a net translation of that carefully positioned surface, the apparatus, and in particular the illumination and/or projection system, may not perform as intended.
European Patent Application Publication No. EP-A-1 186 957 discloses a lithographic projection apparatus having gas supply means for supplying a gaseous hydrocarbon to a space containing a mirror. This hydrocarbon physically or chemically adsorbs to a surface of the mirror and thus forms a protective layer on the surface. When the fast particles produced by the plasma source hit the surface of the mirror, hydrocarbon molecules are dislodged from the protective layer. When this protective layer is too thick, reflectivity of the mirror becomes unacceptably low. Therefore, the thickness of this protective layer should be controlled to avoid a decrease in reflectivity of the mirror, and to maintain the protectiveness of the layer against incoming particles.

Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method, and optical component


Power based self-sensing of a rotor position of an SR motor at mid to high speeds and low torque is achieved by an SR motor control system by comparing the motor power to an injection maximum power. A position current pulse is injected to a stator pole in response to the motor power being less than the injection maximum power. An actual stator current created by the position current pulse is compared to an estimated stator current, and a stored estimated rotor position in a memory is updated to a new estimated rotor position if the actual stator current is not equal to the estimated stator current.

Many work machines such track-type tractors, excavators, and the like may include a transmission coupled to a power source to enable the work machine to be repositioned or travel between locations. With increased interest in energy conservation and avoidance of use of fossil fuels, use of electric motors as the power source is becoming more common. Electric motors convert electrical energy from an energy source such as a battery into mechanical power to drive the work machine.
One type of electric motor known as a switched reluctance (SR) motor is widely used for various applications such as the above work machines due to its rugged and robust construction. An SR motor includes a rotor and a stator having a plurality of stator poles with windings. Unlike common brushed DC motor types, power is delivered to the windings in the stator of the SR motor rather than to the rotor. This arrangement greatly simplifies the mechanical design as power does not have to be delivered to a moving part, but it complicates the electrical design as some sort of switching system needs to be used to deliver power to the different windings. Some SR motors have a control system with self-sensing operation that estimates the position of the rotor relative to the stator without the use of a direct angular position sensor. Self-sensing operation is important in many applications due to the need for minimum package size, high reliability and reduced cost. Accurate determination of the angular position of the rotor at all operating speeds is vital to the performance and efficiency of the motor.
One such self-sensing control system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 10,079,566. However, at medium and high speeds with small loads on the SR motor, there may not be sufficient current to the stator due to the low power required to rotate the rotor for the self-sensing control system to estimate the position of the rotor, thereby creating risk that a command current is not transmitted to the windings of the stator poles at the correct timing so that the performance and efficiency of the SR motor is adversely affected. Therefore, there remains a need for a control system for an SR motor that provides accurate self-sensing operation during medium-to-high speed/low torque operation.

Power based pulse injection control for SR self sensing


A pneumatic deicing system includes a deicer assembly 32 comprised of an outer ply 52, an inner ply 54, and a plurality of inflatable tube-like members 36 provided therebetween. The deicer assembly is disposed directly on top of and bonded to the airfoil 34. Pressurized fluid is provided to the tube-like members via a manifold 40 in the deicer assembly which is positioned directly over a plurality of ducts 42 provided through the airfoil.

Under certain operating conditions aircraft are vulnerable to accumulation of ice on component surfaces. It is well known that such accumulation of ice can lead to disastrous results. A wide variety of systems have been developed for removing ice from aircraft during flight and can be placed into three general categories: thermal, chemical, and mechanical.
The mechanical category of deicing systems operate by distorting the airfoil surface of the aircraft to be deiced. Distortion of the airfoil surface causes cracking in the ice accumulated thereon, and subsequent dispersal of that ice into the air stream passing over the aircraft component.
The principal commercial mechanical deicing means is commonly referred to as pneumatic deicing wherein a component (e.g. the leading edge of a wing) of an aircraft is covered with a plurality of expandable, generally tube-like structures inflatable by employing a pressurized fluid, typically air. Upon inflation, the tubular structures tend to expand substantially the leading edge profile of the wing or strut and crack ice accumulating thereon for dispersal into the air stream passing over the aircraft component. Typically, such tube-like structures have been configured to extend substantially parallel to the leading edge of the aircraft component.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior pneumatic deicer 12 formed from a composite having rubbery or substantially elastic properties. The deicer 12 is disposed on an airfoil 14. A plurality of tubes 16 are formed in the composite and are provided pressurized fluid, such as air, from a manifold 18. The manifold 18 is supplied fluid via a connector 20, which transfers fluid from a pressurized source (not shown). Connector 20 is integrated into the deicer 12 during manufacturing. Tubes 18 expand or stretch under pressure by 40% or more during inflation cycles, thereby causing a substantial change in the profile of the deicer (as well as the leading edge) to cause cracking of ice accumulating thereon.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a prior pneumatic deicing system is comprised of a deicer 12 having a plurality of tubes 16 and a manifold 18 provided therein. The deicer 12 is bonded or attached to an airfoil 14. Pressurized fluid is provided to manifold 18 via a connector 20, which is integrated into deicer 12. A large hole 22 must be provided in airfoil 14 in order to accommodate connector 20. One drawback to the system illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is that hole 22 provides a significant source of radar reflection when so exposed. Another drawback to this deicing system is that connector 20 represents a size limitation in that the thickness of the airfoil 14 cannot be smaller than the smallest manufacturable height of connector 20. In other words, connector 20 imposes a size restriction on the airfoil because the connector can be reduced in size only so much. The deicer system cannot be utilized therefore, for very thin airfoils, such as propellers of an airplane or the rotor of a helicopter. A deicing system which overcomes these deficiencies is therefore highly desirable.

Multiple port connection pneumatic deicing system


A method and a system of supplying electric power from shore to a ship with generators 60, 61, the ship being berthed in port include: a first step of synchronizing the electric power 11 from shore with electric power from the generators 60, 61, a second step of carrying out temporary parallel operation of the electric power 11 from shore and the electric power from the generators 60, 61 after the synchronization, and a third step of shutting off the electric power from the generators 60, 61 to supply the electric power 11 from shore to the ship after the temporary parallel operation. According to the method and system, electric power supply interruption can be prevented when a shore power source is changed over to an onboard power source, and vice versa. Also, onboard control devices can be smoothly operated even on the way of changing over the power sources.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of supplying high-voltage and large-capacity electric power from shore to a ship berthed in port, and a system thereof.
2. Description of the Related Prior Art
Generally, entire electric power for a ship is supplied by driving a generator with a turbine or engine as is known in e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2000-217275. However, in a case that the ship is berthed in port for a long period of time or a short period of time, when the ship has equipment consuming a large amount of electric power such as a freezing container, an engine (generator) of the ship must be kept in operation while the ship is berthed. Consequently, a large amount of exhaust gas is generated, and it causes air pollution and marine pollution. In order to avoid such problems, it is recommended in recent years to stop the engine (generator) of the ship and to supply electric power from shore to the ship while the ship is berthed alongside the quay.
FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional electric power supply system in a ship. As illustrated in the figure, the ship is equipped with a main bus bar 62 to which generators 60, 61 are connected. Power lines 64 for large load such as cargo-handling equipment 63 (a freezing container, for example) are connected to the main bus bar 62 via circuit breakers 69. A power line 66 for propulsion auxiliary equipment 65 such as a bow thruster as disclosed in e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2000-280985, a side thruster, etc. is connected to the main bus bar 62 via a circuit breaker 70. Also, power lines 68 for ordinary load 67 such as onboard lighting equipment, electronic devices, or the like (other load) are connected to the main bus bar 62 via circuit breakers 71. Circuit breakers 72, 73 disposed between the main bus bar 62 and the generators 60, 61, and the circuit breakers 69 to 71 are installed in a main switchboard 75. A reference number 74 denotes a step-up transformer disposed between the power line 66 and the propulsion auxiliary equipment 65.
Generally, when electric power supplied from the generators 60, 61 is changed over to the electric power from shore, supply of the electric power from the generators 60, 61 to the main bus bar 62 is halted, and then the electric power from shore is supplied to the main bus bar 62. Thus, a short-time interruption of power supply is inevitable.
However, in the above method of changing over power sources, the electric power supply to the ship is interrupted temporarily, and consequently there have been problems such that onboard control devices including computers are reset.
In order to avoid the problems, it may be devised to change over from a power source of generators to a power source supplied from shore after frequencies and voltages of the power sources are matched (i.e., synchronized). In case of a large ship, the electric power necessary for the ship is supplied by driving several generators in parallel, and complicated computer control has been taken in order to allocate load to the generators while keeping frequencies of the plural generators constant. In such case, adjusting the frequencies of the plural generators in operation to the frequency of the power source from shore has not been carried out generally, since such adjustment is very difficult. Furthermore, when a large capacity of electric power is supplied from shore, a power line for receiving the electric power from shore must be connected to a main switchboard, which not only requires large-scale modifications inside the ship but also imposes burdens on an entire system of the ship. In some cases, since the electric power from shore is too large, there is little space in the main switchboard to install necessary equipment.

Method of supplying electric power from shore to ship and system thereof


A WEB server includes a control unit for HTTP server, a table of addresses of VOD servers, and a table of identifiers of video data. The control unit accesses these tables, in response to a request from a user of a terminal device for a display of video data, to retrieve therefrom an address of a video server and an identifier of a title of video data related to information on a WEB page accessed by the user, then transfers the address and the identifier to the terminal device. This enables the user of a video-on-demand system to easily obtain video data associated with information on the WEB server.

The present invention relates to a method of controlling a WEB server, the method being applied to a video data distributing system using retrieval functions of the WEB.
Protocols utilized on the Internet are comprehensively called World Wide Web (WWW) and servers which transmit information by use of the WWW are called WEB servers. Since WEB servers are operating worldwide, users capable of accessing the Internet can acquire information from such WEB servers. Information available to the users include primarily texts, still pictures, audio data, and video data of a low bit rate less than or equal to about 100 kilobits per second (Kb/s).
Additionally, there have been conducted business activities through the Internet, for example, a system in which each user accesses a WEB server, and selects articles or goods to buy the selected articles on credit using his or her credit card. An example of the system has been described in page 47 of the "Nikkei Multimedia" published from Nikkei BP (Vol. 1997. 1, No. 19).
To use the Internet, it is usually necessary for the user to subscribe to an Internet service provider. Thereafter, the user accesses the Internet service provider via a communication line to communicate with the Internet through the provider.
Attention has been attracted to the video-on-demand (VOD) service in which users can watch video data at any desired point of time. When a user desires a VOD service from a terminal device, the user first accesses the VOD server after powering the terminal device and then is presented with a list of available video data on its display. The user selects, for example, a genre or group of video data to watch so as to finally select one title of video data and then issues a request for the video data to the VOD server. In response to the request, the VOD server sends the required video data to the user. An example of the VOD server has been described in an article "Video On Demand" in pages 110 and 111 of the "Nikkei Multimedia" published from Nikkei BP (Vol. 1997. 2, No. 20).
The Digital Audio Visual Council (DAVIC) stipulating standardization of bi-directional multimedia network services has determined a protocol to distribute digital audio/visual data. The DAVIC published "DAVIC 1.2 Specification" in December 1996. In the Specification, Part 12 "Configuration 4 scenario characteristics" (Chapter 9.19 in pages 83 to 147) describes a stipulation which makes it possible to access WEB servers via the Internet from a terminal device using the VOD for a network having a high throughput.

Method of and an apparatus for controlling a web server, a web server control program, and a storage medium on which the web server control program is stored


A method of making a shallow trench isolation region which has a reduced kink effect at a subthreshold voltage by forming a shallow trench isolation region, including providing a silicon substrate having a front surface and a backside surface. A first pad oxide layer is c formed over the front surface, and a second pad oxide layer is currently formed over the backside surface. A first silicon nitride layer is formed over the first pad oxide layer, and a second silicon nitride layer is concurrently formed over the second pad oxide layer. The first silicon nitride layer, first pad oxide layer, and the silicon substrate are patterned to form a trench. A side-wall oxide layer is formed within the trench, and a first oxide layer is concurrently formed on a surface of the second silicon nitride layer. A second oxide layer is formed over the first silicon nitride layer and fills the trench. The first oxide layer is removed, and a portion of the second oxide layer is removed. The first silicon nitride layer and the second silicon nitride layer are removed. The removal of the first oxide layer and the subsequent steps are performed in sequence.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates in general to a method of forming a shallow trench isolation (STI) region, and more particularly, to a method of effectively removing a silicon nitride layer from a backside of a wafer during the manufacturing process of a shallow trench isolation region.
2. Description of Related Art
In the conventional manufacturing process of hallow trench isolation regions, silicon nitride layers are deposited using low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) methods. The silicon nitride layers are generally used as a photoresist layer, and as a polishing end point layer in chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) operations. However, the conventional process used to remove the silicon nitride layer from the backside of the wafer conflicts with the processing of shallow trench isolation regions, and can lead to semiconductors having poor electrical properties.
The use of low pressure chemical vapor deposition causes a layer of silicon nitride to be deposited on both the front and back surfaces of the wafer (wafer surface and wafer backside). The presence of a silicon nitride layer on the backside of the wafer can affect other subsequent manufacturing processes, for example, the stability of photolithographic and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) processes. Therefore, the silicon nitride layer on the backside of the wafer has to be removed prior to performing the subsequent processes. A conventional method used to remove the silicon nitride layer includes immersing the wafer in a hydrofluoric acid solution, which removes an oxide layer from the surface of the silicon nitride layer. This is followed by removing the silicon nitride layer using hot phosphoric acid. However, this process may result in the formation of grooves along an edge of a trench, which can lead to a "kink effect", which may increase the current leakage at a subthreshold voltage, thus affecting the electrical properties of the final transistor.
The presence of a silicon nitride layer on the backside of a wafer during the manufacturing of a shallow trench isolation region may adversely affect the characteristics of the transistor, due to the following reasons:
(1) the non-uniformity of the backside of the wafer may compromise the precision of the window opening formed using photolithographic processes;
(2) the possible stress created by the silicon nitriade layer on the silicon substrate while undergoing heat recycling (especially during the high temperature sealing process of the tetra-ethyl-orthosilicate (TEOS)) may increase the number of substrate defects; and
(3) as a result of an uneven thickness of the residual silicon nitride layer on the backside of the wafer, the sensitivity to surface temperature generated during rapid thermal annealing processes will be affected; consequently, temperature control precision in the rapid thermal annealing process is similarly affected.
FIGS. 1a through 1e are cross-sectional views of a shallow trench isolation region during the conventional manufacturing process. Referring to FIG. 1a, a pad oxide layer 101 is formed on the front surface of wafer (silicon substrate) 100. Simultaneously, a pad oxide layer 101' is formed on a backside of the wafer. Using LPCVP methods, a silicon nitride layer 102 is deposited over the front surface of the wafer. A silicon nitride layer 102' is simultaneously formed over the backside of the wafer. Referring to FIG. 1b, using photolithographic and etching processes, the silicon nitride layer 102, pad oxide layer 101, and wafer 100 are sequentially etched to form a shallow trench 103.
As shown in FIG. 1c, a side-wall oxide layer 104 is then grown on a surface of wafer 100 within the shallow trench 103. Concurrently, a silicon oxide layer 105 is formed over the backside of silicon nitride layer 102'.
Referring to FIG. 1d, TEOS, formed by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition methods, fills the shallow trench 103 to obtain a dielectric layer 106 comprised of an oxide material.
Next, a sealing operation is performed. Due to the heat generated and the oxygen used during the sealing operation, the silicon oxide layer 105 at the backside of wafer 100 thickens.
Next, and using the silicon nitride layer 102 as a polishing end point layer, chemical mechanical polishing is used to remove extra portions of the dielectric layer 106. As a result, the cross-section shown in FIG. 1e is obtained.
In a subsequent step, the backside silicon nitride layer 102' has to be removed. The conventional method uses hot phosphoric acid to remove the backside silicon nitride layer 102'. However, the oxide layer 105 has to first be removed by immersing the layer in a solution of hydrofluoric acid. This process disadvantageously causes a portion of the oxide material of the dielectric layer 106 to be removed as well. Grooves are thus formed near the edges of the trench region, which may lead to the occurrence of the kink effect.
Referring to FIG. 2, an NMOS transistor having a gate oxide layer thickness of 60 .ANG., a drain voltage of 0.1 V, a channel width of 10 mm, a channel length of 0.25 mm, and a substrate voltage between about 0 and -4 V was provided and tested to determine the relationship between the drain current and the gate voltage when the kink effect was present. The relationship between the drain current and the gate voltage in the absence of such a kink effect is shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 2 shows that as a result of the subthreshold voltage distortion, a kink in the relationship graph is formed. This is the so-called kink effect.

Method of forming a shallow trench isolation region


A network interface includes N input lanes that receive data symbols and idle symbols. A substitutor module periodically replaces an idle symbol on each input lane with a corresponding alignment symbol to form an alignment group. M interleaver modules each interleave a portion of the data symbols and alignment symbols onto a corresponding transmit lane based on an interleaving pattern that provides each transmit lane with N/M alignment symbols from the alignment group. M is an integer greater than 1 and N is greater than M. In some features the substitutor module periodically replaces successive idle symbols on each lane with alignment symbols to form corresponding alignment groups. An interleaver module interleaves the data symbols and alignment groups onto M transmit lanes according to an interleaving pattern that provides each transmit lane with one of the alignment groups.

Network interfaces include physical layer devices that transmit and receive data over a medium. In a 10 gigabit/second (10 Gb) network, the physical layer devices can include a physical coding sublayer (PCS) module that encodes, multiplexes, and synchronizes outgoing symbol streams. The PCS module also aligns, demultiplexes, and decodes incoming symbol streams. In one approach, the PCS module is implemented based on a 10GBASE-X standard in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 specification, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The 10GBASE-X standard provides for 4-lane to 4-lane aggregation through the PCS module and specifies an 8-bit to 10-bit (8/10) encoding pattern for each lane. In another approach, the PCS module is implemented based on a 10GBASE-R standard in IEEE 802.3. The 10GBASE-R standard provides for 4-lane to 1-lane aggregation and specifies a 64-bit to 66-bit (64/66) encoding pattern for the single lane of aggregated data. FIGS. 1-6 provide examples of PCS modules according to the 10GBASE-X and 10GBASE-R standards.
Referring now to FIG. 1, the International Organization for Standardization's ISO Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model 10 includes a physical layer device 12 for transmitting and receiving data over a medium. The physical layer device 12 can employ different architectures for various types of physical media and bandwidth requirements.
Two example 10 Gb architectures are provided at 14-1 and 14-2. First 10 Gb architecture 14-1 is suitable for a single chip or system-on-chip (SOC) implementation of physical layer device 12. A reconciliation layer 16 provides a logical connection between a medium access controller (MAC) and other elements of the physical layer device 12. Reconciliation layer 16 communicates with a PCS module 20 via a 10 Gb media-independent interface (XGMII) 18. PCS module 20 communicates with a physical medium attachment unit (PMA) 22 that includes clock recovery and compensation logic for the incoming symbol streams. PCS module 20 communicates with a physical medium dependant (PMD) sublayer 24 that includes transmitters and receivers (transceivers). A media-dependent interface (MDI) 26 connects PMD 24 to a communication medium 28. MDI 26 can include various fiber-optic and copper connections to medium 28.
The second 10 Gb architecture 14-2 is suitable for use in applications that include chip-to-chip and/or backplane structures. In those architectures the physical layer device 12 is remotely located from the MAC and/or other higher network layers. An XGMII extender 29 allows XGMII 18 to communicate over greater distances. Extender 29 includes a pair of 10 Gb extended sublayer (XGXS) interface devices that connect to respective XGMII 18 interfaces of reconciliation layer 16 and PCS module 20. An extended attachment unit interface (XAUI) connects between the XGXS interface devices and provides 10 Gb communication through four lanes of communication.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a physical layer connection is shown between two network stations that employ the 10GBASE-X standard. The stations include respective PCS module 20-1 and 20-2, referred to collectively as PCS modules 20. PCS module 20 communicates through medium 28, which includes four lanes.
First PCS module 20-1 receives data and idle symbols via four-lane XGMII 18. A substitutor module 30 replaces the idle symbols with specified control symbols and then outputs the data and control symbols onto four lanes 32-1, . . . , 32-4, referred to collectively as lanes 32. The control symbols include alignment symbols /A/, boundary symbols /K/, and disposable symbols /R/. The /K/ symbols represent boundaries of respective data groups. Substitutor module 30 periodically generates the /A/ symbols simultaneously on all lanes 32 with a pseudo-random period. The pseudo-random period satisfies minimum and maximum spacing specifications. Second PCS module 20-2 then uses each group of /A/ symbols to compensate for timing differences between the lanes 32. Substitutor module 30 also adds and deletes the disposable symbols /R/ from each lane 32 to compensate for frequency differences between XGMII 18 and lanes 32.
Each output of substitutor module 30 is eight bits wide. Each lane 32 includes an 8-to-10 bit converter 34 that converts the 8-bit data to the 10-bit format. Bit patterns in the 10-bit format are generated according to an algorithm that maximizes signal level switching across the medium 28. The signal level switching minimizes the risk of developing a DC offset in the medium 28. An output of each 8/10 bit converter 34 communicates with an input of a respective amplifier 36. Each amplifier 36 drives the 10-bit data onto a respective lane of medium 28. Amplifiers 38 communicate the 10-bit data to respective 8/10 bit converters 40 that restore the 8-bit data. The restored 8-bit data leaves respective 8/10 bit converters at different times, i.e. the restored 8-bit data is misaligned due to different propagation delays through each of lanes 32. Lane alignment module 42 realigns the data based on the /A/ symbols that were inserted by substitutor module 30 that are shown in FIG. 3. Lane alignment module 42 communicates the realigned data to an XGMII 18 of second PCS module 20-2.
Referring now to FIG. 3, first and second data diagrams 50-1, 50-2 show the four lanes of data into and out of substitutor module 30. In first data diagram 50-1 idle symbols are represented by blank fields 52. Data is represented by data fields 54 that include data DN, where N represents a serial order of the respective data field. An /S/ symbol in field 56 represents a start of the data. A /T/ symbol in field 58 represents a terminus of the data. A column of the simultaneously-inserted /A/ symbols appear at fields 60 and are used by lane alignment module 42.
Referring now FIG. 4, a physical layer connection is shown between two PCS modules 21 that employ the 10GBASE-R standard. First PCS module 21-1 includes a 64/66 encoder 64 that aggregates the four lanes of XGMII 18 into one lane of data. A scrambler 66 prepares the data for transmission and ensures sufficient transition density. Data from the scrambler 66 is transmitted to a gearbox 68. Gearbox 68 formats data for a serializer/deserializer module (SerDes) 70. Gearbox 68 may include a FIFO buffer. SerDes 70 receives the data from gearbox 68 and transmits it through a single-lane medium 28. A second SerDes 72 receives the data from medium 28 and forwards it to second PCS module 21-2. Second PCS module 21-2 includes a gearbox 74, a descrambler 76, and a decoder 78, which implement the reverse of the transmit process.
Referring now to FIG. 5, a chart shows the formats of 66-bit data blocks that are allowed by 10GBASE-R. Each 66-bit data block includes a 2-bit sync header 82 that is concatenated with a 64-bit block of data 84. Each 64-bit block of data 84 includes 8 bytes that may be data bytes 86 and/or control symbols 88. Bytes labeled with a C, O, S, or T represent control symbols 88. Bytes labeled with a D represent data bytes 86. A 2-bit sync header 82 with a value of 012 indicates that the entire 64-bit block of data 84 is made up of data bytes 86. When the 2-bit sync header 82 has a value of 102, at least one of the control symbols 88 exists among the 64-bit block of data 84.
Referring now to FIG. 6, a transmitter 90 for PCS module 21-1 is illustrated. XGMII 18 provides a data stream of 32-bit words. Encoder 64 processes two words at a time. Encoder 64 outputs an encoded data block 80 that includes sync header 82. Encoded data block 80 is transmitted to scrambler 66. Sync header 82 is used by a receiver to lock onto a data block. Sync header 82 bypasses scrambler 66. Both a scrambled data block and the sync header 82 are input to gearbox 68. Data from gearbox 68 is transmitted to SerDes 70. Scrambler 96 and gearbox 68 operate according to the 10GBASE-R standard.