An apparatus for impedance matching circuit is disclosed. The impedance matching apparatus has an output driver for outputting an output signal and includes an output data generator, for generating an output data signal; an output stage, for generating the output signal according to the output data signal, and receiving a first control signal to adjust an impendence of the output stage; an impendence unit, electrically coupled to the output stage, for receiving a second control signal to adjust an impedance of the impedance unit; and a calibration circuit electrically coupled to the output stage and the impedance unit, for outputting the first control signal and the second control signal to respectively control the output stage and the impedance unit such that a sum of impedances of the output stage and the impedance unit is adjusted to compensate an environment factor of the chip.

In a data transmission system, the quality of transmitting and receiving data will be affected by an impedance matching, particularly for the increasingly faster speed of data transmissions.
Referring to FIG. 1 for a schematic circuit diagram of performing an impedance matching in accordance with a prior art, an external resistor is used for impedance matching, and the conventional method is simple, easy and direct, but it still has the following drawbacks:    (1) The conventional method requires external cascade resistors and incurs a higher system cost.    (2) Since the impedance seen by the reflection waves is the sum of the internal output driver impedance and the impedance of external cascade resistors, and the internal output driver impedance varies with an environment factor of a chip such as at least one of manufacture process, operational voltage, and temperature (P.V.T.), the conventional method cannot be used to achieve a better impedance matching.
Referring to FIG. 2 for a schematic circuit diagram of performing impedance matching by a self-calibrated resistor matrix in a chip in accordance with a prior art, the resistor matrix is adopted in the chip, and the self-calibration mechanism is adopted for the impedance matching. This conventional method integrates the resistor matrix into the chip to lower the system cost, wherein the resistor matrix is comprised of a plurality of resistors and a plurality of switches, but its drawback resides on that the resistor matrix used in the chip occupies a larger area and incurs a higher die cost.

Apparatus of impedance matching for output driver and method thereof


In order to provide a thin film magnetic head having a high performance as well as a method of manufacturing the same, in which throat height TH of a pole portion and MR height MRH can be formed accurately to have desired design values for improving a surface recording density and reducing a side fringe magnetic flux during a writing, an MR film is formed such that the film is embedded in a shield gap layer formed on a substrate, a first magnetic layer is formed on the shield gap layer, a thin film coil, is formed on the first magnetic layer such that the coil is isolated by an insulating layer, and a second magnetic layer is formed in accordance with a given pattern. The gap layer is selectively removed by an anisotropic etching in the vicinity of side walls of a pole portion of the second magnetic layer, and then the first magnetic layer is partially removed by an ion milling to form recesses having an inner side wall which serves as a positional reference. An air bearing surface is polished on the basis of a position of this inner side wall of the recess.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film magnetic head and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly to a composite type thin film magnetic head constructed by stacking an inductive type thin film writing magnetic head and a magnetoresistive type reading magnetic head one on the other and a method of manufacturing such a composite type thin film magnetic head.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently a surface recording density of a hard disc device has been improved, and it has been required to develop a thin film magnetic head having an improved performance accordingly. In order to improve a performance of a reading magnetic head, a reproducing head utilizing a magnetoresistive effect has been widely used. As the reproducing magnetic head utilizing the magnetoresistive effect, an AMR reproducing element utilizing a conventional anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) effect has been widely used. There has been further developed a GMR reproducing element utilizing a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) effect having a resistance change ratio higher than the normal anisotropic magnetoresistive effect by several times. In the present specification, these AMR and GMR reproducing elements are termed as a magnetoresistive reproducing element or MR reproducing element.
By using the AMR reproducing element, a very high surface recording density of several gigabits per a unit square inch has been realized, and a surface recording density can be further increased by using the GMR element. By increasing a surface recording density in this manner, it is possible to realize a hard disc device which has a very large storage capacity of more than 10 gigabytes and is still small in size.
A height of a magnetoresistive reproducing element is one of factors which determine a performance of a reproducing head including a magnetoresistive reproducing element. This height is generally called MR Height, here denoted by MRH. The MR height MRH is a distance measured from an air bearing surface on which one edge of the magnetoresistive reproducing element is exposed to the other edge of the element remote from the air bearing surface. During a manufacturing process of the magnetic head, a desired MR height MRH can be obtained by controlling an amount of polishing the air bearing surface.
At the same time, a performance of a recording head is also required to be improved. In order to increase a surface recording density, it is necessary to make a track density on a magnetic record medium as high as possible. For this purpose, a width of a pole portion at the air bearing surface has to be reduced to a value within a range from several micron meters to several sub-micron meters. In order to satisfy such a requirement, the semiconductor manufacturing process has been adopted for manufacturing the thin film magnetic head.
One of factors determining a performance of an inductive type thin film writing magnetic film is a throat height TH. This throat height TH is a distance of a pole portion measured from the air bearing surface to an edge of an insulating layer which serves to separate a thin film coil from the air bearing surface. It has been required to shorten this distance as small as possible.
FIGS. 1-12 show successive steps of a known method of manufacturing a conventional typical thin film magnetic head and a completed magnetic head. This magnetic head belongs to a composite type thin film magnetic head which is constructed by stacking an inductive type thin film writing magnetic head and a magnetoresistive type thin film reading magnetic head one on the other. In a practical process of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head, a number of thin film magnetic heads are simultaneously formed on a single wafer, and therefore end faces of respective magnetic heads do not appear. However, for the sake of explanation, the end face is shown in the drawings.
At first, as illustrated in FIG. 1, on a substrate 11 made of an electrically insulating and non-magnetic material such as aluminum-titan-carbon (AlTiC), is deposited on an insulating layer 12 made of alumina (Al2O3) and having a thickness of about 5-10 xcexcm. Then, as depicted in FIG. 2, after forming a bottom shield layer 13 constituting a magnetic shield for the MR reproducing magnetic head and having a thickness of about 3 xcexcm on the insulating layer, an insulating layer 14 is formed by depositing an alumina with a thickness of 100-150 nm as shown in FIG. 3.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, on the insulating layer 14, is formed a magnetoresistive layer 15 having a thickness of several tens nanometers (nm) and being made of a material having the magnetoresistive effect, and the magnetoresistive layer is shaped into a desired pattern by a precise mask alignment. Next, as represented in FIG. 4, an alumina insulating layer 16 like as the alumina insulating layer 14 is formed by sputtering to have a thickness of 100-150 nm, and then a magnetic layer 17 made of a permalloy and having a thickness of 3-4 xcexcm is formed on the alumina insulating layer as shown in FIG. 5. This magnetic layer 17 serves not only as an upper shield layer for magnetically shielding the MR reproducing element together with the above mentioned bottom shield layer 13, but also as a bottom magnetic layer of the inductive type writing thin film magnetic head to be manufactured later. Here, for the sake of explanation, the magnetic layer 17 is called a first magnetic layer, because this magnetic layer constitutes one of magnetic layers forming the thin film writing magnetic head.
Next, as shown in FIG. 6, on the first magnetic layer 17, is formed a gap layer 18 made of a nonmagnetic material such as alumina to have a thickness of about 150-300 nm by sputtering. An electrically insulating photo-resist layer 19 is formed on the write gap layer 18 and is shaped into a desired pattern by a highly precise mask alignment. On the photo-resist layer there is formed a first thin film coil layer 20 made of, for instance copper.
Next, as illustrated in FIG. 7, an electrically insulating photo-resist layer 21 is formed on the first thin film coil layer 20 by an highly precise mask alignment, and then the photo-resist layer is baked at, for instance 250xc2x0 C. in order to flatten its surface. On the thus flattened surface of the photo-resist layer 21, is formed a second thin film coil layer 22 and a photo-resist layer 23 is formed on the second thin film coil layer 22 by a highly precise mask alignment. Then, the photo-resist layer 23 is baked at, for instance 250xc2x0 C. such that its surface is flattened as shown in FIG. 8. A reason for forming the photo-resist layers 19, 21 and 23 with a highly precise mask alignment as stated above is that the throat height TH and MR height MRH are defined on the basis of edge positions of these photo-resist layers.
Next, as illustrated in FIG. 9, on the gap layer 18 and photo-resist layers 19, 21 and 23, a second magnetic layer 24 made of a permalloy and having a thickness of 3-4 xcexcm is selectively formed in accordance with a desired pattern. This second magnetic layer 24 is brought into contact with the first magnetic layer 17 at a position remote from the magnetoresistive layer 15, and the thin film coils 20, 22 pass through a closed magnetic path constituted by the first and second magnetic layers. A pole portion of the second magnetic layer 24 is formed into desired shape and size which define a track width. Furthermore. an overcoat layer 25 made of alumina is formed on exposed surfaces of the second magnetic layer 24 and gap layer 18 by sputtering. Finally, a side wall 26 at which the magnetoresistive layer 1 is formed is polished to form an air bearing surface (ABS) 27 as depicted in FIG. 10, said air bearing surface opposing to a record medium. During the formation of the air bearing surface 27, the magnetoresistive layer 15 is also polished to obtain an MR reproducing element 28. In this manner, the above mentioned throat height TH and MR height MRH are determined by the polishing. In an actual manufacturing process, contact pads for establishing electrical connections to the thin film coils 20, 22 and MR reproducing element 28 are formed, but these contact pads are not shown in the drawings.
FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 are cross sectional, front and plan views, respectively showing the known composite type thin film magnetic head manufactured in the above explained manner, while the overcoat layer 25 is dispensed with. It should be noted that in FIG. 10, the alumina insulating layers 14 and 16 surrounding the MR reproducing element 28 are denoted by a single insulating layer, and in the plan view of FIG. 12, the thin film coil 22 is denoted to have a concentric shape for the sake of simplicity. As clearly shown in FIG. 10, an angle xcex8 between a straight line S connecting side edges of the photo-resist layers 19, 21 and 23 isolating the thin film coil 20, 22 and an upper surface of the second magnetic layer 24 is called an apex angle. This apex angle is one of important factors for determining a property of the thin film magnetic head together with the throat height TH and MR height MRH. Furthermore, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 12, a width W of the pole portion 24a of the second magnetic layer 24 is small. A width of tracks recorded on a record medium is determined by said width W, and therefore it is necessary to make this width W as small as possible in order to realize a high surface recording density.
As explained above, in order to improve the surface recording density on the magnetic record medium, it is necessary to improve a performance of the thin film recording magnetic head comprising the first and second magnetic layers 17 and 24, gap layer 18 and thin film coil 20, 22. In the composite type thin film magnetic head having the reading magnetic head using the magnetoresistive element and the thin film recording magnetic head stacked one on the other, it is necessary to improve the performance of the writing magnetic head as well as the reading magnetic head. In order to improve the performance of the writing magnetic head, it is important that the throat height TH and apex angle xcex8 shown in FIG. 10 should be formed accurately such that they are not deviated from desired design values. However, in the known manufacturing method, it is difficult to control these parameters precisely and to manufacture the magnetic head in accordance with desired design values. That is to say, the throat height TH is defined by a distance from the air bearing surface 27 to an edge of the insulating layer 19 for isolating the thin film coil 20, 22, said edge opposing to the pole portion 24a of the second magnetic layer 24. However, in an actual manufacturing process, a position of said edge of the insulating layer 19 could not be clearly defined, and the air bearing surface 27 is polished on the basis of a throat height zero position defined by the edge position under an assumption that said edge would be formed at a desired position. During the formation of the thin film coil 20, 22, the heating process is carried out at about 250xc2x0 C., and the photo-resist layer constituting the insulating layer is melt and a pattern of the insulating layer is varied. Therefore, a position of said edge of the insulating layer is deviated from a desired position, and thus a value of the throat height TH which corresponds to a length of the pole portion 24a and is determined by using a position of the edge of the insulating layer as a positional reference might be deviated from a desired design value. Particularly, when the photo-resist layers constituting the insulating layers 19, 21 and 23 are formed to have a large thickness, said deviation in the pattern might amount to a very large value such as about 0.5 xcexcm. Therefore, a fine throat height TH of several micron meters to submicron meters could never be attained with a high reproducibility. Further, in case of using such a thick photo-resist layer, a desired pattern might be deviated by an unevenness in a thickness. For instance, in a composite type thin film magnetic head for a high frequency, a throat height TH has to be made not larger than 1.0 xcexcm. The above mentioned deviation of 0.5 xcexcm is very large and a number of defective throat heights TH are produced to decrease a manufacturing yield and a manufacturing cost is increased.
During the above mentioned heating process, the photo-resist film of the insulating layers 19, 21 and 23 is melt, and therefore a profile defined by side walls of these insulating layers as shown in FIG. 10 is varied and the apex angle xcex8 is also varied. The apex angle xcex8 influences the performance of the thin film magnetic head and the deviation in the apex angle might sometimes cause a defect in the property of the thin film magnetic head. In this manner, in the known method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head, it is difficult to improve the performance of the writing magnetic head. Such a problem would be manifest in accordance with a progress in miniaturization of the thin film magnetic head.
The above explained demerit of the known method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head is mainly due to the deviation in pattern of the photo-resist film caused by the process of heating the photo-resist film during the formation of the thin film coil 20, 22, but this process is inevitable for flattening the surface of the insulating layer and isolating the coil windings.
Furthermore, although the performance of the reading magnetic head can be improved by using a GMR reproducing element having a high sensitivity as the magnetoresistive element, in order to further increase a surface recording density, it is necessary to manufacture the magnetic head such that the MR height MRH defined by a height of the element measured from the air bearing surface 27 should not be deviated from a desired design value. In an actual manufacturing, the MR height MRH is determined by an amount of polishing the air bearing surface 27 like as the throat height TH, and this polishing is carried out while a position of the edge of the insulating layer is used as a positional reference. Since a position of the edge of the insulating layer is varied by the heating process as stated above, the MR height MRH is also varied and could not be formed to have a desired design value. Therefore, a manufacturing yield is decreased by the variation in the MR height MRH, and a manufacturing cost is increased.
Particularly, in a composite type thin film magnetic head including the writing magnetic head and the reading magnetic head having the magnetoresistive element stacked one on the other, a balance between the throat height TH of the writing magnetic head and the MR height MRH of the reading magnetic head has to be taken into consideration. These two factors are determined by a positional relationship of the insulating layers 19, 21 and 23 made of photo-resist, a precision in the mask alignment of the MR reproducing element and a precision in the polishing process for forming the air bearing surface. Therefore, a pattern alignment of the insulating layers 19 and 21 with respect to the MR layer 15 should be carried out with a minimum error. However, although this error could be minimum, there is still an error due to the deformation in a pattern of the photo-resist which constitutes the insulating layers 19, 21 and 23 isolating the coil windings of the thin film coil 20, 22 by the heating process, and thus the throat height TH and MR height MRH contain an error. Then, a balance between the writing magnetic head and the reading magnetic head is broken and it is no more possible to manufacture a composite type thin film magnetic head having a superior performance.
Moreover, as can be seen from FIG. 11, if a width of the first magnetic layer 17 and a width W of the pole portion 24a of the second magnetic layer 24 near the air bearing surface differ greatly from each other, there might be produced a leakage of a magnetic flux called a side fringe magnetic flux. Particularly, in the composite type thin film magnetic head having the recording thin film magnetic head and the MR reproducing head 28 formed integrally, the first magnetic layer 17 also serves as the magnetic shield for the MR reproducing head, a width of the first magnetic layer has to be inherently larger than a width W of the pole portion 24a of the second magnetic layer 24, and therefore there might be induced a relatively large side fringe magnetic flux. When such a side fringe magnetic flux is produced, an undesired side write phenomenon might occur and an effective width of a record track is increased. In accordance with a recent progress in the high surface recording density, a track width has been shortened. but when the above mentioned side write occurs, there might be produced a cross talk between adjacent tracks as well as an accidental erase of a magnetization pattern recorded in adjacent tracks, so that a sufficiently high surface recording density could not be realized.
In order to solve the above problems, there has been proposed to construct the trim structure by forming a protruded portion 17a in the first magnetic layer 17 as shown in FIG. 13 and this protruded portion is formed to have a width identical with a width of the pole portion 24a of the second magnetic layer 24. Such a solution has been described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publications, Kokai Hei 7-220245, 7-225917 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,747) and 7-296331.
Upon forming the protruded portion 17a in the first magnetic layer 17 shown in FIG. 13, in order to match a width of the protruded portion to a width of the pole portion 24a of the second magnetic layer 24, after forming the pole portion of the second magnetic layer, an ion beam etching, for instance an ion milling is performed while the pole portion of the second magnetic layer is used as a mask to remove the gap layer 18 and a portion of the first magnetic layer 17 is removed over a part of its thickness, for instance over about 500 nm. However, an etching rate of the ion milling for an alumina constituting the gap layer 18 is low such as about 30 nm/minute, and therefore a long processing time is required and a through-put is liable to be decreased.
Furthermore, an etching rate of the ion milling for a permalloy constituting the second magnetic layer 24 is high such as 200 nm/minute, and thus a thickness of the second magnetic layer 24 has to be larger by considering a reduction in thickness during the etching process. The second magnetic layer 24 is formed by a plating, and therefore if a thickness of the magnetic layer is larger, it is required to use a thick photo-resist film which is used for forming the pole portion 24a in accordance with a given pattern. When a thickness of the photo-resist film is large, it is difficult to narrow a width W of the pole portion 24a, and a pole portion having a width of an order of sub-micron meters could not be formed any more.
In order to form the protruded portion 17a having the same dimension as that of the pole portion 24a of the second magnetic layer 24 by etching the gap layer 18 and first magnetic layer 17 with the ion milling, while the pole portion 24a of the second magnetic layer 24 is used as a mask, an ion beam has to be made incident substantially at right angles. However, the ion milling is performed at right angles, debris of etched material might adhere to side walls of the protruded portion 17a of the first magnetic layer 17 and pole portion 24a of the second magnetic layer 24. By means of such adhered substances, the first and second magnetic layers 17 and 24 might be magnetically short-circuited and an effective track width might be increased. Therefore, the thin film magnetic head having a desired performance could not be attained.
The present invention has for its object to provide a novel and useful inductive type thin film magnetic head and a method of manufacturing the same, in which the above mentioned problems could be solved, a size of the magnetic head is decreased such that a high surface recording density can be attained while a desired performance is maintained, and throat height TH and apex angle xcex8 accurately corresponding to desired design values can be obtained.
It is another object of the invention to provide a composite type thin film magnetic head and a method of manufacturing the same, in which a size of the magnetic head is decreased such that a high surface recording density can be attained while a desired performance is maintained, and throat height TH and apex angle xcex8 accurately corresponding to desired design values can be obtained.
According to the invention, a thin film magnetic head comprises:
a first magnetic layer having a pole portion;
a second magnetic layer having a pole portion which constitutes an air bearing surface together with said pole portion of the first magnetic layer and has a width defining a record track width, said second magnetic layer being magnetically coupled with said first magnetic layer;
a gap layer made of a non-magnetic material and being interposed at least between said pole portion of the first magnetic layer and said pole portion of the second magnetic layer;
a thin film coil having a portion which is supported by an insulating layer in an electrically isolated manner; and
a substrate supporting said first and second magnetic layers, gap layer, thin film coil and insulating layer supporting the thin film coil;
wherein a recess having an inner side wall which serves as a positional reference for said air bearing surface is formed on both sides of the pole portions of said first and second magnetic layers such that said recess penetrates through said gap layer and extends into the first magnetic layer over a part of a thickness of the first magnetic layer.
According to the invention, a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head comprises the steps of:
forming a first magnetic layer having a pole portion such that the first magnetic layer is supported by a substrate;
forming a thin film coil above said first magnetic layer such that the thin film coil is supported by an insulating layer in an electrically isolated manner;
forming a gap layer made of a non-magnetic material on at least said pole portion of the first magnetic layer and on said insulating layer;
forming a second magnetic layer having a pole portion which is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic layer via said gap layer;
performing an anisotropic etching to remove a portion of said gap layer adjacent to side edges of said pole portion of the second magnetic layer by using said pole portion of the second magnetic layer as a mask to form a recess in said gap portion;
performing an etching to remove a portion of said first magnetic layer by using said pole portion of the second magnetic layer as a mask such that said recess is dug down partially into the first magnetic layer; and
polishing the substrate, pole portions of the first and second magnetic layers and gap layer sandwiched by these magnetic layers to form an air bearing surface which is to be opposed to a magnetic record medium, while an inner side wall of said recess is used as a positional reference.
Further, according to the invention, a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head comprises the steps of:
forming a first magnetic layer having a pole portion such that the first magnetic layer is supported by a substrate;
forming a gap layer made of a non-magnetic material on said first magnetic layer;
forming a thin film coil such that the thin film coil is supported by an insulating layer in an electrically isolated manner;
forming a second magnetic layer having a pole portion which is opposed to said pole portion of the first magnetic layer via said gap layer;
performing an anisotropic etching to remove a portion of said gap layer adjacent to side edges of said pole portion of the second magnetic layer by using said pole portion of the second magnetic layer as a mask to form a recess in said gap portion;
performing an etching to remove a portion of said first magnetic layer by using said pole portion of the second magnetic layer as a mask such that said recess is dug down partially into the first magnetic layer; and
polishing the substrate, pole portions of the first and second magnetic layers and gap layer sandwiched by these magnetic layers to form an air bearing surface which is to be opposed to a magnetic record medium, while an inner side wall of said recess is used as a positional reference.
In the thin film magnetic head according to the invention, it is no more necessary to polish the air bearing surface by using a position of an edge of the insulating layer which supports the thin film coil in an electrically isolated manner as a positional reference, and the polishing process can be performed by using the inner side wall of the recess as a positional reference. A position of the inner side wall of the recess can be defined very accurately on the basis of a position of the edge of the insulating layer in regardless of a variation of a position of this edge, and moreover the inner side wall of the recess can be inspected under a microscope which is installed in a polishing machine during the polishing. Therefore, a position of the air bearing surface can be precisely determined, and a throat height TH which is identical with a length of the pole portion of the second magnetic layer can be formed accurately to follow a desired design value. In this manner, it is possible to attain the thin film magnetic head having an excellent performance.
Furthermore, in a composite type thin film magnetic head having a thin film writing magnetic head and a thin film reading magnetic film stacked one on the other, the above mentioned balance between the throat height TH and the MR height MRH can be always maintained to be a desired one, and the composite type thin film magnetic head having a high performance can be realized.
It should be noted that according to the invention, the pole portion of the first magnetic layer is formed into the trim structure, and therefore a leakage of a magnetic flux during writing, i.e. the side fringe magnetic flux can be reduced and a track width can be narrowed. Then, the thin film magnetic head according to the invention can realize a very high surface recording density.
In the method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head according to the invention, after selectively removing by an anisotropic etching a portion of the gap layer while the pole portion of the second magnetic layer and a photo-resist layer formed on the gap layer are used as a mask to form the recess in the gap layer, a portion of the first magnetic layer exposed in the recess is etched by, for instance an ion milling such that the recess is dug down into the first magnetic layer over a part of a whole thickness of the first magnetic layer. An etching rate of the anisotropic etching for the gap layer is high such as 200 nm/minute, and therefore the etching process can be completed within a short time period and a high through put can be attained. Furthermore, during this anisotropic etching, a thickness of the pole portion of the second magnetic layer is not substantially reduced, and thus it is no more necessary to form this pole portion to have an unnecessarily large thickness. As a result thereof, a miniaturization can be attained and a width of the pole portion can be small.
In a preferable embodiment of the thin film magnetic head according to the invention, said insulating layer isolating a portion of the thin film coil situating between said first and second magnetic layers is covered with said gap layer made of a non-magnetic material. By surrounding the insulating layer of the thin film coil with the gap layer, a position of the edge of the insulating layer is hardly shifted, and therefore said inner side wall of the recess can be formed accurately with reference to a position of the edge of the insulating layer.
In another preferable embodiment of the thin film magnetic head according to the invention, the magnetic head is constructed as a composite type thin film magnetic head by providing a reading magnetoresistive element between said substrate and said first magnetic layer such that the magnetoresistive element is electrically isolated and magnetically shielded and an edge of the element is exposed on the air bearing surface.
In the method according to the invention, after selectively removing by an anisotropic etching a portion of the gap layer while the pole portion of the second magnetic layer and a photo-resist layer formed on the gap layer are used as a mask to form the recess in the gap layer, a portion of the first magnetic layer exposed in the recess is etched such that the recess is dug down over into the first magnetic layer over a part of a whole thickness of the first magnetic layer, and said etching is performed by an ion beam etching such as ion milling. By conducting the ion beam etching at an angle of 40-70xc2x0, particularly about 45xc2x0 with respect to a normal to the first magnetic layer, debris of etched magnetic material is prevented from being applied again onto the side walls of the pole portion such that the first and second magnetic layers are scarcely short-circuited and an effective track width could not be increased.

Thin film magnetic head with recess for positional reference


A method and corresponding apparatus for providing a cellular subscriber with access to a WLAN are provided. They involve identifying a multimode mobile terminal, which corresponds to the subscriber and the WLAN from an access request. Based on the identification, the WLAN is authorized to provide the mobile terminal with access. The mobile terminal is then provided with access to the WLAN as a cellular subscriber and enables interoperability between the two networks. For example, the subscriber does not have to supply a credit card to pay for WLAN access directly. Instead, the subscriber pays a cellular network provider, and, in turn, the cellular network provider pays a WLAN provider for the access.

Cellular networks, such as global systems for mobile communication (GSM) and general packet radio service (GPRS) mobile service networks, provide two-way voice and data communication with regional, national or international coverage. This makes mobile communication very convenient. These networks, however, use powerful base stations to communicate with mobile terminals making mobile communication expensive. An alternative to expensive cellular networks is wireless local area networks (WLANs), such as Wi-Fi (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11). Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology provides seamless access to a cellular network over Wi-Fi or other unlicensed spectrum technologies.
A dual-mode enabled mobile terminal, such as a UMA-enabled mobile terminal, or a mobile phone or computer with cellular and wireless functions, can switch between a cellular network and a WLAN. However, it is typically limited to accessing a WLAN with free access, a WLAN supplied by the cellular network service provider or a WLAN with a known access code. For example, some service providers have installed WLANs, called hotspots, in public places, where their own subscribers are allowed to connect after paying for such service and entering an access code. Non-subscribers, however, cannot access these hotspots. Not only does this limit the number of locations of available service but in some cases, it results in networks being underused.
An important point to remember is that UMA takes care of the seamless connection of a dual-mode device from a cellular system to a WLAN, once the device is successfully associated with WLAN. For example, a user makes a voice call or a data connection by a dual-mode cellular handset over the cellular wireless network. When the user goes to an authorized hotspot area, the phone can switch to the WLAN, i.e., the hotspot. At this point, UMA ensures that the call can be continued over the WLAN seamlessly. However, UMA does not address how to access Wi-Fi networks, it just provides the seamless connection once the physical wireless connection is achieved, such as through successful association with a hotspot, a home or a free to public WLAN.

System and method providing interoperability between cellular and other wireless systems

Conversant Intellectual Property Management Inc.


A main power supply supplies a supply target including a network connector with power for allowing the supply target to operate. The network connector operates by using power supplied from the main power supply. A network-event detector detects an electrical change in the telephone network as a network event. A backup power supply is provided separately from the main power supply and is charged with power supplied from the main power supply during operation of the main power supply. A normal-mode setter operates by using power supplied from the backup power supply in a stopped mode, and to set an operational mode to a normal mode in response to occurrence of a voltage reduction state in a backup voltage. A forcing discharger discharges charged power of the backup power supply in response to the network-event detector detecting the network event in the stopped mode, thereby generating the voltage reduction state.

There are communication apparatuses having functions of performing communication through a telephone network via a switch board such as a telephone function and a facsimile function (hereinafter referred to as "telephone-network communication function"). These communication apparatuses generally have a main power-supply circuit for supplying various units in the apparatus with electric power. For example, in a multifunction peripheral, when a power switch is turned on, the main power-supply circuit supplies electric power to various units in the apparatus, such as a print mechanism, a copy mechanism, a DAA (Data Access Arrangement) and a modem.
Recently, for reducing power consumption, various electrical equipment including communication apparatuses is provided with, as operational modes, a normal mode in which the main power-supply circuit can supply various units with electric power and a sleep mode in which power supply from the main power-supply circuit is stopped except that micro power is supplied to a requisite minimum circuit such as a control circuit.

Communication apparatus being selectively powered by a main power supply or a back-up power supply depending on the operating mode of the communication apparatus


Automatically detecting whether a local network that a computer is connected to is a public or private network by utilizing a trusted online service and/or heuristics is disclosed. Data produced as a result of performing one heuristic(s) in combination with data received from a trusted online service can be utilized to determine a level of confidence as to a type of network to which a client computer is connected. If the determined level of confidence exceeds a first level, the local network type for the client computer can automatically be set. If the determined level of confidence is less than the first level, but greater than a second level, a user can be prompted to classify the local network type with the determined local network type set as a default value. Techniques are also described for detecting whether or not two computers are connected to the same local area network.

The Internet has made large amounts of information available to computer users. For many users, access to this information has become essential. Yet connecting a private network to the Internet can expose critical data to attack from anywhere in the world. Users who connect a computer to the Internet need to be aware of these dangers and how to protect their data and systems. Many users set up a firewall to help monitor and defend their computer from Internet attacks. However, configuring appropriate firewall security settings can be difficult for some users.
Some applications allow a user to select different firewall security settings for public vs. private networks. When a new connection is detected, the firewall software will typically prompt the user to specify whether it is a private or public network. The firewall software then configures the firewall to low or high security based on the user's response.
The ability for a user to manually specify a local network type is certainly useful, but it relies on the user to make the correct determination whether the network is private or public. Unfortunately, incorrect classification leads to either an insecure system that can be attacked or to valuable features or services being blocked by the firewall.

Automatically detecting whether a computer is connected to a public or private network


The conventional technology of designating a page with a scroll bar or by a dialogue and displaying the designated page can only display the designated page. According to the present invention, when an icon displayed in the form of a book in open state is designated with a mouse, the designated position is judged, and, if it is on the right-side page, the image of the designated page is displayed in compressed state to the designated point, and an underlying page is displayed. Then the designated page is turned over and the images of the succeeding two pages are displayed. When the left-side page is designated, the preceding two pages are displayed through a similar process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus enabling reference to text information of plural pages on the display image area in the form of actual book, thereby realizing easy access to a multitude of information, and a method therefor.
2. Related Background Art
The graphical user interface (GUI) is a use environment of the computer, realizing the human-computer dialogue through a picture instead of the characters, and, among such GUI, there is already known a system capable of displaying, on the display image area, a page of the text information as if an arbitrary page of an actual book is opened.
In the conventional GUI based on the Windows format, the page of the information displayed on the browse window is switched by page designation with a scroll bar or by dialogue.
However, in such conventional technology of displaying on the browse window by page designation with the scroll bar or by dialogue, the display is limited to the designated page, so that the user is unable to easily refer to the information of plural pages with the feeling of turning pages of a book.
Also the operation of referring to a next page, employed for example in the editor of the word processor, is complex in manipulation for the user who is not used to the operations of the word processor.

Information processing apparatus and method with display book page turning


A wafer cleaning apparatus includes at least one nozzle fixing tube disposed in a wall of a cleaning bath. A plurality of injection nozzles are arranged on the nozzle fixing tube for spraying a compressed cleaning solution toward the wafer. A rotating device rotates the at least one nozzle fixing tube and the plurality of injection nozzles within a predetermined angle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wafer cleaning apparatus, and more particularly, to an improved wafer cleaning apparatus which is capable of upgrading wafer cleaning effectiveness by spraying a cleaning solution in varying directions towards a wafer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In semiconductor fabricating processes, the wafer cleaning procedure is basically directed to preventing the surface of a wafer from being contaminated by contaminants such as organic substances, dust or the like, because scrupulously clean wafers are critical for obtaining high yields in very large scale integration (VLSI) fabrication.
Generally, in the wafer cleaning procedure, a wafer is immersed in a sulfuric acid (H.sub.2 SO.sub.4)-hydrogen peroxide (H.sub.2 O.sub.2) mixture to remove organic contaminants or ionic contaminants adhered thereto, and then is rinsed in deionized water to repel acid or alkali.
In order to upgrade the effectiveness of the rinsing procedure using deionized water, a sequence of step are carried out, including for example, a pre-rinsing step during which deionized water is filled to capacity in a cleaning bath then quickly dumped, a dump rinsing step during which deionized water and nitride gas N.sub.2 are cooperatively used to remove dust, or the like, from the surface of the wafer, and a post-rinsing step during which the wafer is placed in flowing water.
A quick dump rinsing (QDR) step can be utilized to quickly and cleanly rinse contaminants such as a chemical or the like existing on the surface of a wafer. Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a conventional wafer cleaning apparatus including a QDR bath. The conventional wafer cleaning apparatus 10 includes a cleaning bath 2 in which a wafer (not shown) is received to be cleaned by deionized water and nitride gas N.sub.2, a plurality of spaced-apart injection nozzles 4 vertically arranged at both side walls of the cleaning bath 2, and a plurality of spaced-apart holes 6 formed at the bottom surface of the cleaning bath 2 to allow the deionized water and the nitride gas N.sub.2 to be introduced and dumped therethrough.
In the wafer cleaning apparatus 10 constructed as mentioned above, after the wafer having contaminants adhered thereon is placed in the cleaning bath 2, the deionized water and the nitride gas N.sub.2 are supplied through the plurality of holes 6 into the cleaning bath 2 to first remove contaminants from the wafer. In the course of draining the deionized water and the nitride gas N.sub.2, when the wafer is exposed to the outside, more deionized water is sprayed onto the wafer through the plurality of injection nozzles 4 at a high pressure to clean the wafer again. These cleaning operations using the deionized water and the nitride gas N.sub.2 are implemented for three to five cycles.
However, the conventional wafer cleaning apparatus has a drawback in that since the plurality of injection nozzles 4 are fixed in one direction, it is possible that a portion of the wafer may not be wetted by the sprayed water, resulting in an insufficient cleaning procedure. If the pressure of the sprayed water is reduced, the effectiveness of wafer cleaning procedure is further deteriorated. Moreover, since the same cleaning cycles are repeatedly used, additional time is needed to complete the cleaning procedure such that productivity is lowered remarkably.

Wafer cleaning apparatus with rotating cleaning solution injection nozzles


An optical information recording medium including a ROM area and a recordable area is composed of a light-transmitting substrate with prepits and/or guide grooves formed on the surface thereof, a light absorption layer serving as a recording layer which is composed of a dye as the main component overlaid on the light-transmitting substrate, and a light reflection layer which is composed of metallic film overlaid on the light absorption layer. The light absorption layer of this optical information recording medium is formed on the substrate by coating a solution composed of a dye and a solvent of a mixture of a fluoridated alcohol of formula (I) and an alcohol of formula (II): EQU A--CH.sub.2 OH (I). wherein A represents CF.sub.3 --or H(CF.sub.2 --CF.sub.2).sub.l --in which l is an integer of 1 to 3; and EQU HO--CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --OR (II). wherein R represents C.sub.n H.sub.2n+1 --, ##STR1## H, or C.sub.m H.sub.2m+1 --O--C.sub.n H.sub.2n -- in which n is an integer of 1 to 4 and m is an integer of 1 to 4.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical information recording medium, more particularly to a write-once-type compact disc having a ROM area and a recordable area, and a method of fabricating the write-once-type compact disc.
2. Discussion of Background
Recently, development of write-once-type compact discs (CDs) has advanced actively. Unlike the conventional CDs, information can be recorded in the write-once-type CDs by the user. Moreover, the write-once-type CDs are characterized in that the recorded information can be reproduced by a commercially available CD player because the recording signals for the write-once-type CDs conform to the conventional CD standards.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2-42652 discloses one method of fabricating such a write-once-type CD in which a light absorption layer is formed on a substrate by coating dye on the substrate by the spin coating method and in which a metallic reflection layer is provided on the above formed light absorption layer.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2-132656 describes a write-once-type CD for which recorded signals conforming to the conventional CD standards can be fabricated by adequately adjusting the complex index of reflection of the light absorption layer and the thickness thereof.
Such a write-once-type CD can be utilized in such a fashion to include (a) a ROM area in which information pits are preformed and (b) a recordable area in which information is to be recorded later as desired by the user.
In order to form such a ROM area in the write-once-type CD, the following two methods can be employed:
(i) A CD with the entire surface thereof being recordable, which consists of a recordable ROM area and another recordable area is fabricated. The manufacturer of the CD provides the user with the necessary information recorded in the ROM area before sale.
(ii) Pits for recording information are formed in an area corresponding to a ROM area of a CD in a step for producing a substrate thereof in the same manner as in the conventional CDs, and then the remaining area in which pits are not formed is provided as a recordable area that can be used by the user.
The previously mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2-42652 discloses a CD, which includes a ROM area 5 and a recordable area 6 formed by the above-mentioned method (ii) as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. This CD is composed of a transparent substrate 11, a light absorption layer 12 comprising a dye formed in the recordable area 6 on the substrate 11, a reflection layer 13 formed not only in the ROM area 5, but also on the light absorption layer 12, and a protective layer 14 which covers the light reflection layer 13. In this CD, the light absorption layer 12 is provided only in the recordable area 6, not in the ROM area 5. In other words, the "separate coating" method is employed when the recordable area of the CD is coated with the dye.
The reasons for employing the separate coating method are considered as follows: When the surface of a substrate 21 having pits or grooves is coated with the dye composition using the spin coating method, the pits or the grooves are generally filled with the dye composition in such a form as shown in FIG. 3A, in which the thickness of the coated dye composition layer 22a in the bottom portion of the pit is much thicker than that of the coated dye composition layer 22a in the land portion of the pit. In other words, it is extremely difficult to uniformly coat the pit with the dye composition in the form of a dye composition layer 22b as shown in FIG. 3B.
In particular, pits formed on the surface of the ROM area are substantially the same as those formed on conventional CDs, and therefore, the signals which conform to the CD standards can be obtained when a reflection layer is directly formed on the ROM area. However, if the reflection layer is provided after coating the ROM area with the dye composition in such a fashion as shown in FIG. 3A, the shapes of the pits are substantially changed, the modulation degree of the recording medium is reduced, that is, the amplitude of signals is substantially decreased. The result is that the signals conforming to the CD standards cannot be obtained.
Thus, the separate coating method is employed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2-42652.
However, such a separate coating method has the following shortcomings:
(1) Although the light absorption layer is generally formed by the spin coating method, it is practically impossible to strictly coat only the recordable area with a dye composition, without adverse effects to the ROM area from the dye composition. Therefore, as a matter of fact, it occurs that part of the ROM area is coated with the dye composition or part of the recordable area is not coated with the dye composition. As a result, these improperly coated or uncoated parts cause improper function of the recording medium.
(2) The coated light absorption layer tends to become thicker in a portion close to the border with the ROM area than in the other portion, so that the reflectance of the light beam is not up to the CD standards. Such a portion does not properly function as the light absorption layer and cannot be used. Furthermore, such unusable portions make up a large area because the dye composition cannot always be uniformly coated onto the substrate. This leads to a substantial decrease in the recording capacity of the CD.
The substrate of the optical information recording medium, with preformed pits and grooves, is generally formed by injection molding, using a thermoplastic resin such as polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate. When a dye composition is dispersed in a solvent and coated onto such a substrate by the spin coating method, the solvent contained in the dye dispersion, depending on the kind of the solvent, may dissolve the surface of the substrate. If this occurs, the pits or the grooves are caused to disappear and the light reflectance of the substrate significantly decreases. Therefore, it is necessary to use a solvent which does not dissolve the substrate material, but dissolves the dye.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 63-159090 discloses a fluorinated alcohol which can be employed as such a solvent that does not dissolve the substrate but dissolves the dye. The solvent containing the fluorinated alcohol has excellent properties as a coating liquid for the formation of the light absorption layer. However, when such a coating liquid is used, the pits or the grooves are filled with the dye composition as illustrated in FIG. 3A.


An electron microscope includes: an electron detector which detects electrons emitted from a specimen upon irradiation of the specimen with an electron beam; an X-ray detector which detects X-rays emitted from the specimen upon irradiation of the specimen with the electron beam; and a processor which generates a three-dimensional element map based on output signals from the electron detector and the X-ray detector. The processor performs processing for generating a electron microscopic image based on the output signal from the electron detector, processing for generating a three-dimensional image of the specimen based on the electron microscopic image, processing for generating a two-dimensional element map based on the output signal from the X-ray detector, and processing for generating the three-dimensional element map by projecting the two-dimensional element map on the three-dimensional image.

The present invention relates to an electron microscope and an image processing method.
Using a scanning electron microscope, a scanning electron microscopic image (hereinafter also referred to as an "SEM image") can be obtained. The SEM image is a two-dimensional image.
A method for obtaining a three-dimensional image of a specimen using a scanning electron microscope has been known. For example, JP-A-2013-69693 discloses a method for generating a three-dimensional image of a specimen using a plurality of SEM images taken while the specimen is tilted at different tilt angles.
A tomography method has been known as a method for obtaining a three-dimensional image of a specimen using a transmission electron microscope. According to the tomography method, a three-dimensional image is reconstructed from a plurality of tilted images taken using the transmission electron microscope while the specimen is continuously tilted.
However, information on elements cannot be obtained in such a three-dimensional image obtained using an electron microscope such as a scanning electron microscope and a transmission electron microscope. When, for example, a characteristic part such as a protrusion is observed in a three-dimensional image, it is desirable that information on elements at the part is visually obtained.

Electron microscope and image processing method


Systems and methods for data management using machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques related to topic modeling on text comments are described. The text comments may correspond to a particular transaction conducted by a user. Machine learning text analysis is performed on the text comment to determine one or more topics associated with the text comment. The topic with the highest correlation to the text comment is assigned to the transaction claim. Based on the topic assigned to the transaction claim, various actions may be performed, including remedial actions on a user account. These techniques may be applicable to chargeback fraud, in some embodiments.

Text classification is the process of assigning tags or categories to text according to its content. Unstructured data in the form of text is everywhere: emails, text messages, instant messaging chats, web pages, social media, etc. Machine learning algorithms learn to make classifications based on observations. By using example training data, a machine learning algorithm can learn different associations between portions of text and that a particular output is expected for a particular input.
Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are best understood by referring to the detailed description that follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures, wherein showings therein are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of the present disclosure and not for purposes of limiting the same.


An information processing apparatus is provided capable of effectively utilizing resources in data transmission processes executed by a plurality of control units. A contents delivery apparatus includes network IFs, control units, disk drives used by the respective control units, and cache areas in which content data read by the respective control units from the respective disk drives is temporarily stored. Upon receiving a content data delivery request from a terminal device, the control unit of the contents delivery apparatus checks whether the requested data is present in the cache area, and if it is present (cache hit), replicates the data to the disk drive used by any one of other control units to notify a portal server allocating a delivery destination so that it is well prepared for a new delivery request from the terminal device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing system and a management method thereof, and more particularly, to an information processing system and a management method thereof capable of effectively utilizing resources in data transmission processes executed by a plurality of control units.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the recent deployment of multi-core processors or the like, it has become common that a single apparatus is controlled by a plurality of control units (processors). If the control unit is single, resources mounted on an apparatus, such as memory areas or hardware devices, can be inevitably uniformly managed by the control unit.
However, when the control unit becomes plural, it is necessary to distribute resources to be allocated to the respective control units. Therefore, a so-called distribution loss may occur in which a resource needed by an apparatus is assigned to another control unit and thus cannot be used.
As a typical conventional countermeasure to the distribution loss, a method of committing a process to another control unit when the resources fell short (reference should be made to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-120014) is provided.
However, in a contents delivery apparatus that delivers a large amount of data such as video or audio streams, the conventional method cannot solely eliminate or alleviate the distribution loss due to the following problems.
As a first problem, since the contents delivery apparatus is configured to transmit video data preliminarily stored in the disk drive to a network, when the read performance of a disk is not sufficient, it is difficult to eliminate resource shortage unless the video data is replicated to another disk. That is, when the resources fell short, since it is very difficult to obtain resources for eliminating the resource shortage, the resource distribution loss cannot be eliminated.
As a second problem, when the whole contents are preliminarily stored in the entire disk drives in order to solve the first problem, since the data size of the video contents is generally large, it may result in waste (distribution loss) of disk capacity. Particularly, since the popularity (access frequency) of the video contents greatly depends on its title and varies with time, it is difficult to accurately estimate access concentration to specific contents in advance.
That is, in the prior art or combination thereof, particularly, when a large amount of data such as video or audio streams is delivered by an apparatus having a number of control units such as a multi-core processor, it is difficult to eliminate the resource distribution loss caused by distributing the resources to the respective control units.

Contents delivery system using cache and data replication


Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and apparatus for improving user experience of a voice call associated with a simultaneous voice and long-term evolution (SV-LTE) device (e.g., improving silent redial during a mobile originated (MO) call or mobile terminated (MT) call by a SV-LTE device. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE) capable of communicating via a first packet-based radio access technology (RAT) and a second circuit-switched RAT is provided. The method generally includes detecting initiation of a mobile originated (MO) call, attempting to establish a connection with the first RAT prior to sending a session initiation protocol (SIP) message for the MO call, determining whether the connection is successfully established, and, if the connection is successfully established, sending the SIP message. Numerous other aspects are provided.

I. Field of the Disclosure
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to techniques and apparatus for improving user experience of a voice call associated with a device, such as a simultaneous voice and long-term evolution (SV-LTE) device, for example by improving silent redial during a mobile originated (MO) call or mobile terminated (MT) call by a SV-LTE device.
II. Description of Related Art
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.
These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level. An example of an emerging telecommunication standard is Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). It is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards using OFDMA on the downlink (DL), SC-FDMA on the uplink (UL), and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology.
However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, there exists a need for further improvements in LTE technology. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multi-access technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ these technologies.

User experience of a voice call associated with a device


Articles are provided including a base substrate having a layer of an oriented material thereon, and, a layer of hafnium oxide upon the layer of an oriented material. The layer of hafnium oxide can further include a secondary oxide such as cerium oxide, yttrium oxide, lanthanum oxide, scandium oxide, calcium oxide and magnesium oxide. Such articles can further include thin films of high temperature superconductive oxides such as YBCO upon the layer of hafnium oxide or layer of hafnium oxide and secondary oxide.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,139 described a coated conductor architecture based on ion beam assisted deposited magnesium oxide (IBAD-MgO), which comprises four or five separately deposited layers between the metal substrate and the superconducting layer. Among the described structures are included: (1) a structure including a substrate/a layer of aluminum oxide (Al2O3)/a layer of yttrium oxide (Y2O3)/a layer of IBAD-MgO/a homoepitaxial layer of MgO/a layer of strontium ruthenate (SrRuO3)/a layer of yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO); and (2) a structure including a substrate/a layer of erbium oxide (Er2O3)/a layer of IBAD-MgO/a homoepitaxial layer of MgO/a layer of SrRuO3/a layer of YBCO. Other architectures have employed strontium titanate in place of strontium ruthenate or mixtures of strontium titanate and strontium ruthenate.
Excellent critical current density values have been achieved using either of these architectures, but layers of strontium ruthenate and/or strontium titanate may present unwanted difficulties in practical commercial processes. Specifically, while benchscale research on such materials generally employed pulsed laser deposition (PLD) that produced high quality stoichiometric films, PLD has not been preferred for commercial production of coated conductors due to high capital costs of laser equipment and relative small deposition areas. Other deposition processes such as sputtering are generally desired for commercial production, but multicomponent films of strontium titanate or strontium ruthenate are not optimally deposited by sputtering.
Due to these problems, a substitute material for multicomponent films such as strontium titanate or strontium ruthenate is desired. Among the requirements for such a replacement material are the option of using sputter deposition of a metal target as opposed to a metal oxide target and the preference for a single component metal target rather than an alloy of metals such as strontium and titanium.
After careful experimentation by the present inventors, a substitute material of hafnium oxide has now been found for strontium ruthenate or strontium titanate.

High rate buffer layer for IBAD MgO coated conductors


In an Object Oriented Programming System, a Communications Interface Packet (CIP) enables processing in either a remote system or in a batch environment. A CIP is an object in an Object Oriented Programming System, and like any other object, the CIP object contains data or attributes surrounded by or encapsulated by methods or actions for those data or attributes. Unique to a CIP, however, are attributes which contain an action, an object and parameters. An Application Programming Interface (API) method enables remote processing. An IPA method, which is the reverse of the API method, creates the CIP object which is to be executed in a remote or batch system through the application programming interface. After a CIP object has been created, it must be flattened or formatted prior to submission to the batch system or prior to sending the CIP object to a remote system. Flattening or formatting puts the CIP object into a flat sequential file known as a product data interface (PDIF) file for use by either the remote or batch system. The PDIF file includes three major sections known as the administrative header section, the data dictionary section, and the object data section.

Object Oriented Programming Systems (OOPS) and processes have been the subject of much investigation and interest in state of the art data processing environments. Object oriented programming is a computer programming packaging technique which provides reusable and easily expandable programs. In contrast with other conventional programming techniques which are not easily adaptable to new functional requirements and to new types of data, object oriented programs are reusable and expandable as new requirements arise. With the ever increasing complexity of computer based systems, object oriented programming has received increased attention and investigation. A more detailed description of object oriented programming can be found in a number of references, including Object Oriented Systems Analysis by Sally Shlaer and Stephen J. Mellor (Yourdon Press Computing Series, 1988), Object Oriented Design with Applications by Grady Booch (The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, 1990), and, Object Oriented Software Construction by Bertrand Meyer (Prentice Hall, 1988).
In conventional programming techniques, emphasis is put on the methods to be conducted on particular data sets. However, in Object Oriented Programming Systems, emphasis is instead placed on real world objects which have attributes and actions to be performed on such attributes. An object is a data structure containing information about something of interest to particular systems and its users. For example, in a manufacturing system, an object of interest would be an "Engineering Change" (EC) object which contains information relating to an engineering change made to a part or process in the manufacturing system. This EC object could have information related to the owner of an EC, the number of the EC, or the date that the EC was created. Objects having similar characteristics and common behavior are known as instance objects of a class of objects. Therefore, instance objects contain information about things in the system while class objects contain information about instance objects.
In Object Oriented Programming Systems, messages are sent to objects. A message has three parts. The first part is an object while the second part is an action. The object of a particular message simply identifies that piece of data which comprises a specific object, that is, the instance. The action in the message then specifies what to do with that piece of data or instance. Finally, the third comprises optional parameters for use by the action.
Like conventional programming systems, several types of processing occurs in an Object Oriented Programming System. Examples of such types of processing include interactive, batch, and remote processing. Interactive processing occurs when users are working with an Object Oriented Programming System in real time using computer terminals. During interactive processing, the users submit interactive user commands to the Object Oriented Programming System for further processing. Conventionally, the Object Oriented Programming System processes the interactive user commands by issuing messages to objects. The messages then invoke methods, and the methods perform the functions specified by the interactive user commands.
Batch processing occurs when users submit batch user commands to an Object Oriented Programming System for processing at some later time. Conventionally, in an Object Oriented Programming System a batch user command is represented by one or more objects. These objects may be called queued message requests which are placed in a queue for later scheduling and processing by the Object Oriented Programming System.
Remote processing occurs when users submit remote user commands to the Object Oriented Programming System for processing in remote computing environments. In conventional Object Oriented Programming Systems, these remote user commands are also represented by queued message requests. These queued message requests are sent to the remote computing environment for further processing. This invention is primarily concerned with batch and remote processing in an Object Oriented Programming System, and consequently, operations in these environments will be emphasized throughout the remainder of this disclosure.
In an Object Oriented Programming System, work is accomplished by sending an action request to an object which contains or encapsulates some data. The object will then perform the requested action on the data according to its published specification. The requestor of such action need not know what the actual data looks like or how the object manipulates the data. This technique works quite well in a contained environment or within a given programming system. But in order to execute the action upon the specified object in a remote environment, such as another computing system, some means must be provided to encapsulate and transfer the information to the other system. The system receiving the information must then be able to interpret it, reconstruct the desired action along with its associated parameters, and cause the action to be performed on the appropriate object. A similar problem occurs in the batch processing environment because data is moving from one memory segment to another memory segment. Consequently, the data moving from one segment of memory to another and thus from one memory address space to another must somehow be encapsulated and transferred from the sending memory segment to the receiving memory segment. The receiving memory segment must then be able to interpret the information, reconstruct the desired action with its parameters, and cause the action to be performed on the appropriate object.

Remote and batch processing in an object oriented programming system

International Business Machines Corporation


To provide a flame-retardant polyamide resin composition generally excellent in flame resistance, mechanical characteristics and electrical characteristics, and suitable for electrics/electronics components and vehicles. Used is a flame-retardant polyamide resin composition comprising, a polyamide resin (A), a phosphorus-containing flame retarder (B), and glass fiber having a non-circular cross-section (C), wherein the contents in the composition are 15 to 78% by weight for the polyamide resin (A), 2 to 20% by weight for the phosphorus-containing flame retarder (B), and 20 to 65% by weight for the glass fiber having a non-circular cross-section (C).

Polyamide resins have conventionally been used in industrial fields of automotive components, mechanical components, electrics/electronics components, by virtue of their excellent mechanical strength and heat resistance. In particular for applications to electrics/electronics components, required level of flame resistance has been elevated, even escalated up to a level of flame resistance higher than the self-extinction performance inherent to the polyamide resins. For this reason, investigations have extensively been made on elevation of flame resistance level, and more specifically on materials satisfying the level V-0 specified by UL94 by Underwriters Laboratories. In particular, as for compositions mixed with a high concentration of glass fiber, there have been growing demands on development using a non-halogen-type flame retarder, following the trend of time. In these applications, also demands on the tracking resistance, represented by IEC Standards in Europe, have been becoming more and more stringent.
Patent Document 1 discloses a polyamide resin composition composed of melamine cyanurate and/or its derivative, and an inorganic filler, excellent in mechamical characteristics, thermal characteristics and flame resistance. The level of flame resistance is, however, V-2 specified by UL 94, while giving no disclosure on resin compositions having flame resistance of higher levels, more specifically, the level V-1 or higher.
Patent Document 2 is an invention which relates to a flame retarder combination containing a component, as a first component, which contains phosphinate salt represented by a specific structure and/or a diphosphinate salt represented by a specific structure and/or a polymer of these species; and a second component which contains a condensed product of melamine and/or a reaction product of melamine with phosphoric acid and/or a reaction product of a condensed product of melamine with phosphoric acid and/or a mixture of these species. The Patent Document 2 describes also a method of using the flame retarder combination for the purpose of turning thermoplastic resins into flame retardant resins. In Example, there is exemplified a polyamide resin composition satisfying flame resistance of the level V-0 specified by UL94 ( 1/16 inches thick), obtained by mixing a reinforced polyamide resin containing 30% of glass fiber, with a flame retarder combination composed of a phosphinate salt (first component) and melamine polyphosphate (second component).
The polyamide resin composition exemplified in Example is, however, discussed only for its data on flame resistance, while giving no description on any other characteristics including mechanical characteristics and electrical characteristics.
Patent Document 3 discloses a flame-retardant polyamide resin composition containing the flame retarder combination (containing 1 to 30% by weight of each of the first component and the second component) disclosed in Patent Document 2; and 5 to 40% by weight of an inorganic filler (glass fiber, wollastonite, talc, calcined kaolin, mica, etc.). In Examples, there is described that polyamide resin compositions containing 20% by weight and 30% by weight of glass fiber exhibit excellent flame resistance and tracking resistance. The resin composition may, however, be degraded in the mechanical strength by mixing of the flame retarder. No description is given on the sectional geometry of the glass fiber.
Patent Document 4 discloses a flame-retardant aromatic polyamide resin composition obtained by mixing (a) 100 parts by weight of aromatic polyamide resin, (b) 0.1 to 100 parts by weight of crosslinked phosphazene compound, (c) 1 to 60 parts by weight of inorganic fibrous material, and (d) 1 to 60 parts by weight of magnesium hydroxide. Claim 1 of Patent Document 4 specifies the amount of mixing of the (c) inorganic fibrous material as 1 to 60 parts by weight relative to 100 parts by weight of the (a) aromatic polyamide resin, but the amount of mixing of the (c) component described in Example is only as much as 7 parts by weight or around, showing no specific examples relevant to mixing at high concentrations.
There is no description also on exemplary cases of using a glass fiber as the (c) component. Example shows data on the flame resistance, but shows no data on the mechanical strength. The resin composition manufactured by adopting the technique disclosed in Patent Document 4 may sometimes be degraded in the mechanical strength, providing difficulty in reconciling flame resistance and mechanical strength even if the technique is adopted.
Patent Document 5 describes that, by using the glass fiber having a flattened cross-sectional geometry, instead of glass fiber which is a representative reinforcing fiber, the glass fiber is increased in the specific surface area from the cross-sectioned glass fiber having the circular, thereby the adhesive effect with a matrix resin composition increases, and describes also that the mechanical strength may be improved, by elongating the length of fiber in a molded article (average fiber length is 0.57 mm for a cocoon-like sectional geometry, in contrast to 0.47 mm for a circular sectional geometry). Patent Document 5, however, exemplifies only the cases applied to PBT resin, AS resin and ABS resin. These resin compositions might be effective in improvement in the tensile strength and surface smoothness, and in prevention of warping as compared with a circular cross-sectioned glass fiber, but the impact strength thereof is almost equivalent to the impact strength of a resin composition using a circular cross-sectioned glass fiber particularly when a polyamide resin is used as the thermoplastic resin, and the impact strength thereof is insufficient for practical molded articles use. There is no description on specific examples of mixing of a flame retarder, nor description on correlation of the cross-sectional geometry of glass fiber and the flame resistance.
Patent Document 6 discloses a flame-retardant polyester resin composition composed of (A) a crystalline thermoplastic polyester resin, (B) 1 to 60% by weight (in composition) of glass fiber having a flattened sectional geometry characterized by a ratio of the major axis of a section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (longest straight distance of the section) to the minor axis (longest straight distance in the direction perpendicular to the major axis) of 1.5 to 5, (C) 0.5 to 25% by weight (in composition) of a halogen-containing organic flame retarder, and (D) 0.1 to 20% by weight (in composition) of an inorganic flame retardant additive. The technique, however, adopts the (C) halogen-containing organic flame retarder, wherein addition of the flame retarder may be causative of degradation in the mechanical strength such as impact resistance, or production of a hydrogen halide gas in the process of combustion, raising problems of pollution of mold, and failure in obtaining a molded article of good appearance. Moreover, Patent Document 6 gives no description still also on correlation between the sectional geometry of glass fiber and flame resistance.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. S54-16565    Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-72978    Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-292755    Patent Document 4: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-131409    Patent Document 5: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. S62-268612    Patent Document 6: Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. H7-21105

Flame-retardant polyamide resin composition and molded article


A latch bolt includes an outer knob and an inner knob, a tube rotatably engaged in the inner knob, a button having one end engaged in the tube and having the other end extendible outward of the inner knob, and a barrel rotatably received in the tube. The latch bolt is locked when the button is depressed inward of the inner knob and is unlocked when the inner knob is rotated. The latch is also unlocked when a key is inserted into the outer knob and when the outer knob is rotated.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a locking mechanism, and more particularly to a locking mechanism of a latch bolt.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Typical latch bolts comprise an inner knob having a handle rotated in order to lock the latch bolt, and an outer knob into which a key is engaged in order to lock the latch bolt, such types of latch bolts include a rather complicated configuration.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional latch bolts.


The present invention relates to a process for forming vinyl acetate. The process comprises the step of providing a reaction mixture having an initial heat capacity. The reaction mixture comprises acetic acid, oxygen, ethylene, and optionally water. The process further comprises the step of adding to the reaction mixture at least one heat capacity modifier to form an increased heat capacity reaction mixture. The process further comprises the step of contacting the acetic acid, oxygen, and ethylene over a catalyst under conditions effective to form a crude vinyl acetate product. The crude vinyl acetate product comprises vinyl acetate and water.

Vinyl acetate is conventionally produced via a vapor phase reaction of ethylene, oxygen and acetic acid, e.g., the acetoxylation of ethylene. The reaction is typically conducted in a fixed bed catalyst reactor. The catalyst may comprise palladium or a palladium/gold mixture, which is supported on a silica or alumina base. In addition to the formation of vinyl acetate, the undesired combustion of ethylene to form carbon dioxide and water also takes place. Other undesired impurities that may be formed include acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, methyl acetate, acetone, ethylene glycol diacetate, acrolein and crotonaldehyde.
The selectivity and conversion relating to the reaction are functions of several variables including reactor temperature, component concentration, and the condition of the catalyst. Deactivation of the catalyst, which routinely occurs over time due to buildup of tars and polymeric materials on the catalyst surface and/or to structural changes of the catalyst metals, can adversely affect the reaction process, particularly with regard to selectivity. These changes in reactor performance can ultimately lead to compositional changes in the liquid stream entering the purification section of a vinyl acetate plant.
The reaction yields a crude vinyl acetate product comprising vinyl acetate, water, and carbon dioxide as well as unreacted ethylene and acetic acid, which are used in excess. The ethylene and acetic acid are recycled back to the reactor from the reaction and purification sections of the unit. Product vinyl acetate is recovered and purified in the purification section and sent to storage tanks. Wastewater is sent to a treatment facility and carbon dioxide is vented to a pollution control device. Inert gases such as nitrogen and argon may accumulate over time and may then be purged from the reaction section to minimize buildup.
Generally speaking, the rate of acetoxylation increases as the concentration of oxygen in the reactor is increased. However, the amount of oxygen that may be introduced into the reactor is limited by a flammability limit of the reaction mixture. The flammability limit is typically defined as the lowest concentration of oxygen in a mixture that will result in a pressure rise when it contacts an ignition source. If the oxygen concentration exceeds this flammability limit, a fire or explosion could result.
Various steps have been taken to minimize the risk of such a fire or explosion. For example, in the fixed-bed reactor of EP 0 845 453, the concentration of oxygen in the inlet gas composition is closely monitored and maintained at or near a threshold value. The mathematical approximations used to define this threshold value are described in EP 0 845 453 which is incorporated herein by reference. When the inlet oxygen concentration exceeds this threshold value, a shut-down signal is activated, and the reaction is quenched by shutting off the ingress of fresh oxygen into the reactor.
The conventional calculation of flammability limits and/or the establishment of non-flammability ranges, however, may be inherently inaccurate. The conventional experimental techniques and methods that are used to develop mathematical correlations generally calculate flammability limits that are low. These correlations provide a buffer from the true flammability limit. Although safety is achieved, reaction efficiencies suffer due to operation at lower oxygen concentrations.
Even in view of the conventional processes, the need exists for a vinyl acetate production process that calculates more accurate flammability limit correlations, which provide for safe control of the process and improved operational efficiencies.
The references mentioned herein are hereby incorporated by reference.


The apparatus includes a hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20 receiving an output of an engine 1, a planetary transmission section 3a having a plurality of planetary transmission mechanisms PF, PR and a plurality of output members 41, 42, the planetary transmission section being configured to combine a drive force outputted from the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20 and an engine drive force that has not been subjected to any speed change action by the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20, and a speed change output section 3b having an output shaft 70, the speed change output section being configured to output combined drives force outputted from the plurality of output members 41, 42 in a plurality of different speed ranges from the output shaft 70. The speed change output section 3b includes a plurality of transmission mechanisms 71-74 disposed between the plurality of output members 41, 42 and the output shaft 70, and clutches CL1-CL4 provided in correspondence with the respective plurality of transmission mechanisms.

The present invention relates to a speed change transmission apparatus including a hydrostatic stepless speed change section receiving an output of an engine, a planetary transmission section having a plurality of planetary transmission mechanisms and a plurality of output members, the planetary transmission section being configured to combine/synthesize a drive force outputted from the hydrostatic stepless speed change section and an engine drive force that has not been subjected to any speed change action by the hydrostatic stepless speed change section, and a speed change output section having an output shaft, the speed change output section being configured to output combined drives force outputted from the plurality of output members in a plurality of different speed ranges from the output shaft.
Next, in order to explain the advantage of the present invention, the construction of the invention filed for a patent application as Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-286073 and assigned to this applicant will be explained in comparison with the present invention. It should be noted; however, that the following discussion is not to be taken as this applicant's acknowledgement of the compared construction as prior art.
FIG. 24 is a diagram of a speed change transmission apparatus for comparison. As shown in this figure, the speed change transmission apparatus includes a hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20, a planetary transmission section 3a and a speed change output section 3b. The planetary transmission section 3a includes a first planetary transmission mechanism P1, a second planetary transmission mechanism P2 and a third planetary transmission mechanism P3. The first planetary transmission mechanism P1 includes a ring gear which receives an engine drive force not subjected to any speed change action by the hydraulic stepless speed change section 20 and a sun gear which receives the output from the hydraulic stepless speed change section 20. The second planetary transmission mechanism P2 includes a carrier operatively coupled to the ring gear of the first planetary transmission mechanism P1 and a ring gear operatively coupled to a carrier of the first planetary transmission mechanism P1. The third planetary transmission mechanism P3 includes a sun gear operatively coupled to a sun gear of the second planetary transmission mechanism P2 and a carrier operatively coupled to a ring gear of the second planetary transmission mechanism P2.
The speed change output section 3b includes a clutch section C which receives the output of the planetary transmission section 3a and an auxiliary speed change section 100 which receives the output of this clutch section C. The clutch section C includes a first clutch C1 and a second clutch C2 which have input portions thereof coupled respectively to a pair of output portions of the planetary transmission section 3a. The auxiliary speed change section 100 includes a low speed clutch CL and a high speed clutch CH disposed between an input shaft and an output shaft of this auxiliary speed change section 100.
FIG. 25 is an explanatory figure illustrating relationship among speed change conditions of the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20, speed ranges and output speeds of the auxiliary speed change section 100 ("auxiliary speed change outputs" hereinafter) of the speed change transmission apparatus 3. The sign "−MAX" shown in FIG. 25 denotes the maximum speed change condition under a reverse rotation transmission condition of the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20. The sign "N" denotes the neutral condition of the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20. The sign "+MAX" denotes the maximum speed change condition under a forward rotation transmission condition of the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20. FIG. 26 is an explanatory figure illustrating relationship between speed rages and operational conditions of the clutches of the speed change transmission apparatus 3. The sign "ENGAGED" shown in FIG. 26 represents engaged conditions of the respective clutches C1, C2, CL, CH. The sign "−" represents disengaged conditions of the respective clutches C1, C2, CL, CH.
When the first clutch C1 and the low speed clutch CL are operated to the engaged conditions and the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20 is speed changed from "−MAX" toward "+MAX", the speed change transmission apparatus 3 is speed changed to the first speed range and the rotational speed of the auxiliary speed change output is increased steplessly from "0". When the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20 reaches the speed condition "+MAX", the rotational speed of the auxiliary speed change output becomes "B11". In association with this, as the second clutch C2 and the low speed clutch CL are operated into the engaged conditions and the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20 is decelerated from "+MAX", the speed change transmission apparatus 3 is speed changed into the second speed range and the rotational speed of the auxiliary speed change output is steplessly increased from "B11". When the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20 is operated to a speed change condition 'A' which is between "+MAX" and "N", the rotational speed of the auxiliary speed change output becomes "B12". In association with this, as the first clutch C1 and the high speed clutch CH are operated into the engaged conditions and the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20 is accelerated from "A", the speed change transmission apparatus 3 is speed changed into the third speed range and the rotational speed of the auxiliary speed change output is steplessly increased from "B12". When the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20 reaches the speed condition "+MAX", the rotational speed of the auxiliary speed change output becomes "B13". In association with this, as the second clutch C2 and the high speed clutch CH are operated into the engaged conditions and the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20 is speed changed toward "−MAX", the speed change transmission apparatus 3 is speed changed into the fourth speed range and the rotational speed of the auxiliary speed change output is steplessly increased from "B13". When the hydrostatic stepless speed change section 20 reaches the speed change condition "−MAX", the rotational speed of the auxiliary speed change output becomes the maximum speed "B14".
In the case of the speed change transmission apparatus described above, in the course of a speed change from one speed range to another speed range (this will be referred to as "range skipping speed change" hereinafter), especially in the course of switchover of the speed range between the second speed range and the third speed range, there sometimes occurs a momentary power transmission interruption or any other unstable speed change.
More particularly, the range skipping speed change where the speed range is switched over between the second speed range and the third speed range, is effected by switching over all clutches from one of the engaged and disengaged conditions to the other. Further, when there occurs a change in the drive load applied to the speed change transmission apparatus, thus leading to a change in the load applied to the clutch, even if a designed switchover operational force is applied to the clutch, there tends to occur a situation in which the clutch is switched over at a timing different from the designed timing. Further, the greater the number of clutches to be switched over, the greater the number of clutches which are switched over at different timings from the designed timings and the greater the difference in the switchover timings among the clutches. For this reason, in the course of the range skipping speed change where the speed range is switched over between the second speed range and the third speed range, during the period from the completion of switchover of the respective clutches into predetermined operational conditions and the switchover of the speed change output section to the operational condition for realizing the second speed range or the third speed range, a certain clutch may be kept under the disengaged condition for an extended period of time or kept under a slipping condition. Or, an unstable speed change operation may occur in which even after some clutches are operated into predetermined operational conditions, the other clutches have not yet been switched over to predetermined operational conditions, so that the speed change output section is operated into an operational condition for realizing the first speed range or the fourth speed range before being switched over to the operational condition for realizing the second speed range or the third speed range.