Disclosed are photo or electron beam curable polymerizable compositions, and preparation thereof and devices containing such cured material. The composition contains completely or substantially completely hydrogenated hydrocarbon-based material completely free or substantially free of carbon-carbon double and triple bonds containing photo or electron beam curable terminal or pendant groups, low-outgassing photoinitiators, an optional viscosity adjustment component and an optional filler. The composition is visible light, UV or electron beam curable. It cures into a low-modulus, low outgassing polymer material. The composition can be used as an adhesive, sealant or lens potting material. It is ideal for use in lithographic tools and other optical devices involving deep or vacuum ultraviolet radiations, in particular, as lens potting materials for 248 nm, 193 nm and 157 nm lithographic tools, as well as other optical devices involving using high fluence irradiation.

There are a number of applications where it is necessary to bond materials together using adhesives and it is undesirable for the adhesive to give off any volatile organic materials after cure. The process of evolving volatile organic materials after cure is often called outgassing or offgassing. Examples of such applications are in the area of food packaging where the outgassed compounds can impart an off-taste to the packaged food material. In the area of optics and photonics, outgassed compounds can condense on optical surfaces and negatively affect the transmission of light.
For many adhesive or lens potting applications, it is necessary to bond together materials (substrates) of different coefficients of thermal expansion. In these applications, the adhesive or potting material must allow for the expansion and contraction of the two different substrates as the temperature changes yet still maintain the adhesion of the two substrates together. This requires the use of a soft, low modulus, low Tg rubbery type material. The ability to formulate materials that cure to soft, compliant, rubber-like solids and yet still have low outgassing after cure is very difficult. This is especially true if the cured material also has to have excellent thermal, oxidative and hydrolytic stability.
Many room temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone materials cure to soft, compliant rubber-like solids that have good thermal, oxidative and hydrolytic stability but they still evolve an unacceptable amount of volatiles after cure. The outgassed products of the RTV silicones are usually low molecular weight, sometimes cyclic, siloxanes. These materials are particularly problematic because if they condense on surfaces, they are difficult to remove due to their very low surface tension. Contamination of optical surfaces by those products is especially a concern when RTV silicones are used as adhesive or lens-potting material in optical devices where high irradiation fluence and/or short wavelength irradiation is used. Such surface contamination is highly undesirable and should be avoided in precision optical systems, such as inspection systems used in the semiconductor industry, for example, a lithographic inspection system.
Other materials often considered are polysulfides, polyurethanes, and hydrocarbon rubbers like polybutadiene, polyisoprene, etc. These products do not possess sufficient thermal, oxidative and hydrolytic stability for applications where the rubbery material must remain rubbery throughout its entire lifetime which may be as long as 30 years. Such applications are in the optics and photonics area where in order to simulate 30 year lifetime, materials are subjected to various accelerated aging tests like exposure to conditions of 85° C. and 85% RH for a minimum of 500 hours and up to as long as 2000 hours.
It is also advantageous for the material to be curable with actinic radiation such as UV or visible light or an electron beam. This enables the material to be applied as a liquid, then optical alignments, or other positional adjustments can be made. When the adherends are in their optimized position, the actinic radiation can be turned on which cures the materials quickly (within seconds or minutes) and with minimal amount of heat. This process retains the delicate alignment of the adherends.
Engineering solutions have been proposed to eliminate or mitigate the outgassed products from adhesives. These involve novel joint designs that allow for elimination of the outgassed materials from the adhesive into non-sensitive areas (JP 2001155855 and JP 2002106719). In another case, the surface of the adhesive material is coated with an impervious inorganic layer that seals in possible outgassed products (US2001028062). Other methods involve heat and/or vacuum treatments of the cured adhesive to remove possible outgassed products prior to final assembly of the device. All of these methods require extra steps that are unnecessary if a true low outgassing adhesive, sealant, or potting compound were available.
JP 2002146230 by H. Kawakami et al. describes an adhesive composition that is for semiconductor-mounted circuit boards and devices therewith. This composition gives a B-stage adhesive film containing less volatile components. However, the composition is not UV curable, contains MEK solvent, and is based on bisphenol A epoxy and phenolic resins which require heat to cure and cure to hard, non-flexible, thermoset polymers.
E. A. Boulter et al. claims zero volatile release from their high service temperature polyether amide thermoset resins. These materials are not UV curable and require a cure schedule of 1 hour at 177° C. followed by a postcure at 225° C. The final cured properties resemble that of cured bisphenol A type epoxies. See E. A. Boulter, M. Cohen, M. L. Deviney, Proceedings of the Electrical/Electronics Insulation Conference (1997), 23rd, 249-53.
JP 2001164737 by I. Tanaka et al. describes using low out-gas adhesives to make floor sheets useful for clean rooms. The adhesives are of the two component epoxy resin-polyamideamine class. Such materials require the mixing of the two parts (an extra manufacturing step), are not photocurable, and cure to form polymers that are not low Tg rubbers.
JP 2001057065 by K. Fukuda et al. describes sealant compositions for computer hard disc drives that claim no gas volatilization, good sealability and adhesive strength. EP302620 by G. M. Vanhaeren describes a crosslinkable hot-melt adhesive containing a polyol and a blocked isocyanate that provides a flexible heat-resistant bond without forming volatiles. However, both of the above materials must be applied as hot melts and the high temperatures involved would negatively affect the delicate alignment required for many optical devices.
R. C. Benson et al. and C. T. Mooney et al. investigated the measurement of volatile organic species that evolve during cure and after post-cure processing of epoxy or polyimide based die attach adhesives. Similar studies were performed by R. C. Benson et al. on adhesives for microelectronics. These formulations are not photocurable and also do not cure to the soft rubbery type polymers required for the application. See R. C. Benson, T. E. Phillips, N. DeHaas, Proc.-Electron. Compon, Conf. (1989), 39th, 301-08. See also R. C. Benson, T. E. Phillips, N. DeHaas, M. Bonneau, Int. SAMPE Electron, Conf. (1990), 4 (Electorn). Mater.-Our Future), 267-81. See also C. T. Mooney, J. C. Bolger, Natl. SAMPE Symp. Exhib., [Proc.], (1984), 29th (Technol. Vectors), 639-50.
R. Leoni describes adhesives that have very low emissions of volatile organic compounds. Such adhesives are high tack, contact adhesives intended for floor coverings, tiles, carpets, vinyl sheeting, etc. These materials are not photocurable and are not suitable for this application due to their permanent tackiness. See R. Leoni; FATlPEC Congress (2000), 25th (Vol. 1), 253-265.
J. Kuczynski studied the possibility of eliminating the outgassing from UV curable adhesives. Such outgassed products were shown to corrode thin film magnetic discs. The volatility of the corrosive species was dependent on the adhesive's glass transition temperature which varied linearly with flexibilizer concentration. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that outgassing was reduced an order of magnitude in adhesives containing reduced concentrations of polycaprolactone based flexibilizer. See J. Kuczynski, J. of Adhesion (1996), 56 (1-4), 107-119. For the current application, it is desirable to simultaneously have a low Tg and low outgassing. Also, polycaprolactone type materials are undesirable due to their inherent hydrolytic instability.
Finally, JP 2001163931 by Y. Arai and T. Nemoto describes photocurable sealing compositions generating a reduced amount of volatile gas for electronic devices. Such compositions are based on a high MW (˜50,000) urethane (meth)acrylate synthesized from a polypropylene glycol extended bisphenol A diol, tetrahydrofurfuryl acrylate, and phenoxy ethyl acrylate. Such compositions would not have the outstanding thermal and oxidative stability or the higher, inherent hydrophobicity of the present invention.
There remains a genuine need of an adhesive material that is photo or electron beam curable, and that upon being cured forms a material with low outgassing rate, low modulus and low Tg that is suitable for use in, inter alia, the optics area. There also remains a genuine need of devices, especially optical devices, comprising such cured adhesive material.

Device comprising low outgassing photo or electron beam cured rubbery polymer material


A data mining system directed to industrial applications gathers data remotely from a plurality of industrial plants or sites and makes the gathered data available over a network to a user running a data mining application or on-line analytical process means to generate and, if desired, visualize results. Access to a service of this nature may be made available in connection with an on-line service, such as a website, that also provides access to industrial products and services. Subscribers to the on-line service, who may be charged a fee to subscribe, may be given an incentive to continue their subscription in the form of an offer of free or reduced-cost access to the above-described data mining system during their on-line service sessions.

Data mining explores detailed business transactions to uncover patterns and relationships contained within a particular business activity and history. Data mining can be done manually by "slicing and dicing" the data until a pattern becomes obvious. A term of art in the field, "slicing and dicing" refers to the ability to move between different dimensions of warehoused data. It can be performed with programs that analyze the data automatically. Using computer technology to look for hidden patterns in a collection of data, data mining for marketing research, for example, might reveal that customers interested in one product will also be interested in another. In other areas, data mining can be useful in scientific research, economics, criminology, and many other fields. In general, there exists specialized database software for data mining.
A data warehouse is a database designed to support decision making in an organization. It is batch updated and can contain enormous amounts of data. Hence, the moniker "warehouse". For example, large retail organizations can have 100 GB or more of transaction history. When the database is organized for one department or function, it is often called a "data mart" rather than a data warehouse.
The data in a data warehouse is typically historical and static and may also contain numerous summaries. It is structured to support a variety of analyses, including elaborate queries on large amounts of data that can require extensive searching. When databases are set up for queries on daily transactions, they are often known as operational data stores (ODSs) rather than data warehouses.
At present, there exist no data mining services relating to industrial applications that provide data mining and data mart services as described above. Until now, data services for industrial applications have been offered by consultants who manually compile and audit data on a case-by-case basis. Such manual compilation may be inadequate to provide a complete or accurate analysis of the industry being researched. Manual accounting methods, moreover, cannot provide a continuous or virtually continuous update of the industry and are subject to human error.

Data mining system, method and apparatus for industrial applications


A tunable ferrimagnetic resonator circuit includes a fixed magnetic polepiece, a rotatable magnetic polepiece spaced from the fixed polepiece, an electromagnet for varying a magnetic field between the fixed and rotatable polepieces and a plurality of ferrimagnetic resonators connected in series and located in the magnetic field between the fixed and rotatable polepieces. The ferrimagnetic resonators include an initial resonator having an input port, a final resonator having an output port and one or more intermediate resonators. The rotatable polepiece preferably has a poleface having a first surface region that causes a constant magnetic field to be applied to the intermediate resonators as the polepiece is rotated, and second and third surface regions that cause variable magnetic fields to be applied to the initial and final resonators, respectively, as the polepiece is rotated. The polepiece is rotated to a position where each of the resonators is tuned to substantially the same resonance frequency.

A spectrum analyzer is a scanning receiver that displays power and modulation characteristics of input signals over a specific frequency band. The spectrum analyzer may cover an extremely broad frequency range, for example, 0 to 27 GHz. In the high frequency portion of the range from 2-27 GHz, a superheterodyne receiver is commonly used with a tunable bandpass filter for rejecting images and multiple responses. The bandpass filter is typically a YIG-tuned resonator filter.
YIG-tuned resonator filters comprise a yttrium iron garnet (YIG) sphere suspended between two orthogonal half loop conductors. The YIG material exhibits ferrimagnetic resonance. In the presence of an external DC magnetic field, the dipoles in the YIG sphere align with the magnetic field, producing a strong magnetization.
An RF signal applied to the input half loop conductor produces an alternating magnetic field perpendicular to the DC magnetic field. In the absence of the YIG sphere, the magnetic field is not coupled to the orthogonal output half loop conductor. The dipoles in the YIG sphere precess around the applied DC magnetic field at the frequency of the RF signal when the RF frequency is close to the resonance frequency of the dipoles. The resonance frequency for a spherical YIG resonator is: EQU f.sub.p =.gamma.(H.sub.O .+-.H.sub.a)
where H.sub.O is the strength of the applied DC field in oersteds, H.sub.a is the internal anisotropy field within the YIG material and .gamma. is the gyromagnetic ratio (2.8 MHz/oersted).
When an RF signal at or near resonance frequency f.sub.p is applied to the input half loop, the RF signal causes the dipoles in the YIG resonator to precess at the frequency of the RF signal. The precessing dipoles create a circularly polarized magnetic field rotating at the RF frequency in a plane perpendicular to the externally applied DC magnetic field. This rotating field is coupled to the output half loop conductor, inducing an RF signal in the output loop that, at the resonance frequency, is phase shifted 90.degree. from the input RF signal. Because the resonance bandwidth can be made fairly narrow, the YIG resonator makes an excellent filter at RF frequencies. The filter is tunable by varying the strength of the applied DC magnetic field.
YIG-tuned resonator filters typically include three or more YIG-tuned resonators connected in series to obtain a highly selective filter response. Each resonator includes a YIG sphere with input and output half loops. Additional functions may be incorporated into the resonator circuit. For example, a switch associated with the input resonator may be used to switch a low frequency input signal to a low frequency signal processing section of the spectrum analyzer. A harmonic mixer may be used to downconvert the input RF signal to an IF frequency. A tracking YIG-tuned filter-mixer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,200 issued Mar. 28, 1989 to Tanbakuchi.
In order to obtain optimum performance from the YIG-tuned resonator filter, each resonator should be tuned to the same or nearly the same frequency, and the resonance frequencies should track over the frequency range of interest. Any departure from this requirement produces ripple within the passband of the filter and a generally degraded frequency response. In practice, it has been found that the intermediate resonators of a YIG-tuned filter do not track the input and output resonators, when a uniform magnetic field is applied to all the resonators. Specifically, the intermediate resonators are pulled down in frequency relative to the input and output resonators as the filter is tuned from the lower end of its frequency range toward the upper end.
The pulling of the intermediate resonators relative to the input and output resonators is caused by the double coupling loops used in the intermediate stages. The input RF signal is coupled to the input resonator using a single half loop. Similarly, the output RF signal is coupled from the output resonator using a single half loop. However, the RF signal is coupled to the intermediate resonators using double half loops, which have higher inductance than the single half loops. The higher inductance of the double half loops produces the frequency pulling of the intermediate resonators described above.
In order to insure that the resonators of a YIG-tuned resonant circuit track as a function of frequency, the intermediate resonator or resonators are tuned up in frequency, or the input and output resonators are tuned down in frequency, as the operating frequency increases. One prior art approach is to arrange the resonators in a circle between two magnetic polepieces and to use magnetic polepieces each having a tapered face. Since the magnetic field within the gap varies inversely with the distance between the polepieces, the magnetic field in the gap varies across the faces of the tapered polepieces. By rotating the polepiece, the middle resonator can be tuned with respect to the input and output resonators. In this prior art technique, the entire face of the magnetic polepiece is uniformly tapered. While this approach provides satisfactory performance for a filter having three resonators, its effectiveness decreases for filters with more than three resonators.
A second prior art approach is to use screws embedded in the magnetic polepiece underlying or overlying the input and output resonators. The screws are made of the same magnetic material as the polepiece. By adjusting the screws, the magnetic field applied to the input and output resonators can be varied. The disadvantages of this approach are that the cost of custom magnetic screws is high, the screws usually freeze inside the magnetic polepiece, the screw adjustment, typically on the order of 0.0003 inch, is very hard to control, and the screw can potentially contact and damage the resonator.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide improved YIG-tuned resonator circuits.
It is another object of the present invention to provide YIG-tuned resonator circuits wherein the resonators track over a frequency range of interest.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a technique for adjusting tracking of YIG-tuned resonator circuits having four or more resonators.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide YIG-tuned resonator circuits which are low in cost and in which tracking is easily adjusted.

YIG-tuned circuit with rotatable magnetic polepiece


An improved DC to DC converter is provided in particular for converters with high power density requirements. The converter comprises an input voltage source and a capacitor connected in series to the voltage source. A switching transistor configuration connects the voltage source and the capacitor alternatively to the primary windings of a transformer. The secondary windings of the transformer are connected to a full-wave rectifier and a filter. The output voltage provided at the output of the filter is modulated by a controlling means.

1. Field of Invention
This invention applies to the field of DC to DC power conversion and in particular to converters required to provide high power density.
2. Prior Art
A vast variety of topologies have been invented over the years with the purpose of improving power density of power converters. Some of these topologies provide means to reduce or to eliminate switching losses in order to allow increased frequency of operation, increased efficiency, reduced size and weight. Typical of this approach is the technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,959, issued to P. Vinciarelli, for "Forward Converter Switching at Zero Current" which reduces the size of the energy storage components.
Another approach is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,919, issued to Hubert C. Martin, Jr., for "Topology for Miniature Power Supply with Low Voltage and Low Ripple Requirements". This patent combines two single ended (flyback) converters to increase effective ripple frequency and reduce the size of energy storage components.
Another approach is to maximize the energy of switching devices and the transformer in order to improve the power transfer characteristics of the converter as indicated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,146 issued to P. Vinciarelli for "Optimal resetting of the transformer's core in single ended forward converters" and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,148 issued to Barn for "Full-fluxed, single ended DC converter".
Finally, in an article published in the PCIM magazine, January 1991, p. 8, "New PWM Topology features zero- voltage switching and constant switching frequency", and also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,764, John A. Bassett proposes a topology that offers both the improved utilization of components and lossless switching, thereby allowing efficient operation at high frequency. While each of the above disclosures addresses some facets of the power conversion issue, none provides an approach achieving all of the advantages discussed above.

Pulse width modulated DC/DC converter with reduced ripple current coponent stress and zero voltage switching capability


A power tool has a housing having a drive portion for turning a fastener to tighten or loosen the fastener, the drive portion having two opposite sides spaced from one another in one direction and two connecting elements spaced from one another in another direction which is transverse to the one direction, the connecting elements including a first connecting element to connect with a fastener to be turned and a second connecting element to connect with an adjacent fastener so as to stop the power tool from turning around the fastener to be turned. The connecting elements being movable in the one directions to a first position wherein both elements are on one side of the drive portion and to a second position wherein both elements are on the opposite side of the drive portion and being fixedly secured in the two positions.

The present invention relates generally to power tools.
More particularly, it relates to power tools for tightening and loosening of fasteners, in which one part of the tool turns a fastener for tightening or loosening the same, while the other part of the tool reacts on an adjacent object, for example an adjacent nut and the like to stop the tool from turning around the fastener to be turned.
The power tools of the above mentioned general type are known in the art. One of such power tools is disclosed for example in our U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,874.
In practical use there are situations when several sets of fasteners are utilized, for example on a helicopter, in which several sets of bolts and nuts equally spaced from one another are used. The nuts are made to provide a high turning friction to assure that they do not come loose due to vibration. Therefore, turning the nuts by a power tool usually makes the bolt turn along. This is why a counter tool is required on the other side to stop the bolt from turning and to allow the fastener to tighten up.
It is believed that the existing power tools can be further improved.


An electro-mechanical actuator (21) includes a reverse transfer system ball-screw (20). The actuator broadly includes a frame (22), a nut (43) mounted on the frame, at least one magnet (59) mounted on the nut, at least one coil (55) mounted on the frame, the coil being adapted to be selectively supplied with current to cause the nut to rotate within the frame, a rotary feedback device (80), and a screw (44) arranged within the nut for rotational and axial movement relative thereto. The screw and nut both have cooperative ball recesses (72, 74) that define a ball path in which a plurality of balls (73) are mounted. The ball recirculation path is provided in the screw. A rod (23) is connected to the screw for movement therewith. Relative rotation between the nut and screw will cause the screw and rod to move axially relative to the frame.

Ball-screw assemblies are well-known, and are widely used in linear motion translation applications. Heretofore, ball recirculation paths have been built into the nut. This requires the screw to have a fully-threaded length to meet the linear translation stroke requirements. As a result of this, exposure of the threaded portion to the load will contribute to the screw becoming contaminated or damaged in a harsh working environment. This will eventually reduce service capacity and service life.
Alternatively, additional arrangements, such as an extra rod tube or a flexible cover attachment, have been used to protect the thread portion from such contamination.
The most common electrically-powered linear devices include an electric motor packaged with a linear motion device, such as a lead screw, ball-screw or planetary roller screws.
Examples of prior art actuators of this general type are representatively shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,660,704, 5,041,748, 5,391,953, 5,491,372 and 5,557,154.
Accordingly, it would be generally desirable to provide an improved reverse transfer system ball-screw arrangement in which the screw threads are protected from unnecessary exposure to a harsh environment.

Reverse transfer system ball-screw, and electro-mechanical actuator employing same


A piston ring is assembled into a groove of a piston by pushing the piston ring out of a front end of a guide member. The piston ring is mounted on an outside of the guide member which has a diameter larger than an outside diameter of the piston. The pushing is carried out while maintaining a clearance which allows for the piston ring to undulate. This clearance is formed between a front end of the guide member and a plane including a groove surface which lies away from the front end of the guide member. The apparatus for assembling a set oil ring into a piston ring groove of a piston has a guide member which is larger in diameter than an outside diameter of the piston, pushing device for pushing, in sequence out of a front end of the guide member, a spacer ring and a pair of side rail rings, a restricting member which is movable back and forth in a radial direction of the guide member and which can be placed with a clearance to be formed to open into that groove portion which is formed between that groove surface of the piston ring groove which is closer to the guide member and the spacer ring assembled into the piston ring groove.

The present invention relates to such a method of assembling a piston ring as is applied to the assembling of a thin piston ring, and to a method of assembling a set oil ring comprising a spacer ring and a pair of side rail rings into a piston ring groove of a piston, as well as to an apparatus for assembling a set oil ring.
Conventionally, in assembling the set oil ring, the spacer ring is first assembled into the piston ring groove and then each side rail ring is assembled into each groove portion to be formed between the spacer ring and the upper groove surface and the lower groove surface, respectively, of the piston ring groove.
The assembling of this kind of spacer ring and the side rail rings is conventionally carried out, as disclosed in Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. 2020/1983 and Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. 19376/1986, Japanese Published Examined Utility Model Registration Application No. 16020/1986, and others, by positioning or aligning, relative to the piston, a guide member having a larger diameter than the outside diameter of the piston, and then pushing the rings mounted on the external periphery of the guide member out of the front end thereof. As the guide member, there are provided three kinds for the spacer ring, the upper-side side rail ring and the lower-side side rail ring. A corresponding guide member is thus used in each of the different assembling stations to independently assemble the spacer ring and the upper-side side rail ring and the lower-side side rail ring.
For example, in assembling the lower-side side rail ring into the groove portion between the spacer ring and the lower-side groove surface, there will be used a guide member whose lower end coincides with the upper surface level of the groove portion. There will then be disposed, under the guide member, a restricting member which faces the guide member with a clearance which is slightly larger than the thickness of the side rail ring. The side rail ring which is mounted on a periphery or external surface of the guide member is pushed out of the lower end of the guide member to thereby assemble the side rail ring into the groove portion through the clearance between the guide member and the restricting member.
Such a thin ring as the side rail ring has a smaller rigidity in the direction of its thickness and, therefore, it is likely to be bent to form undulations in the direction of its thickness when it is expanded in diameter by inserting it into the external surface of the guide member. As a solution, in the above-described prior art, a restricting member is oppositely disposed under the guide member, and the clearance between the two members is set to a size which is equal to the thickness of the side rail ring added by a small clearance to allow for the side rail ring to pass therethrough. It is thus so arranged that the undulations of the side rail ring are corrected while it passes through this clearance.
In this method, however, it is necessary to strictly control the amount of the clearance between the guide member and the restricting member in accordance with the thickness of the side rail ring, as well as to strictly control the relationship of the clearance to the piston so that the clearance is in right opposite the ring assembling position of the piston. As a result, due to high requirements of accuracy of positioning the guide member relative to the piston, the equipment becomes complicated and expensive.

Method of assembling piston ring and method of assembling set oil ring and apparatus for assembling set oil ring


A method of deploying a flexible cable in a wellbore includes carrying, by a tubular assembly, a cable spool cartridge into the wellbore. The cable spool cartridge is attached to an exterior of the tubular assembly and contains the flexible cable. A first end of the flexible cable is attached to a buoyancy device, and the buoyancy device is releasably attached to the cable spool cartridge. A fluid is flowed by the tubular assembly in a downhole direction through an interior of the tubular assembly and in an uphole direction within an annulus at least partially defined by the exterior of the tubular assembly. The fluid has a greater density than the buoyancy device. The buoyancy device is released by the cable spool cartridge, and the buoyancy device is configured to travel after release in the uphole direction with the fluid and thereby pull the flexible cable from the cable spool cartridge and into the annulus.

In hydrocarbon production, a wellbore is drilled into a hydrocarbon-rich geological formation. After the wellbore is partially or completely drilled, a completion system is installed to secure the wellbore in preparation for production or injection. The completion system can include a series of casings or liners cemented in the wellbore to help control the well and maintain well integrity.
Flexible cables such as fiber optic cables or electric cables are used for various downhole sensing, power, and/or data transmission purposes.


A polarized glasses type stereoscopic image display device and a fabricating method thereof according to the present disclosure is characterized in that in a polarized glasses type stereoscopic image display device in which an image panel is implemented as a color filter on TFT (COT) type liquid crystal display (LCD) device, an internal reflection due to light shielding patterns with high reflectivity can be reduced by opening light shielding patterns formed on a black stripe region to the full and simultaneously forming a light shielding layer in such a manner of additionally depositing color pigments on the open light shielding patterns.

1. Field of the Disclosure
This specification relates to a polarized glasses type stereoscopic image display device and a method of fabricating the same, and particularly, to a polarized glasses type image display device, capable of viewing a stereoscopic image using polarized glasses, and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Background of the Disclosure
Briefly, a three-dimensional (3D) display may be referred to as "a system of artificially reproducing a 3D screen."
Here, the system includes both a software technology by which images are displayed in a 3D form and hardware which actually realizes contents created by the software technology into the 3D form. The reason for including the software technology is that 3D display hardware require that content be generated using different software technology for each method of creating stereoscopic images (stereoscopic image creating method).
Also, a virtual 3D display is a general type of system, which provides a virtual stereoscopic feeling from flat display hardware using a binocular disparity, which is caused as eyes are apart from each other by about 65 mm in a horizontal direction, as one of factors that a user feels a sense of three-dimension. In other words, two eyes see slightly different images (namely, slightly sharing left and right special information with each other) due to the binocular disparity, even if the eyes view the same thing. When the two images are transferred to the brain through the retina, the brain may accurately unify the two images such that the user can feel the sense of three-dimension. This mechanism is employed in a 2D display device in such a manner of simultaneously displaying two left and right images and delivering the two images to the respective eyes so as to create a virtual stereoscopic feeling, which is the virtual 3D display.
In order to show images of two channels on one screen in the virtual 3D display hardware device, for example, channels are output one by one on one screen in such a manner of switching lines one by one in a right or left direction. For an auto-stereoscopic display device, in view of a hardware configuration, when the images of two channels are simultaneously output on one display device, a right image may be delivered directly to a right eye and a left image may be delivered only to a left eye. Also, for a glasses-wearing type display device, a right image is hidden from a left eye and a left image is hidden from a right eye by use of specific glasses suitable for each stereoscopic image creating method.
The glasses-wearing methods may include an anaglyph type of wearing blue and red glasses on left and right eyes, respectively, a polarized glasses type of wearing polarized glasses with different right and left polarization directions, and a liquid crystal shutter type using glasses with a liquid crystal shutter, which synchronizes with a period of repeating a time-divided screen. Among others, the polarized glasses type has an advantage of easily realizing 3D images from two images configured in a 2D form.
FIG. 1 is an exemplary view illustrating a schematic structure of a general polarized glasses type stereoscopic image display device.
Referring to FIG. 1, a polarized glasses type is a type of spatially isolating left and right images from each other by arranging a patterned retarder 2 on a front surface of an image panel 1.
The pattern retarder 2 of the polarized glasses type stereoscopic image display device refers to a film which has a predetermined pattern on the position basis, such that polarized states of left and right images can be perpendicular to each other.
For example, the patterned retarder 2 may include a glass substrate. Although not shown in detail, an alignment layer and a double refraction layer may be sequentially formed on the substrate. The alignment layer and the double refraction layer may have regular patterns of first and second regions 2a and 2b. The first region 2a and the second region 2b may be formed by stripes which are arranged in an alternating manner to correspond to image lines of the image panel 1. The regions 2a and 2b may have the same alignment direction.
Here, when the image panel 1 is implemented as a liquid crystal display device, a polarizer 11 having an optical absorption shaft in a horizontal direction may be disposed, for example, between the image panel 1 and the patterned retarder 2.
FIG. 2 is a planar view schematically illustrating a partial structure of a general liquid crystal display (LCD) device, which merely illustrates a part of upper and lower glass substrates for the sake of brief explanation.
Here, the LCD device actually has N×M pixels defined by intersection between N gate lines and M data lines. However, for brief description, one pixel composed of red, green and blue (R, B, B) sub-pixels is exemplarily illustrated.
For reference, a reference numeral Ps denotes one sub-pixel region.
FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a cross-section taken along the line A-A′ of FIG. 2.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the LCD device may include two sheets of glass substrates 5 and 10, and a liquid crystal layer (not shown) interposed therebetween with a cell gap maintained by a column spacer 40.
On the lower glass substrate 10 may be formed gate lines 16 and data lines 17 which are arranged horizontally and longitudinally to define sub-pixel regions Ps. A thin film transistor (TFT) as a switching device may be formed on each intersection between the gate lines 16 and the data lines 17.
Although not shown, a plurality of pixel electrodes and common electrodes for forming a horizontal electric field may be formed within the sub-pixel region Ps in an alternating manner. A common line 81 may be arranged in substantially the same direction as the gate line 16 below the sub-pixel region Ps.
The TFT may include a gate electrode connected to the gate line 16, a source electrode connected to the data line 17, and a drain electrode connected to the pixel electrode. TFT may also include a plurality of insulating layers 15a, 15b and 15c for insulation between components, and an active pattern forming a conductive channel between the source electrode and the drain electrode by a gate voltage supplied to the gate electrode.
The upper glass substrate 5 may be provided with a color filter array. The color filter array may include a black matrix 6, color filters 7 (7a, 7b and 7c), and an overcoated layer 9.
In the general polarized glasses type stereoscopic image display device, a currently widely employed method is to arrange left and right images on the line basis. That is, as illustrated, a left image (L) may be arranged on an odd line and a right image (R) on an even line in a perpendicular direction. When the L and R images are displayed on the image panel 1, a viewer may wear watching glasses 3 to watch the L and R images in an isolating manner, thereby enjoying a 3D image.
However, the polarized glasses type may be unable to accurately isolate the L and R images from each other by use of the polarizer because the L and R images come in contact with each other. This may cause a crosstalk that the R image leaks into the left eye and the L image leaks into a right eye, or a limited up/down viewing angle.

Polarized glasses type stereoscopic image display device and method of fabricating the same


An optical illumination and monitoring subsystem controls the operation of a flow cytometer having a carrier fluid that flows along a channel coupled to a droplet generator, which controls a point at which droplets break off from the carrier fluid, and a droplet sorter that is operative to cause selected droplets to be sorted along one or more droplet travel paths. The subsystem is operative to illuminate a respective droplet monitoring location along each of one or more droplet travel paths with a respective beam of light, such as that sourced from a common laser. In response to backscatter reflection from a droplet passing through the respective beam of light at a respective droplet monitoring location, the amplitude of the beam of light is increased. Then the droplet is monitored for the presence of a particle therein exhibiting detectable fluorescence as a result of the increase in the amplitude of the respective beam of light.

As described in the U.S. Patent to Burr et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,836 (hereinafter referred to as the '836 patent), entitled: "Flow Cytometer Droplet Break-Off Location Adjustment Mechanism," assigned to the assignee of the present application and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein, flow cytometers, such as that shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1, are commonly employed in the medical industry to analyze particles in a patient's body fluid (e.g., blood cells) as an adjunct to the diagnosis and treatment of disease. As a non-limiting example, in the course of chemotherapy treatment, such instruments may be used to sort and collect healthy blood cells (stem cells) from a quantity of blood that has been removed from the patient's bone marrow prior to chemotherapy. Once a chemotherapy treatment session has been completed, a collected quantity of these cells is then reinjected back into the patient, to facilitate migration and healthy blood cell regeneration.
For this purpose, in the flow cytometer system shown in FIG. 1, particles to be analyzed, such as cells of a centrifuged blood sample stored in a container 11, are injected into a (pressurized) continuous or uninterrupted stream of carrier fluid (e.g., saline) 12. The carrier fluid stream is directed along a flow channel 13 of a fluid flow chamber 14. The fluid flow channel 13 is intersected at an 'upstream' location 15 by an output light beam 16 emitted by an optical illumination subsystem, such as a one or more lasers 17. Located optically in the path of the laser output beam 16 after its being intercepted by the carrier fluid stream are one or more photodetectors of a photodetector subsystem 20. The photodetector subsystem is positioned to receive light that has been modulated by the contents of (particles/cells within) the fluid stream, including light reflected off a cell, the blocking of light by a cell, and a light emission from a fluorescent dye antibody attached to a cell.
In order to avoid confusion as to which photodetector output signal is representative of which illuminated cell, the fluid flow chamber 13 through the cytometer flow chamber is configured and sized to pass the particles or cells only one cell at the time through the intersection location 15 with the laser's output beam 16. As a consequence, as output signals from the photodetector subsystem 20 are modulated by particles transported by the carrier fluid stream, each modulation signal can be associated with an individual cell. If the output of the photodetector subsystem 20 satisfies prescribed 'sort' criteria associated with one or more parameters of a desired cell, it is used to control the sorting of a droplet 23 of carrier fluid containing that cell by an electrostatic droplet sorter located 'downstream' of an exit port 18 of the fluid flow chamber.
The carrier fluid stream is converted into individual droplets by an acoustically (e.g., piezoelectric transducer) driven droplet generator 27, which is coupled to the fluid flow chamber. The fluid stream leaving the exit port 18 proceed as an interconnected droplet stream 22 and then break off into separate droplets at a location 25 downstream of the chamber exit port. Also there is a 'sort' delay between the time that a cell passes through the laser intersection location 15 and a subsequent time at which the last attached portion of the carrier fluid stream containing that particular cell actually physically separates or breaks off from the carrier fluid stream as a distinct droplet 23 traveling along a travel path 26.
The location 25 at which the droplets form downstream of the flow chamber exit port 18 may be adjusted by varying parameters of the droplet generator drive signal. The rate at which droplets are formed is governed by the frequency of the acoustic drive signal, and the droplets become synchronized with the frequency of the piezo vibration of the droplet generator 27. As a non-limiting example, the acoustic drive frequency applied to the droplet generator 27 may be on the order of from four to one hundred KHz, at a fluid pressure on the order of from three to seventy psi.
The photodetector output is typically digitized and then analyzed by a cell type mapping or identification algorithm executed by an associated supervisory control processor of the flow cytometer's control workstation 50. Based upon this analysis, the control processor supplies control signals to a charging and deflection control circuit 52 of the droplet sorter 24 to sort or abort the droplet. In order to controllably sort an individual droplet 23 that breaks off or separates from the fluid stream exiting the flow chamber's exit port 18, the droplet sorter employs an electrostatic charging collar 31, which surrounds the travel path 26 of the droplet sequence. The charging collar may comprise a metallic cylinder that is located so as to surround the location along the droplet sequence travel path 26 where the individual droplets 23 separate from the fluid stream, and is typically several droplets in (axial) length. The charging collar 31 is positioned vertically downstream of the fluid chamber exit port 18 and upstream of an associated set of electrostatic (opposite polarity, high voltage) deflection plates 33 and 35 between which the stream of charged droplets 23c pass as they travel downwardly and are either sorted along one or more sorting paths 36 into associated sorted droplet collection containers 41, or are allowed to pass unsorted along travel path into an aborted or discarded wasted container 43. The center position is not always a waste container—as it may alternatively be employed as a collection container for collecting the sample that went through the instrument, not to waste it.
Under the control of the cell analysis and sorting routine executed by the cytometer workstation 50, a prescribed charging voltage pulse of a given duration is selectively applied to the charging collar, so as to charge a droplet that should contain the cell to be sorted. As the selectively charged droplet passes between the two opposite polarity high voltage deflection plates 33 and 35, it is attracted to the plate with the opposite charge, while being simultaneously repelled by the plate with the same or like charge. This electrostatic steering action directs the charged droplet along a deflected travel path that is off axis to the unsorted droplet travel path and into a sorted droplet collection container 41.
As noted above, for any given cell or particle of interest within the fluid stream, there is a 'sort' delay between the time at which the photodetector subsystem 20 generates an output signal for a particular cell, and the time of the sorting pulse at which a droplet 23 containing the cell actually individually separates or breaks of from the fluid stream. Knowing the exact duration of this sort delay is critical to accurate sorting of the droplets, since only the last attached droplet that breaks off from the fluid stream at the time of the applied sort charging pulse will be deflected by the deflection plates and subsequently collected into the sorted droplet collection container.
In accordance with the invention described in the '836 patent the flow cytometer is provided with a feedback-based signal processing mechanism that is operative to maintain the droplet break-off point at an initially calibrated spatial location (within the droplet charged collar of the droplet sorting mechanism) by means of a downstream optical detector subsystem, that looks for gaps in the fluid droplet stream that have been created by the deflection of charged droplets. The difference between the times at which these gaps are detected at a prescribed downstream location in the path of the droplet stream and the times at which deflected droplets that created the gaps were charged at the droplet charge collar is compared with a calibration reference interval. Any difference between the two is employed to adjust the amplitude of the piezo drive to the droplet generator, as necessary, to bring the instrument back into calibration. It has also been determined that controlling the temperature of the fluid stream and the pressure of the fluid stream can be as or more effective in correcting any differences.

Multiple sorter monitor and control subsystem for flow cytometer


Systems, methods, and computer readable mediums are provided to generate a number of targets for a panoramic image, each of the targets defining a portion of the panoramic image, monitor a position of a user device with respect to a current target, responsive to determining that the user device is properly positioned with respect to the current target, capture a first image for the current target using a camera of the user device, monitor the position of the user device with respect to a next target, responsive to determining that the user device is properly positioned with respect to the next target, capture a second image for the next target using the camera of the user device; and generate the panoramic image using the first image and the second image.

Panoramic photography involves capturing images with enlarged fields of view. Specialized hardware and/or software is typically used to capture individual images, which are then stitched together to form panoramic images. For example, a digital camera may be equipped with video capture capabilities such that when a user sweeps the camera through a field of view, individual images are continuously capture and then used to form a panoramic image. At this stage, the digital camera includes software to stitch the individual images together in order to create a panoramic image with a wider field of view. In this example, the quality of the panoramic image is affected by the velocity and steadiness of the digital camera as it is swept through the field of view. To improve the quality of panoramic images, digital cameras typically include functionality to indicate whether the digital camera is moving at an appropriate velocity.
Typical panoramic photography techniques are often time-consuming and tedious. Users may grow uninterested during a panoramic image capture, resulting in low quality images that are not suitable for stitching into a panoramic image. Or users may not be motivated enough to invest the amount of time required to learn and then properly execute a panoramic image capture.

Method, system, and computer program product for gamifying the process of obtaining panoramic images


With a simple configuration, a vehicle periphery monitoring system that easily detects pedestrian that has a possibility to collide with a vehicle to which the monitoring system is installed. Based on a change rate in the size of the image of the observation object captured at a preset time interval by an onboard camera 111 and the presence or absence of the deformation of the observation object image between the captured images, it is determined whether the observation object is a pedestrian relatively approaching the vehicle to which the monitoring system is installed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle periphery monitoring system that detects a pedestrian having a possibility to approach a vehicle to which the monitoring system is installed based on an image of a vehicle periphery captured by an onboard camera.
2. Background Art
Conventionally, vehicle periphery monitoring systems are proposed that are configured to have two cameras installed on one vehicle and detect, based on the principle of trigonometrical survey, a distance between a monitoring object and the vehicle based on an offset (parallax) between image areas of a same monitoring object extracted from the images of the vehicle periphery captured by the two cameras (see, for example, JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-6096A.)
According to the conventional vehicle periphery monitoring system, a distance between the monitoring object in the vehicle periphery and the vehicle is calculated, and conversion is performed on the image coordinates of the position of the monitoring object to its real-space coordinates based on the distance to obtain a movement vector of the monitoring object in the real-space, and the possibility that the vehicle collide with the monitoring object is determined.


Recovery of a filesystem directory structure is performed to restore it to any point in time and also to synchronize a database restore and a filesystem restore to bring the two restores to a database consistent state. A database management system (DBMS) manages external files and hierarchical directory structures to enable recovery and reconciliation of the files and filesystems, under DBMS control, after filesystem crashes. First, a database table, which recorded previous directory creations and deletions, is used to rebuild a filesystem""s directory structure to any previous database state and then external file link information is used to restore files to that same state.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of computer information archiving and backup recovery. More specifically, the present invention is related to the control of a filesystem recovery process by a database management system. The method of this invention has particular application in restoring a filesystem and files to any point in time in the event of a filesystem crash.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Data archiving and restoration have always been important to critical computer applications and data. The prior art in this area describes many different approaches to improving speed, reliability, efficiency, and storage requirements of archival solutions. Independently, database management systems (DBMS) have undergone their own development. Aside from the various models such as relational, hierarchical and object-oriented, database management systems have evolved to manage visual, binary and even distributed data. The application of DBMS principles to filesystem archival and recovery, however, has not been adequately addressed as indicated in the following discussion of related prior art.
The patent to Elliott et al. (4,945,474) provides for a database transaction logging method which allows operational recovery after an I/O error. The disclosed restoration is limited to a database rather than restoring the underlying filesystem.
The patent to Combs et al. (5,577,220) describes a mechanism for taking a snapshot of a CPU state and restoring to that state if needed. The system described can only be restored to the snapshotted state rather than any previous state.
The patent to Hanes (5,754,848) provides for a disaster recovery system which first restores a traditional filesystem (i.e 8.3 filenames) which has libraries to allow subsequent recovery using long filenames. The described method relates to translating between filenaming conventions rather than maintaining a recoverable history of filesystem operations.
The patent to Masada (5,754,782) provides for a document backup and restoration system in a GroupWare environment. However, no discussion of combining both a database restoration and a filesystem recovery is provided.
The patent to Whiting et al. (5,778,395) provides for a space reducing data archiving system which stores only file changes after an initial filesystem snapshot is stored, but fails to discuss synchronizing a particular version with an accompanying database state.
The patent to Luick (5,793,944) describes a hardware method of data storing and restoring upon the occurrence of a variety of errors and is limited to teaching a method of capturing various hardware states rather than capturing filesystem directory structure states.
The patent to Bailey et al. (5,794,252) provides for a database transaction logging system to assist with database duplication. The logging system discussed, however, fails to consider the maintenance of filesystem directory transactions.
The patent to Morris (5,813,017) provides for a distributed data backup system which reduces transmission bandwidth and storage requirements by archiving files as delta (i.e changed) files across a network. However, no teaching is provided which synchronizes a retrieved delta version with a desired database restoration state.
The IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin entitled xe2x80x9cTable Relocation Alternative For Restorexe2x80x9d describes an interactive method of restoring backed-up data to a filesystem having a different structure than that of the filesystem from which it was originally archived; although, no provision for restoring the filesystem is discussed.
The IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin entitled xe2x80x9cMethod to Ensure the Integrity of File Operations in a Database Transactionxe2x80x9d teaches a COMMIT and ROLLBACK algorithm to ensure database transactions do not leave a filesystem in an inconsistent state. However, relating the consistent database to a previous directory structure is not taught.
The IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin entitled xe2x80x9cChanged Data Only Backup and Recoveryxe2x80x9d details a multi-version backup system which archives only changes to files which have previously been archived but fails to discuss how to restore files to an underlying filesystem directory structure which might also have changed.
Whatever the precise merits, features and advantages of the above cited references, none of them achieve or fulfill, individually or in combination, the purposes of the present invention. They fail to provide for a database managed table which logs filesystem directory operations and without such a log, the prior art fails to teach a method of restoring a filesystem directory structure to a previous known state. Furthermore, without a point-in-time directory recovery method, the above mentioned prior art fails to provide for a method of synchronizing a database restore to a filesystem directory structure restore and file restore.
A database management system (DBMS) is used to maintain a record of a filesystem""s directory structure (registry database). The creation, removal or update of a directory results in a record, pertaining to that event, being stored into a database table of similar events. In addition, files are also linked to a DBMS (user database) and archived according to its management rules (i.e. DBMS references and/or controls the linked files). In the event of a filesystem crash, the DBMSs are used to restore the filesystem through the use of the directory structure database table which allows reconstruction of the filesystem to any previous filesystem state. Furthermore, files can then be recovered to match that state and thereby reconcile external files linked to a database to any previous state.
While described as two separate databases, implementing the registry database and the user database as a single database is also considered within the scope of the present invention. The registry database and the user database are logical entities and mapping them to the same physical database is functionally equivalent to mapping them to two different physical databases. One difference worth mentioning, however, is that the registry database is created by the system and is not normally visible to users, while the user database is created by the user. Throughout this specification, DBMS is used when generally referring to these databases regardless of their actual physical mapping.

Method for database assisted file system restore

International Business Machines Corporation


A radiographic itensifying screen has a support, a light-reflecting layer, a phosphor layer and a surface protective layer. The light-reflecting layer has a thickness of 15 to 100 .mu.m and is made of 25 to 75 vol. % of TiO.sub.2 particles having a mean particle size of 0.1 to 0.5 .mu.m and a polymer birder. The phosphor layer has a thickness of 40 to 120 .mu.m and contains particles of phosphor which gives a main luminance in a wavelength region of longer than 430 nm. This radiographic intensifying screen is preferably placed between an object to be exposed to radiation and a radiographic film.

A standard radiographic intensifying screen comprises, in order, a support, a light-reflecting layer, a phosphor layer and a surface-protective layer. The support may contain light-reflecting material so as to omit the light-reflecting layer.
The light-reflecting layer is arranged to enhance sensitivity of the radiographic intensifying screen. The higher the light reflectance is, the higher the sensitivity is. Therefore, a radiographic intensifying screen of high sensitivity type is prepared using a support which contains a white pigment to give a high light reflectance. In contrast, a radiographic intensifying screen of high sharpness type is prepared using a support which contains light-absorbing carbon black and has no light reflecting layer thereon. The light-reflecting support serves to return back spontaneous emission produced by phosphor particles on the bottom side (i.e., side in the vicinity of the support surface) to the upper surface. Therefore, the use of the light-reflecting support enhances the sensitivity of the intensifying screen, but gives an adverse effect to sharpness of the resulting radiographic image. In contrast, the carbon black-containing support essentially absorbs and does not reflect the spontaneous emission emitted by the phosphor on the bottom side, so that it serves to give a radiographic image with high sharpness but not to enhance the sensitivity. Most of the commercially available radiographic intensifying screens are designed in consideration of balance between the sensitivity and sharpness required for purposes of respective screens.
The replacement of the light-reflecting support with a TiO.sub.2 -containing light-reflecting layer on the support of the radiographic intensifying screen is also well known. Such light-reflecting support is described in the following patent publications: Japanese Patent Provisional Publication (unexamined) Nos. 48-81495, 51-120694, 59-225400, 61-212799, H2-293700, 63-313100, 63-191100, 62-137596, 62-137597, 56-12600, 62-133400, H2-12100, H2-85800, 59-8782, H2-59193, 59-162500, 58-62600, H3-255400, 60-140200, 52-28284, and 62-203098; Japanese Patent Publication (examined) No. H4-37399; U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,157; and British Patent No. 999,780. Details of the disclosures of these patent publications are described below.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 48-81495, 51-120694, 59-3300, 61-212799, 62-137596, 62-203098 and 60-140200, and Japanese Patent Publication No. H4-37399 contain working examples which show a radiographic intensifying screen having a light-reflecting undercoat layer which uses TiO.sub.2 as the light-reflecting material. The phosphors employed in combination with the TiO.sub.2 -containing light-reflecting layer in these radiographic intensifying screen are those which give emissions in the blue light region.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 59-225400 describes a comparison example which shows a light-reflecting undercoat layer using TiO.sub.2 of anatase structure (particle size: 0.1 to 0.25 .mu.m). The phosphor employed in combination with this light-reflecting layer is BaFBr:Eu.sup.2+ which gives an emission in the violet color region. The publication describes that this light-reflecting layer is not favorably employable.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. H-293700, 63-313100, and 63-191100 describe radiographic intensifying screens of which support is a polyethylene terephthalate film containing TiO.sub.2.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 62-137597 contains a working example of a radiographic intensifying screen in which TiO.sub.2 particles are employed as light reflecting material for the light-reflecting undercoat layer. The reflectance is 88% in the visible light region. The phosphor employed in the intensifying screen is CaWO.sub.4.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 56-12600 teaches that the provision of the TiO.sub.2 -containing light-reflecting layer is effective to increase the sensitivity of a radiographic intensifying screen. However, there is no teaching on how to balance the sensitivity and sharpness. Moreover, this publication is mainly directed not to a radiographic intensifying screen but to a radiation image conversion panel which uses a stimulable phosphor.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 62-133400, H2-12100, H2-85800, and 59-162500 describe light-reflecting layers using TiO.sub.2. These light-reflecting layers are not for the radiographic intensifying screen but for the radiation image conversion panel which uses a stimulable phosphor.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 58-62600 and H3-255400 describe working examples in which an electroconductive metal oxide-coated layer is utilized. TiO.sub.2 is mentioned as one of the examples of electroconductive metal oxides. The coated amount is so small as less as 1 mg/cm.sup.2, and therefore no high reflection, thus no high sensitivity, is obtained.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 59-8782 gives a working example of a radiographic intensifying screen which shows the use of a TiO.sub.2 -containing support film and a comparison eagle which shows the provision of a TiO.sub.2 -containing undercoat layer. The TiO.sub.2 contained in the undercoat layer of the examples is not enough in its amount and density, and satisfactory reflectance and sharpness is not accomplished.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 52-28284 describes a working example for a TiO.sub.2 -containing light-reflecting layer. The phosphor layer employed in combination appears to have a thickness of more than 180 .mu.m (value calculated from the coated phosphor amount).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,159 and Japanese Patent Publication No. H2-59193 both contain a working example in which a TiO.sub.2 containing light-reflecting layer is employed in a thick phosphor layer.
British Patent No. 999,780 describes a working example for a radiographic intensifying screen which utilizes a TiO.sub.2 -containing light reflecting layer. The phosphor employed in combination with the light reflecting layer is one which gives an emission in the blue color region. Moreover, the phosphor layer employed in the working example is rather thick.
Therefore, until now, there is not known a radiographic intensifying screen which shows both satisfactorily high sensitivity and satisfactorily high sharpness. Particularly, for a radiographic intensifying screen of high luminant type having a relative sensitivity (details are described hereinafter) of 250 or more which generally shows poor sharpness, enhancement of the sharpness is required.


A system and a method for managing electronic contact database are disclosed. A method according to an embodiment comprises the steps of providing a recipient electronic address; providing an electronic mail message; encoding a network address including an indication of a file name and a network file server within the provided electronic mail message, the encoded network address indicative of a unique recipient and indicative of the network file server and a file name from which to retrieve data from the network file server; and, transmitting the electronic mail message to the provided recipient electronic address. A mail server supports the methods for managing electronic contact database.

Every day, the users of the Internet send each other billions of electronic messages (e-mails). An individual may send a dozen or more e-mails each day without even thinking about it. Obviously, e-mail, or electronic mail, has become an extremely popular communication tool. In the past, people have maintained contact lists on paper. The proverbial "black book" is a good example of a list of individuals and their contact information. Unfortunately, the task of maintaining current a large contact list is often too onerous for the few times one needs to contact each individual.
Electronic mail systems, for example, permit users on different computers to communicate with one another by transmitting information such as text messages and the like between the different computers. Electronic mail is often used to permit employees in a company to communicate with other employees connected to the company's internal network, regardless of whether they are in the same building or another company facility. Also, due to the explosive growth of the Internet, electronic mail has now become a relatively common way for anyone with a computer to communicate with other computer users all over the world.
Such tremendous success raises many security issues. Some people perform hacking—trying to violate someone else's computer security for fun, stealing industrial secrets, stealing military secrets, and so forth. Some people develop viruses, worms or other harmful applications for contaminating computer systems and thereby causing damage thereto. Internet and more specifically the electronic mail systems have become a convenient medium through which to receive "infections."
In order to counteract the above-mentioned attacks, a typical commercial private computer network comprises a protection system such as a firewall. There are also personal firewall software packages available. "The perfect personal firewall would be inexpensive and easy to install and use, would offer clearly explained configuration options, would hide all ports to make your PC invisible to scans, would protect your system from all attacks, would track all potential and actual threats, would immediately alert you to serious attacks, and would ensure nothing unauthorized entered or left your PC" (Jeff Sengstack, in Make Your PC Hacker Proof, PC World; Jul. 21, 2000). Basically, a firewall is a security process in the form for example of a program or hardware device between an internal network and the Internet for filtering information coming through an Internet connection into a private network of computer systems or into a single computer system, and preventing certain types of transactions from occurring. If someone wants to retrieve a file, a document, or any information from a computer system or a network, a request is sent through the Internet to the computer system or network. The firewall, which is strategically positioned at the Internet connection intercepts the request and blocks or disables it. However, when information is sent from a computer system or the network through the Internet via a known channel such as electronic mail software, the firewall does not intervene. Further, data received from the Internet is allowed to enter the network unfettered so long as it is not deemed a security concern. When a virus protection software application and a firewall application are both up-to-date and in execution, a system should be safe from most security threats.
Therefore, in order to bypass firewall applications to be able to extract information from a computer system or a network, people have started to use those known channels for providing the extracted data. For example, an active email message is provided from the Internet to an electronic mail application in execution on a computer system. The electronic mail message includes a small application for transmitting information from the computer system or the network out to the Internet. Fortunately, existing firewalls disable these messages.
Another method of extracting information involves providing an active email message from the Internet to an electronic mail application in execution on a computer system. In this method the electronic mail message includes only a single instruction in the form of a retrieve file instruction with associated parameters. The parameters are substituted, in part, by the electronic mail program allowing some information about the system to be retrieved. With the common adoption of this probing format, existing firewalls now disable these messages as well.
A service offering automated updating of electronic contact information and ensuring current contact information is offered by GoodContacts® through their World Wide Web site. GoodContacts® addresses the difficult task of enabling people to stay connected to their many circles of contacts. The service provided by GoodContacts® allows for maintaining contacts, updating and management of personal information relating to contacts and provides a dynamic link to all personal and professional relationships. This is performed by providing a method for each user to transmit to other users requests for information updates, thereby allowing for automatic updating of the user contacts within their address book.
When no reply is provided, it is assumed the electronic mail message was delivered to its destination. This, however, may be incorrect. And it would be extremely advantageous to know that an electronic mail message has been delivered, even when not responded to. Unfortunately, any information provided from the recipient computer system back to the sender in an automated fashion is typically filtered by a firewall and, as such, most straightforward methods are inapplicable to typical corporate environments.
In order to overcome such drawbacks of the prior art, it would be advantageous to provide a system that allows this functionality—notification of receipt—without being noticed by a secure firewall application and without violating the security afforded by the firewall.

Method and system for tracking receipt of electronic message


The position and/or movement of at least one device for a user can be monitored over time, and various types of information inferred based on patterns in that user behavior. A device can determine various locations where a user typically stays for a period of time, as well as the routes the user takes to get to those locations. Based upon time, date, and various other information, the device can infer the type of location and/or route, as well as the likelihood that the user will take a given route to one of those locations at any time. By being able to infer future actions and locations of the user at certain times, a device can proactively provide a variety of functionality to the user, such as to provide suggested alternative routes, move meetings, notify others of estimated times of arrival, and perform other such tasks.

Many people are increasingly relying upon portable devices to store, track, and update various types of information and handle various types of tasks. For example, many users rely upon electronic calendars synchronized across one or more devices to keep track of the user's schedule, and often rely upon the device to notify the user of certain upcoming events. A downside to such use is that a user must typically input all relevant information into the device, and often must access multiple applications in order to get all the information a user needs. For example, a user might have to manually enter information such as the user's home address and work address into a contact application, and if the user wants to get directions between the two locations the user must open a mapping application and select or re-enter that information. If the user wants to obtain traffic information about the user's commute between those locations, the user must open a traffic application and enter the route between those locations. If there is an accident and the user wants to find another way home, the user often must reopen the mapping program and attempt to determine an alternate route. If the user is going to be late as a result, the user often has to manually text, call, or otherwise manually notify someone at home. As devices become ever more intelligent, and offer additional types of functionality, it becomes increasingly undesirable to continue to have to access different applications and manually enter information, as well as to require the user to perform a number of other such tedious tasks.


A method and an apparatus for making devices with low barrier height. In fabricating an n-channel and p-channel devices, hemisphere grains, silicon crystal grains and metal silicide crystal grains are formed on a contact-hole or a gate electrode on an insulating film in each semiconductor element, so that it becomes possible to control the work function, to reduce the contact resistance, and to control the threshold voltage V.sub.th.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a complex film controlled in its work function at the interface with a substrate under layer, which is applicable for a gate electrode of an MOS transistor and a contact-hole of an interconnect structure of a semiconductor device, and a formation method thereof; and an MOS transistor and an interconnect structure using the complex film and fabrication methods thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor device, an SOI (Silicon on Insulator) has been used to simplify the perfect separation between semiconductor elements and to suppress soft error and the latch-up phenomenon inherent to a CMOS transistor. In the relatively early days, an SOI structure having a silicon active layer of about 500 nm in thickness had been examined to increase the speed and reliability of an LSI of CMOS transistors. Recently, it has been known that, by depleting the entire silicon active layer formed on the surface of an SOI by means of thinning the silicon active layer to about 100 nm and controlling the concentration of impurities in a channel region to be relatively low, there can be obtained an excellent semiconductor element capable of suppressing the short-channel effect and improving the current drive ability of an MOS transistor.
However, in an n-type MOS transistor using the general n.sup.+ -polysilicon as a gate electrode material, the concentration of impurities in the channel region must be increased to be about 10.sup.17 /cm.sup.2 or more to ensure the threshold voltage V.sub.th at about 0.5-1.0 V (which is the value for the usual enhancement transistor). Consequently, from the viewpoint of the threshold voltage V.sub.th, it becomes difficult to form a channel region having a relatively low concentration of impurities.
For this reason, in recent years, an examination has been made to use a p.sup.+ -polysilicon (B-DOPOS) doped with boron as a gate electrode material. In this case, a channel region having a sufficiently low concentration of impurities is formed, and thereby a perfect depletion type transistor can be fabricated. The threshold voltage V.sub.th of this perfect depletion type transistor becomes a specified value which is not dependent on the thickness of a silicon active layer of an SOI; however, this value is as high as about 1.0 V for a future LSI aiming at the low power voltage, thereby limiting the design for semiconductors.
In view of the foregoing, it is desirable for the design of the future fine semiconductor elements to control the threshold voltage V.sub.th by controlling the work function at the interface between the gate electrode of an MOS transistor and the backing silicon layer.
On the other hand, in an interconnect structure of a semiconductor device, a large number of contact-holes are formed. The contact-hole is provided on an insulating interlayer formed on an impurity diffusion region (source/drain region) to connect the impurity diffusion region to an upper interconnect layer. Specifically, an insulating interlayer is formed on a silicon semiconductor substrate formed with an impurity diffusion region and an opening is provided in the insulating interlayer, after which a metallization material is deposited in the opening and on the insulating interlayer, thus forming a contact-hole in which the metallization material is embedded in the opening. The metallization material deposited on the insulating interlayer is patterned in a desired pattern, to thus form the upper interconnect layer.
In such a contact-hole, the work function at the interface between the contact-hole at the bottom portion of the opening and the silicon semiconductor substrate is dependent on the metallization material used. Namely, the contact resistance is determined by the work function of the metallization material and the concentration of impurities in the impurity diffusion region.
In a CMOS transistor element, the contact-hole must be formed on an n.sup.+ -Si for an n-type MOS transistor, and on p.sup.+ -Si for a p-type MOS transistor. However, in the case of using the same metallization material contacted with the n.sup.+ -Si and p.sup.+ -Si, it becomes impossible to simultaneously lower the barrier heights in an energy band diagram for the n.sup.+ -Si and p.sup.+ -Si. In the case of using a polysilicon replaced with the metallization material, it becomes possible to simultaneously lower the barrier heights for the n.sup.+ -Si and p.sup.+ -Si. However, the resistance of polysilicon itself is difficult to be lowered, and therefore, for an LSI required for a fine structure, polysilicon is not suitable to be used as the interconnecting material for the contact-hole.
Moreover, a serious problem is the increase in the contact resistance in the contact-hole, that is, an increase in the contact resistance between the metallization material forming the contact hole and the source/drain region. By uniformly reducing elements forming a semiconductor device to be 1/S, the integration is improved to be S.sup.2 times without any change in the chip area and power consumption; however, at the same time, the contact resistance having a constant resistivity is also increased to be S.sup.2 times. The reduction in the contact resistance, therefore, is an inevitable subject for achieving high fineness and high integration of a semiconductor device.
The contact resistivity .rho..sub.c between n.sup.+ silicon and a metal as a metallization material is expressed by the following equation: EQU .rho..sub.c =exp(C.sub.2 .multidot..phi..sub.bn .sqroot.N.sub.d)(1)
where EQU C.sub.2 =.pi..sqroot.(m.sub.n .multidot..epsilon..sub.s)/h
In the above equation, .phi..sub.bn is a barrier height in an energy band diagram which is generally determined between the concentration of n-type impurities in silicon and a metal; .sqroot.N.sub.d is the donor concentration in silicon; m.sub.n is the effective mass of an electron; and .epsilon..sub.s is a permeability of silicon.
As the process temperature in a process of fabricating a semiconductor device has been lowered, it has become difficult to obtain a desired concentration or activity ratio of impurities in silicon. Moreover, as is apparent from the equation (1), the barrier height .phi..sub.bn is present as the first power in the exponent term, so that the effect of the barrier height .phi..sub.bn exerted on the contact resistivity .rho..sub.c is very large. On the other hand, when a metal as a metallization material is determined, the band gap E.sub.g of a semiconductor silicon is expressed by the following equation: EQU E.sub.g =q(.phi..sub.bn +.phi..sub.bp)
where .phi..sub.bp is a barrier height generally determined between the concentration of p-type impurities in silicon and the metal; and q is an elementary quantity of electric charge. PA1 (a) an island-like region formed on a substrate; and PA1 (b) a thin film formed of a material different from that of the island-like region for covering the substrate and the island-like region, PA1 wherein a work function between the substrate and the complex film is controlled by adjusting the area of the island-like region per unit area of the substrate. PA1 (a) a process of forming an island-like region on a substrate while controlling the covering area of the island-like region per unit area of a substrate; and PA1 (b) a process of covering the substrate and the island-like region with a thin film made of a material different from that of the island-like region; PA1 wherein a work function at the interface between the substrate and the complex film by adjusting the area of the island-like region per unit area of the substrate. PA1 (a) a process of forming a source/drain region on a silicon semiconductor substrate, forming an insulating layer over the whole surface, and forming an opening in the insulating layer over the source/drain region; PA1 (b) a process of forming a metal layer at least in the opening, and implanting ions of an impurity having the same conducting type as that of the source/drain region in the metal layer; PA1 (c) a process of heating the silicon semiconductor substrate for allowing the metal forming the metal layer on the bottom portion of the opening to react with silicon forming the silicon semiconductor substrate thereby forming a metal silicide layer on the bottom portion of the opening, precipitating silicon crystal grains in the metal silicide layer at and near the interface with the source/drain region on the bottom portion of the opening, and activating the impurity implanted and entrapped in the precipitated silicon crystal grains; and PA1 (d) a process of depositing a metallization material at least in the opening. PA1 (a) a process of forming a source/drain region on a substrate, forming an insulating layer over the whole surface, and forming an opening in the insulating layer over the source/drain region; PA1 (b) a process of forming a metal silicide layer rich in silicon at least in the opening, and implanting ions of an impurity having the same conducting type as that of the source/drain region in the metal silicide layer; PA1 (c) heating the substrate for precipitating silicon crystal grains in the metal silicide layer at and near the interface with the source/drain region on the bottom portion of the opening, and activating the impurity implanted and entrapped in the precipitated silicon crystal grains; and PA1 (d) a process of depositing a metallization material at least in the opening. PA1 a metal silicide layer formed at least on the bottom portion; and PA1 a metallization material formed on the metal silicide layer; PA1 wherein silicon crystal grains containing to a large extent an impurity having the same conducting type as that of the source/drain region are formed in the metal silicide layer at and near the interface with the source/drain region.
Accordingly, as the value .phi..sub.bn for the n-type semiconductor silicon is reduced, the value .phi..sub.bp for the p-type semiconductor silicon is increased; and vice versa. Therefore, it is impossible to simultaneously reduce the values .phi..sub.bn and .phi..sub.bp. In other words, in a complementary MOS transistor (CMOS) having n-type and p-type channel MOS transistors, it is impossible to simultaneously reduce the contact resistances of the n-type channel and the p-type channel MOS transistors using one kind of a metallization material.
It becomes possible to simultaneously reduce the contact resistances of the n-type and p-type channel MOS transistors using different metallization materials for the contact-holes of the n-type and p-type channel MOS transistors; however, this method presents a problem in significantly complicating the fabricating process for the CMOS transistor.
A technique of fabricating gate electrodes of an n-type and p-type channel MOS transistor elements has been known in "LIGHTLY IMPURITY DOPED (LD) Mo SILICIDE GATE TECHNOLOGY", MASAKAZU KAKUMU, et al., Abstract of IEDM, pp. 415 (15.5), 1985!. The technique involves forming a gate oxide; forming a molybdenum silicide layer rich in silicon by sputtering; implanting ions of arsenic in a region, on which a n-type channel MOS transistor element is to be formed, of the molybdenum silicide layer; implanting ions of boron in a region, on which a p-type channel MOS transistor element is to be formed, of a molybdenum silicide layer; and patterning the molybdenum silicide layer. In this document, it is reported that silicon atoms are precipitated on the molybdenum silicide layer near the interface between the molybdenum silicide layer and the gate oxide film after the heating process. Moreover, there appears the description that the work function .phi..sub.m of the molybdenum silicide forming the gate electrode can be accurately controlled by the amount of the implanted ions. However, there is no description regarding the reduction in the resistance of the contact-hole, particularly the reduction in the contact-holes formed on an n-type and p-type channel MOS transistor elements in a CMOS transistor.

Method of forming a contact-hole of a semiconductor element