A method for controlling the foam produced when a molten material encounters reduced pressure in a vacuum chamber includes passing the molten material through an aging zone in the vacuum chamber in which the molten material is allowed to drain from between the bubbles of the foam and then collapsing the bubbles of the drained foam.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to reduced pressure fining, a process for removing trapped bubbles in molten material, e.g., molten glass. More specifically, the invention relates to a method for controlling the foam produced when the molten material encounters reduced pressure in a reduced pressure finer.
2. Background Art
In industrial glassmaking, a glass batch is made by mixing in blenders a variety of raw materials obtained from properly sized, cleaned, and treated materials that have been pre-analyzed for impurity. Recycled glass called cullet may also be mixed with the raw materials. For the most commonly produced soda-lime glass, these raw materials include silica (SiO2), soda (Na2O), lime (CaO), and various other chemical compounds. The soda serves as a flux to lower the temperature at which the silica melts, and the lime acts as a stabilizer for the silica. A typical soda-lime glass is composed of about seventy percent silica, fifteen percent soda, and nine percent lime, with much smaller amounts of the various other chemical compounds. The glass batch is conveyed to a "doghouse", which is a hopper at the back of the melting chamber of a glass melting furnace. The glass batch may be lightly moistened to discourage segregation of the ingredients by vibrations of the conveyor system or may be pressed into pellets or briquettes to improve contact between the particles.
The glass batch is inserted into the melting chamber by mechanized shovels, screw conveyors, or blanket feeders. The heat required to melt the glass batch may be generated using natural gas, oil, or electricity. However, electric melting is by far the most energy efficient and clean method because it introduces the heat where needed and eliminates the problem of batch materials being carried away with the flue gases. To ensure that the composition of the molten glass is homogenous throughout, the molten glass is typically stirred together in a conditioning chamber that is equipped with mechanical mixers or nitrogen or air bubblers. The molten glass is then carried in a set of narrow channels, called forehearth, to the forming machines. In the melting chamber, large quantities of gas can be generated by the decomposition of the raw materials in the batch. These gases, together with trapped air, form bubbles in the molten glass. Large bubbles rise to the surface, but, especially as the glass becomes more viscous, small bubbles are trapped in the molten glass in such numbers that they threaten the quality of the final product. For products requiring high quality glass, e.g., optical lenses, television panels, and liquid crystal displays, the trapped bubbles are removed from the molten glass prior to feeding the molten glass into the forming machines.
The process of removing bubbles from molten glass is called fining. One method for fining glass involves adding various materials known as fining agents to the glass batch prior to mixing in the blenders. The primary purpose of the fining agents is to release gas in the molten glass when the molten glass is at the proper fining temperature. The released gas then diffuses into gas bubbles in the molten glass. As the bubbles become larger, their relative buoyancy increases, causing them to rise to the surface of the molten glass where they are released. The speed at which the bubbles move through the molten glass may be increased by reducing the viscosity of the molten glass, and the viscosity of the molten glass can be reduced by increasing the temperature of the molten glass. An effective fining agent for atmospheric pressure, glass melting and fining processes should be able to release a large amount of fining gases as the temperature of the molten glass is increased to the temperature range where the viscosity of the molten glass is sufficiently low, i.e., 1300° C. to 1500° C. for soda-lime glass. Examples of fining agents that are suitable for use with soda-lime glass are arsenic oxide (As2O3) and antimony oxide (Sb2O3). These fining agents are, however, detrimental to the environment and require careful handling.
Another method for fining glass involves passing the molten glass through a low pressure zone to cause the bubbles in the molten glass to expand and rise quickly to the surface of the glass. This process is typically referred to as reduced pressure fining or vacuum fining. There are various configurations of reduced pressure finers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,849,058 to Takeshita et al. discloses the general structure of a siphon-type reduced pressure finer. The reduced pressure finer, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a vacuum vessel 1 disposed in vacuum housing 2. The vacuum vessel 1 has one end connected to an uprising pipe 3 and another end connected to a downfalling pipe 4. The uprising pipe 3 and the downfalling pipe 4 are made of platinum, a material that can withstand the high temperature of the molten glass and that is not easily corroded. The vacuum vessel 1, the uprising pipe 3, and the downfalling pipe 4 are heated by electricity. An insulating material 5 is provided around the vacuum vessel 1, the uprising pipe 3, and the downfalling pipe 4. Typically, the insulating material 5 consists generally of insulating bricks and doubles as a structural support for the uprising pipe 3 and the downfalling pipe 4. The bottom ends of the uprising pipe 3 and the downfalling pipe 4 that are not connected to the vacuum vessel 1 extend through the vacuum housing 2 into the storage vessels 6 and 7, respectively. The storage vessel 1 is connected to receive molten glass from a glass melting furnace (not shown).
Flow of molten glass through the uprising pipe 3, the vacuum vessel 1, and the downfalling pipe 4 follows the siphon principle. Accordingly, the liquid surface of the molten glass in the vacuum vessel 1 is higher than the liquid surface of the molten glass in the storage vessel 6, and the pressure in the vacuum vessel 1 is lower than the pressure in the storage vessel 6. The pressure in the vacuum vessel 1 is related to the elevation of the liquid surface of the molten glass in the vacuum vessel 1 with respect to the liquid surface of the molten glass in the storage vessel 6. The height of the liquid surface of the molten glass in vacuum vessel 1 with respect to the liquid surface of the molten glass in the storage vessel 6 is set based on the desired fining pressure and the rate at which molten glass is flowing into the vacuum vessel 1. The molten glass with the trapped bubbles is transferred from the glass melting furnace (not shown) into the storage vessel 6. Because the pressure in the vacuum vessel 1 is less than the pressure in the storage vessel 6, the molten glass in the storage vessel 6 rises through the uprising pipe 3 into the vacuum vessel 1. The pressure in the vacuum vessel 1 is brought to reduced pressure condition of less than the atmospheric pressure, typically  1/20 to ⅓ atmospheric pressure. As the molten glass passes through the vacuum vessel 1 and encounters the reduced pressure, the bubbles in the molten glass expand and quickly rise to the surface of the molten glass. The refined glass descends into the storage vessel 7 through the downfalling pipe 4.
Foam is produced in the headspace 8 as the molten glass encounters the reduced pressure in the vacuum vessel 1. The headspace 8 must either be large enough to contain the foam, or the foam must be controlled, to prevent equipment flooding and other process upsets and quality problems. In large scale processes, it is usually not practical to make the headspace 8 big enough to contain the foam, especially because the headspace 8 must be maintained airtight. U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,153 issued to Schwenninger et al. discloses a method for controlling foam that includes providing a burner in the headspace. Schwenninger et al. in the '153 patent disclose that the heat from the burner reduces the viscosity of the foam and increases the volume of the bubbles of the foam, causing the bubbles to burst. U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,860 issued to Welton discloses a foam control method that includes applying agents to the foam, which cause coalescence of the bubbles and/or interrupt the surface tension in the bubble membranes so that the bubbles burst. Examples of foam breaking agents include water, alkali metal compounds such as sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate, alcohol, and fuel oil. U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,004 issued to Schwenninger et al. discloses a foam control method that includes suddenly changing the pressure in the headspace so as to disrupt the bubble membranes of the foam, thereby bursting a substantial portion of the bubbles and expediting collapse of the foam. A sudden surge of low pressure is used to expand the foam bubbles beyond their limit of elasticity, at which point they break. The pressure surges may be applied at intervals of several minutes, and the duration of the pressure surges may be on the order of a few seconds.

Method for controlling foam production in reduced pressure fining


The present invention aims at providing a light source for a semiconductor laser beam scanner having high resolution in scanning and a high degree of mounting freedom, and suitable for emitting a laser beam from the surface. Therefore, a surface emission type semiconductor laser includes at least a first mirror 102, an active layer 103, a current narrowing layer 113, a contact layer 106, and a second mirror 111, which are formed on a semiconductor substrate 101; wherein the current narrowing layer 113 is made of a stripe AlAs layer 105, and an Al oxide layer 108 formed to surround the AlAs layer 105; the region of the contact layer 106, which overlaps the Al oxide layer, is formed in a comb shape 109, and independent contact electrodes 110 are respectively formed on the upper surfaces of the teeth of the comb shape 109 of the contact layer.

The present invention relates to a surface emission type semiconductor laser which emits a laser beam perpendicularly to a semiconductor substrate. Particularly, the present invention relates to a surface emission type semiconductor laser capable of electrically scanning light output in one dimension.
A laser beam scanner for scanning a laser beam generally uses a hologram or galvanomirror, but such a device requires a mechanical movement, and is thus accompanied with vibrations and noise. The device also has drawbacks in that it has high power consumption, difficulties in miniaturization because it comprises an assembly of many parts, and low resistance to an impact.
On the other hand, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-152683 discloses that a semiconductor laser array device comprising a plurality of semiconductor lasers arranged in a line, and a lens system disposed in front of the semiconductor laser array device so that its aperture receives the laser beams emitted from all semiconductor lasers is provided for realizing scanning of a laser beam by changing the position of the emission point on the semiconductor laser array and operating a lens of the lens system. This method requires no mechanical movable mechanism, and thus the above-mentioned drawbacks can be solved.
However, an end surface emission type stripe laser array has a limit to the distance of emission points, and thus cannot be said to be practical from the viewpoints of difficulties in manufacturing and resolution.
Therefore, the use of a surface emission laser array as the semiconductor laser array device permits realization of a laser scanner with high resolution. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-97505 discloses that a resonator is formed by using a layered structure perpendicular to a substrate, and a plurality of contact electrodes are provided on one resonator and separated by forming high-resistance regions so that the electrodes are independently driven to change the position of the emission point.
However, the above-described surface emission type semiconductor laser is suitable for emitting a laser beam from the rear side of the substrate, but has the problems described below with respect to emission of a laser beam from the surface side of the substrate.
The electric currents injected from the contact electrodes are mostly converted into light directly below the contact electrodes. Since the contact electrodes do not transmit a laser beam, the light produced directly below the electrodes cannot be emitted from the back, and is thus finally converted into heat. Namely, all currents injected directly below the contact electrodes become reactive currents. This results in an increase in the threshold value, and a reduction in efficiency. In a conventional structure, the reactive current can be decreased only by decreasing the area of the contact electrodes. However, a decrease in the electrode area causes an increase in contact resistance, thereby decreasing output due to heat generation, and deteriorating crystals and reliability.
As described above, the conventional semiconductor laser beam scanner causes large reactive current if a laser beam is emitted from the back side of the substrate, causing the problem of deteriorating characteristics such as the threshold value, efficiency, output, reliability, etc.
On the other hand, if the laser beam is emitted only from the back of the substrate, a practical problem occurs. Such a device should be used in a state wherein it is mounted on a pedestal, and requires a large number of wiring between the device and a driving circuit. Therefore, the device is turned upside down and subjected to flip chip mounting using solder bumps. However, in the case of flip chip mounting, the pitch of the bonding pads must be as large as at least 180 xcexcm because of the use of the solder bumps. This causes an increase in the dimensions of the device, and the problem of directly affecting the number of devices which can be obtained from one substrate, i.e., the cost. This becomes critical with an increase in the number of electrodes for increasing the laser beam scanning width and resolution.
The present invention has been achieved for solving the above-described problems, and an object of the invention is to provide a light source for a semiconductor laser beam scanner which exhibits a high degree of mounting freedom and high resolution in scanning, and is suitable for emitting a laser beam from the surface side.
(1) The present invention provides a surface emission type semiconductor laser comprising a first reflecting mirror, an active layer, a current narrowing layer, a contact layer, a second reflecting mirror, and contact electrodes, which are formed on a semiconductor substrate, so that a laser beam is emitted perpendicularly to the semiconductor substrate;
wherein the current narrowing layer comprises an AlAs layer and an Al oxide layer formed to surround the AlAs layer;
the AlAs layer is formed in a stripe to form a stripe emission region;
the contact layer is formed in a stripe wider than the stripe emission region to completely cover the stripe emission region; and
a plurality of the contact electrodes are formed independently so as not to overlap the stripe emission region.
The principle of the operation of the surface emission type semiconductor laser of the present invention will be described. When a current is passed through one of the divided contact electrodes, the current is led to be concentrated in the emission region by the current narrowing layer. This is described in further detail below. The current narrowing layer comprises the stripe AlAs layer and the Al oxide layer formed to surround the AlAs layer so that the injected current flows horizontally through the contact layer because the Al oxide layer formed below the contact electrodes is made of an insulator, and is led to the emission region through the stripe AlAs layer made of a conductor. The thus-led current is converted into light by the active layer of the emission region, amplified by a Fabry Perot resonator comprising the first and second mirrors to produce oscillation, and emitted as a laser beam perpendicular to the substrate. When the first mirror has higher reflectance than the second mirror, the laser beam is mainly emitted in the surface direction of the substrate. At this time, the laser emission point is formed on the stripe emission region near the contact electrode through which a current is passed. A current is successively passed through the adjacent independent contact electrodes to move the laser emission point on the stripe emission region.
Particularly, the surface emission type semiconductor laser of the present invention comprises the current narrowing layer and thus does not consume a current directly below the contact electrodes. Namely, it is possible to remove the reactive current. It is also possible to increase the area of contact between the contact layer and the contact electrodes, thereby decreasing contact resistance and generation of heat. Therefore, since the contact electrodes do not intercept a laser beam because the electrodes do not overlap the emission region, the structure of the semiconductor laser is very suitable for emitting a laser beam from the surface side.
Since the laser emission surface and the contact electrodes are in the same plane, material for the pedestal is not limited, and thus the degree of mounting freedom is high.
(2) The region of the contact layer, which is formed on the Al oxide layer, is preferably formed in a comb shape, and the plurality of the independent contact electrodes are preferably formed to respectively contact the comb teeth of the contact layer.
As a result, it is possible to suppress current spreading in the stripe emission region in the direction of the stripe length to increase the current density, thereby further decreasing the threshold value and improving efficiency.
The region of the contact layer, which overlaps the Al oxide layer, contacts the contact electrodes and plays a role as a horizontal passage of a current. The horizontal current component includes a component flowing to the emission region, i.e., a component perpendicular to the stripe, and a component parallel to the stripe. Since the horizontal current component parallel to the stripe excessively decreases the current density in the emission region, it is preferable to remove this component.
Therefore, the region of the contact layer, which overlaps the Al oxide layer, is formed in a comb shape so that one contact electrode contacts only one comb tooth, thereby removing the horizontal current component parallel to the stripe. As a result, it is possible to suppress current spreading in the direction of the stripe length to increase the current density, thereby further decreasing the threshold value and improving efficiency.
(3) The contact layer is preferably a second conduction type in the stripe emission region, and thus a first conduction type region and second conduction type region are alternately formed in the region on the Al oxide layer in the direction of the stripe length so that the plurality of the independent contact electrodes respectively contact the second conduction type regions of the contact layer.
As a result, it is possible to suppress current spreading in the stripe emission region in the direction of the stripe length to increase the current density, thereby further decreasing the threshold value and improving efficiency.
The region of the contact layer, which is formed on the Al oxide layer, contacts the contact electrodes and plays a role as a horizontal passage of a current. The horizontal current component includes a component flowing to the emission region, i.e., a component perpendicular to the stripe, and a component parallel to the stripe. Since the horizontal current component parallel to the stripe excessively decreases the current density in the emission region, it is preferable to remove this component.
Therefore, in the region of the contact layer, which is formed above the Al oxide layer, the first and second conduction type regions are alternately formed in the direction of the stripe length so that one of the contact electrodes contacts only one second conduction type region, thereby removing the horizontal current component parallel to the stripe. As a result, it is possible to suppress current spreading in the stripe emission region in the direction of the stripe length to increase the current density, thereby further decreasing the threshold value and improving efficiency.
(4) The present invention comprises:
the step of forming a first reflecting mirror on a semiconductor substrate;
the step of forming multilayered semiconductor layers comprising at least an active layer, an AlAs layer and a contact layer on the first reflecting mirror;
the step of etching the multilayered semiconductor layers until the AlAs layer is exposed, leaving the contact layer in a stripe;
the step of oxidizing the entire exposed AlAs layer and the AlAs layer below the stripe contact layer by heat treatment at a temperature of 280 to 500xc2x0 C. in a nitrogen atmosphere containing water vapor to convert the AlAs layer to an Al oxide layer, leaving the AlAs layer having a predetermined width, to form a stripe AlAs layer surrounded by the Al oxide layer and having a width smaller than the width of the stripe contact layer;
the step of forming a plurality of independent contact electrodes so that the electrodes contact the upper side of the contact layer and do not overlap the stripe emission region; and
the step of forming a second reflecting mirror on the contact layer so as to completely cover at least the stripe emission region.
(5) In the step of etching the multilayered semiconductor layers until the AlAs layer is exposed, a dry etching method using only an inert gas is preferably used.
(6) The present invention comprises:
the step of forming a first reflecting mirror on a semiconductor substrate;
the step of forming multilayered semiconductor layers comprising at least an active layer, an AlAs layer and a contact layer on the first reflecting mirror;
the step of etching the multilayered semiconductor layers until the AlAs layer is exposed, leaving the contact layer in a stripe;
the step of oxidizing the entire exposed AlAs layer and the AlAs layer below the stripe contact layer by heat treatment at a temperature of 280 to 500xc2x0 C. in a nitrogen atmosphere containing water vapor to convert the AlAs layer to an Al oxide layer, leaving the AlAs layer having a predetermined width, to form a stripe AlAs layer surrounded by the Al oxide layer and having a width smaller than the width of the stripe contact layer;
the step of etching the contact layer on the Al oxide layer to form a comb-shaped contact layer;
the step of forming a plurality of independent contact electrodes so that the electrodes do not overlap the stripe emission region, and respectively contact the surfaces of the comb teeth of the contact layer and correspond to the comb teeth of the contact layer; and
the step of forming a second reflecting mirror on the contact layer so as to completely cover at least the stripe AlAs layer.
(7) In the step of etching the multilayered semiconductor layers until the AlAs layer is exposed, a dry etching method using only an inert gas is preferably used.
(8) The present invention comprises:
the step of forming a first reflecting mirror on a semiconductor substrate;
the step of forming multilayered semiconductor layers comprising at least an active layer, an AlAs layer and a contact layer on the first reflecting mirror;
the step of etching the multilayered semiconductor layers until the AlAs layer is exposed, leaving the contact layer in a stripe having at least one comb-shaped side;
the step of oxidizing the entire exposed AlAs layer and the AlAs layer below the stripe contact layer by heat treatment at a temperature of 280 to 500xc2x0 C. in a nitrogen atmosphere containing water vapor to convert the AlAs layer to an Al oxide layer, leaving the AlAs layer having a predetermined width, to form a stripe AlAs layer surrounded by the Al oxide layer and having a width smaller than the width of the stripe contact layer;
the step of forming a plurality of independent contact electrodes so that the electrodes do not overlap the stripe emission region, and respectively contact the surfaces of the comb teeth of the contact layer and correspond to the comb teeth of the contact layer; and
the step of forming a second reflecting mirror on the contact layer so as to completely cover at least the stripe AlAs layer.
(9) In the step of etching the multilayered semiconductor layers until the AlAs layer is exposed, a dry etching method using only an inert gas is preferably used.
(10) The present invention comprises:
the step of forming a first reflecting mirror comprising a first conduction type semiconductor layer on a semiconductor substrate;
the step of forming multilayered semiconductor layers comprising at least an active layer, a second conduction type AlAs layer and a first conduction type contact layer on the first reflecting mirror;
the step of etching the multilayered semiconductor layers until the AlAs layer is exposed, leaving the contact layer in a stripe;
the step of oxidizing the entire exposed AlAs layer and the AlAs layer below the stripe contact layer by heat treatment at a temperature of 280 to 500xc2x0 C. in a nitrogen atmosphere containing water vapor to convert the AlAs layer to an Al oxide layer, leaving the AlAs layer having a predetermined width, to form a stripe AlAs layer surrounded by the Al oxide layer and having a width smaller than the width of the stripe contact layer;
the step of impurity diffusion for partially making the first conduction type contact layer the second conduction type;
the step of forming a plurality of independent contact electrodes so that the electrodes contact the surface of the second conduction type region of the contact layer, which is formed on the Al oxide layer, and do not overlap the stripe emission region; and
the step of forming a second reflecting mirror on the contact layer so as to completely cover at least the stripe emission region.
A dry etching process for a compound semiconductor generally uses a reactive gas such as Cl2 or the like in order to increase the etching rate. However, in the present invention, particularly a gas having low reactivity, such as an inert gas or the like, is preferably used. The reason for this is the following. In the present invention, etching is finished when the AlAs layer is exposed in a wide range. However, since the AlAs layer has high reactivity, the use of a reactive gas causes excessive reaction of the exposed AlAs layer and the gas remaining on or adhering to the substrate surface in a chamber after the completion of etching, thereby causing surface deterioration.

Plane emission type semiconductor laser and method of manufacturing the same


A system for customizing treatments. The system includes a computing device configured to record a user biological extraction containing an element of user physiological data. The computing device is configured to receive condition state training data and generate a condition state model utilizing a first machine-learning algorithm. The computing device is configured to calculate a condition state label using the condition state model. The computing device is configured to select a treatment model utilizing the condition state label. The computing device is configured to generate a treatment model and output a plurality of treatments utilizing the treatment model.

Frequently, treatments are arbitrarily recommended based on current trends and stale literature. On occasion, uninformed treatment selection and implementation leads to adverse effects that create further harm as opposed to solving an underlying problem. Currently, there lacks measures that can detect and recommend treatments that are customized and unique to each individual.

Methods and systems for customizing treatments


A search system is obtained by combining a TCAM and a search engine not using the TCAM. The search engine not using the TCAM is constructed using a general-purpose memory cell structure, and includes a different-sized memory spaces each corresponding to an effective bit length of search target data.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a search system searching for a data word matching an input search key by a longest prefix match search, which is for example suitably used in a router of a packet-switched network.
Description of the Background Art
By a router provided in a network such as the Internet where a TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is used, forwarding, i.e. transferring a packet received from another host to another path, is performed. Each router stores a search table (a forwarding table) that defines the relation between an IP address and a path to a forwarding destination. The packet transfer path is determined in accordance with this search table. Specifically, a destination IP address included in the received packet is set as a search key and a next-hop IP address matching this search key is searched within the search table by a longest prefix match search.
In order to perform forwarding at a high speed, it is necessary to accelerate a search for the next-hop IP address within the search table. A content addressable memory (CAM) is often used as dedicated hardware for this purpose.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-5636 discloses an example in which a search table is configured using a TCAM (Ternary CAM). Specifically, the TCAM in this document includes a first CAM entry for setting higher-order bits of an IP address and a second CAM entry for setting lower-order bits of the IP address. The higher-order bits of the destination address of the received packet are compared with the first CAM entry, and then, the lower-order bits of the destination address of the received packet are compared with the second CAM entry.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-143198 discloses an example of a search table for which a TCAM is not used. Specifically, each bit of the transferred IP address is compared to a corresponding bit of an IP address defined within a forwarding table sequentially from the highest-order bit. Particularly, this document proposes a method of referring to the IP address by a plurality of bits in order to shorten the time required for forwarding.
According to the search method using a TCAM as disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-5636, the number of times of comparison between the search key and the search table can be decreased, but there is a disadvantage that power consumption is increased since a TCAM device is used. On the other hand, according to the search method not using a TCAM as disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-143198, comparison between the search key and the search table can be conducted with extremely little power consumption, but there is also a disadvantage that forwarding becomes time-consuming due to the increased number of times of search.

Search system comprising first and second search units with different search schemes that respectively use specific and non-specific bit strings of search key


A capacitive sensing system (100) can connect groups of capacitive sensors (112-1 to 112-N) to a common node (106) to detect change in capacitance. States of a set of capacitive sensors (112-1 to 112-N) can thus be scanned faster than approaches that scan such sensors one-by-one. Faster scanning can allow for reduced power consumption in applications that only periodically scan the set of capacitive sensors (112-1 to 112-N).

Capacitive sensors can provide a change in capacitance that represents the proximity of a sensed object. As but one very particular example, capacitive sensors can detect the presence of a pointing object, such as a finger, stylus, or pen. In such an application, an array of capacitive sensors can be scanned, and thereby serve as a pointing device in an electronic system (e.g., portable music player, personal digital assistant, tablet personal computer (PC), notebook PC, desktop PC, to name but a few). Capacitive sensors can be more robust and/or compact than other types of sensors that may include moving parts or more complex position detection approaches.
As understood from above, capacitive sensors can be used in portable devices, such as those operating off of a battery power supply. Reducing power consumption in such portable devices remains an ongoing goal. Accordingly, any reduction in the current draw of a capacitive sensing arrangement would be a welcome step in furthering the battery life of the corresponding device.
To better understand various features of the disclosed embodiment, a conventional capacitive sensing arrangement will now be described.
A conventional capacitive sensing system is set forth in FIG. 7 and designated by the general reference character 700. A system 700 can include an integrated circuit device 702 and a number of capacitive sensors 7041 to 704-N. Each capacitive sensor (704-1 to 704-N) can present a capacitance that can vary according to an input event. For example, a capacitive sensor (704-1 to 704-N) can include an electrode arranged within an array of like electrodes.
An integrated circuit device 702 can include a number of inputs 706-1 to 706-N, switching devices 710-1 to 710-N, a controller section 712, and a sense section 714. Each input (706-1 to 706-N) can be connected to a capacitive sensor (704-1 to 704-N) by a corresponding switching device (710-1 to 710-N). Each switching device (710-1 to 710-N) can be controlled according to a corresponding switching signal SW1 to SWN, and can connect a corresponding input (706-1 to 706-N) to a common node 708.
A controller section 712 can activate individual switching signals to thereby allow scanning of inputs (706-1 to 706-N). A sensing section 714 can determine when the capacitance at a scanned input increases due to an input event.
The general operation of the system of FIG. 7 is shown in a flow diagram in FIG. 8, and designated by the general reference character 800. A method 800 can include selecting a sensor (step 802). Once selected, a charge and dump (step 804) can occur at the resulting capacitor to generate a value representing the sensed capacitance. More particularly, one capacitor can be charged and then connected in parallel to a second capacitor to share accumulated charge. If the value does not reach a threshold (N from 806), a method can return to 804, to repeat that step until the threshold is reached. Once the threshold is reached (Y from 806), a determination can be made on whether an input event has occurred (step 807) (e.g., by measuring the number of times step 804 was repeated to reach the threshold). After this determination, the method can select a next electrode (step 808).
In this way, a set of capacitive sensors can be individually scanned, one-by-one to determine if a change of capacitance has occurred.
While the above conventional approach can provide a suitable method for detecting capacitive sensors of an input device, as noted above, it remains a continuing goal to arrive at some way of reducing the power consumption presented by such arrangements.
One approach to reducing power in a capacitive sensing arrangement like that of FIG. 7 is shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows a portion of a sensing section, like that shown as 714 in FIG. 7. A sensing section 900 can include two selectable capacitors CA and CS coupled to a common node 908. Capacitor CA can have a greater capacitance than capacitor CS. In an active mode, capacitor CA can be coupled to node 908 while capacitor CS can be isolated from node 908. Thus capacitor CA can serve as an integrating capacitor used to detect a change in capacitance.
In contrast, in a standby mode, capacitor CS can be coupled to node 908 while capacitor CA can be isolated from node 908. Thus, smaller capacitor CS can serve as an integrating capacitor. Such smaller integrating capacitor CS can enable a faster scan of all sensors, and thus reduce power when such scans are performed periodically.
A drawback to an arrangement like that of FIG. 9 can be the increase in circuit components of the resulting system, as well as the need for an extra input to accommodate the second capacitor.
In light of the above, it would be desirable to arrive at some way of reducing power consumption and/or increasing the scanning speed in a capacitive sensing system that does not suffer from the drawbacks of the above conventional approaches.

Scan method and topology for capacitive sensing


Signed objects and sealed objects can be generated using embodiments of the invention. A signed object is an object that has an associated digital signature that can be used to authenticate the object. A sealed object is an object that is encrypted to limit access to only authorized entities. A signedObject class is used to create, maintain and authenticate a signed object. A sealed object is created, maintained, and authenticated using a sealedObject class. Nesting can be used to provide multiple levels of signing and/or sealing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to signing and sealing objects.
2. Background Art
An object-oriented runtime environment includes objects that contain both behavior and state. An object's state at runtime evolves in the runtime environment. Because a runtime object evolves, it is considered to be "live." It may become necessary to distribute a runtime object across systemic boundaries. In a secure environment, it may be desired to first authenticate a distributed runtime object before it is used. A mechanism is needed for authenticating "live" objects. Further, a mechanism is needed to secure, or seal, a runtime object.
Authentication is a process used in secure systems for verifying static information. For example, authentication is used to verify the origin of the authenticated information. If the information is identified as being from a trusted source, the information is considered valid.
Authentication is typically performed by creating a signature that is attached to the information. A recipient uses the signature to verify the information. Typically, the originator of the information uses a private key (a key known only to the originator of the information and signature) to generate a digital signature that is attached to the information. The recipient of the information uses the attached signature and a public key (a key generated using the private key that is distributed to the public) to verify the signature thereby verifying the information.
There are many algorithms for signing information. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has proposed the Digital Signature Standard (DSS) that uses the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA). According to DSS and DSA, a signature is comprised of two parts, r and s, that are generated using a set of transformations that operate on a private key, a random number, the hash of the message, and three publicly-known parameters. The components of the signature, r and s, are sent to a recipient. To verify or authenticate the signature, the recipient generates a value for r using a public key (generated from the private key). The set of transformations performed by the recipient operate using s, the public key, the hash of the message, and the publicly-known parameters. If the value of r that is generated using the public key is the same as the value of r that is generated with the private key, the signature is verified.
The variables that are used in DSA are as follows:
p: 512–1024—bit prime number
q: 160—bit prime factor of p−1
h: a value less than p−1 and where h(p−1)/q mod p>1
g: h(p−1)/q mod p
y: gx mod p
x: <q
The variable, x, is the private key and y is the public key. As can be seen from the variable definitions, the private key, x, is used to generate the public key, y. To generate a signature, a random number, k, is determined that is less than q. The signature is comprised of both r and s which are generated as follows:r=(gkmodp)modq s=(k−1(H(m)+xr))modq
In calculating s, the information for which the signature is being created is input to a hash (e.g., using a one-way hash) function to generate H(m). Thus, the information is used to generate the signature. The signature is sent along with the information, or message, to the recipient. The recipient verifies the signature by computing a value for r, v. If v is the same as r, then the signature is verified. The recipient calculates v as follows:w=s−1modq u1=(H(m)*w)modq u2=(rw)modq v=((gu1*yu2)modp)modq
The recipient uses the public key, y, to verify the signature. If the calculated signature, v, is the same as the signature, r, the signature is verified and the information is thereby verified. Thus, the information is authenticated by authenticating a signature attached to the information.
Another aspect of security is ensuring that the information itself is read only by authorized persons. Access to information that is considered sensitive is limited by encoding the information such that only an authorized person can decode the information. A system for encoding and decoding information is referred to as a cryptographic system (or cryptosystem).
A cryptographic system is a system for sending a message from a sender to a receiver over a medium so that the message is "secure", that is, so that only the intended receiver can recover the message. A cryptographic system (or cryptosystem) converts a message, referred to as "plaintext" into an encrypted format, known as "ciphertext." The encryption is accomplished by manipulating or transforming the message using a "cipher key" or keys. The receiver "decrypts" the message, that is, converts it from ciphertext to plaintext, by reversing the manipulation or transformation process using the cipher key or keys. So long as only the sender and receiver have knowledge of the cipher key, such an encrypted transmission is secure.
A "classical" cryptosystem is a cryptosystem in which the enciphering information can be used to determine the deciphering information. To provide security, a classical cryptosystem requires that the enciphering key be kept secret and provided to users of the system over secure channels. Secure channels, such as secret couriers, secure telephone transmission lines, or the like, are often impractical and expensive.
A system that eliminates the difficulties of exchanging a secure enciphering key is known as "public key encryption." By definition, a public key cryptosystem has the property that someone who knows only how to encipher a message cannot use the enciphering key to find the deciphering key without a prohibitively lengthy computation. An enciphering function is chosen so that once an enciphering key is known, the enciphering function is relatively easy to compute. However, the inverse of the encrypting transformation function is difficult, or computationally infeasible, to compute. Such a function is referred to as a "one way function" or as a "trap door function." In a public key cryptosystem, certain information relating to the keys is public. This information can be, and often is, published or transmitted in a non-secure manner. Also, certain information relating to the keys is private. This information may be distributed over a secure channel to protect its privacy (or may be created by a local user to ensure privacy).
One example of an encryption/decryption scheme is the Data Encryption Algorithm (DEA) defined in ANSI X3.92 and also referred to as the Data Encryption Standard (DES). The DEA uses arithmetic and logical operations on binary representations of the key and the information to perform the transformation. In a binary numbering system, numbers are represented as a series of binary digits, or bits. A bit can have a value of either zero or one. Thus, a key and the information to be transformed are represented as a series of zeroes and ones.
The DEA performs multiple iterations, or rounds, on a block of bits during the transformation. A block of the information, or data, 64 bits in length is operated on at one time. It is split in half and a permutation is performed on the right half to expand its 32-bits into 48 bits. A 48-bit representation of the key is selected for use in the transformation. The following are examples of the resulting key and data 48-bit portions:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. . .46 47 48key481 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0. . .0 0 1data480 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1. . .1 0 1
The key and data portions are combined using an "exclusive-or" (XOR) logical operation. An XOR operation yields the value of one if and only if one of its operands is equal to one. For example, if the first bits in the key and data are XOR'd the result would be one. If the forty-eighth bits are XOR'd, the result would be zero. The XOR operation yields a 48-bit result each bit being the result of an XOR operation between two bits from the key and the data. A series of substitutions are performed on the XOR result which produce thirty-two new bits and a permutation is performed on the new bits. The result is XOR'd with the left half of the 64-bit block. The left and right halves are switched and another iteration, or round, begins. A more detailed explanation of the DEA is provided in Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C, Schneier, B., John Wiler & Sons, Inc. (1996) and is incorporated herein by reference.
The authentication mechanism currently available authenticates static information. A runtime object is not static. Similarly, the current encryption mechanisms are used to encrypt static information. A mechanism is needed for signing and/or sealing a "live" object such as one that exists in a runtime environment.

Method and apparatus for signing and sealing objects


A transmission shift lever interlock comprises a locking cam and a latch. The locking cam engages the shift lever as it is moved to or from the park position. A bias spring normally moves the latch into engagement with the cam when the shift lever is moved from the park position to prevent movement of the cam to lock the shift lever. The latch is held out of engagement with the cam, however, by a holding solenoid when the brakes are applied. The cam is able to rotate and allow the shift lever to be moved to the park position regardless of whether the solenoid is energized.

Interlock mechanisms for controlling the operation of the shift lever of an automobile transmission are known. In general, these mechanisms are utilized to prevent movement of the shift lever from a given position until certain prescribed conditions are met. For example, it is usually desirable for the interlock mechanism to prevent shifting an automatic transmission from the park position when the engine is running unless the driver has applied the brakes.
One prior interlock utilizes a solenoid for controlling a latch, which engages a movable part of the shift mechanism in the form of a bar. The latch captures the bar when in the locked position and releases the bar when in the unlocked position. The logic of this arrangement is that the solenoid holds the latch in the locked position when the solenoid is energized and allows the latch to be moved from the locked position when the solenoid is not energized. Thus, in that system, the transmission is prevented from shifting from the park position only when the ignition is on and the solenoid energized.
Other known interlock mechanisms use a solenoid to hold a lock member in the locked position when the solenoid is energized.
These prior interlock mechanisms are mechanically complicated and require the solenoid to be energized to activate the interlock. This means that the interlock only works when the ignition is on and that the solenoid is always energized when the ignition is on and the brakes not applied. Constant energization of the solenoid places additional physical demands on the solenoid itself and requires a continuous supply of electric current. The requirement for a continuous supply of current is a particular disadvantage in electric cars. It is possible to employ an electronic circuit that senses when the transmission has been shifted out of the park position to deactivate the solenoid, but these systems are more complicated and require an additional element to sense when the transmission is not in "park". These park sensing system have also been used to eliminate the clicking sound of the solenoid heard by the driver as the brakes are activated or released.
Interlocks are also known that operate when the ignition is off. These systems, however, have required separate mechanical elements such as a slide mechanism.


An apparatus for purging an article such as a tire of moisture and other impurities and for inflating the article with dry pure gas. The apparatus includes a four way valve; a gas input assembly communicatively connected to the valve; a vacuum generator communicatively connected to the valve; and an article interface assembly communicatively connected to the valve. A method of purging and inflating an article, includes the steps of establishing fluid communication between an article and a valve; establishing a pressurized fluid communication between the valve and a source of pressurized gas; establishing a fluid connection between the valve and a vacuum generator whereby pressurized gas flows through the vacuum generator to the atmosphere and fluid in the article flows through the vacuum generator to the atmosphere; and establishing a fluid connection via the valve whereby pressurized gas flows to the article.

1. Field
The present invention relates, generally, to article inflation and purging apparatus and methods. More particularly, the invention relates to tire inflation and purging apparatus and methods. Most particularly, the invention relates to a system, apparatus and method for purging tires of specialty and high performance vehicle tires of moisture and impurities and for inflating such tires with clean dry air or gas. The invention is especially suitable for high performance racing automobile tires. The techniques of the invention can also be used in other fields wherein inflation or pressurization of articles, particularly inflatable articles, is required, such as but not limited to, aviation, aeronautics, military technology and the like.
2. Background Information
Existing technology, in general, includes various apparatus and/or methods for inflating pneumatic articles such as tires. In the past, tires of cars, trucks, industrial or agricultural machinery, tractors, buses, carts, aircraft, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles and the like have been inflated with compressed air. Common means of inflation include fixed and portable compressors, small pumps, hand pumps and the like. These means are satisfactory for most tire applications. However, specialized tires on specialty vehicles such as high performance racing automobiles and aircraft for example, have specialized inflation needs for which traditional means are unsatisfactory. In particular, compressed ambient air typically contains moisture and potentially other impurities which negatively effects the performance of racing tires running at high speeds and high temperatures. Also, moisture and impurities may also effect performance of aircraft tires which are subject to extremes of both high and low temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,198 issued to Smalley on Oct. 19, 1999 for a tire evacuation and inflation apparatus and method. Smalley discloses an apparatus and method for evacuating a tire of moisture via a vacuum pump and for inflating the tire with relatively expensive Nitrogen gas. The apparatus and method of Smalley require a three way ball valve.
The above described background technology is believed to have significant limitations and shortcomings in terms of providing an optimum combination of functionality, reliability, and speed and ease of use. Thus, a need exists for the present invention.
All US patents and patent applications, and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.


A motorcycle is provided having an engine disposed between a front wheel and a rear wheel and functional components, e.g., a first radiator, a fuel pump, a rear shock absorber, etc., are arranged, as viewed from the side, on a circumference of a circle with a radius R corresponding to a distance from a crankshaft, serving as a center, to a corner of an oil pan, serving as a part of the engine most distant from the crankshaft, to concentrate the functional components of the motorcycle at positions substantially equidistant from the crankshaft of the engine whereby a mass concentration toward the vehicle body center of a motorcycle is achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in a motorcycle.
2. Description of Background Art
A motorcycle is known which includes a radiator arranged in front of an engine and with a battery arranged between the radiator and the engine. See, for example, JP-A NO. 2003-291873.
As shown in FIG. 1 of JP-A NO. 2003-291873, a motorcycle 10 is a vehicle with a V-type engine 13 arranged between a front wheel 42 and a rear wheel 17. A radiator 48 is arranged between the front wheel 42 and the engine 13. A battery 51 is arranged behind the radiator 48 and in front of an oil pan 52 of the engine 13. Exhaust pipes 23 to 25 extend rearwardly from the front part of a cylinder head 21 and are provided at a cylinder part at the front side of the engine 13. The exhaust pipes are collected together and then connected to a right muffler 26. Exhaust pipes 31 and 32 extend rearwardly from a cylinder head 28 provided at a cylinder part at the rear side of the engine 13. The exhaust pipes are collected together to connect to a center muffler 33. A fuel tank 35 is provided with a built-in fuel pump 36 arranged at the upper back of the engine 13. A rear shock absorber 16 is arranged behind the engine 13.
For example, for a sports vehicle for use in races or the like, it has been desired, for the purpose of improving the operating performance such as the turning performance or the like, that the arrangement of functional components such as the radiator 48, battery 51, exhaust pipes 23 to 25, 31, and 32, fuel pump 36, rear shock absorber 16 and the like described above should be positioned so as to achieve further a mass concentration toward the vehicle body center.


A low phase noise voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) and method are provided. The VCO comprises a negative resistance generator and a resonator that reduces VCO phase noise.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic circuits, and more particularly a voltage-controlled oscillator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communication needs worldwide have increased dramatically in the last few years, particularly in the amount of devices being used and the demand for higher data rates. The amount of available radiofrequency (RF) spectrum is limited, and the result has been an incredible increase in the licensing costs for specific frequency bands. The limited frequency spectrum has prompted telecommunication equipment manufacturers to either decrease the amount of bandwidth required for a specific data rate or to increase the data rate while staying within a specified bandwidth.
The highest data rate that a RF communication system can handle is generally determined by the type of modulation scheme used by the communication system. One of the most spectrally-efficient modulation schemes currently available is Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). There are many parameters in a RF system that can limit the order of QAM used. One of the main parameters is xe2x80x98phase noise.xe2x80x99 A high proportion of phase noise is generated by local oscillators (LOs) used in frequency conversion in a RF system. Many local oscillators use a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) within a phase locked loop (PLL) to generate a highly stable local oscillation with low phase noise.
A low phase noise voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is provided in accordance with the present invention. In one embodiment, the VCO comprises a negative resistance generator and a resonator structure that reduces VCO phase noise. The VCO uses the reflection properties of the resonator.
An advantage of one embodiment of the VCO is its relatively low cost of manufacture compared to other VCOs. Another advantage of one embodiment of the VCO is its high performance capability.
Another advantage of one embodiment of the VCO is its lower phase noise compared to conventional microstrip resonators. In one embodiment, low phase noise performance is achieved by tuning the outside fingers of an interdigital filter resonator in the VCO and configuring suitable physical dimensions of the resonator.
One aspect of the invention relates to a voltage-controlled oscillator comprising a resonator and a negative resistance generator. The resonator comprises a three-finger interdigital filter and a plurality of varactors. A first varactor is coupled to a first finger of the interdigital filter and a ground terminal. A second varactor is coupled to a third finger of the interdigital filter and a ground terminal. A second finger of the interdigital filter is coupled to a ground terminal. The first and second varactors are configured to alter a resonant frequency of the interdigital filter to a desired frequency in response to a tuning voltage applied to the resonator.
The negative resistance generator is coupled to the resonator. The negative resistance generator is configured to receive a first signal with a particular frequency from the resonator. The negative resistance generator is configured to output a second signal with a substantially similar frequency and a higher amplitude compared to the first signal.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of generating an oscillating signal at a desired frequency. The method comprises applying a tuning voltage to a resonator. The resonator comprises an interdigital filter and a plurality of varactors. The interdigital filter comprises a first finger, a second finger and a third finger. The first finger is coupled to a first varactor, and the third finger is coupled to a second varactor. The method further comprises using the tuning voltage to alter a resonant frequency of the interdigital filter to generate a signal with a desired oscillation frequency.

Low phase noise voltage-controlled oscillator and method of using the same


There is provided a flexible touch screen panel capable of being bent or folded. The flexible touch screen panel includes a film substrate and sensing electrodes formed in an active area of at least one surface of the film substrate. The film substrate is divided into a plurality regions so that elongation ratios differ between regions of the film substrate. Also provided is a method of manufacturing a flexible touch screen panel including providing a supporting substrate including a plurality of distinct regions, coating a plurality of film materials onto the supporting substrate, the distinct regions of the supporting substrate being coated with different film materials, hardening the film materials to form a film substrate, forming touch sensing patterns including sensing electrodes on the film substrate, and separating the supporting substrate and the film substrate from each other.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible touch screen panel and a method of manufacturing the same, and, more particularly, to a flexible touch screen panel capable of being bent or folded and a method of manufacturing the same.
Description of the Related Art
A touch screen panel is an image display device that gives a user the ability to select from content displayed on the screen of the device using a human hand or an object to input the command of the user.
Accordingly, the touch screen panel is provided on the front face of the image display device to convert a contact position of the human hand or the object into an electrical signal. The content selected by the contact position is received as an input signal.
Since the touch screen panel may replace an additional input device that would otherwise be coupled to the image display device, such as a keyboard and a mouse, touch screens are gradually growing in popularity.
Methods of realizing a touch screen panel include a resistance layer method, a photo-sensing method, and an electro-capacitive method. Among the above methods, the widely used electro-capacitive touch screen panel senses a change in capacitance formed in a conductive sensing cell with another peripheral sensing cell or a ground electrode when the human hand or the object such as a stylus pen contacts the touch screen panel to convert the contact position into the electrical signal.
The electro-capacitive touch screen panel is commonly attached to the external surface of an image display device, such as one of a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic light emitting display (OLED). Therefore, the touch screen panel requires high transparency and a thin film characteristic.
In addition, recently, development of a flexible image display device having a flexible touch screen panel attached onto a flexible image display has been underway.
The conventional touch screen panel includes sensing cells formed on a glass substrate of a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO) and is not flexible.
In order to apply the conventional touch screen panel concept to the flexible image display device, a method of using a flexible thin film such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as the substrate of the touch screen panel is suggested. However, when the thin film is used as the substrate of the touch screen panel and the ultimate deformation ratio is small, the touch screen panel has limited flexibility in that it cannot be bended or folded and is therefore of limited use.

Flexible touch screen panel and method of manufacturing the same

Samsung-ro, Giheung-Gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-Do


The present invention provides assays and methods for efficiently testing a polynucleotide of interest for a phenotype in a root. In some embodiments, the assays and methods include regenerating green tissue that is transgenic for at least one polynucleotide of interest into one or more transgenic plantlets that have at least one transgenic root. Further provided are methods of making a root assay by contacting green tissue with a first rooting medium to produce a plantlet and a plurality of roots. Additionally provided are methods of assaying for insecticidal activity on a live root. Accordingly provided herein is a substantially contamination-free, root bioassay. Further provided are methods of identifying a promoter having activity in a root.

The economic value of roots arise not only from harvested roots, but also from the ability of roots to alter the soil in which they grow and to funnel nutrients to support growth and increase vegetative material, seeds, fruits, etc.
Roots have four main functions. First, they anchor the plant in the soil. Second, they facilitate and regulate the molecular signals and molecular traffic between the plant, soil and soil fauna. Third, the root provides a plant with nutrients gained from the soil or growth medium. Fourth, they condition local soil chemical and physical properties. Roots arise from meristems cells that are protected by a root cap during root elongation, but as the root grows out, the cap cells abscise and the remaining cells differentiate to the tip. Depending on the plant species, some surface cells of roots can develop into root hairs. Some roots persist for the life of the plant, others gradually shorten as the ends slowly die back and some may cease to function altogether due to external influences.
Because plants are sessile organisms, their survival is critically dependent on rapid adaptation to environmental changes. In the soil, change can arise from alteration of the concentration of oxygen or carbon dioxide, nutrient availability, the presence (or absence) of microorganisms and overall soil humidity. For example, oxygen levels in the rhizosphere decrease rapidly during flooding. Hypoxic or anoxic conditions occur in submerged plant tissues and can have lasting effects on the subsequent growth and/or development of the plant.
Roots are also the sites of intense chemical and biological activities and as a result can strongly modify the soil they contact. For example, roots secrete a wide variety of high and low molecular weight molecules into the rhizosphere in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. They are also capable of absorbing toxic substances from the soil and then storing or modifying the toxins, resulting in soil improvement.
Roots coat themselves with surfactants and mucilage to facilitate these types of activities. Specifically, roots attract and interact with beneficial microfauna and flora that help to mitigate the effects of toxic chemicals, pathogens and stress in addition to facilitating water and nutrient assimilation and mobilization. Nutrients can take the form of ions and organic and inorganic compounds. Uptake of nutrients by roots produces a "source-sink" effect in a plant. The greater the source of nutrients, the larger "sinks" (such as stems, leaves, flowers, seeds, fruits, etc.) can grow.
Currently, transient gene expression has been applied to dicot species using the hairy root system to do a quick gene testing in roots, but establishing the hairy root system for maize and delivering transgenes in roots using Agrobacterium rhizogenes has been difficult. Generating transgenic maize plants with a callus tissue system by standard protocols uses a whole cycle of the transformation process which is a time-consuming process.
To date, there is only limited ability to efficiently and quickly test genes and root promoters in vivo in a root, for example, to assess the strength of a promoter in a root, to assess a gene's effect on the tolerance of roots to pests that attack roots (e.g., insects, fungi, bacteria, viruses, or nematodes) or to assess a gene's effect on the nutritional composition of roots for human food or animal feed applications. Thus a need exists for a highly efficient way to test polynucleotides in the root of a plant and generate plants expressing them in the root.


A method for the formation of a luminescent layer having a uniform thickness in a desired pattern and an organic electroluminescent device that can realize high-quality display and is highly reliable. The luminescent layer is formed by providing a blanket having a resin film having a surface tension of not less than 35 dynes/cm as a surface layer and an ink for a luminescent layer, having a viscosity (ink temperature 23° C.) in the range of 5 to 200 cP as measured at a shear rate of 100/sec, and containing a solvent having a surface tension of not more than 40 dynes/cm and a boiling temperature in the range of 150 to 250° C., filling the ink into cells in a gravure form, allowing the blanket to receive the ink from the cells, and transferring the ink on the blanket onto a luminescent layer forming face.

Organic electroluminescent (EL) elements are advantageous, for example, in that they have high visibility by virtue of a self-luminous type, are solid state displays unlike liquid crystal displays, are less likely to be influenced by a temperature change, and have a large view angle. These advantages have recently led to a trend toward the practical use of these organic electroluminescent elements as organic electroluminescent devices such as full-color display devices, area color display devices, and lighting.
In organic electroluminescent elements, organic luminescent materials constituting the luminescent layer are classified into low molecular type and high molecular type. For example, the high molecular type luminescent layer can be formed by various printing methods or ink jet printing methods, using organic luminescent material-containing inks for a luminescent layer. For example, a method has been proposed in which a luminescent layer is formed by an offset printing method which comprises receiving a thixotropic organic luminescent material-containing ink having a viscosity of 100 to 60000 cP in a silicone blanket from an intaglio and then transferring the ink onto a substrate in a sheet form (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 93668/2001). Further, a method has also been proposed in which a luminescent layer is formed by an offset printing method which comprises providing an ink comprising an organic luminescent material contained in a solvent having a water solubility of not more than 5% by weight, receiving the ink in a blanket from an intaglio and then transferring the ink onto a substrate (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 291587/2001). Furthermore, a method has been proposed which comprises feeding an ink containing an organic luminescent material onto the surface of a silicone blanket through a gravure roll to form a coating film, pressing the coating film by a relief plate, removing the coating film in its pressed sites, and then transferring the coating film remaining on the surface of the silicone blanket onto a film forming face to form a luminescent layer (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 178915/2004).
Furthermore, a method has been proposed in which a luminescent layer is formed by an intaglio offset printing method which comprise providing an ink containing an organic luminescent material and a blanket formed of a silicone elastomer, which, when immersed in a solvent used in this ink, exhibits a volume change of not more than 40%, transferring the ink from the concave part in an intaglio onto the blanket, and further transferring the ink onto a substrate (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 308973/2003). Furthermore, a full-color or area-color display device has been proposed as an organic electroluminescent device (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 111158/2004). This device is formed by providing an insulating layer in a desired pattern on an anode formed substrate, forming a luminescent element layer including a luminescent layer on an electrode pattern in an insulating layer-free area (luminescence display area), and forming a cathode in a desired pattern on the insulating layer so as to contact with the luminescent element layer.

Method for luminescent layer formation and organic electroluminescent device


A semiconductor laser device comprises: a first light-emitting element having a first laser part, an insulating layer, and an ohmic electrode layer; and a second light-emitting element having a second laser part, an insulating layer, and an ohmic electrode layer. The first laser part has a ridge waveguide, and is formed by stacking thin films of group-III nitride compound semiconductors (for example, GaN-based semiconductors). The second laser part has a ridge waveguide, and is formed by stacking thin films of group III–V compound semiconductors (such as GaAs). The first laser part and the second laser part are integrally bonded to each other by the interposition of an adhesive metal layer which is formed between the ohmic electrode layers. This provides the semiconductor laser device with a small distance between the light-emitting spots of the laser parts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser device for emitting a plurality of laser beams having different wavelengths and a method of manufacturing the same.
The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-374635, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a semiconductor laser device called multi-wavelength laser for emitting a plurality of laser beams having different wavelengths has been under research and development.
For example, in the field of data recording and reproducing apparatuses with storage media called optical discs, typified by CDs (Compact Discs), DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs), etc., it has been of importance to develop a semiconductor laser device which can emit a plurality of laser beams having different wavelengths. The aim is to develop an optical pickup which has compatibility with various CDs, DVDs, and the like commercialized heretofore and can cope with new storage media capable of recording at higher densities.
For such a semiconductor laser device, ones having a hybrid structure have been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-230502: hereinafter, referred to as patent document 1) in order to solve difficulties in implementing it as a monolithic semiconductor device.
As disclosed in FIG. 1 of the foregoing patent document 1, the semiconductor laser device comprises a first light-emitting element and a second light-emitting element which are manufactured on chips separately. The first light-emitting element has a GaN-based laser part which is formed on a first substrate and emits a laser beam of short wavelength (for example, in a 400-nm waveband). The second light-emitting element has an AlGaInP-based laser part and an AlGaAs-based laser part which are formed in parallel on a second substrate and emit laser beams of longer wavelengths (for example, in 600- to 700-nm wavebands). These first and second light-emitting elements on chips are stacked and mounted on a support substrate (so-called submount) to achieve the semiconductor laser device of hybrid structure.
Here, the first light-emitting element is mounted on the support substrate with its GaN-based laser part between the first substrate and the support substrate. The second light-emitting element is mounted-on the first light-emitting element via the first substrate with its AlGaInP-based and AlGaAs-based laser parts interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.
Consequently, in this structure, the GaN-based laser part for emitting a laser beam of short wavelength (for example, in a 400-nm waveband) is attached to the support substrate, the AlGaInP-based and AlGaAs-based laser parts for emitting laser beams of longer wavelengths (for example, in 600- to 700-nm wavebands) are attached to the GaN-based laser part via the first substrate, and the second substrate is located on these AlGaInP-based and AlGaAs-based laser parts.
This semiconductor laser devices is then mounted on an optical pickup. The GaN-based laser part emits the laser beam of short wavelength to perform information recording or information reproduction on a storage medium capable of high-density recording. The AlGaInP-based and AlGaAs-based laser parts emit the laser beams of longer wavelengths to perform information recording or information reproduction on various CDs, DVDs, and the like commercialized heretofore. Thus, a compatible optical system is realized.
By the way, the conventional semiconductor laser devices, as described above, have the structure that the first light-emitting element and the second light-emitting element are manufactured as separate semiconductor chips in advance and the first and second light-emitting elements on chips are stacked and mounted on the support substrate (submount). The light-emitting elements on chips must therefore be aligned and assembled with extremely high precision so that the light-emitting elements emit the respective laser beams from their cleavages in the same direction. This means a problem of extremely complicated manufacturing steps, for example, in manufacturing semiconductor laser devices intended for an optical pickup.
In the conventional semiconductor laser devices, the GaN-based laser part of the first light-emitting element is mounted close to the support substrate while the AlGaInP-based and AlGaAs-based laser parts of the second light-emitting element are mounted on the first substrate which the first light-emitting element is provided with.
According to this structure, however, the first substrate which has a large thickness lies between the first and second light-emitting elements. As also discussed in the foregoing patent document 1, the first substrate (GaN substrate) typically has a thickness of the order of 100 μm. This produces the problem that the position of emission of the laser beam from the GaN-based laser part (the position of the light-emitting spot) and the positions of emission of the laser beams from the AlGaInP-based and AlGaAs-based laser parts (the positions of the light-emitting spots) are wide apart. In short, there occurs the problem that the distance between the light-emitting spots of the laser beams increases.
For example, take the case where an optical pickup incorporates this semiconductor laser device for information recording or information reproduction. If the position of emission of the GaN-based laser part (the position of the light-emitting spot) is centered to the optical axis of the optical system constituting the optical pickup, then the direction of the laser beams emitted from the AlGaInP-based and AlGaAs-based laser parts may deviate greatly from the optical axis of the optical system owing to the thickness of the first substrate. This can sometimes cause aberrations and the like.
In another case, a prism or any other optical element may be added to eliminate the adverse effect of the thickness of the first substrate, for example, in order that the laser beam emitted from the GaN-based laser part and the laser beams emitted from the AlGaInP-based and AlGaAs-based laser parts are all centered to the optical axis of the optical system in the optical pickup. This, however, produces such problems as an increased parts count.

Semiconductor laser device and method of manufacturing the same


Optically clear curable adhesive films that are heat conformable prior to setting include a reactive composition. The curable films are flexible and free-standing, and have a complex viscosity of greater than 100,000 poise (10,000 Pascal seconds) at 25° C. and less than 100 poise (10 Pascal seconds) at 85° C., prior to setting. The set film has an adhesive shear strength of greater than 100 Newtons per square centimeter (N/cm2) to a glass substrate when measured according to the Shear Adhesion Test Method. The reactive composition includes an ethylenically unsaturated polyester-containing oligomeric composition that is the reaction product of a saturated, amorphous co-polyester polyol and a compound with a terminal polyol-reactive group and a terminal ethylenically unsaturated group, a (meth)acrylate functional material, and at least one initiator.

Adhesives have been used for a variety of marking, holding, protecting, sealing and masking purposes. One type of adhesive, a pressure sensitive adhesive, is particularly preferred for many applications. A closely related type of adhesive are heat activated adhesives. Unlike pressure sensitive adhesives, heat activated adhesives are not tacky at room temperature but become tacky upon heating. Another class of adhesives are called curable or set adhesives. These materials adhere to substrates in the uncured state, but upon curing or setting form hardened permanent adhesive bonds.
Pressure sensitive adhesives are well known to one of ordinary skill in the art to possess certain properties at room temperature including the following: (1) aggressive and permanent tack, (2) adherence with no more than finger pressure, (3) sufficient ability to hold onto an adherend, and (4) sufficient cohesive strength to be removed cleanly from the adherend. Materials that have been found to function well as pressure sensitive adhesives are polymers designed and formulated to exhibit the requisite viscoelastic properties resulting in a desired balance of tack, peel adhesion, and shear strength. The most commonly used polymers for preparation of pressure sensitive adhesives are natural rubber, synthetic rubbers (e.g., styrene/butadiene copolymers (SBR) and styrene/isoprene/styrene (SIS) block copolymers), various (meth)acrylate (e.g., acrylate and methacrylate) copolymers and silicones. Each of these classes of materials has advantages and disadvantages.
Heat activated adhesives are non-tacky at room temperature but become tacky and capable of bonding to a substrate at elevated temperatures. These adhesives usually have a Tg (glass transition temperature) or melting point (Tm) above room temperature. When the temperature is elevated above the Tg or Tm, the storage modulus usually decreases and the adhesive becomes tacky.
Among the growing uses for adhesive materials is their use in optical devices. In some applications the adhesives are used to bond optical films or substrates and thus are optically clear so as to not interfere with light passing through the device. Among the adhesives that have been developed for these uses are curable adhesives that can be applied as a liquid and then cured to form an optical laminate, or pressure sensitive or heat activated adhesives that are applied to an optical film or substrate and laminated to optical substrates to form optical laminates.
A number of patent publications describe curable optically clear adhesives that can be applied to optical substrates to form optical laminates. In Japanese Publication No. JP 08-167172, a photosetting resin for bonding optical disks is described that includes 20-80 wt % of urethane (meth)acrylate and 0-50 wt % of monomer other than (meth)acrylate monomer, and a photopolymerization initiator. In PCT Publication No. WO 2013/067947, a dual-curable adhesive composition comprising: (a) an epoxy resin; at least one of (b) a (meth)acrylate monomer or (c) a (meth)acrylate oligomer; (d) an epoxy thermal polymerization catalyst; and (e) a photopolymerization initiator that is a mixture of a cationic photopolymerization initiator and a free radical polymerization initiator. PCT Publication Nos. WO 3012/121122, WO 2013/027657, and WO 2013/118919 describe adhesive sheets prepared from (meth)acrylate monomers in combination with additional co-reactive and non-reactive materials.
US Patent Publication No. 2012/0325402 (Suwa et al.) describes a heat activated optically clear adhesive for bonding display assemblies. The display assemblies include two substrates, at least one of which has three dimensional surface topography or is distortion sensitive. Laminates of two substrates and the heat activated optically clear adhesive are heated to a temperature of from 40-120° C. to activate the heat activated adhesive and cause it to flow.
US Patent Publication No. 2011/0206869 (Nemoto et al.) describes a photocurable adhesive composition which can bond rugged adhesives without damage to the adherends and without forming a gap therebetween. The photocurable adhesive composition comprises: (A) 100 parts by mass of a urethane (meth)acrylate oligomer with a molecular weight of 20,000-100,000; (B) 5-70 parts by mass of a phenoxy resin; and (C) 0.1-10 parts by mass of a photopolymerization initiator.


A short coherence interferometer for measuring several axially spaced-apart regions of a sample, especially of an eye, which has a measuring optical path, through which the measuring radiation falls on the sample, a tunable interferometer for the axial, relative retardation of parts of the radiation, wherein the axial relative retardation is assigned to the axial spacing of the regions and a detector for producing an interference signal from interfering measurement radiation, scattered or reflected back from the sample as sample radiation. The tunable interferometer divides the sample radiation into two parts, which are axially relatively retarded and superimposed so as to interfere. During the superimposition, the tunable interferometer forms individual radiations, which represent quadrature components of the sample radiation, and the detector detects the individual radiations.

To measure transparent or partially transparent samples, for example of the human eye, short-coherence interferometers which operate by means of optical coherence tomography (hereinafter: OCT) are known, for example from WO 2007/065670 A1. They serve to detect the location and size of scattering centres within a sample, such as for example miniaturized optical components or biological tissue, e.g. the human eye. For an overview of the corresponding literature on OCT, reference may be made to US 2006/0109477 A1. This patent publication also describes the basic principles of OCT.
The principle of OCT comprises both embodiments in which an imaging occurs through irradiation and radiation detection by scanning at different locations across the direction of incidence of the radiation and embodiments, simplified compared with these, in which the irradiation and radiation detection is carried out only along an axis that remains unchanged and axial (i.e. 1-dimensional) scattering profiles are thus generated. The latter embodiment corresponds, as far as the image production is concerned, to a so-called A-scan of ultrasound image production; it is also called optical coherence domain reflectometry or short-coherence reflectrometry (OCDR). When OCT or OCDR is mentioned here, they are to be understood to mean both scanning and OCDR systems.
To detect larger objects or to enlarge the measurement range, it is known to use an interference of several measurement beams each with a separate reference beam or to superimpose several individual measurement beams in pairs, which is also called a so-called "dual beam" interferometer. This is known from Drexler et al., "Submicrometer Precision Biometry of the Anterior Segment of the human Eye", Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, June 1997, Vol. 38, No. 7.
Time-domain OCDR (TD-OCDR) with rapid-scanning reference arm and Fourier-domain OCDR (FD-OCDR) with fixed reference arm and evaluation of spectral interferences are known as variants for OCDR. The latter exists in yet another variant using broadband light sources and spectrometer-based detection (spectral domain or SD-OCDR) and in another variant using spectrally tunable light sources and broadband detectors (swept-source or SS-OCDR).
In TD-OCDR, the sample is illuminated by a short-coherent radiation and an interferometer ensures that radiation scattered back from the sample can interfere with radiation which has passed through a reference beam path. This principle, already described at a relatively early stage in Huang, et al., Micron-Resolution Ranging of Cornea Anterior Chamber by Optical Reflectometry, Lasers in Surgery and Medicine 11, 419-425 (1991), can record a depth-resolved scattering profile of the sample if the length of the reference beam path is adjusted, whereby a window corresponding to the coherence length of the radiation used is adjusted in the sample. If, as described in Huang, et al., Science 254: 1178-1181, 1991, the illuminating beam is also moved relative to the sample, a depth-resolved sectional view (tomogram) of the sample can be produced, i.e. lateral scanning optical coherence tomography (TD-OCT) is realized. The size of this window defines the maximum achievable depth resolution. For a good depth resolution, radiation sources with the shortest possible coherence, i.e. spectrally wide, are thus necessary. Because of the measurement method, only a fraction of the radiation reflected back, i.e. that scattered back from the measurement depth of the sample, which corresponds to the length of the reference beam path, is detected at any time. In known structures, therefore, over 99% of the photons scattered back from the sample are not actually detected for the measurement.
A higher yield is obtained with SD-OCDR. Here, the length of the reference beam path is no longer altered; instead, the radiation brought to interference is detected spectrally resolved. The depth information of the sample, i.e. the depth-resolved contrast signal, is calculated from the spectrally resolved signal. As a mechanism for adjusting the path length of the reference beam path is no longer necessary, the SD-OCDR technique is capable of measurement simultaneously at all depths of the sample. The thereby achieved higher yield of the radiation scattered back achieves a sensitivity up to 20 dB higher for the same measurement time. A disadvantage of SD-OCDR systems is the maximum measurement range size, which is limited by the spectrometer resolution, and the reduction in sensitivity which increases with the measurement depth. The required structure is also much more expensive.
The SS-OCDR variant, in which the spectral resolution of the interference signal with a spectrometer is dispensed with and, instead, the illumination source is spectrally tuned, requires somewhat less additional structural outlay. This method, like SD systems also, is more sensitive than TD-OCDR because of the higher photon recovery, as M. Choma et al. explain in "Sensitivity advantage of swept source and Fourier domain optical coherence tomography," Opt. Express 11, 2183-2189 (2003). In the case of SS-OCDR, the maximum resolution corresponds to the tunable wavelength range of the radiation source, and the measurement depth, i.e. the axial measurement range, is predetermined by the coherence length, i.e. the line width, of the radiation used.
A particularly compact SS-OCDR variant is to be found in S. Vergnole et al., "Common Path swept-source OCT interferometer with artifact removal", in Coherence Domain Optical Methods and Optical Coherence Tomography in Biomedicine XII, ed. J. Izatt et al., Proc. Of SPIE Vol. 6847, 68472W, 2008. Here reference radiation is produced by reflection at the end of a partly-reflective light-conducting fibre which conducts the measurement radiation onto the sample. The radiation reflected back from the sample and the reference radiation are then conducted through an interferometer the arms of which have different path lengths, and then superimposed. The path length difference defines the distance of the covered sample region from the partly-reflective end of the light-conducting fibre. To detect distances between different sample regions beyond the OCDR measurement depth, several measurements must be carried out. The use of a fibre-tip reflector as reference is also known from US 2007/0008545 A1.
In all OCDR variants, the measurement range and the measurement resolution and/or measurement accuracy are linked in a certain way. For example, in SD-OCDR the ratio between realizable spectrometer resolution and spectral width to be covered is limited. In TD-OCDR, although an adequate spectral bandwidth or sufficiently short coherence length of the radiation must also allow the resolution of sample structures of interest, the measurement range is ultimately linked via the maximum realizable scanning speed and sampling frequency to the measurement sensitivity and measurement resolution for a given measurement duration. To rectify the limitation imposed by the link, WO 2007/065670 A1 skilfully describes combining several interferometer devices which are each assembled from their own reference beam path as well as an associated sample beam path. By different matching of these several interferometer devices which, although combined in one device, are independent, measurements can be taken simultaneously at different points in the eye and thus the measurement range can be enlarged. The document further describes different approaches for differentiating the radiations in the combined interferometers, for example in respect of the polarization of the radiation or the wavelength. Such a differentiation is also described in WO 2001/038820 A1 which, however, is concerned only with TD-OCDR, thus requires moving elements for adjusting the length of the reference beam path. The principle of using several reference beam paths of different lengths can also be found in US 2005/0140981, or in U.S. Pat. No. 6,198,540, which each relate to TD-OCDR for enlarging the measurement range and use several, individually adapted reference beam paths of different lengths.
The outlay increases dramatically when a sample subjected to movements or pulsations, such as e.g. the human eye, is to be measured. Measurement must then either be carried out so rapidly that no disruptive movements or pulsations occur in the measurement duration, or such influences must be compensated.
One possibility for compensation is the already mentioned dual-beam structures/methods. Here, a measurement beam is constructed from two beam portions which would be capable of interfering with each other if they were not axially shifted towards each other. This axial shifting of the portions of the incident measurement radiation is generated by a tuning interferometer and adjusted to fit the axial distances between the sample regions to be measured. The backscatter or reflection back on the sample then removes the axial offset for the radiation portions again and the sample radiation can then interfere directly. An interference signal is thus obtained according to the known OCDR principles.
The already named US 2006/0109477 ultimately does not actually allow several regions of a sample to be covered which are axially further apart than the measurement depth, but concentrates instead on achieving the greatest possible sensitivity, for which 2×2 and 3×3 fibre couplers combined with a difference signal evaluation of quadrature components are used to realize the balanced detection.

Short coherence interferometry for measuring distances