A method and apparatus for compensating non-uniform wafer processing in a plasma processing chamber. The plasma processing chamber has an electrostatic chuck for clamping a wafer. The electrostatic chuck has one or more layers. A first wafer is processed on an electrostatic chuck in a first plasma processing chamber by exposing the first wafer to a plasma. Then, non-uniformity characteristics of the processed first wafer are determined. Based on the non-uniformity characteristics, one or more layers of the electrostatic chuck are configured to substantially compensate for the non-uniformity characteristics. A second wafer is then processed on the configured electrostatic chuck to produce substantially uniform process results.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the manufacture of semiconductor devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to method and apparatus for improving uniformity of wafers during plasma processing in a semiconductor plasma processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor processing systems are used to process semiconductor wafers for fabrication of integrated circuits. In particular, plasma-enhanced semiconductor processes are commonly used in etching, oxidation, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), etc. The plasma-enhanced semiconductor processes are typically carried out by means of plasma processing systems and generally include a plasma processing chamber to provide a controlled setting.
Conventional plasma processing chambers often include electrostatic chucks to hold a wafer (e.g., silicon wafer or substrate) in place for processing. Electrostatic chucks utilize electrostatic force to clamp the wafer to the chuck and are generally classified into monopolar and bipolar electrostatic chucks. Monopolar electrostatic chucks have a single pole whereas the bipolar electrostatic chucks have two poles. Electostatic chucks are well known in the art and are amply described, for example, in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,789,904 by Francois Guyot and entitled "High Power Electrostatic Chuck Contact," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/624,988 by Jones et al. and entitled "Dynamic Feedback Electrostatic Wafer Chuck," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/550,510 by Castro et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,192 by Kubly et al. and entitled "Methods and Apparatus for Clamping and Declamping a Semiconductor Wafer in a Wafer Processing System." The disclosures of these references are incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an exemplary electrostatic chuck (ESC) 100 for clamping a wafer 102. The electrostatic chuck 100 includes dielectric layers 106 and 110, and a layer of electrode 108. The electrode 108 is disposed between the dielectric layers 106 and 108 and is configured as a pair of poles 108A and 108B in a bipolar ESC arrangement with an insulator provided therebetween.
The poles 108A and 108B are coupled to a positive and negative terminals of a power supply 112. Hence, the pole 108A is biased positively while the pole 108B is biased negatively. The bias potential of the poles 108A and 108B induces charges in the adjoining surface regions of the dielectric layers 106 and 110. For example, negative charges are induced on the bottom surface region 116 of the dielectric layer 106 that lies over the pole 108A. On the other hand, positive charges are induced at the upper surface region 118 of the dielectric layer 106 opposite of the bottom surface region 116. Similarly, positive charges are induced on the bottom surface region 120 of the dielectric layer 106 disposed over the pole 108B and negative charges build up on the opposite top surface region 122 of the dielectric layer 106.
The positive and negative charges on the top surface regions 118 and 122 of the dielectric layer 106, in turn, induce charges to be built up along the bottom surface regions 124 and 126 of the wafer 102. The induced potential between the dielectric layer 106 and the wafer 102 produces an electrostatic force that allows the wafer 102 to be clamped to the electrostatic chuck 100. With the wafer 102 clamped, plasma source gases are released into a plasma region 128 over the wafer for plasma processing such as etching, vapor deposition, sputtering, or the like until a desired degree of etching or deposition has been achieved.
Unfortunately, such plasma processes typically do not yield a uniform result due to non-uniform distribution of plasma over the wafer 102. For example, FIG. 2A shows an exemplary graph 200 depicting sputtering rate over a wafer. A curve 202 plots a sputtering rate of plasma over the radial distance from the center 204 of the wafer 102. As shown in the graph 200, the sputtering rate increases as the radial position nears the center 204 of the wafer. Conversely, the sputtering rate decreases as the radial distance of the wafer 102 increases from the center 204 and then increases sharply near the edge of the wafer.
The non-uniform distribution of plasma over the wafer typically produces a process result that is non-uniform across the entire surface of the wafer. FIG. 2B illustrates an etched surface 210 of a wafer after etching it in a conventional plasma processing chamber. Before the etching process, the surface of the wafer is assumed to be a uniform surface 212 for illustration purposes. After the etching process, the surface 210 of the wafer forms an upward incline from the center 214 of the wafer in either direction. In particular, the etched surface 210 shows that the center 214 of the wafer is etched more than neighboring regions due to greater concentration of plasma in the center region.
FIG. 2C shows deposition uniformity of a wafer surface over the radial distance after performing plasma deposition in a conventional plasma processing chamber. The dotted line 220 corresponds to the surface of the wafer before the plasma deposition. After the plasma deposition process, the resulting surface 222 of the wafer slopes downward from a peak at the center 224 of the wafer. The resulting surface 222 of the wafer generally reflects the plasma distribution or sputtering rate illustrated above in FIG. 2A. The non-uniform surface characteristics of wafers resulting from such plasma etching and deposition processes are undesirable because they reduce yield per wafer and throughput.
A traditional method has improved plasma uniformity by using a shower head with additional apertures or holes disposed over the sides of a wafer. These additional apertures or holes are designed to allow the shower head to release more plasma source gases. Hence, more plasma is produced in the regions located away from the center of the wafer, thereby compensating for lower plasma distribution in these regions. This approach, while improving process uniformity to a degree, is highly sensitive to the distance between the shower head and the wafer. For example, if the shower head is too far from the wafer, plasma source gases released from the shower head may not be uniformly distributed, thereby leading to non-uniform distribution of plasma. On the other hand, if the wafer is too close to the shower head, the plasma source gases may not have sufficient time to distribute uniformly.
Another solution has implemented a magnetic confinement ring around a shower head or an electrostatic chuck to confine the plasma within the area defined by the ring. By thus confining the plasma, the ring is designed to increase plasma concentration over the outer radial regions of the wafer. Unfortunately, however, the magnetic confinement ring often produces well-known cusp effect on the peripheral surface of the wafer due to the magnetic field of the confinement ring.
Furthermore, producing uniformly distributed plasma over a wafer may have the undesirable effect of reducing plasma density. This is because a wafer exposed to the reduced plasma density generally takes more time to produce a desired etch or deposition result than a wafer subject to a higher plasma density. Hence, the etch or deposition process may take longer to complete in a uniformly distributed plasma environment.
In view of the foregoing, what is needed is a method and apparatus for improving wafer processing uniformity during plasma processing without substantially increasing the processing time and without substantial sensitivity to the wafer distance from the source of plasma source gases

Method and apparatus for compensating non-uniform wafer processing in plasma processing chamber


Exposure masks and inspection masks for use in the electronics field may be made using laser beams wherein the mask comprises a substrate which is substantially unaffected by exposure to the laser beam and an opaque pattern forming layer on the substrate, which pattern forming layer absorbs the laser beam and is selectively etched when exposed to the laser beam. A preferred mask has an overcoat transparent layer. A cavity inspection mask is provided having a series of openings in the form of lines formed in the opaque pattern forming layer, the lines bounding the cavity walls, is the mask being used for determining if the cavity is centrally positioned on the substrate and/or that the cavity is of the desired size. Substrates containing identifying masks thereon which cannot be seen by the unaided eye for theft deterrence are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for making masks using lasers and in particular to exposure masks and punch inspection masks made using lasers.
2. Description of Related Art
Masks are substrates having a defined pattern thereon and are used in a number of industrial applications in a wide variety of fields. The electronics field uses masks extensively to make printed circuit boards and integrated circuits and the different masks employed are generally categorized as exposure or photo masks, screening masks and inspection masks.
For making integrated circuits (IC) on a silicon chip, the initial design and layout of an IC are carried out on a scale several hundred times larger than the final desired dimensions of the circuit pattern. The initial layout of an IC is normally done on a magnification scale in a range of 250:1 to 500:1 and the layout is a composite of different mask patterns corresponding to the different masking steps associated with the fabrication process. Each mask pattern is cut into a dimensionally stable plastic laminate layer, called a Rubylith, which consists of a clear Mylar base with a pealable opaque ruby overlay. The overlay can be cut with a sharp knife and removed to form clear areas in the opaque overlay. Photographic techniques are then used to reduce each of these base layers to the final circuit dimensions. This is a time consuming, labor intensive and costly process.
During the masking operation, the wafer surface to be masked is coated with a photosensitive coating known as a photoresist or resist. The exposure mask is then placed on the surface of the wafer and exposed with ultraviolet light. Depending upon whether a negative-active resist or a positive-active resist is used, a pattern is formed on the photoresist layer on the wafer by the ultraviolet light and the exposed wafer is developed in a number of steps with liquid solvents to form the desired pattern on the wafer. A similar process is used to form circuit patterns on printed circuit boards using an exposure mask, exposure to ultraviolet light and developing of the exposed photoresist layer.
In other electronic applications such as in the manufacturing of multi-layered ceramic (MLC) packaging for semiconductor electronic circuits, green (unfired) ceramic sheets are formed by a well known doctor blade process. These greensheets are typically punched by mechanical means using various methods as well as by laser and Electron-beam equipment. The resulting holes (VIAS) are subsequently filled with conductive materials and the greensheets patterned to produce a desired electrical conductive path. The individual greensheets are precisely stacked one upon another, and laminated under high pressure to form a green laminate. The laminate is then cut to the desired size and sintered in a kiln to form the finished ceramic substrate ready for further processes if desired.
It is extremely important that the punched vias are accurately placed in the greensheet so that the vias align precisely to the screening mask so that the metal paste fills them completely and that screened patterns do not short to the non-aligned vias. To ensure that the vias are properly placed, a punch inspection mask is typically used. These inspection masks are employed to visually verify that the punch data used to punch the sheets is correct and also to debug the punch device for certain products as well as ensuring that the correct shrinkage has been applied when creating the data sets.
These masks are now fabricated using process steps similar to those used to fabricate thick film screening masks using a photolithographic process where art work is generated on masters and subsequent photo expose/develop processes performed to make the mask. This process is expensive and it requires a relatively long time to make each mask. A typical process for making masks is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,143.
Research Disclosure, September 1986, No. 269, shows high resolution molybdenum screening masks made using a laser etching process. The thin molybdenum masks usually 2 mils thick are used as templates through which metal paste is screened onto ceramic green sheets to form conductive lines after lamination and sintering. The article discusses forming these type masks using conventional wet lithographic processes and the masks limitations in being able to form lines only as small as 3 mils wide. Using laser etching however, features as small as 10 microns can be etched through the 2 mil molybdenum sheets and typical results for 1-2 mil wide slots can be etched with a separation as little as 3 mils. The laser burns the molybdenum metal in air and oxidizes the molybdenum to MoO.sub.3 which is volatile at the elevated process temperatures. Recrystallized MoO.sub.3 debris can be removed mechanically or by dissolution in a variety of solvents.
Laser processes have been used extensively for marking materials with letters, numbers, special symbols and company logos. A "Neodymium yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser marking system" is shown in SPIE Vol. 247, Advances in Laser Engineering and Applications (1980) pages 18-23. The laser marking system is controlled by a microprocessor and is composed of three fundamental components: 1) a laser that emits pulses of radiation on command, 2) an optical train to direct and focus that radiation to a spot on the workpiece and 3) electronic circuitry to control the optical system and fire the laser at appropriate times. The electronic circuitry is organized around an 8085 microprocessor and allows the operator to directly enter the information to be marked. Marking is done on a variety of substrates such as plastics by heating the plastic so it decomposes and changes color providing a high contrast mark. Marking is also shown on transparent materials using a proprietary process which produces highly visible masks on transparent materials. It is cautioned that the use of high laser energy can damage the transparent material and cause localized in homogeneities which result in sporadic, inconsistent marks. Marking of painted surfaces is also disclosed to provide a contrast with the host material substrate.
Laser marking is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,329 wherein a laser radiation absorbing substance is incorporated into a plastic to absorb the laser beam and decompose the plastic forming the desired marks. Japanese No. 1224186 shows a mask for laser marking having a patterned metal layer on a polyolefin layer and radiating a laser beam onto the surface to be marked through the mask.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,654 shows a process for repairing transparent defects in photomasks by applying a coating material which absorbs radiant energy over the transparent defect and fusing the material to the substrate with a laser forming an opaque layer and eliminating the transparent defect in the mask.
Through-holes are shown formed in a plastic sheet in Japanese 515987 by using a metal foil mask over the sheet and drilling the through-holes using a laser beam by repetitive irradiation through the mask openings.
Bearing in mind the problems and deficiencies of the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a laser method for making masks, and in particular inspection masks and exposure masks, useful in a number of applications especially electronic applications, which method is inexpensive and cost effective.
It is another object of the present invention to provide inexpensive and cost effective masks, in particular inspection masks and exposure masks, made by a laser process which may be used for a variety of electrical applications.
A further object of the invention is to provide inexpensive and cost effective inspection masks having a special pattern thereon made by a laser process to enable the user of the mask to easily and effectively determine if a cavity such as a via or a line in a substrate is within specification for size and/or position (centrality) on the substrate being inspected.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

Formation of punch inspection masks and other devices using a laser

International Business Machines Corporation


A tap changer voltage regulator permits a tap changer switch selector contact to engage an open-circuited new tap without arcing and has a half-tap voltage auxiliary winding which permits halving the inter-tap voltage and doubling the number of steps, and also has an auxiliary switch system. An auxiliary static switch circuit initially connects a first tap selector in series with a circulating current limiting resistor and a load to prevent load circuit interruption. An auxiliary selector switch initially coupled to a second tap selector and is in series with a normally-closed switch through which the load current and circulative current flow. The normally-closed switch is shunted by a second static switch circuit. The first static switch is not gated until the first tap selector has attained its new position, precluding initial arcing. The normally-closed switch is then opened; subsequently gating current is removed from the second static switch so that load and circulating current are statically interrupted at current zero. The selector may then be arclessly disconnected from the second tap selector and moved to contact the first tap selector.

This invention relates to voltage control systems of the tap changing type, and more particularly to an improved circuit for preventing arcing as taps are changed.
A step voltage regulator is an autotransformer provided with load ratio control equipment for regulating the voltage on the feeder or bus to which it is connected. A typical step voltage regulator may have a 100 percent exciting winding in shunt with the line on the source side and normally maintains the voltage on the load side within a desired voltage bandwidth by a 10 percent tapped buck/boost winding in series with the line. The series winding has taps connected to the stationary contacts of a tap changer dial switch having a pair of rotatable tap selectors driven by a reversible motor into sequential engagement with the taps and usually provides the ability to change the effective turns ratio from input to output plus or minus 10 percent in 32 steps of 5/8 percent voltage increments. The rotatable selectors are usually connected through collector rings to the opposite sides of a bridging center-tapped autotransformer reactor, termed a preventive autotransformer, to permit transition from one tap position to another without interrupting the load current. When the tap selectors bridge adjacent taps, the high reactance of the preventive autotransformer limits circulating current to a safe value and reduces burning and erosion of the tap changer contacts. It also provides a voltage midway between that of the physical taps to thereby provide twice the number of voltage steps. However, such a preventive autotransformer has continuous energy losses in operation and is bulky and expensive to construct, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,789, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a tap changing voltage regulator which eliminates such preventive autotransformer and also prevents arcing at the tap changer selector contacts by providing a half-tap voltage auxiliary winding and an auxiliary switch which permits a selector contact to step arclessly to an open circuited new tap, and then connects the selector contact in series with the auxiliary winding and a current-limiting inductor and the load at reduced voltage to effect a tap change without interruption of the load circuit. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 947,871, filed Oct. 2, 1978, and also incorporated herein by reference, teaches a voltage regulation system which allows for substantially arcless tap changing without utilizing a preventive autotransformer. While the inventions set forth in the foregoing patent and patent application provide greatly improved results over previously known voltage regulators, it has been found that some arcing still occurs under operating conditions.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved tap changer voltage regulator which eliminates arcing at the auxiliary contacts thereof and also arclessly interrupts the current which circulates when the selector contacts are on adjacent taps during a tap change.
Another object of the invention is to provide an economical and simplified circuit for an arcless tap changer which provides an acceptably small step change in voltage.

Arcless tap changer utilizing static switching


A bubble level suitable for spaces that are restricted in the vertical dimension has a 45 degree prism attached to the top surface, so that the image of the bubble vial is deflected along a horizontal axis. The prism is optionally rotatable to permit changing the viewing angle in a horizontal plane.

The field of the invention is that of assembling machinery, in particular setting a component level in which the ability to view a level is limited.
Spirit levels, in which a bubble of air is trapped within a vial containing a fluid, are well known in the construction and assembly field.
As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,859, a typical level comprises three vials set at varying angles with respect to an axis of the instrument, typically parallel, perpendicular and at an angle of 45 degrees.
That patent addresses the problem of arranging to view a bubble level that is placed against a nominally vertical surface having an orientation that does not permit the technician using the level to view the bubble in the usual manner.
The bubble that is to be viewed, referred to as the vertical-sensing bubble, is oriented at a right angle with respect to the level axis, so that a viewer looking at the nominally vertical surface will be looking at the bubble end on and will not be able to see the location of the bubble with respect to the reference marks. Normally, the viewer will look at the level along a viewing direction that is parallel to the surface being plumbed.
The situation addressed by this prior art patent is one in which the normal viewing direction is blocked, so that it is not possible to view the bubble in the normal fashion.
The solution provided by that patent is the provision of a mirror oriented at an angle of 45 degrees to the axis of the level and directing the image of the vertical-sensing bubble along an axis perpendicular to the surface being plumbed, so that the vertical-sensing bubble may be viewed from a head on position.
The cited patent provides a reasonable solution to the problem that it addresses, bit is specific to a situation in which there is ample clearance in the vertical direction, so that the entire length of the level, shown as being considerably longer than the height of the technician's head, can fit in the available space.
This reference does not address the problem of a confined and restricted vertical space.
The art would benefit from a level that can be viewed in a vertically restricted space.

Horizontal plane viewable precision bubble level

International Business Machines Corporation


Embodiments of a hands-free leash system are described, which include quick-connect/disconnect fasteners to attach a belt around a person's waist, the belt to a leash, and the leash to a collar adapter. The leash system also includes a second attachment point on the belt for attaching a second end of the leash to the belt, so that the leash may be stored on the belt when not in use on the pet, instead of dangling from the belt or from the user's hand. Preferably, both of the leash attachment points on the belt are assemblies that may slide independently along the length of the belt, preferably all the way around the belt, so that the pet may maneuver around the user without tangling or twisting of the leash system. The quick-connect/disconnect feature of the fasteners allows for quick handling and response to any emergency.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to pet leash systems that are strapped around a user's waist, so that the system may be hands-free during walking, jogging, or running with the pet. More specifically, the invention relates to a waist-mounted leash system that is hands-free both when the pet is attached and when the pet is not attached to the leash.
2. Related Art
Many leash systems have been developed that are waist- or shoulder-mounted, for reducing the need for users to grasp the leash while walking, exercising, or patrolling with a dog on the leash. Such leash systems are illustrated by Williams (Des. Pat. No. 350,628), Parth (U.S. Pat. No. 2,333,488), Smith (a child restraint, U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,624), and Birchmire III et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,362), McDonough (U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,719), Perrulli (U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,444) and Blake (U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,1890).
Williams discloses a design for a dog leash and belt, having a quick-release buckle on the belt and a quick-release connection between the leash and the belt. The leash connection to the belt appears to be on one side of the belt in a permanent or semi-permanent position. The Williams leash has a latch-hook that hooks onto a D-ring of a dog collar, as does a conventional leash.
Parth discloses a leash harness for use with military or police dogs. The leash is connected by a swivel connector to an integral portion of a belt. The leash extends from the swivel connector, loops through the D-ring on a dog collar, and extends back to near the swivel connector again, for joining of the two ends of the leash near the belt. This system keeps the leash in a permanent position relative to the belt and requires that a portion of leash strap nearly as long as the leash itself must slip through the collar D-ring in order to attach the dog to the leash or to release the dog from the leash. Parth comments that, when the dog is released from the leash, that the leash free end may be tucked through the belt, that is, between the belt and the user's waist or chest, but no more accommodation than that is made for the free end of the leash.
Smith discloses a safety harness for children, which includes a belt, a harness to be worn by the child, and a connection strap between the two. The belt is equipped with many rings fixed to the belt in spaced, permanent positions. The many rings are for hooking many different harness connection straps onto the belt, for securing several children to the user, for example, one on each side of the user, one in front, and one in back. The Smith connection straps each have a snap-hook on each end, one for hooking onto the belt and one for hooking onto the child harness.
Birchmire III et al. discloses a quick-release animal collar and leash that includes conventional automobile seat-belt buckles. The Birchmire III system attaches a flat tab (a male seat-belt connector) to the dog collar or harness, by passing the collar or harness through a ring on the male connector. The male seat-belt connector receives a cooperating female end of the connector on a first end of a leash. The leash has a second seat-belt connector member (a male member) about midway along the leash length and has a hook on the second end of the leash. Thus, the leash may secure the animal to a seat-belt in a car or truck (by use of the seat-belt connectors), or may secure the animal to cord such as a clothesline (by use of the hook). Birchmire III discloses that the male seat-belt connector positioned midway along the leash length may be snapped into the cooperating conventional seat belt in the user's car, or into a cooperating female member on a loop that may be placed on the user's conventional pants or slacks belt. In the case of a loop on the user's conventional belt, the leash would be restrained from lateral movement along the belt by the pants/slacks belt-loops.
McDonough discloses a leash system in which one end of the leash hooks onto the dog collar D-ring, and the other end is permanently connected to a belt at a leash attachment point. The McDonough leash has a handle loop along the mid-section of the leash as well as a two rings along the mid-section. One of the two rings may be placed on a hook on the belt a fixed distance from the leash attachment point to shorten the leash while still attached to the dog and, hence, bring the dog up close to the user. The other of the two rings may be used for attachment of a second leash for a second dog.
Perrulli discloses a leash system with a belt that has an elongated slide member about half the length of the belt and secured at its ends to the belt. A ring may slide along the slide member and a leash may be hooked to the ring, so that the leash may slide about 180 degrees around the back of the user of the system.
Blake discloses a belt for wrapping around a user's waist and securement by a hook-andloop fastener. The belt has two fixed attachment rings sewn onto the belt. A loop may be pulled by the user to pull the belt off of his/her waist, so that the loop effectively becomes a leash and the rest of the belt dangles from the leash.
Still there is needed an effective hands-free leash system that is simple, safe, light-weight, and easy-to-use. There is a need for such a leash system that is not bulky, is not prone to entanglements, but is quick to use in all circumstances. There is a need for a leash system that may allow complete hands-free use for either the serious athlete or the occasional walker/jogger who wants a pet to accompany him/her either for companionship, motivation, pet exercise, and/or for safety. The invented leash system meets these needs.


The present invention discloses an apparatus for testing an integrated circuit (IC) chip having a plurality of testing ports, each of the testing ports being used for connection with an testing interface assembly for further connection with external testing equipment. The apparatus includes a testing platform having a top surface, the top surface includes a chip placement means for securely placing the IC chip therein. The testing platform further includes a plurality of guiding posts extending upwardly from the top surface. The testing apparatus further includes a frame-housing which has a plurality of inter-connected walls, each of the walls further has an inner surface including an inner beam attached thereon. The inner surface and the inner beam define an elongated vertical space corresponding to each of the guiding posts of the testing platform. Each of the walls near the inner beam further includes an access means which has a plurality of openings allowing access of the testing interface assembly for connecting with the testing ports on the IC chip. Each of the guiding posts further including a locking means whereby when the frame-housing sliding along the guiding posts fitting each of the elongated vertical spaces defined by the inner wall surfaces and the inner beams thus surrounding the corresponding guiding post, the locking means further securely locks the frame-housing onto the testing platform.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for testing the surface mounted modules containing integrated circuit (IC) chips. More particularly, this invention relates to a testing fixture for convenient mounting the packaged monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) thus facilitating precise testing of the packaged MMICs to improve the quality control and assurance and to increase the production through-put thus achieving higher level of productivity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Because of recent progress made in the semiconductor technology and packaging engineering, all the circuit elements of a high frequency RF signal processor can now be incorporated in a miniaturized MMIC package. Furthermore, the demand for large quantity of MMIC packages is also increased rapidly as these miniaturized packages are being used for broader range of applications in the field of communication, signal processing and other microwave transmission applications. However, mass production of high quality monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) is still limited by the difficulty that the speed of testing these MMIC packages is very slow because such tests often involve time consuming manual processes.
Conventional testing processes involve soldering the microwave package to a testing printed circuit (PC) board whereby the ports on the package are securely connected to the appropriate testing circuits which are then mechanically locked to a set of signal measuring assemblies (SMAs) for further connecting to co-axial cables for the performance of a sequence of tests. After the tests, a set of reverse operations must be performed to disassemble the MMIC package from the SMAs and then from the testing PC board. The processes of soldering the package to-the PC board and locking the soldered combination of the PC board and the MMIC package to the SMAs and then the disassembling processes are very time consuming. Furthermore, the MMIC packages are often damaged during the tests while the testing PC boards, and the SMAs are also limited by very short life cycles because of the heavy duty imposed by such assembling and disassembling procedures which must be repeated performed.
The conventional testing procedures are also limited by the fact that the accuracy of the test results is limited by the losses caused by the transition and the impedance mismatch between the MMIC package and the testing PC board. The accuracy of the testing is degraded when the impedance deviates from the matching impedance which is generally an impedance of fifty-ohms (50-.OMEGA.). The transition losses also prevent the measurement results to reflect the true performance of the MMIC package.
There are on-going efforts to improve the testing fixtures and the testing processes in order to improve the testing accuracy and the speed of the tests. Hirsch et al. disclose in U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,601 entitled "Test Fixture for Integrated Circuit Chips" (Issued on Jan. 30, 1990) an MMIC test fixture wherein an MMIC chip is placed between two chip stops and onto a planar surface. These two chip stops each having a wedging surface which asserts a predetermined clamping force onto the edges of the MMIC chip thus pressing the chip into grounding contact with the testing fixture. The MMIC chip is then heated to bond with the RF and bias connection on the testing fixture while the tests are performed. After the tests are completed, the MMIC chip is removed from the bonded connections by a heating process and the clamping force is release by a leverage means on one the chip stops to remove the MMIC chip from the testing fixture.
A nondestructive testing process is disclosed by Hirsch et al. which may reduce the damage of the MMIC chip caused by the testing process by providing a predetermined clamping force. However, the operation of the chip stops still involves bolting of many threaded screws on the chip stops to the base of the test fixture. The speed of the tests are not improved due to the fact that such bolting operations are time consuming process.
Additionally, the loss incurred by the use of this testing fixture is worsened because instead of the micro-strips provided in the testing PC board, the testing fixture as disclosed has outwardly extended micro-strips across the elongated the test fixture. The additional lengths of these micro-strips may cause further deviations of the testing results in transmitting the test signals through these strips to the MMIC circuit.
Romanofsky et al. disclose in U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,636 entitled "Universal Nondestructive MM-Wave Integrated Circuit Test Fixture" (Issued on Dec. 25, 1990) an MMIC test fixture wherein bias module with spring-loaded contacts are used to electrically engage the pads on an MMIC chip carrier. The MMIC chip carrier is disposed in a recess of a base member of the testing fixture. RF energy is applied to and passed from the chip carrier by chamfered edges of ridges in the wave guide passages of two removable housings. These two removable housings are then attached to the base member containing the MMIC chip carrier by a plurality of bolts. Different types of calibration standard cards including the `Thru`, `Delay`, and `Short` are then inserted individually to perform different functional tests.
The test fixture as disclosed by Romanofsky et al. again suffers the same limitation that time consuming process of bolting the testing modules to the base member is required. These bolting procedures must be repeated several times because there are several inserts which must be changed when a set of test with one insert is completed. The time required for testing the MMIC chips would therefore limits the productivity of such chips.
Furthermore, the testing fixture disclosed by Romanofsky et al. utilizes removable housings which have wave guide passage including chamfered edges of ridges for applying RF energy to perform the test. These ridges are uniquely designed and fabricated for testing of special chips. The shape, length, and material for making these curved ridges are not fully described and since the curvature of these ridges are frequency dependent as is indicated in the Patent, the testing fixture disclosed by Romanofsky would probably be limited in its use for specific type of MMIC chip. Since the characteristics of these ridges have to be redesigned and re-fabricated, the usefulness of the testing fixture is limited by the efforts required to make the right: kinds of testing fixture appropriate for specific type of MMIC chips. These efforts would probably involve many trial and error with ridges of different shape and curvatures before a right kind is determined. Such uncertainty and risk in design and fabricating the testing fixtures would certainly limit the application of the apparatus disclosed by Romanofsky et al.
In order to overcome the aforementioned difficulties encountered by the Romanofsky et al.'s Patent, Tektronix use a testing PC board, i.e., Tektronix's RT/Duroid board, which has many micro-strips on its testing surface. These micro-strips are formed by the thin film and etching technology which can very precisely fabricated to match the impedance of the MMIC chip. These micro-strip are connected between the test ports on the MMIC boards and the external co-axial cables to perform the test. Tektronix's technique, i.e., the TKIT14E evaluation kit, however is limited by the excessive losses including the transition loss and the loss across the micro-strips on the PC board. The results of the MMIC tests obtained by Tektronix's evaluation kit are indirect and often cannot be reproducible due to the fact that the input impedance cannot be accurately controlled. Furthermore, the usefulness of this evaluation kit is limited to testing of the MMIC package that have extended leads which can be connected to the micro-strips.
Therefore, there is still a need in the art of MMIC test to provide an apparatus and method such that the operational characteristics of a an MMIC chip in different frequency range can be precisely measured in a well controlled and reproducible manner to assure high quality of MMIC chips can be consistently produced. For the purpose of enabling mass production of these high quality MMIC chips, the apparatus and method must be reliable and simple to use such that the testing process would not become too complicate and that the time required for performing the tests can be reduced to a reasonable level whereby it would not become a bottleneck in the fabrication process.

Apparatus and method for testing packaged integrated circuits

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A valance support bracket for mounting on the headrail of a venetian blind to enable mounting of a valance. The headrail has a pair of laterally spaced coplanar mounting flanges extending longitudinally along its upper surface. The valance support bracket includes a mounting plate from which depends a pair of locking arms adapted to be inserted downwardly between the mounting flanges on the headrail when the valance support bracket is disposed in a first orientation, the locking arms being further adapted for cooperative relation with the mounting flanges so as to cause the valance support bracket to undergo a snap-action movement as it is moved to a second orientation substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the headrail wherein the locking arms effect locking relation with the headrail.

The present invention relates generally to valance brackets, and more particularly to a novel valance support bracket which may be readily releasably mounted on a headrail or guide channel such as employed in horizontal or vertical venetian blinds.
Venetian blinds of both the horizontal and vertical louver styles conventionally employ an elongated headrail or guide channel which is generally supported in a horizontal position from a support surface such as a horizontal header above a window, a vertical wall, or a horizontal ceiling surface. The headrail or guide channel may be rectilinear or curved and generally supports and conceals an operating mechanism which in turn supports and enables manipulation of louvers such that, in the case of horizontal louvers, the louvers may be rotated about their longitudinal axes and selectively raised and lowered, while in the case of vertical louvers, the operating mechanism enables both rotation of the louvers about their vertical longitudinal axes and traverse along the headrail between open and closed blind positions. Because the headrail or guide channel and the associated connections of the louvers to the headrail supported louver operating mechanism generally detract from the desired appearance of the overall venetian blind assembly, it is a common practice to mount a valance along the exposed surface of the headrail so as to conceal the headrail and louver connections and thereby present more aesthetically pleasing appearance. The valance is generally secured to the headrail by a plurality of valance support brackets which are mounted in spaced relation on the headrail. Ideally, the valance support brackets enable relatively simple releasable attachment to the headrail by an installer at the job site without need for special tools or the like.


In order to regularly properly define cavities for vibrating spaces in a chip-type piezoelectric-resonator which is protected with resin to be capable of surface mounting, a mother substrate comprising a piezoelectric substrate, a plurality of piezoelectric resonance elements formed thereon is prepared and bank-shaped adhesive layers are formed on respective major surfaces of the mother substrate to enclose the vibrating region, and mother sheets provided with plural cover sheets are arranged to cover both major surfaces of the mother substrate, thereby defining cavities for vibrating spaces. Then, protective resin members are applied to cover both major surfaces of the mother substrate, which in turn is divided to obtain a plurality of chip-type piezoelectric-resonators.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip-type piezoelectric-resonator, which is applied to a chip-type filter, oscillator, or discriminator, for example, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, a piezoelectric-resonator which is applied to a filter, an oscillator or a discriminator is provided with lead wires.
In recent years, however, a surface mounting technique is employed in order to miniaturize an electronic device, leading to a requirement for a chip-type piezoelectric-resonator having no lead wires. A concrete example of such a chip-type piezoelectric-resonator is now described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13.
As shown in FIGS. 11 to 13, a piezoelectric-resonator 1 comprises a piezoelectric substrate 2. Split vibrating electrodes 3 and 4 are formed on one major surface of the piezoelectric substrate 2, while still another vibrating electrode 5 is formed on another major surface of the substrate 2 to be opposite to the vibrating electrodes 3 and 4. These vibrating electrodes 3, 4 and 5 are respectively connected with terminal electrodes 6, 7 and 8, which are located on an edge of the piezoelectric substrate 2.
This piezoelectric-resonator 1 implements an energy trap type double mode piezoelectric-resonator utilizing a thickness vibration mode having the split vibrating electrodes 3 and 4 and the vibrating electrode 5 which is opposite thereto. Resin plates 11 and 12 of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), having cavities 9 and 10 in portions corresponding to the vibrating electrodes 3 to 5 respectively, are arranged on both surfaces of the piezoelectric substrate 2, and fixed to the piezoelectric substrate 2 by adhesives 13 and 14. As shown in FIG. 13, external electrodes 15, 16 and 17 are formed on an outer surface of the piezoelectric-resonator 1, to be electrically connected with the terminal electrodes 6, 7 and 8 respectively.
Such a chip-type piezoelectric-resonator 1 is advantageously miniaturized, to enable surface mounting.
However, although the resin plates 11 and 12 are bonded to the piezoelectric substrate 2 by the adhesives 13 and 14, the adhesive strength is relatively weak and hence it is difficult to attain an effect of preventing undesired vibration in a portion other than a vibrating portion of the piezoelectric-resonator 1 for suppressing a spurious response.
Further, employment of the adhesives 13 and 14 may cause permeation of water through interfaces between the piezoelectric substrate 2 and the resin plate 11 and 12, leading to inferiority in moisture resistance.
In addition, it is difficult to align the vibrating electrodes 3 to 5 with the cavities 9 and 10 of the resin plates 11 and 12 since the resin plates 11 and 12 are bonded to the piezoelectric substrate 2 by the adhesives 13 and 14, leading to hindrance against automation.
The aforementioned cavities for vibrating spaces may alternatively be formed by a method of applying a cavity forming material such as wax, for example, to a vibrating region of the piezoelectric substrate and thereafter applying thermosetting protective resin so that the cavity forming material migrates into the protective resin when the protective resin is hardened. According to this method, however, it is difficult to attain high accuracy in relation to areas and shapes of portions which are supplied with the cavity forming material. If the cavity forming material is prepared from wax, further, the wax which is absorbed in the protective resin may be gasified when external electrodes are formed by sputtering or vacuum deposition under a high temperature condition, to hinder formation of the electrodes.

Chip-type piezoelectric-resonator and method of manufacturing the same


The present invention primarily relates to specific herbicide combinations comprising (i) glufosinate and/or salts thereof and (ii) indaziflam and to compositions comprising said specific herbicide combinations. The present invention further relates to a method of producing said specific herbicide combinations and compositions comprising said specific herbicide combinations. The present invention also relates to the use of said specific herbicide combinations and compositions comprising said specific herbicide combinations in the field of agriculture, in particular as plant growth regulators and for controlling harmful plants or undesired plant growth, as well as to corresponding methods.

Field
The present invention primarily relates to specific herbicide combinations comprising (i) glufosinate and/or salts thereof and (ii) indaziflam and to compositions comprising said specific herbicide combinations. The present invention further relates to a method of producing said specific herbicide combinations and compositions comprising said specific herbicide combinations. The present invention also relates to the use of said specific herbicide combinations and compositions comprising said specific herbicide combinations in the field of agriculture, in particular as plant growth regulators and for controlling harmful plants or undesired plant growth, as well as to corresponding methods.
Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,963 describes phosphorus-containing compounds with herbicidal activity, of which, in particular, phosphinothricin (2-amino-4-[hydroxy(methyl)phosphinoyl]butanoic acid; common name: glufosinate) and its salts have acquired commercial importance in the agrochemistry (agricultural chemistry) sector.
WO 00/16627 A1 teaches synergistic active substance combinations for controlling harmful plants, wherein as active substance (A) amino triazines of a certain structure type are used.
WO 2004/069814 A1 describes amino-1,3,5 triazines N-substituted with chiral bicyclic radicals, and their use as herbicides and plant growth regulators.
WO 2006/007947 A1 discloses various herbicide combinations, comprising constituents (A) and (B), wherein as one possible constituent (A) indaziflam is mentioned, and as constituent (B) a large number of many differend other herbicides are listed.
WO 2010/009819 A2 relates to a method for selective weed control in turf or lawn by using compounds of formula (I) defined therein. In WO 2010/009819 A2, indaziflam is one of the compounds of formula (I), and also certain combinations of the compounds of formula (I) with further herbicides are disclosed in WO 2010/009819 A2.
Weed Technology 2013, 27, 422-429 reports on the burndown and weed control to protect citrus plants by tank mixing saflufenacil, glufosinate and indaziflam.
CN 103 329 931 describes compositions of indaziflam and glufosinate in a ratio of 1:(0.2 to 10).
The Horticultural Weed Control Report 2012 from the Oregon State University describes inter alia weed control in hazelnuts in Lane County, Oreg., where also mixtures of glufosinate and indaziflam were used.
In their application, herbicidal crop protection agents (herbicides) known to date for controlling harmful plants or unwanted vegetation, e.g. in permanent crops or on permanent cropland, have some disadvantages, be it (a) that they have no or else insufficient herbicidal activity against specific harmful plants, (b) that the spectrum of harmful plants which can be controlled with the herbicides is not broad enough, (c) that the selectivity of herbicides in and the compatibility with (young) plantation crops is too low, thereby causing unwanted damage and/or unwanted reduced harvest yields of the (young) plantation crops, (d) that the initial herbicidal activity is not high or not strong enough and/or (e) that the herbicidal activity does not last long enough.
Overall, the herbicidal activity, i.e. one or more of the above aspects (a), (b) (c), (d) and/or (e) of the herbicides like glufosinate and/or agronomically acceptable salts thereof used so far still allow some improvement.

Herbicide combinations comprising glufosinate and indaziflam


A bidirectional belt-drive for printers and the like comprising a carriage assembly movable across a paper web and supporting a print head mounting bracket. A belt has upper and lower runs extending through guide passageways in the carriage assembly. Independent jam cleat assemblies are normally biased by single spring means to a neutral position so as to be displaced from both runs of the belt.. Swingably mounted knurled supporting surfaces cooperate with the jam cleat assemblies to enhance gripping of the fabric belt. Each jam cleat assembly has a pair of cooperating arms whose free ends are arranged to engage one another and extend between the arms of the single torsion spring means.. The carriage assembly print head slidably receives the mounting bracket which is urged in the forward direction by bias means and may be adjustably positioned by adjustable cam means to enable the carriage assembly to maintain a fixed position relative to the platen and requiring only movement of the print head mounting bracket. The carriage assembly includes an open frame-shaped casting of a light-weight material significantly reducing inertia as well as the load imposed upon the driving system.. Movement of the carriage assembly, regardless of the direction of said movement, drives a ribbon cartridge drive shaft, through a pair of selectively operable clutch assemblies mounted to move with the carriage and rotated by wires encircling the clutch assemblies.

The present invention constitutes an improvement over the bidirectional belt drive assembly described in U.S. patent Application Ser. No. 692,484 filed June 3, 1976, filed in the name of R. Howard et al and assigned to the assignee of the present application and abandoned in favor of continuation application Ser. No. 28,318, filed Apr. 9, 1979. The apparatus disclosed therein is comprised of a closed loop belt entrained about a pair of pulleys and tensioned so as to provide upper and lower substantially linear belt runs. A carriage assembly is mounted for slidable movement along a pair of guide rods extending substantially parallel to said belt runs. A print head is mounted upon the carriage for effecting printing upon a paper web arranged to pass along a platen which is aligned substantially parallel to said guide rods.
In order to cause printing in a desired direction, a first, one of a pair of solenoid control means is energized to rotate a jam cleat into wedging engagement with one run of said belt, the jam cleat being urged against said belt to clamp said belt between the wedging member and the surface of a backing means. The angular orientation of the wedging member cooperates with the direction of movement of the belt to cause the wedging member to be wedged against the belt and thereby enhance the clamping action to effect abrupt acceleration of the carriage assembly.
Movement of the carriage assembly in the reverse direction is accomplished by de-energizing the aforementioned first solenoid control means to release its jam cleat assembly and energizing the remaining solenoid control means to cause its associated jam cleat assembly to become wedged against the opposite run of said belt. The belt is driven at a constant rate by a constant speed motor whose output shaft rotates the drive pulley in one direction at a constant angular velocity, the opposite pulley being an idler pulley driven to rotate by virtue of the belt entrained therearound.
With printers of this type it is extremely important to be able to accelerate from a standstill position up to the constant velocity desired for printing as rapidly as possible. This objective is basically achieved by the above-mentioned wedging action. However, it is extremely important to provide adequate positive engagement between the jam cleat assemblies and the belt in order to clamp the belt and it is thereby important to provide an engaging surface of sufficient surface area to prevent undue wearing of both the jam cleat assembly wedging portion and the belt, while at the same time retaining the highly desirable wedging configuration.
It is further highly desirable to provide a carriage assembly which, while having all of the above attributes, has a low mass in order to facilitate its rapid acceleration.
Also the carriage taught in the aforementioned pending application requires that the carriage be moved relative to the platen by means of a complex eccentric mounting for adjusting the position of the print wire tips relative to the platen thereby complicating the carriage assembly.

Bi-directional belt drive, print head mounting means and printing plane adjustment means for serial printers


Method and apparatus for installing multiple strings of pipe in underwater wells in which, just prior to landing of the hanger for the multiple pipe strings, the weight of the strings is carried by a support ring releasably secured to a body member through an antifriction bearing so that rotational orientation can be accomplished.

In the completion of underwater oil and gas wells, it is frequently necessary to suspend in a single borehole a plurality of strings of pipe which extend side-by-side rather than concentrically. Thus, in the case of an underwater well in which the borehole traverses two separate producing strata, a first tubing string extends to the lowermost strata, a second tubing string extends to the superadjacent strata, and the space within the innermost casing is sealed off between the two strata. In such an installation, one or more hydraulic lines, typically lines to control downhole safety valves, must be suspended beside the tubing strings. In typical wells, the length of the tubing strings may be quite great, so that the total weight of the strings to be suspended may be 300,000 pounds or more. In most underwater wells, the multiple strings of pipe are suspended from a single support, typically a tubing hanger, seated on a shoulder in the well structure near the bottom of the body of water in which the well is installed. Installation of the multiple strings of pipe is accomplished from an operational base, such as a vessel or a platform, located at the surface of the body of water. Thus, in installing a plurality of tubing strings, the last joints of the tubing strings are attached to a tubing hanger by direct manual steps taken on the operational base. Then, the tubing hanger is attached to a handling tool, the handling tool is attached to a handling string, and the final stages of running the tubing strings into the well, plus the step of landing the tubing hanger, are accomplished from the operational base by manipulating the handling string.
The water depths involved are usually quite great, typically well beyond the depths at which divers can operate, and all operations are therefore carried out with the aid of a guidance system, typically a plurality of guide lines extending from the operational base to upright guide posts carried by a guide means base centered on the borehole at the bottom of the body of water. The guidance system serves not only to guide all of the well components into a position, e.g., precisely centered on the borehole but also to provide an orientation reference for those elements which must, once installed, occupy a known rotational position. Thus, a tubing hanger supporting two strings of tubing side-by-side presents two upwardly opening bores, each of which communicates with a different one of the tubing strings, and each of which must receive, e.g., a different one of two stingers carried by the production upper body when that body is installed. Since a component such as the production upper body is installed after the tubing hanger is installed, it is apparent that a multiple string tubing hanger must be landed in a known rotational position relative to the guidance system, else the production upper body cannot be mated successfully with the tubing hanger. And landing of the hanger in a known rotational position must be accomplished remotely, by operations carried out from the surface of the body of water.
Prior-art workers have generally attacked this set of problems by providing a wellhead or other well structure at or near the floor of the body of water with a tubing hanger support, which may be a shoulder presented by a casing hanger, providing an upright passage above the tubing hanger support, providing a rotational orientation reference such as a vertical slot in the upright passage, using a handling tool to manipulate the tubing hanger, and equipping the handling tool with locator means which can be made to coact with the rotational orientation reference, when the handling tool is rotated by manipulating the handling string. To aid in rotation of the combination of the handling tool, tubing hanger and tubing strings, various bearing arrangements have been proposed. Thus, bearings have been provided which are interposed between the tubing hanger and its support, as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,841, issued Sept. 5, 1972, to Benton F. Baugh, and pending application Ser. No. 36,659, filed May 7, 1979, by Michael L. Wilson. However, such approaches, at least in some cases, have the deficiencies that the bearing must be provided in a part of the structure which affords little room to accommodate the bearing, that the location of the bearing requires modification of the tubing hanger itself, so as to provide bearing races, that the area occupied by the bearing is one in which effective seals must be provided to act against downhole pressures, and that the size limitation may now allow use of a standard bearing. In other prior-art proposals, such as that seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,714, issued Sept. 26, 1972, to Benton F. Baugh, the bearing is provided between the handling tool and a tubular member carried by the handling tool disposed to engage the casing hanger or other element which is to support the tubing hanger, the tubing hanger being released and lowered for landing after rotational orientation has been accomplished. Though this latter approach has the advantage that the entire weight of the tubing strings, tubing hanger and handling tool is supported by the bearing before the tubing hanger is landed, it has in general the same deficiencies that are encountered when the bearing is interposed directly between the tubing hanger and its support.
While such prior-art approaches have achieved considerable success and acceptance in the field, there has been a continuing need for improvement.

Method and apparatus for installing multiple pipe strings in underwater wells


A layout structure including a conductive structure is provided. The layout structure includes a dielectric layer formed on a substrate and a conductive structure formed in the dielectric layer. And the conductive structure further includes a barrier layer, a metal layer formed within the barrier layer, and a high resistive layer sandwiched in between the barrier layer and the metal layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conductive structure, a layout structure including conductive structure, and a method for manufacturing conductive structure, and more particularly, to a method including planarization process and the conductive structure and the layout structure formed by the method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. And new microfabrication techniques are being developed with the realization of higher integration degrees and higher operation speeds. Chemical-mechanical polishing (hereinafter abbreviated as CMP) method is one such technique that is applied to planarization of interlayer insulating films, formation of contact plugs, and formation of embedded wiring in IC manufacturing process.
Typically, excess portions other than required metal or insulating material are removed by CMP and thus an even surface is obtained for subsequent processes. For example, in the interconnection fabrication process, series of trenches, openings, or vias are formed in an insulating material on a substrate and filled up with a conductive layer. And excess portions of the conductive layer are removed by the CMP. Consequently, wirings and/or via structures are formed in the insulating material. Those skilled in the art also know that CMP is also involved in planarization of shallow trench isolation region.
It is found that when removing the metal materials by the planarization, the unwanted short circuit may be formed between individual devices because of remnant metals left by the insufficient planarization. Furthermore, dishing defect, which is the formation of topographical defects, such as concavities or depressions, in the metal and metal alloy layer of features formed on the substrate surface, is often found. Dishing defect further results in a non-planar surface that impairs the ability to print high resolution lines during subsequent photolithographic steps and detrimentally affects subsequent surface topography of the substrate and device/line formation. Furthermore, dishing defect also detrimentally affects the performance of devices by lowering the conductance and increasing the resistance of the devices. Therefore, a method that is able to prevent aforementioned insufficient planarization and dishing defect is still in need.

Conductive layout structure including high resistive layer


Phenylcyclopropane carboxylic acid derivatives having the formula (I) ##STR1## wherein X represents a C.sub.2 -C.sub.10 straight or branched alkyl group, are novel compounds having excellent acaricidal effect.

The present invention relates to novel cyclopropane carboxylic acid derivatives having the formula ##STR2## wherein X represents a C.sub.2 -C.sub.10 straight or branched alkyl group and acaricidal compositions containing the same.
The compounds of the present invention are novel compounds which have excellent acaricidal effect.
Various acarina in various growth stages such as imago, larva and ovum are found as parasitic acarina on fruit trees, vegetables, flowers and woods.
Various acaricidal compositions used for controlling acarina have been developed and tested. However, effect of the acaricide is different depending upon the kinds and growth stages of the acarina. Various active ingredients have been applied depending upon characteristics of the active ingredients and applicating places. Moreover, the development of novel acaricides have been required in view of prevention of resistance of acarina to acaricides which is caused by continuous applications of specific acaricides.
The inventors have studied to develop novel acaricides which are different from the known acaricides.
Heretofore, certain phenylcyclopropane carboxylic acid derivatives have been known.
The compounds having the formula ##STR3## have been known in Collection of Czechoslovak Chemical Communication, 24, 2460 (1959) and 25, 1815 (1960).
These compounds are carboxylic acid esters having ##STR4## as the alcohol moiety. However, insecticidal activity of the compounds for houseflies is only similar to that of allethrin of one of the commerciallized pyrethroids when the substituent on the phenyl group is a hydrogen atom and the insecticidal activity is inferior when the substituent on the phenyl group is chlorine, or fluorine atom or methyl or methoxy group (no acaricidal activity is described).
The compounds having the formula ##STR5## has been disclosed in Bochu Kagaku Vol. 27, III, page 51 (1962). However, the insecticidal activity of the compound is only similar to that of allethrin.
The inventors have checked a phenylcyclopropane carboxylic acid ester illustrated below. ##STR6## This compound has no substituent on phenyl group. However, an acaricidal activity of this compound is quite low.

Acaricidal compounds of cyclopropane carboxylic acid derivatives


By sealing the periphery of a printed circuit board, the previously exposed edges of the board are substantially prevented from moisture wicking. This sealing of the periphery can be made concurrently with the plating of through-holes on the board. With this process, current leakage paths due to board moisture wicking within the board is significantly reduced.

This invention relates to a new manufacturing method of printed circuit boards (PCB's) in general and of PCB's with plated-through holes in particular. It results in improved moisture resistance of PCB's.
In circuit boards where high accuracies and high impedances are required, for example, impedances greater than one (1) megohms as in digital multimeter PCB's, special precautions have to be taken to minimize current leakage paths in the PCB's by maintaining high impedances of the board. Typical special precautions taken are conformal coating, that is coating all components on the board with some insulating compound, and elevating from the board all the critical points in the circuit by means of insulator stand-offs.
In PCB's made of glass-epoxy phenolic or paper laminate, for instance, a major source of current leakage paths is moisture wicking in through the periphery of the board where capillary action through the exposed PCB edge causes the moisture wicking. This moisture wicking, in turn, causes current leakage paths within the PCB.
In the typical process of sizing the board, for example, the routing operation exposes raw fibers at the edges of a glass-epoxy board to the ambient environment. Thus, in a high moisture environment, the moisture wicking problem earlier described is especially severe, and the problem of current leakage is especially pronounced. To compound the problem, the usual special precautions of conformal coating and insulator stand-offs do not effectively address this problem of leakage paths caused by moisture wicking of the PCB.

Method for coating the edge of a printed circuit board to improve its moisture resistance


In an electric motor in which a magnet holder is provided in an inner periphery of a yoke, and a terminal insertion hole is provided in a feed connector provided in a brush holder. A terminal connected to a brush is inserted to the terminal insertion hole, and the yoke and the brush holder are connected. An engagement portion is provided in the terminal, a convex portion is provided in an end surface of the magnet holder, and the convex portion of the magnet holder is allowed to be engaged with the engagement portion of the terminal under a state in which the yoke and the brush holder are connected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric motor preferably used in a motor-driven power steering apparatus and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A motor-driven power steering apparatus for a vehicle structured, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-84300 (patent document 1), such that an assist shaft of a steering apparatus is connected to a rotation shaft of an electric motor. A rotation force of the electric motor is transmitted to the steering apparatus, thereby assisting steering force applied to a steering shaft by a driver.
A conventional electric motor is structured, as described in Japanese Patent No. 3207177 (patent document 2), such that a brush is held to a brush holder connected to a yoke. A terminal is provided in a feed connector provided in the brush holder. A pigtail connected to the brush is connected to the terminal. A feed terminal of an opposing connector is connected to the terminal by mounting the opposing connector to the feed connector. In this manner, it is possible to feed to the brush.
In a structure for assembling the terminal connected to the brush in the feed connector of the brush holder, in the electric motor, it is considered that the terminal is inserted to a terminal insertion hole provided in the feed connector. However, when assembling the terminal, in the case that the terminal is not completely inserted to an assembly final position at which the terminal is inserted to the terminal insertion hole so as to be allowed to be fixed, it is difficult or impossible to find a defect in assembly of the terminal after the brush holder having the feed connector in which the terminal mentioned above is assembled is connected to the yoke. If the opposing connector is mounted to the feed connector under this faulty assembly state, the terminal is pushed out from the terminal insertion hole by the feed terminal of the opposing connector so as to generate a faulty feed.


An object of the present invention is to provide a solar cell that is excellent in photoelectric conversion efficiency, suffers little degradation during encapsulation (initial degradation), has high-humidity durability, and is excellent in temperature cycle resistance. The present invention provides a solar cell including: a laminate having an electrode, a counter electrode, and a photoelectric conversion layer disposed between the electrode and the counter electrode; and an encapsulation material covering the counter electrode to encapsulate the laminate, the photoelectric conversion layer including an organic-inorganic perovskite compound represented by the formula: R-M-X3, R representing an organic molecule, M representing a metal atom, X representing a halogen atom or a chalcogen atom, the encapsulation material including a resin having at least one skeleton selected from the group consisting of polyisobutylene, polyisoprene, and polybutadiene.

Photoelectric conversion elements equipped with a laminate having an N-type semiconductor layer and a P-type semiconductor layer disposed between opposing electrodes have been conventionally developed. Such photoelectric conversion elements generate photocarriers by photoexcitation so that electrons and holes move through the N-type semiconductor and the P-type semiconductor, respectively, to create an electric field.
Most photoelectric conversion elements currently in practical use are inorganic solar cells which are produced using inorganic semiconductors made of silicon or the like. The inorganic solar cells, however, are utilized only in a limited range because their production is costly and upsizing thereof is difficult. Therefore, organic solar cells produced using organic semiconductors instead of inorganic semiconductors have received attention.
In organic solar cells, fullerene is used in most cases. Fullerene is known to function mainly as an N-type semiconductor. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a semiconductor heterojunction film formed using an organic compound serving as a P-type semiconductor, and fullerenes. Fullerene, however, is known to be responsible for degradation of organic solar cells produced using the fullerene (see e.g., Non-Patent Literature 1). Thus, there is a demand for a material that substitutes for fullerene.
In the organic solar cells, a laminate having an N-type semiconductor layer and a P-type semiconductor layer disposed between opposing electrodes is generally encapsulated using an encapsulation resin such as a sealing material (see e.g., Non-Patent Literature 2). However, the problem of the organic solar cells encapsulated using an encapsulation resin such as a sealing material is that, depending on the type of a semiconductor material, the semiconductor material is degraded during encapsulation, resulting in reduced photoelectric conversion efficiency (initial degradation).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A flexible saddle device provides a leak-proof tap into pipes of various sizes. The saddle device, which is made of a flexible elastomeric material, has a fitting portion for receiving the end of a branch pipe and a coupling portion for coupling onto a main pipe. The coupling portion includes an arcuate wall that can be flexed to accommodate the outside diameters of various sized pipes. The coupling portion has circumferential edge portions which extend circumferentially on the main pipe and longitudinal edge portions which extend longitudinally on the main pipe. The longitudinal edge portions each have a stiffener, which is made of a relatively stiff material, and a lip that projects inwardly from the inner surface of the coupling portion. The stiffeners extend between the circumferential edge portions and resist outward bowing when the coupling portion is flexed to fit onto a pipe that is of a smaller radius than the unflexed coupling portion. The lips, in conjunction with the stiffeners, provide a seal along the longitudinal edge portions.

A sewer collection system includes a main pipe and tributary branch pipes which connect into the main pipe at locations along its length. Frequently, it is desired to tap into the main sewer pipe to provide a new branch pipe. Saddle devices are used to provide leak free taps into a main pipe. The saddle device, which is located around the outside diameter of the main pipe, includes a fitting portion for receiving the new branch pipe and a coupling portion for coupling onto the main pipe.
Sewer mains come in a variety of sizes (e.g. 4-12 inches and even larger). Because of the diversity of sewer main pipe sizes it is desirable to have a saddle device that can fit more than one main pipe size. Such a saddle device would reduce the need for large inventories necessitated by prior art saddles.


Novel thermally stable resins comprising halogens and not epoxide termination groups are described. The thermally stable resins may be employed in polymer systems to yield flame retardant polymer compositions.

Thermoplastic resins and blends comprising the same are generally characterized by their many advantageous properties which include optical clarity, high ductility high heat deflection temperatures as well as dimensional stability. As a result of such properties, they are often employed in many commercial applications.
One of the most successful thermoplastics available is the acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) terpolymer. ABS consists of discrete, crosslinked polybutadiene rubber particles which are grafted with poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN) and embedded in a SAN matrix. Interior applications of ABS include instrument panels and knobs while external applications include wheel covers and headlight housings.
It is of increasing interest to prepare thermoplastic resins and blends which, while retaining the above-mentioned advantageous properties, also possess flame retardant properties. Several flame retardant agents have been utilized in an attempt to produce flame retardant thermoplastic resins. For example, alkali metal salts of strong sulfonic acids are commonly used. However, when incorporated into the resin, the resulting polymer is hydrolytically sensitive. Further, when using these salts, it is also necessary to employ drip inhibitors or gas phase flame retardant agents which is not ideal since the former destroys the clarity of the polymer and the latter often creates problems with corrosion and toxicity. As an alternative to the above, phosphorus containing compounds such as triphenylphosphate and brominated compounds such as phenyl ethers have been used. When blended with a base polymer, some flame retardant properties are observed. However, the resulting polymer blends are not desirable since they possess low glass transition temperatures and low impact resistances when compared to the base resin. Additionally, epoxide terminated resins have often been employed in flame retardant compositions. The compositions do, however, display charring and black speck formation after thermal exposure and such charring and black speck formation are believed to be induced by the epoxide termination groups.
Accordingly, the instant invention is directed to novel thermally stable resins and flame retardant polymer compositions comprising the same. Moreover, said thermally stable resins are halogenated and they do not comprise epoxide termination groups.

Flame retardant polymer compositions comprising thermally stable resins


The invention relates to conjugated polymers comprising indacenodithiophene or indacenoselenophene units or derivatives thereof, to methods of their preparation, to novel monomer units used therein, to the use of the polymers in organic electronic (OE) devices, and to OE devices comprising the polymers.

In recent years, there has been development of organic semiconducting (OSC) materials in order to produce more versatile, lower cost electronic devices. Such materials find application in a wide range of devices or apparatus, including organic field effect transistors (OFETs), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), photodetectors, organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells, sensors, memory elements and logic circuits to name just a few. The organic semiconducting materials are typically present in the electronic device in the form of a thin layer, for example less than 1 micron thick.
The performance of OFET devices is principally based upon the charge carrier mobility of the semiconducting material and the current on/off ratio, so the ideal semiconductor should have a low conductivity in the off state, combined with a high charge carrier mobility (>1×10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1). In addition, it is important that the semiconducting material is relatively stable to oxidation i.e. it has a high ionisation potential, as oxidation leads to reduced device performance. Further requirements for the semiconducting material are a good processability, especially for large-scale production of thin layers and desired patterns, and high stability, film uniformity and integrity of the organic semiconductor layer.
In prior art various materials have been proposed for use as OSCs in OFETs, including small molecules like for example pentacene, and polymers like for example polyhexylthiophene. However, the materials and devices investigated so far do still have several drawbacks, and their properties, especially the processability, charge-carrier mobility, on/off ratio and stability do still leave room for further improvement.
A promising class of conjugated polymers has been based upon the indenofluorene unit. First reported by Müllen and co-workers [S. Setayesh, D. Marsitzky, and K. Müllen, Macromolecules, 2000, 33, 2016], the homopolymer of indenofluorene was a candidate material for blue light emission in electroluminescent applications. Indenofluorene co-polymers have also been suggested for application as an OSC in transistor devices [WO 2007/131582 A1].
However, the performance of the OSC materials disclosed in prior art is still not always satisfying the current requirements on these materials, and leaves room for further improvement.
In particular, there is still a need for OSC materials that show high charge carrier mobility. Moreover, for use in OFETs there is a need for OSC materials that allow improved charge injection into the polymer semiconducting layer from the source-drain electrodes. For use in OPV cells, there is a need for OSC materials having a low bandgap, which enable improved light harvesting by the photoactive layer and can lead to higher cell efficiencies.
One aim of the present invention is to provide new OSC materials for use in electronic devices, which have the desired properties described above, and do in particular show good processability, high charge-carrier mobility, high on/off ratio, high oxidative stability and long lifetime in electronic devices. Another aim is to extend the pool of OSC materials available to the expert. Other aims of the present invention are immediately evident to the expert from the following detailed description.
The inventors of the present invention have found that these aims can be achieved by providing materials as described hereinafter. These materials are based on polymers comprising one or more s-indacenodithiophene or s-indacenodiselenophene units or derivatives thereof, as represented by the following formulae
                s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene/selenophene
                s-indaceno[1,2-b:7,6-b′]dithiophene/selenophene(wherein X is S or Se and R1-4 denote for example hydrocarbyl groups),
It has been found that these polymers are suitable for use as OSC materials in electronic devices, especially in OFETs and OPV cells, and as charge transport layer or interlayer material in polymer light emitting diodes (PLEDs), as they have good processibility and at the same time show a high charge carrier mobility and high oxidative stability.
It was also found that the replacement of the terminal phenyl rings in indenofluorene with thiophene rings increases the electron-rich nature of the conjugated core and therefore increases the HOMO energy level of the resulting homopolymer, poly(2,7-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene). In poly(2,8-indenofluorene) the HOMO energy level is low-lying (EHOMO=−5.49 eV as measured by cyclic voltammetry). This increase in the HOMO energy lower allows improved charge injection into the polymer semiconducting layer from the source-drain electrodes (typically made from gold, which has a workfunction of ˜5.1 eV) when applied in a field-effect transistor.
In addition, this additional electron-richness can be exploited to prepare novel low bandgap polymers for photovoltaic applications. By combining the electron-rich s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene unit and an electron-deficient unit (e.g. benzothiadiazole), resulting co-polymers have a low bandgap (Eg<2 eV). Low bandgap semiconducting polymers are advantageous in bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells as they enable improved light harvesting by the photoactive layer, which can potentially lead to higher cell efficiencies.
In prior art there is a report of s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene, but only as a small molecule material [K-T. Wong, T-C. Chao, L-C. Chi, Y-Y. Chu, A. Balaiah, S-F. Chiu, Y-H. Liu, and Y. Wang, Org. Lett., 2006, 8, 5033]. There is also a report of a homopolymer of s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene [X. M. Hong, and D. M. Collard, Polymer Preprints, 2000, 41 (1), 189], however, this is polymerised at the bridging 4,9-positions and not at the terminal 2,7-positions as described hereinafter.
Furthermore, there is a report of 4,9-dihydro-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene-4,9-dione copolymers [C. Zhao, X. Chen, Y. Zhang, and M-K, Ng, J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem., 2008, 46, 2680.] for application in bulk heteojunction photovoltaics. However, the copolymers reported therein comprise electron-rich thiophene-based co-monomers, instead of the electron-deficient co-monomers that should yield a lower bandgap polymer as desired in this invention.
In addition, there is a report of 4,4,9,9-tetraaryl-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene homopolymer and copolymers [S-H, Chan, C-P. Chen, T-C. Chao, C. Ting, C-S. Lin, and B-T Ko, Macromolecules, 2008, published online], again for application in bulk heteojunction photovoltaics. However, the copolymers reported also comprise electron-rich thiophene-based co-monomers, instead of electron-deficient comonomers that should yield a lower bandgap polymer. Furthermore, the tetraaryl substituents at the 4- and 9-bridging positions should not be as effective at solublising the polymers as straight chain or branched chain alkyl substituents. In addition, the tetraaryl substituents should result in poorer solid-state packing of the polymer chains. This is because these aryl rings will twist of the plane of the polymer backbone due to steric interactions, and therefore should prevent the polymer chains from packing closely and result in lower charge carrier mobility.

Indacenodithiophene and indacenodiselenophene polymers and their use as organic semiconductors


An approach is provided for fabricating probe elements for probe card assemblies. Embodiments of the invention include using a reusable substrate, a reusable substrate with layered probe elements and a reusable substrate with a passive layer made of a material that does not adhere well to probe elements formed thereon. Examples of probe elements include, without limitation, a cantilever probe element, a vertically-oriented probe element, and portions of probe elements, e.g., a beam element of a cantilever probe element. Probe elements, or portions of probe elements, may be formed using any of a number of electroforming or plating processes such as, for example, plating using masking techniques, e.g., using lithographic techniques such as photolithography, stereolithography, X-ray lithography, etc.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, the approaches described in this section may not be prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
In the testing of wafer-based semiconductor devices, probe cards are typically used to provide electrical interconnection between a testing system and the semiconductor wafer. Such probe cards may, for example, include a printed circuit board (i.e., PCB), a probe substrate, and an interposer, e.g., a pogo pin or spring pin based interposer) providing electrical interconnection between the PCB and the probe substrate. Resilient probe elements are supported by the probe substrate. For example, in certain probe cards, the probe elements may be held in a "floating" configuration within a probe head adjacent the probe substrate. In other probe cards, the probe elements may be fixed at one end to a conductive region, e.g., a conductive trace, a terminal, a lead, a contact pad, etc.) of the probe substrate.
Probe elements may have different configurations, depending upon the testing application. For example, cantilever style probes are sometimes used in the testing of memory devices. Vertically configured probes, e.g., probe needles) are often used in tighter pitch probe cards, such as area array configurations.
Probe elements may be fabricated using a wide variety of techniques. For example, probe elements may be fabricated using semiconductor fabrication masking techniques. This may include forming probe elements on a sacrificial substrate that is destroyed after the probe elements are formed to separate the probe elements from the substrate. An alternative is to first form a release layer, such as a thin copper layer, on a substrate and then form the probe elements on the release layer using masking techniques. After the probe elements are formed, the release layer is destroyed, for example by etching, to release the probe elements from the substrate.

Approach for fabricating probe elements for probe card assemblies using a reusable substrate


A portable memory device has a lead of a ground terminal of a connector extending and bent to contact a conductive cover. When static electricity is applied to the memory device, it is conducted to the ground terminal and, thus, electric current caused by a static discharge is not supplied to parts within the device so that latch up of IC and loss or discharge of stored data is prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable memory device and, more particularly, to an IC card with anti-ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) means.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a conventional portable memory device, for example, an IC card. The IC card 1 has a connector 2 engaged with a terminal device (not illustrated) at one end of the IC card 1. Conductive outer panels 4 with interior surfaces coated with an insulating material 3 are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the IC card 1. The outer panels 4 are spaced apart by an IC card frame 5 at predetermined interval. A substrate 6 which includes peripheral ICs 8 such as chip parts 7 and a memory IC is disposed in the IC card 1. The ground of the substrate 6 is connected to a lead 10 (a ground pin) of a ground terminal of the connector 2 through a ground line 9 and other electric circuits are connected to a connector pin 11. The conductive outer panels 4 have the same electric potential since these panels are electrically connected to each other through conductive members 12 placed between the panels, such as a plate spring, a coil spring and so on. The IC card 1 includes a battery 13 which is electrically connected to each part on the substrate 6 through a positive electrode terminal 14 and a negative electrode terminal 15.
Conventional IC card 1 has a configuration as described above. The IC card 1 is supplied with electricity from the terminal device (not illustrated) when it is inserted into the terminal device, and inputs and outputs data. When the IC card 1 is withdrawn from the terminal device after the data has been written in it, the IC card 1 is supplied with electricity from the battery 13 and retains data even if the memory IC is a volatile memory IC. If the memory IC is a non-volatile memory IC, supplying of electricity from the battery 13 is not required.
If the above mentioned IC is electrostatically charged when inserted into or withdrawn from the terminal device, there arises a large electric field (electric potential difference) between the conductive outer panel 4 and the wiring, the chip parts 7, the peripheral ICs 8 or other parts on the substrate 6. This large electric field may generate a static discharge between such parts and cause latch up of the peripheral ICs, including the memory IC or change in data caused by a malfunction of the memory IC and the like.