An Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy material suitable for forming a ferromagnetic Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy thin film is provided. The magnetic thin film produces a small number of particles during sputtering, and excels in corrosion resistance and magnetic properties. A method of manufacturing an Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy sputtering target used to make the thin film is also provided. In addition, an Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy sputtering target for forming magnetic thin films is provided. The sputtering target is characterized in that it has: an oxygen content of 50 ppm or less; an S content of 10 ppm or less; a carbon content of 50 ppm or less, and a total content of metal impurities other than the alloy components of 50 ppm or less. Such an Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy target can be produced by melting and alloying high-purity materials obtained by dissolving the raw materials in hydrochloric acid, and performing ion exchange, activated-charcoal treatment, and electrolytic refining.

The present invention relates to an Nixe2x80x94Fe sputtering target for forming magnetic thin films, and specifically to an Nixe2x80x94Fe sputtering target for forming ferromagnetic thin films.
In recent years, magnetic recording devices for computers, such as hard disks, have rapidly been downsized, and their capacities have been increased. The recording density of such devices is estimated to reach 20 Gb/in2 in a few years. Therefore, conventional induction-type heads used as playing heads have approached their limit, and alternatively, magneto-resistance-effect-type (MR) heads have begun to be used. Use of the MR heads is expected to grow rapidly in the future in a worldwide scale accompanying the growth of the personal computer market. In coming years, the practical use of giant magneto-resistance-effect-type (GMR) heads, expected for their further higher density, will be realized.
Nixe2x80x94Fe alloys have been studied for use as a ferromagnetic film of the spin-valve film used in GMR heads.
Nixe2x80x94Fe alloys are normally produced by sintering or melting. However, conventional Nixe2x80x94Fe alloys release a large amount of gases, produce a large number of particles during sputtering, and have the problem of corrosion resistance. Also, their magnetic properties are not found to be satisfactory.
It is an object of the present invention to provide means for forming a ferromagnetic film which releases less gases, produces fewer particles during sputtering, and has good magnetic properties.
In order to solve the above problems, the inventors of the present invention repeated studies, and discovered that impurity elements, in particular, oxygen, sulfur, carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen increased the release of gases and the production of particles, and that such impurities were the cause of lowered corrosion resistance. In addition to the above, the inventors discovered that the magnetic properties depended mainly on the crystalline structure of the thin film, and that the magnetic properties were improved when the crystals were large columnar crystals.
According to the present invention, and based on the above stated findings, an Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy sputtering target for forming magnetic thin films is provided such that it has an oxygen content of 50 ppm or less, a sulfur content of 10 ppm or less, a carbon content of 50 ppm or less, and a content of total metal impurities other than the alloy components of 50 ppm or less. Preferably, the content of oxygen is 10 ppm or less, the content of sulfur is 1 ppm or less, the content of carbon is 10 ppm or less, and the content of total metal impurities other than the alloy components is 10 ppm or less.
In addition, the Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy sputtering target has a nitrogen content of 10 ppm or less and a hydrogen content of 1 ppm or less. Preferably, the content of nitrogen is 1 ppm or less, and the content of hydrogen is 0.5 ppm or less.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a magnetic thin film formed by sputtering an Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy target as described above is also disclosed.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a method of manufacturing the above discussed Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy sputtering target is provided. The method includes the step of alloying by: melting high-purity Ni and high-purity Fe obtained by dissolving material Ni and Fe in hydrochloric acid to form an aqueous solution of chlorides; removing impurity metal ions by allowing the aqueous solution of chlorides to contact an ion exchange resin; evaporating to dryness or concentrating the obtained solution; dissolving it in water to form an aqueous solution of chloride having pH between 0 and 3; removing organic matters in the solution using activated charcoal; and conducting electrolytic refining of the aqueous solution as an electrolytic solution. The method also includes the step of casting the obtained alloy.
In addition, the method of manufacturing an Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy sputtering target can include obtaining Ni or Fe by electrolytic refining and subjecting it to degassing.
An Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy sputtering target for forming magnetic thin films according to the present invention comprises an Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy containing 70% by weight or more Ni. Although typical examples are two-component alloys of Ni and Fe, the examples further include alloys also containing Co, Cr, Rh, Nb, or Ta.
In the Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy sputtering target according to the present invention, the contents of impurities, i.e., elements other than Ni and Fe, are reduced. In particular, the contents of oxygen, sulfur, carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen are reduced as much as possible, because such elements lower the corrosion resistance of the target, cause particles to occur, and deteriorate magnetic properties. Among these elements, oxygen and sulfur especially lower the corrosion resistance. Furthermore, since oxygen makes crystals finer and nitrogen deviates crystal orientation, both cause the deterioration of magnetic properties. Carbon also causes particles to occur. Therefore, the content of oxygen should be 50 ppm or below, preferably 10 ppm or below; the content of sulfur should be 10 ppm or below, preferably 1 ppm or below; and the content of carbon should be 50 ppm or below, preferably 10 ppm or below.
Furthermore, the content of nitrogen should be 10 ppm or below, preferably 1 ppm or below; and the content of hydrogen should be 1 ppm or below, preferably 0.5 ppm or below.
Exceeding the above contents is not preferred because of increase in occurrence of particles, significant lowering of corrosion resistance, and marked deterioration of magnetic properties.
The inventor of the present invention found that the impurities in the Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy were originated from electrolytic Ni and Fe materials. The inventor carried out the high purification of each of the Ni and Fe materials.
By the combination of ion exchange and electrolytic refining, activated charcoal treatment, and degassing as required in the method for high purification of Ni and Fe materials, extremely high-purity Ni and Fe can be obtained.
For example, the following method can be used.
High-purity Ni and high-purity Fe can be obtained by: dissolving material Ni and Fe in hydrochloric acid to form an aqueous solution of chlorides; removing impurity metal ions by allowing the aqueous solution of chlorides to contact an ion exchange resin; evaporating to dryness or concentrating the obtained solution; dissolving the concentrated solution in water to form an aqueous solution of chloride having pH between 0 and 3; removing organic matters in the solution using activated charcoal; and conducting electrolytic refining of the aqueous solution as an electrolytic solution.
Although the purity of the Ni and Fe utilized are not particularly limited, those of three-nine purity (99.9%) which are normally marketed are sufficient.
The above Ni material, or Fe material, is charged in a vessel and dissolved in hydrochloric acid. The type of hydrochloric acid utilized is not particularly limited, for instance, industrial low purity hydrochloric acid may be used. This is because impurities contained in hydrochloric acid can also be removed by practicing the present invention.
Equipment for dissolving Ni or Fe is preferably provided by a cooling tower for the effective use of hydrochloric acid and a hydrogen chloride gas recovering unit. The material of the equipment is preferably quartz, graphite, Teflon, or polyethylene.
The dissolving temperature is 10 to 100xc2x0 C. If the temperature is less than 10xc2x0 C., the dissolving rate decreases, and if the temperature is more than 100xc2x0 C., evaporation becomes vigorous and loss of the aqueous solution increases.
When Ni is highly purified, the Ni solution is extracted, concentrated, and adjusted to have a hydrochloric acid concentration of 5 to 12N by adding hydrochloric acid. A hydrochloric concentration of less than 5N, or more than 12N, is not preferred because Co is not absorbed and removed by the ion exchange resin.
The above nickel chloride solution adjusted to have a hydrochloric acid concentration of 5 to 12N is allowed to contact an anion exchange resin to absorb impurities in the solution. The ion exchange resin used in the present invention is not particularly limited if it is an anion exchange resin. Examples include DOWEX 1xc3x978, DOWEX 2xc3x978 (Muromachi Chemicals Co., Ltd.), and DIAION SA 10A.
Since Co, Fe, and U form chloride complexes in concentrated hydrochloric acid, and are present as anions, they are adsorbed on anion exchanged resins. On the other hand, since Ni and alkali metals such as Na, K and Th, present as impurities do not form chloride complexes, they are not adsorbed, but flow out of the column.
At this time, for proper separation of Ni and Co, the flow rate of the solution is preferably SV=0.01 to 1. Here, xe2x80x9cSVxe2x80x9d stands for space velocity, and is the quantity of the solution per hour divided by the volume of the packed ion exchange resin. If SV is 0.01 or less, the productivity decreases, and if SV is 1 or more, Fe and Co are not sufficiently adsorbed and high-purity Ni cannot be obtained.
Through the above operations, Co and U impurities are separated from Ni.
Co and U adsorbed on the anion exchange resin can be eluted easily by the use of hydrochloric acid of a concentration less than 1N. Therefore, the anion exchange resin can be recovered by eluting Co and U at a suitable time, considering the adsorption capacity of the anion exchange resin.
The purification of Fe can be performed in the same manner as the purification of Ni.
Since the nickel chloride, or iron chloride solution, eluted from the ion exchange resin has a high hydrochloric acid content, it cannot be used for electrolytic refining as it is. Therefore, by evaporating to dryness or concentrating the eluted nickel chloride, or iron chloride, solution and adding pure water, an aqueous solution of a pH between 0 and 3 is obtained and used as the electrolytic solution.
The evaporation to dryness, or concentration, step may be carried out with a rotary evaporator or the like. The temperature for evaporation to dryness or concentration is 80xc2x0 C. or above, preferably 100xc2x0 C. or above. A temperature below 80xc2x0 C. is not preferred because evaporation to dryness or concentration takes a long time. Evaporation to dryness or concentration carried out with an aspirator under a weakly reduced pressure will reduce the time taken. The material of the equipment used for the evaporation to dryness or concentration step is preferably quartz, graphite, or Teflon. Hydrochloric acid gas produced during evaporation to dryness or concentration can be cooled and concentrated for reuse as hydrochloric acid for dissolving Ni or Fe.
Small quantities of organic substances (styrene, divinylbenzene, amines, etc.) may flow out of the ion exchange resin and mix in the solution. An activated charcoal treatment is carried out to remove such organic substances. Since activated charcoal may contain impurities, it is preferable to use activated charcoal after treating with an acid such as hydrochloric acid to remove such impurities. Although the activated charcoal treatment is normally carried out after the nickel chloride, or iron chloride, solution and water is added to adjust the pH to 0 to 3, the activated charcoal treatment is not necessarily carried out in this order, but may be carried out at any time between the ion exchange and electrolytic refining steps.
The pH of the electrolytic solution comprising the aqueous solution of high-purity Ni or high-purity Fe is 0 to 3, preferably 0.5 to 2. A pH below 0 is not preferred because a large quantity of hydrogen will be produced and current efficiency will decrease. A pH above 3 is also not preferred because Ni or Fe precipitates as nickel hydroxide or iron hydroxide.
The concentration of Ni or Fe in the electrolytic solution during electrolytic refining is 10 to 100 g/l, preferably 20 to 80 g/l. A concentration less than 10 g/l is not preferred because a large quantity of hydrogen will be produced, current efficiency will decrease, and the concentration of impurities in electrodeposited Ni or Fe will increase. A concentration more than 110 g/l is also not preferred because nickel chloride or iron chloride will deposit affecting the electrodeposited state.
The range of current densities are preferably between 0.01 and 10 A/dm2. A current density less than 0.01 A/dm2 is not effective, because the productivity will decrease. A current density more than 10 A/dm2 is also not preferred because the concentration of impurities will increase and current efficiency will decrease.
Temperature during electrolysis is in a range between 10 and 90xc2x0 C., preferably between 35 and 55xc2x0 C. Temperature below 10xc2x0 C. is not preferred because current efficiency will decrease, and temperature above 90xc2x0 C. is also not preferred because the evaporation of the electrolytic solution will increase.
As the anode, crude Ni or crude Fe is used.
As the cathode, an Ni, Fe or titanium plate is used.
The material for the electrolytic vessel is preferably polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, or polyethylene.
In electrolytic refining, it is preferred to isolate the cathode from the anode with a diaphragm or an anion exchange membrane, and to feed to the cathode side at least intermittently the aqueous solution of high-purity Ni or high-purity Fe (acting as the catholyte) refined by ion exchange and activated-charcoal treatment, so that impurities eluted from the anode do not migrate toward the cathode, and also to extract from the anode side at least intermittently the anolyte having a high impurity content. The quantity of the catholyte fed at this time is preferably the same or more than the quantity of the anolyte extracted.
The diaphragm or the anion exchange membrane available in the present invention is not particularly limited. Examples of diaphragms include Filter Cloth P-2020 and PP-100 (Azumi Filter Paper Co., Ltd.) and Tevylon 1010, and examples of anion exchange membrane include Jonac MA-3475 (Muromachi Chemical co., Ltd.).
The extracted anolyte can be recycled and reused by adjusting the hydrochloric acid concentration to 5 to 12N, then allowing it to contact an anion exchange resin, whereby electrolytic refining can be carried out continuously.
For the purpose of the present invention, xe2x80x9cat least intermittentlyxe2x80x9d means xe2x80x9ccontinuously or intermittentlyxe2x80x9d.
Thus a trace of Th, or alkali metals such as Na and K, remaining in the electrolytic solution after the above electrolytic refining can be separated from Ni or Fe.
By the heat treatment of recovered electrodeposited Ni or electrodeposited Fe in a reducing atmosphere, such as H2, gas components such as oxygen can be removed. The temperature for the heat treatment is preferably 800 to 1550xc2x0 C., and more preferably 100 to 1500xc2x0 C. If the temperature is below 800xc2x0 C., degassing takes a long time, while if the temperature is above 1550xc2x0 C., Ni or Fe is partially melted to cause contamination from the crucible.
More preferably, electron-beam melting is performed. In electron-beam melting, an electrode (here, electrodeposited Ni or electrodeposited Fe) is first produced, and it is melted again to obtain high-purity ingots. Volatile components evaporate while an electrode is melted at a high temperature under a high vacuum. For example, when the melting quantity is 5 kg, electron-beam melting is performed under the following conditions: current: 0.7 A; voltage: 20 kV; degree of vacuum: 10xe2x88x925 mmHg; and time: 2 hr.
High-purity Ni and high-purity Fe obtained by the above methods are melted and alloyed, then cast. The obtained Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy ingot is machined to fabricate a target for sputtering. Basically, the purity of the target is the same as the purity of the ingot.
By sputtering the thus obtained target, a magnetic thin film can be formed.
The Nixe2x80x94Fe alloy magnetic thin film obtained by sputtering has the purity same as the purity of the target, that is, an oxygen content of 50 ppm or less, a sulfur content of 10 ppm or less, a carbon content of 50 ppm or less, and a total content of metal impurities other than alloy components of 50 ppm or less. Furthermore, the crystalline structure is columnar.
The magnetic properties of such a magnetic thin film are especially good because the crystalline structure is columnar.
Although the present invention is described below in detail referring to examples, the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Ni-Fe alloy sputtering target for forming magnetic thin films, magnetic thin film, and method of manufacturing the Ni-Fe alloy sputtering target


Arrangements and method for enabling and disabling cache bypass in a computer system with a cache hierarchy. Cache bypass status is identified with respect to at least one cache line. A cache line identified as cache bypass enabled is transferred to one or more higher level caches of the cache hierarchy, whereby a next higher level cache in the cache hierarchy is bypassed, while a cache line identified as cache bypass disabled is transferred to one or more higher level caches of the cache hierarchy, whereby a next higher level cache in the cache hierarchy is not bypassed. Included is an arrangement for selectively enabling or disabling cache bypass with respect to at least one cache line based on historical cache access information.

One may begin by considering (for example) a computer system with a processor together with L1 (level 1) and L2 (level 2) caches. In the case of an L1 miss, it is clearly advantageous to bypass the L1 and load data from the L2 directly into processor registers in the case that the cache line, if it had been loaded into the L1, would never have been re-used before being replaced. In this example, the processor registers can be thought of as the highest level of the cache hierarchy, that is, as an L0 (level 0) cache. The advantages of bypassing a cache in certain cases have been recognized previously, and a number of techniques proposed for selective cache bypass, as described in more detail below. However, none of this work describes the use of predictive mechanisms at cache line granularity in order to selectively enable and disable cache bypass based on the recent usage history of cache lines for all cache lines residing in the L1 and L2 at any point in time.
In a conventional technique known as lazy cache promotion, two L1 misses for a given line are required before the line is loaded into the L1 (see Efficient Selective Caching through Lazy Cache Promotion, published electronically at IP.com, document ID IPCOM000008849D, Jul. 17, 2002). It is clear that in certain cases this method will lead to decreased system performance, since two misses are required to load a line into the L1 that would more advantageously have been loaded on the first reference; furthermore, usage information is not maintained (that is, when a given line is replaced in the L1, the information that it was previously loaded due to two subsequent misses is discarded).
Compiler-based techniques have also been proposed, that is, compile-time analysis is used to attempt to determine certain variables that map to cache lines which should bypass a cache in the cache hierarchy. Examples include (1) Compiler Managed Micro-cache Bypassing for High Performance EPIC Processors, Wu et al, pages 134-145, Proceedings of the 35th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Microarchitecture, November 2002, and (2) Unified Management of Registers and Cache Using Liveness and Cache Bypass, Chi and Dietz, pages 344-355, Proceedings of the ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation (PLDI), Portland, Oreg., Jun. 21-23, 1989. Possible disadvantages of these approaches include the coupling of compilers and compile-time analysis with details of the system's cache architecture, together with the maintenance and use at run-time by the cache controllers of compiler-generated information associated with particular programs with resulting complexity, together with identification of only a limited set of cache lines for which cache bypass may be advantageous.
Probabilistic methods have also been proposed for use in selective caching. In the publication Probabilistic Cache Replacement, Technical Report TR-13-95, Harvard University, 1995, a method is proposed in which caching of data from main memory is determined by a probabilistic boolean-valued function, where repeated misses to a word in memory increase its probability of being cached. One of the disadvantages of this approach is that multiple misses are required to increase the probability that a given memory word will be cached, which more advantageously could have been cached on the first miss.
Other approaches may be classified as instruction-based methods. Examples include (1) Managing Data Caches using Selective Cache Line Replacement, Tyson et al, International Journal of Parallel Programming, Vol. 25 No. 3, 1997, and (2) Automatic Cache Bypass for Instructions Exhibiting Poor Cache Hit Ratio, Jamshed H. Mirza, U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,793, Apr. 29, 1997. In these approaches, individual instructions may be identified (using offline analysis) and marked for which a performance advantage may be realized by not caching (in the L1) the target of such marked instructions. The possible disadvantages of these approaches are similar to those of compiler-based techniques.
Other related work includes methods in which a data reference pattern is detected. First, in the publication Reducing Conflicts in Direct-Mapped Caches with a Temporality-Based Design, Rivers and Davidson, pages 154-163, Proceedings of the 1996 International Conference on Parallel Processing, August 1996, a cache architecture design is described in which the L1 cache is partitioned into a direct mapped cache and a fully associative cache (used as a buffer); cache lines that are loaded into the direct mapped partition but not re-used before being replaced are tagged and then on subsequent references loaded into the fully associative buffer partition. Some possible disadvantages of this approach are that conflict misses for a given line in the direct mapped partition may be transient (that is, a line may typically be re-used but occasionally not re-used due to a non-recurring conflict), extra complexity associated with the fully associative buffer, possible over-utilization of the fully associative buffer in the case that an excessive number of lines are tagged, and lack of a mechanism for clearing the previously described tags.
Finally, in some cases sequential access by a program to a large array (for example) may cause a cache in the cache hierarchy to be loaded with large amounts of data that are not re-used. If such a pattern can be recognized, the data can bypass the cache. Such a technique is described in Data Processing with First Level Cache Bypassing After a Data Transfer Becomes Excessively Long, Thomas Leyrer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,713, Mar. 17, 1998. A primary disadvantage of this approach is that it is equally possible that the sequentially accessed data could be re-used multiple times; for a simple example, consider a program for matrix multiplication of two N×N matrices in which each column and row of the two respective matrices will be accessed N times (and in which the cache is large enough to hold the relevant data).
Accordingly, a need has been recognized in connection with overcoming the shortcomings and disadvantages as described hereinabove with respect to conventional arrangements, and in selectively enabling and disabling cache bypass at cache line granularity for a cache in a multi-level cache hierarchy using predictive mechanisms.

Enabling and disabling cache bypass using predicted cache line usage

International Business Machines Corporation


A simulated magazine useful to provide for simulated firing of a firearm includes a cycling lever arm which is depressed once every time the firearm is cycled; a linearly shaped counting plunger; a plunger spring biasing the plunger in an upward position; and a spring assembly connected to the cycling lever arm and acting upon the plunger. Depression of the cycling lever arm causes the plunger to move incrementally upward. When the plunger is in a fully up state, a slide catch trigger extends upward from the magazine, the slide catch trigger causing a slide of the firearm to remain in a back, open state.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure. Accordingly, such statements are not intended to constitute an admission of prior art.
Tactical simulations are known wherein a policeman or other person is presented with images, and in some cases the person is required to perform a simulated firing of a firearm when the images call for such an action. The images can be projected upon a screen or other display device and simulate a stressful, dangerous situation that the person may find themselves in the real world. Compressed air or CO2 are sometimes used to simulate cycling of the firearm. In other embodiments, nitrogen and green gas (lubricated propane) are used as propellants useful for simulating the cycling of the firearm.


Techniques for evaluating the quality of a an image on a printing surface. The techniques generally includes receiving a first signal corresponding to the original image and a second signal corresponding to the rendition of the original image. The techniques further include filtering both signals using a common set of filters to extract at least partial contours of the original image and of its rendition and to determine a quality value of the rendition of the original image based on a comparison between the filtered images in the frequency domain.

It is very common to print graphics, or images (e.g., animations, photographic images, geometric shapes, representations of animals, plants, etc.) on different surfaces. The quality of a printed rendering of an image, e.g., in terms of the visibility and clarity of one or more given features of the printed image, may depend on various attributes of the surface onto which the image is printed, as well as on various characteristics of the image itself.
Attributes of the surface onto which the image is printed that may affect the quality of the printed rendering of the image may include material, shape, various chemical properties of the surface, and so on. For example, the quality of a printed image will generally be higher when printed on a sheet of paper than when printed on fabric. Similarly, the quality of an image printed on a single section of a relatively firm piece of fabric will generally be higher than that of the same image printed on several sections (e.g., stitched together) of elastic, amorphous fabric.
Characteristics of the image that may affect the quality of the printed rendering of the image may include thickness of lines in the image, contrast within the image, contrast between the image and the background, size of the image, and so on. For instance, the quality of a printed image that has relatively thick lines will generally be higher that the quality of a printed image that has relatively thin lines. Likewise, a printed rendering of larger image will generally result in higher quality.
Various other factors may affect the quality of a printed rendering of an image. For example, image quality may deteriorate with repeated application of the same image to a number of mass-produced articles during the course of a manufacturing run.
Absorbent articles, such diapers, present particular challenges with regard to printing images (e.g., cartoon characters), because such articles often include various surfaces of different layers, shapes, materials, seam patterns, and so on. As a result, when printing images on absorbent articles, the quality of the printed graphic often needs to be evaluated. The quality of the printed image may need to be evaluated, for example, for quality control purposes during manufacturing (e.g., to ensure that absorbent articles are produced to meet or exceed certain requirements). Additionally, or alternatively, the quality of the printed image may need to be evaluated during product development, e.g., to develop new absorbent articles that are better suited for displaying printed images.

Method and system for evaluating the quality of a rendered image


The present invention makes it possible to achieve restoration of decoding processing more intricately in comparison with commonly-used techniques. The present invention increases post-restoration data reliability and is applicable to real-time decoding processing. A variable length code converter of the present invention provides an abnormal code detection signal when a bit-string subjected to conversion corresponds to none of variable length codes that belong in predetermined coding systems. At this time, a controller provides an error signal, and according to the error signal a bit-string is continuously output from a memory which stores bit-strings to be decoded. When the controller detects a header indicative of data partition from an output bit-string of the memory, it cancels the error signal. As a result, bit-string decoding resumes after the detected header.

The present invention relates to a code converter for converting, based on a predetermined coding system, a code into code data, to a variable length code decoder for decoding a bit-string made up of consecutive variable length codes into code data, and to associated methods.
Recently, with the digitization of recording medium and communication channel, data compression by means of entropy coding plays a very important role. In entropy coding, symbols that have a high probabilistic frequency of occurrence are assigned a short code so as to achieve a reduction of the average code length. Particularly, in the field of image processing, the use of variable length code on the basis of a predetermined coding system is proposed by the Moving Picture Expert Group (MPEG which is the international standard for image compression/expansion).
For example, in the event that decoding processing is carried out according to the MPEG standard in DVD apparatus, it requires a variable length code converter having the ability to perform variable length code conversion according to a coding system selected from among a plurality of coding systems. However, implementation of such a code converter produces some problems. One problem is that a plurality of circuits are required for corresponding coding systems. Another problem is that an organization is required for selectively having a circuit corresponding to a selected coding system operate. This further produces the problem that the entire size of the apparatus increases.
Generally, in the event of variable length code decoding, processing, in which the code length of a variable length code is found as decoding information in addition to finding code data corresponding to the variable length code and the code length found is used to obtain the position of a subsequent variable length code's leading bit, is repeatedly carried out. This produces the problem that, when an error occurs in a bit of a variable length code, neither code data corresponding to the error-containing variable length code nor the code length thereof can be obtained, which means that it is impossible to locate the position of a subsequent variable length code's leading bit. To sum up, in regard to variable length codes following an error-containing variable length code, these codes cannot be decoded at all, or even when they are decoded, the results of the decoding may be completely useless, since bit partition positions are unknown.
For the case of the variable length code decoding, if an error, such as "0"/"1" inversion, occurs in a bit-string for some reason, from then on, either it becomes impossible to perform decoding processing or completely inaccurate decoding is carried out.
With a view to solving the above-described drawback, there have been proposed various techniques. For example, one technique for detecting, by means of time interruption, a malfunction of the decoding processing caused by an error occurring in the bit-string, is known in the art. This technique, however, is problematic, for it is impossible to make restoration of decoding processing with accuracy because the decoding processing will not return to normal until a time interruption is made.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Application Laying Open Gazette No. 6-350458 shows a variable length code decoding method with a view to providing a solution to the foregoing problem. When the code length cannot be detected because a cut bit-string corresponds to none of prestored bit-patterns (variable length codes), bit shift information (bit-string cut position control information) is increased or decreased in search of a bit-string cut position that will not make detection of bit-patterns impossible, and the processing of decoding continues at the retrieved position.
The above-described technique, however, suffers the problem that there is the possibility that detection of the bit-patterns is made impossible immediately after the restoration of decoding processing because bit-string cut positions obtained by search may not be always adequate ones. There is produced another problem that the reliability of post-restoration code data is low. Additionally, in order to make decoding processing restoration, a new bit-string cut position is searched using trial-and-error techniques. As result, the search may not be completed timely in real-time decoding processing.

Code converter, variable length code decoder, and associated methods

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An image processing apparatus includes an image obtaining unit configured to obtain a plurality of images, which are images of the same subject captured from different viewpoints; an image offset correction unit configured to modify the plurality of images obtained by the image obtaining unit on the basis of parameters for correcting image offset and generate a correction image for each of the obtained images; an evaluation value calculation unit configured to calculate, as an evaluation value, an integration value, for an entire screen, of an error amount indicating a degree at which association in a parallax direction among the plurality of correction images generated by the image offset correction unit is not possible; and an update unit configured to change a parameter that is necessary for association in the parallax direction among the parameters so as to update the parameter so that the evaluation value becomes a minimum.

The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus and method, and a program. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus and method, and a program that are capable of easily calibrating an error due to an offset of a camera in an image-capturing direction when a disparity image (depth image) is to be generated.
A technology of capturing an image of the same subject from different angles by using a plurality of cameras and generating a disparity image (depth image) on the basis of a corresponding point search of the parallax directions of individual images is generally becoming popular.
In general, when generating a disparity image, if an offset between image-capturing directions of a plurality of cameras occurs, an error will occur, and an accurate disparity image will not be obtained. For this reason, when a disparity image is to be generated, calibration for minimizing an error that occurs due to an offset between the image-capturing directions of the cameras is necessary.
Regarding calibration, a technology in which, for example, an image called a calibration pattern, which is formed from a plan chart having a plurality of feature points for which the position relationship has already been obtained is captured, and calibration is performed on the basis of the image-capturing result of the calibration pattern (refer to "A Flexible New Technique for Camera Calibration").
Furthermore, a technology in which feature points are detected from an image used to obtain a disparity image, a calibration parameter for specifying an image-capturing direction, the calibration parameter being used to perform calibration of a camera, is obtained, and calibration is performed using the obtained calibration parameter, has been proposed (refer to "Self-calibration of stereo camera, Fumiaki TOMITA, et al., Information Processing, May 1990").

Image processing apparatus and method, and program


Image inpainting is controlled in response to a structure analysis and recovery process for a missing object region. Structure edges are detected about the periphery of the removed object area, and extensions determined in response to color and depth information. Intersections are determined in a structure framework, whose regions are then synthesized using a patch filling process, after which remaining areas of the image similarly synthesized.

1. Technological Field
This technology pertains generally to image inpainting after object removal, and more particularly to recovering missing structures after object removal from an image.
2. Background Discussion
An image inpainting process involves reconstructing missing parts of an image frame, or video frame, that have been removed, or moved. If an object captured within an image is deleted, or moved, the area that was covered by (obscured by) that object in the original image, has to be reconstructed so that the resulting image still appears "natural" looking. Which is to say that it is desirable that if the viewer has not seen the original image, they would be unable to notice that the image has been altered by removing, or moving an object, therein.
There are a number of current inpainting techniques described in the literature. In general, these methods can be categorized into the following categories: (1) diffusion-based approaches, (2) sparse representation of images, and (3) exemplar-based approaches.
These methods can produce generally suitable outputs when the inpainting process involves homogeneous and/or small areas with no complicated structures. However, in scenes involving large missing areas with multiple occluded regions and structures, these techniques leave visible artifacts in the resultant image, especially in the edge and structured areas.
Accordingly, a need exists for inpainting reconstruction techniques which are able to generate desirable results even for large inpainted areas which include structure.

Structure analysis method for recovering missing structures in an image after object removal


The Halloween backpack of the present invention has, in one aspect, a hollow container having an outer surface adapted to be worn as a backpack on the back of a child, straps for releasable mounting of the hollow container on the back of the child, a hollow chute mounted onto the outer surface of the hollow container, the chute defining a passageway along the chute between a frontal chute opening in the chute and an aperture in the outer surface of the hollow container thereby forming a cooperating passageway sized to accept Halloween treats therethrough cooperating between the frontal opening and a holding cavity in the hollow container, the hollow chute extending upwardly of the hollow container so as to extend above a shoulder of the child when the child is wearing the hollow container as a backpack, the hollow chute shaped to present the frontal chute opening for access from a frontal position facing the front of the child whereby a Halloween treat may be deposited into the hollow chute from the frontal position or by the child.

It is well known that on Halloween night, children are out on the streets running from door to door to collect treats. Often children will collect treats in bags or the like which must be manually carried. Sometimes children are also provided with flashlights or other illuminated safety devices which must also be carried. Applicant has observed that often, as the bag of treats becomes heavier, a child will put away or discard manually carried safety devices in favour of carrying the increasingly heavy bag of treats. Further, in colder climates, the streets are often icy on Halloween night and thus it increases the safety hazard to have a child's hands fully occupied.
Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means for a child to collect Halloween treats without having to manually carry a bag or the like, thereby freeing the child's hands for carrying flashlights, light wands, or the like in one hand while keeping the other hand free for stability on icy roads and walk paths.
Applicant is aware of U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,918 which issued to Glover on Nov. 21, 1995 for a controlled access collection container. Glover discloses a collection container for Halloween treats. The container is manually carried by a child. The container is a hollow lightweight receptacle where the opening to the receptacle is a generally cylindrical chute. The chute has a controlled access so that a child may deposit treats into the container but may not easily remove the treats from the container, the object being that the treats are taken from the container in the presence of a supervising adult. The Glover teaching does not provide for carrying the container in the manner of a backpack, nor does it suggest forming a chute so as to provide an over-the-shoulder passageway for delivery of treats into the backpack container as in the present invention.


A method for enhancing Bandwidth Part (BWP) operation towards Secondary Cell (SCell) dormancy indication is proposed. A User Equipment (UE) detects a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format including an SCell dormancy indication that indicates an active BWP change for a serving cell. The UE performs BWP switching for the serving cell in response to the DCI format. The UE stops transmission or reception in the serving cell during a time duration from a slot containing a last symbol of the DCI format, wherein the time duration includes a first period of time of delay for the BWP switching and a second period of time of interruption to other active serving cells.

The wireless communications network has grown exponentially over the years. A long-term evolution (LTE) system offers high peak data rates, low latency, improved system capacity, and low operating cost resulting from simplified network architecture. LTE systems, also known as the 4G system, also provide seamless integration to older wireless network, such as GSM, CDMA and universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). In LTE systems, an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) includes a plurality of evolved Node-Bs (eNodeBs or eNBs) communicating with a plurality of mobile stations, referred to as user equipments (UEs). The 3rd generation partner project (3GPP) network normally includes a hybrid of 2G/3G/4G systems. The next generation mobile network (NGMN) board, has decided to focus the future NGMN activities on defining the end-to-end requirements for 5G new radio (NR) systems.
In 4G/LTE, a feature called "Carrier Aggregation (CA)" is supported to allow communications between a UE and a base station on multiple aggregated carriers or cells (e.g., a Primary Cell (PCell) and one or more Secondary Cells (SCells)). The design of SCell is to provide more data bandwidth in other carrier frequencies, typically higher frequencies, for boosting up data throughput while the PCell is more for ensuring the coverage. Later, in Rel-15 Enhancing LTE CA Utilization (euCA), a new SCell state, called dormant SCell state, is introduced so that SCells can become inactive for power saving when the data transmission requirement is not high.
In 5G/NR, the dormancy behavior is further implemented at Bandwidth Part (BWP) level. The BWP that supports dormancy behavior for an SCell is referred to as a dormant BWP, where Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasion is not configured. When compared to LTE, the transition between dormancy behavior and non-dormancy behavior is based on BWP switching, which may effectively reduce the switch delay and UE power consumption. That being said, BWP switching may still cause interruption to other active serving cells.
The SCell dormancy indication can be conveyed by Downlink Control Information (DCI) with different DCI formats for UEs to detect outside and inside the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) active time. When it is inside the DRX active time, the SCell dormancy indication can be carried by DCI with DCI formats used by data scheduling, which is referred to as Case 1 SCell dormancy indication. More recently, in Rel-16 NR, the SCell dormancy indication can also be carried by DCI with DCI formats used by non-data scheduling, which is referred to as Case 2 SCell dormancy indication.
For Case 1 SCell dormancy indication, the UE should also respond to the detected DCI by performing Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission or Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception in the PCell. For Case 2 SCell dormancy indication, the UE should also respond to the detected DCI by transmitting a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ)-Acknowledgement (ACK) response to the PCell. However, 3GPP release 16 specifications have not yet define the time duration in which the UE is not required to transmit or receive in an SCell during BWP switching for the SCell. As a result, the PUSCH transmission or PDSCH reception in Case 1 SCell dormancy indication or the HARQ-ACK response transmission in Case 2 SCell dormancy indication may fall inside the interruption caused by BWP switching.
A solution is sought.

Enhancement for bandwidth part (BWP) operation towards secondary cell (SCELL) dormancy indication


A method for dry etching a metallic thin film (i.e., platinum thin film) is disclosed whereby a clean metallic thin film can be formed by restraining redeposition of the metal. The etching gas includes a mixed gas including Cl.sub.2 and SiCl.sub.4 whereby a plasma of the mixed gas generates reactive species to react with the metallic thin film and form volatile residua that can be desorbed from the etched surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for etching a platinum thin film, and more particularly, to a method for dry-etching a platinum thin film whereby a clean platinum thin film can be formed by restraining redeposition of platinum.
2. Description of Related Art
Platinum thin films usually are used for forming an electrode of a thin film form for a ferroelectric capacitor as a device constituting a non-volatile random access memory or a dynamic random access memory. Here, a process for etching the platinum thin film is required to pattern the platinum thin film to form an electrode of the ferroelectric capacitor. In this etching processes, a dry etching method and a wet etching method are mainly used. The wet etching method is inconvenient because it is usually performed at a high temperature of over 60.degree. C., and, in particular, is inadequate for forming a finely-patterned platinum thin film for an electrode necessary for a highly-integrated memory for high record density. Therefore, the dry etching method is generally used to etch the platinum thin film for electrode.
Because it is difficult to etch platinum due to its characteristics of low reactivity with a general gas, it is known to use the dry etching method whereby the platinum thin film is etched using a species such as a radical, an ion, or an electron which are reactive within plasma produced by using an inert gas such as Ar, He, etc. and a reactive gas. In such a dry etching method, Ar gas or a mixed gas such as Cl.sub.2 /Ar, C.sub.2 F.sub.6 /Ar or Cl.sub.2 /C.sub.2 F.sub.6 /Ar is widely used. As for the Ar gas and the C.sub.2 F.sub.6 /Ar mixed gas, they do not make a reaction by-product through reaction with platinum, and the platinum therefore usually is etched through sputtering using Ar. Accordingly, the sputtered platinum is redeposited on the side surface of a photoresist starting from the side surface of the platinum thin film being etched, as shown in FIG. 1.
Referring now to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a substrate, reference numeral 2 is a platinum pattern which is formed by an etching process, reference numeral 3 is a photoresist which is used during the etching process in order to form the platinum pattern 2, and reference numeral 4 is a platinum thin film redeposited during the etching. The reason why the unnecessary platinum thin film 4 is formed is because some by-product materials produced by the reaction of the Cl.sub.2 /Ar and Cl.sub.2 /C.sub.2 F.sub.6 /Ar mixed gases with platinum are not completely vaporized due to their high evaporation temperature. Consequently, a portion thereof is redeposited on the side surface of the platinum thin film starting from the surface of the photoresist.
As described above, the platinum thin film 4 of the prior art that is redeposited during formation of the electrode for the ferroelectric capacitor is connected to upper electrodes thus short-circuiting the capacitor. Also, other various problems may occur during deposition of an insulating layer after the platinum etching process or during the etching process for realizing a fine pattern. Thus, there exists a need to provide a dry etching process that does not result in or restrains or prevents redeposition of a platinum thin film during the etching process.

Method for dry-etching a platinum thin film


An apparatus for performing a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a PCR chamber for performing a Polymerase Chain Reaction and a printed circuit board (PCB) fluidic device. The PCR chamber is a fluidic chamber and is located in, or is part of, the printed circuit board (PCB) fluidic device. A method for manufacturing an apparatus for performing the Polymerase Chain Reaction and a method for performing the Polymerase Chain Reaction are further disclosed.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is one of the cornerstones of modern biology, as it permits for the amplification of specific sequences of DNA from naturally occurring concentrations to concentrations detectable by other molecular biology techniques. In addition to the widespread use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as a technique in laboratories, it is also extensively used in medicine as a gold standard for the detection of infectious pathogens.

PC board-based polymerase chain reaction systems, methods and materials


A rotation detecting device includes a rotation detecting unit for providing first and second rotation signals in response to rotation of a rotating object and a signal processing circuit for processing the signals to provide rotation data such as the rotation direction, rotation speed and rotation position. The signal processing circuit includes a reversal signal forming circuit for providing a reversal signal changing in response to a change of the rotation direction, a level-change-prohibiting section for forming a level-change prohibiting signal to mask the first rotation signal during one pulse width from the first rising edge to the first falling edge after the change of the rotation direction of the rotor is detected, and a rotation data processing circuit for forming from the reversal signal and the level-change prohibiting signal a signal having triple-level pulses that synchronize with the pulses of the first rotation signal except for first one of the pulses being masked after each change of the rotation direction and change voltage level when the rotation direction changes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal processing circuit of a rotation detecting device that obtains data about rotation of a rotating object, such as the rotation position, the rotation speed and/or the rotation direction of the rotating object.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 6, a common rotation detection device includes a pair of magnetic sensors 1, 2, a magnetic rotor 80 that rotates with a rotating object and a signal processing circuit 100. The magnetic rotor 80 has a plurality of teeth having mountains 80a and valleys 80b. The processing circuit 100 is constituted of a rotation data forming section 101, a rotation direction detecting section 102 and a masking section 103. When the magnetic rotor 80 rotates, the magnetic sensors 1, 2 provide rotation signals Sa and Sb, which are inputted to the processing circuit 100. Thus, the data about the rotation of the rotating object are obtained.
As shown in FIG. 7, the rotation data forming section 101 provides a rectangular signal whose level changes in synchronism with the rising edge of the rotation signal Sa or Sb when the magnetic rotor 80 rotates in a normal direction. When the rotation direction of the rotating object changes from one direction to the other direction, the rotation direction detecting section 102 detects the change of the direction by change in the phase-relationship between the rotation signals Sa and Sb. Then, the masking section 103 masks the first edge after the change of the rotation direction to obtain an output signal OUT1 that has the same pulse width or duty ratio as the rotation signal Sa, as long as the duty ratio is about 50% or higher.
However, if the duty ratio of the rotation signals Sa, Sb is as low as about 25% as shown in portion (a) of FIG. 8, the output signal OUT1 after the masking may be reversed as shown in portion (b) of FIG. 9, resulting in that the output signal OUT1 has an entirely different duty ratio. If, for example, the rotation detecting device is set to an engine, the position of the crankshaft of an engine can not be accurately detected.

Signal processing circuit of rotation detecting device


A spin on insulating coating with ionic barrier properties is formed on a substrate, by mixing a P or B containing material such as phosphazene or borazine with a solution of silsesquioxane, spin coating on a substrate to form a film of pre-determined thickness. The coated film is cured in a step wise manner to drive out the solvents and most of the H and OH groups, with the resulting film having a composition SiONX, where X can be B, P, F and mixtures thereof. The amount of P, B or other elements are predetermined by calculating the solids in the silsesquioxane and adding suitable amount of borazine or phosphazene. The coated and cured film fills and planarizes any topography on the substrate created by etching trenches, forming gate stacks or metal lines. In one of the variation, the substrate has a layer of insulating material disposed thereon prior to the application of the spin-on insulator.

Semiconductor devices and interconnections continue to shrink in feature size, leading to many unique problem. On one hand, topography is created as a result of device fabrication such as recessed oxide isolation, formation of gate electrode and sequential process of depositing and etching layers to form different regions, anneals and implants. In the current state of the art CMOS devices, the gate electrode can be 3-5 KA thick, has a nominal channel length of less than 2500 A and source/drain regions of comparable minimum widths. FIG. 1 is a simplified view of a prior art field effect transistor device.
A silicon substrate 100, has oxide isolation trenches 110 formed, the trenches 110 is etched and filled with the insulator. This provides a planar substrate to start forming the devices. The gate stack consists of a gate insulator 130 and a gate electrode 140 which is typically polysilicon with a cladding of a silicide for lowering the sheet resistivity. The gate electrode needs to be insulated from the electrode contacting the source/drain regions, which involves formation of sidewall insulators 135 (spacers) which increases the aspect ratio of the gap 180 between two closely spaced gate stacks. Responsive to this miniaturization and high aspect ratio of features and resulting gaps 170, 180 gap-fill insulating materials, vertical interconnects (studs S1) and planarization of insulator 150, 160 at each level are used. A first requirement of the insulator/process is its ability to fill narrow spaces and high aspect ratio grooves without voids.
In a contact stud process, vertical openings are etched to diffusion and gate electrode surfaces at different heights. In order to satisfactorily etch holes of different depths, while minimizing damage to underlying gate electrode or diffusions, the contact insulator typically consists of two layers, a bottom slow etching layer and a top faster etching layer. In a typical process, the bottom layer is conformally deposited and is kept to a small thickness and is usually a plasma deposited silicon dioxide or silicon nitride. Therefore a faster etching top layer compared to slower etching bottom PECVD silicon dioxide layer or silicon nitride layer is highly desirable.
Another desirable requirement for insulators adjacent to devices is that they be effective barrier to alkali ions and preferably to moisture. Two kinds of materials are effective for this. One kind form good diffusion barriers to alkali ions or water such as silicon nitride. The other material reacts with alkali ions and ties it up as a compound. An example of the latter is P doped silicon dioxide, which for example, reacts with free Na ion and forms sodium phosposilicate. SiN is used as a thinner layer because of its higher film stress and its high dielectric constant. However, P doped SiO.sub.2, usually as PSG or BPSG, is used in thicker layers. P doped oxides are increasingly preferred for contact insulation applications for their gettering effectiveness and their faster etch rates and polish rates compared to undoped silicon dioxide or silicon nitride. However, these properties of P doped oxides are influenced by deposition processes, amount of P and sometimes how phosphorus resides in the structure. Further, the amount of P that can be incorporated is limited because of the deposition process limitations or the concern that the resulting film can be hygrospic and be chemically attacked easily. Boron is sometimes added to SiO.sub.2 in addition to P to reduce the glass reflow temperature and to modify the film's mechanical stress.
Flowable gap-fill materials have been available and are known by the general name spin on glass (SOG). The SOG materials tend to crack on curing and can not be used except as thin layers. A new class of materials called FOx for flowable oxide, based on hydrogen silsesquioxane appears to have good fill properties, but is not effective as ionic barrier. U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,893 teaches heating the silsesquioxane layer in oxygen to form a resulting silicon dioxide layer which is ceramic like. U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,293 teaches the use of carbon free silsesquioxane for forming trench isolation fills, but recommend use of curing in a hydrogen ambient. The resulting films from both the above teachings are silicon dioxide films that do not provide a barrier against sodium or alkaline impurities, desired for insulation applications adjacent to the silicon device.
Chien et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,776) describes an ion implantation process, by which any of the following species, Si, Ar, P, B, O, N or F implanted into a spin on glass layer to reduce susceptibility for moisture absorption and outgassing from the spin-on-glass layer. By implanting P into the spin-on-glass, one would expect improvement in the alkali ion barrierproperties of the spin-on-glass or FOx, but implanting is expensive and can not be done selectively. U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,384 issued to the United States of America, Department of Energy, discloses that chemically durability of alkali phosphate glasses is improved by incorporation of up to 23 weight percent of nitrogen. The patent claimed that the addition of nitrogen to phosphate glasses create a more highly cross-linked (PO.sub.4).sub.n which reduced the TCE and increased the softening point. U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,384 is not directly relevant to the present invention as the glasses used in this patent have very low SiO.sub.2 content and is primarily made of P.sub.2 O.sub.5, but points to the benefit of adding nitrogen to high phosphate glass. All of these above materials and processes fail to meet one or more of the requirements discussed earlier.
Therefore, there is still a need for an insulator and process that can fill high aspect ratio grooves, form good barriers to alkali ions and finally allow for having differential etch and polish rates with other insulators.

International Business Machines Corporation


A solar panel system comprises a monocoque forming an enlarged solar-facing generally-convex outer support surface when in an installed position and that supports solar cells at optimal angles for capturing solar energy. The monocoque provides a stressed-skin support reducing weight while maintaining strength, optimal support surface, and minimizing cost. A post engages and supports adjacent edges of a pair of adjacent monocoques. An electrical circuit connects the solar cells for electrical flow and power management, and preferably includes a controller for controlling power from the solar cells, including combining them in series or parallel as optimal for a given systems configuration. The illustrated monocoque includes a roll formed sheet or a number of sheets, stacked vertically together and anchored to spaced posts using connectors in a “fence-like” pattern.

The present invention relates to photovoltaic (PV) solar panel systems, and more particularly relates to a PV-solar panel system with stressed-skin, monocoque supporting structure that functions to optimally position the solar panels for receiving sunlight as the sun's position changes in its daily transit from east to west, but that also minimizes weight, cost of materials, installation costs, and capital investment of such systems by incorporating a monocoque-mounting structure fabricated from relatively thin, curved materials which eliminates most of the skeletal support structures required in planar mounting of photovoltaic materials common to known solar installations.
Solar-electric systems installations are expensive not only because of the costs of the solar cells/panels themselves and balance of system components, but also because of the costs to acquire and install the underlying physical-support structures they require. In common practice, solar-electric panel systems (photovoltaic arrays) use structural metal beams to provide the physical support for the active, electricity generating solar materials so that the photovoltaic materials are supported at optimal angles to the sun, having optimal spacing in an array/field of solar panels, and creating the designed physical mounting strength to meet weight and wind-load and environmental requirements for the installation.
Further, many solar panel systems include pivot-and-tracking mechanisms so that solar panel modules can be continuously oriented toward the sun as it tracks across the sky. However, these tracked-arrays represent the highest cost approach to mounting PV-materials because the heavy gauge structural support frames and pivot-and-tracking mechanisms are expensive to buy, install, operate, and maintain. While these "tracking" PV systems may provide the absolute maximum generating power for a given number of framed PV-panels, their overall higher initial cost and potential for failures in the tracking mechanisms may detract from their competitiveness for solar panel systems as compared to the fixed-orientation solar installation described herein.

Solar panel system with monocoque supporting structure


A recording apparatus contains a timer that measures the current time based on a time zone. When writing a VOB onto a DVD, the recording apparatus refers to TM_ZONE recorded on the DVD, and judges whether the time zone which the timer is based on matches the time zone that the TM_ZONE specifies. If the two time zones do not match, the recording apparatus operates as follows. First, the recording apparatus obtains VOB_REC_TM that indicates the recording date/time of the VOB based on TM_ZONE. The recording apparatus then writes the VOB onto the DVD together with VOBI that is information of the VOB and contains (a) the obtained VOB_REC_TM; (b) LOCAL_TZ_TY indicating that the two time zones do not match and (c) LOCAL_TZ specifying the time zone which the timer is based on.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus for recording picture data and date/time information onto a recording medium such as an optical disc, a playback apparatus, and a recording medium.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Recording picture data onto a recording medium together with the date/time information is meaningful. The date/time information helps the user recall details of the pictures more clearly.
The date/time information is based on a time measured by a timer in the recording apparatus that captures images and records them as picture data. The time measured by the timer is based on a standard time for the region where the recording apparatus is used. Such geographic regions on earth to which standard times are assigned are called "time zones". A timer in a recording apparatus measures the current time based on the standard time of the time zone in which the recording apparatus is used.
When picture data is recorded onto a recording medium in a time zone, the date/time information in the recording medium is based on the same standard time. However, when picture data captured in two or more different time zones is to be recorded onto a recording medium, it is necessary to select a standard time on which the date/time information should be based.
Suppose a user moves from Japan to Country A taking a video-camera type recording apparatus, and that the time differential between Japan and the Country A is 12 hours. Here, if the user takes pictures during daytime hours in the Country A with the timer being set to the Japanese standard time, the date/time information recorded on the recording medium indicates the nighttime hours due to the time differential. When this happens, the date/time information looses its meaning.
The above problem can be solved if the user sets the timer of the recording apparatus to be based on the standard time of the Country A. Actually, the user can set the timer every time he/she arrives in a different time zone. In this case, however, a problem arises concerning the chronological order of a plurality of pieces of picture data that are based on different standard times. For example, suppose further that the user took a picture in Japan immediately before he/she went to the Country A and recorded the picture data onto the recording medium, then it may happen that the date/time information for the picture appears to be later than that for the picture taken in the Country A. This is because the time differential of 12 hours is not taken into account. If these pieces of picture data are sorted in chronological order, they will be arranged in an improper order. This also makes the date/time information meaningless.

Recording apparatus and method, playback apparatus and method, recording medium, program, and computer-readable recording medium

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A system and method is provided for capturing and using problem fingerprints in an Information Technology (IT) infrastructure for integrity management. A fingerprint of the transaction topology in an IT infrastructure is automatically captured at various time intervals prior to the occurrence of an event leading to a problem, such as a failure, hard threshold violation, defined transaction violation or user-provided occurrence. The fingerprint provides an indication of the activity and operation of the IT infrastructure immediately preceding the problem event. The captured fingerprint is then used to monitor real-time data in the IT infrastructure operation and activity to look for activity that matches a captured fingerprint to provide an indication of a pending problems before the problems occur. When it is determined that there is sufficient probability a problem event will occur based upon real-time data matching a previously generated problem fingerprint, an alert is generated to provide sufficient notification prior to the occurrence of problem event.

A network consists of two or more computers or other devices that are linked in order to share resources (such as databases, servers, printers, etc.), exchange files, or allow electronic communications. The computers on a network may be linked together through a communication medium, such as cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, or infrared light beams. There are many types of computer networks, including local-area networks (LANs), wide-area networks (WANs), campus-area networks (CANs), metropolitan-area networks (MANs) and home-area networks (HANs). Networks are used to communicate between devices, such as via e-mail, and to provide access to resources stored on another device, such as a server.
Most organizations possess an Information Technology (IT) infrastructure comprising the computerized networks, intelligent terminals, and accompanying applications and services people use to access, create, disseminate, and utilize digital information. The IT infrastructure also includes the equipment, software, services, and products used in storing, processing, transmitting, and displaying all forms of information. Organizations are increasingly dependent on their IT infrastructure for all of their essential business processes, which often depend on software, hardware, networks and data systems working together with full integrity to provide business functionality to external and internal users alike. Increasingly, "online" business processes are both critical to a company's well-being and based on distributed IT infrastructures of mounting complexity. The scope of this infrastructure might even extend beyond the organization's boundaries into the infrastructures of partners and providers of managed services.
IT infrastructures are typically not the centralized, well-understood operations characteristic of the days of mainframes, architected and tested as a whole down to the last possible race condition or anomaly. Instead, IT professionals must manage an application infrastructure that is a complex maze of loosely interconnected racks of servers, network components, and a multi-tiered stack of logical components including application servers, database servers, load balancers and the applications themselves. Each business process depends on a chain of components drawn from that maze, yet the components are only managed as one of a number of similar components in a rack, "farm," or other logical silo. The result is "affordable" computing power, but at the cost of difficult-to-manage (and thus costly) system behavior.
Network management is the process of managing the various network devices and network communication links in the IT infrastructure to provide the necessary network services to the users of the network. Typical network management systems collect information regarding the operation and performance of the network and analyze the collected information to detect problems in the network. Many companies have invested in tools that do a good job of helping technical experts monitor and manage each element or silo in the multi-tiered stack of physical and logical systems. But element monitoring falls short, because when something goes wrong in the dynamically interdependent overall system, there exists no manner of knowing which physical or logical component in which rack might be the cause. In fact, there typically is not a single cause, but rather some interaction of components that really creates the problem.
Element monitoring tools are currently used to attempt to identify problems occurring in the IT infrastructure. However, the element monitoring tools in wide use in enterprises today lack a holistic view and understanding of the interdependencies of the interconnected elements of the entire IT infrastructure. There is a need to develop a system and method for managing the operating integrity of business technology systems with a comprehensive understanding of the interdependencies among all of the system components in an IT infrastructure by analyzing the end-to-end metrics and events to pinpoint the problem elements in a transaction chain.

System and method for generating and using fingerprints for integrity management


A method is provided for determining the position of a shaft along a longitudinal axis. The method is used with a device that includes first, second, and third light detecting devices arranged about the shaft in a specific geometric pattern, with the second energy detecting device mounted to the shaft. A light directing device is arranged to deliver light energy sequentially between the first, the second, and the third light detecting devices. The method for determining the position of the shaft comprises the steps of generating a first measured value by measuring the interval the light energy directing device travels between the first and the second light detecting devices. A second measured value is generated that measures the interval the energy directing device travels between the second and the third energy detecting devices. A percentage of shaft rotation is calculated using the first and second measured values. The resultant percentage of shaft rotation is adjusted to compensate for the specific geometric pattern of the light detecting devices.

The present invention relates generally to position determining methods and more particularly to a method for determining the absolute position of a rotating shaft.
It is a common problem to want to know the position of a device whose position is being controlled by an actuator or by some other means. For example, in the controls industry, devices such as valves, each having a valve stem or valve shaft which is rotatable by an actuator, are typically used to control the flow of liquids or various gasses associated with the industrial process. In these applications, it is a common need to know the precise absolute position of the controlled shaft or stem. This information allows for an improved understanding of the process and, subsequently, a more-accurate control of the process by a process control system.
A number of prior solutions are known for measuring or determining this aforementioned position. One method is the use of linear variable differential transformers which can provide accurate positional information. However, they require a mechanical linkage to translate the positional information to a sensor and, additionally, consume a relatively high amount of power in their operation.
Slidewire, potentiometers, or other rotary transducers again require a mechanical link to the controlled device and also have the disadvantage of a sliding electrical contact which can result in long-term unreliability as well as having a potential for producing arcing and/or sparking, precluding the use of these devices in volatile environments.
Hall effect transducers, as they are currently used, generally require a mechanical linkage and are generally susceptible to ambient magnetic fields, electrostatic discharge, and other Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI).
Additionally, all of the aforementioned devices and methods require the use of extensive electronic circuitry to convert the predominately analog positional information to the digital signals normally required by modern computer-controlled industrial process control systems.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method used to reliably determine the position of a rotatable shaft without the need for mechanical linkages.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a position determining method that exhibits long-term reliability, is immune to EMI, and is cost effective.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a position determining method that greatly simplifies interfacing the resultant positional signals to a computer-controlled industrial process control system.

Method for determining the position of a rotating shaft


A thin-film magnetic recording disc for use with a read/write head in a disc drive includes a substrate, a magnetic recording film disposed over the substrate, and a protective overcoat on the recording film. The recording disc has an outer layer that includes a solid fluorocarbon and a perfluoropolyether (PFPE) oil. The disc can be used as a data storage media for a digital computer and, in particular, with a read/write head in a disc drive. The addition of the fluorocarbon layer can improve the tribology of the disc, thereby reducing wear and improving the long-term performance of the magnetic disc.

The present invention relates generally to the use of lubricants in connection with magnetic recording media and, in particular, to the use of lubricants for reducing frictional coefficients of thin-film recording media.
Thin-film magnetic discs or media are used as data storage media for digital computers. The discs typically are formed by successively sputtering various layers onto a rigid disc substrate. The sputtered layers can include an underlayer, a magnetic layer, and a carbon overcoat which protects the magnetic layer from corrosion and oxidation and reduces frictional forces between the disc and a read/write head.
The surface of the disc is often lubricated with a thin film of a lubricant to reduce friction between the head and the disc, particularly during start and stop cycles. The lubricity of a disc-head interface generally is measured in terms of dynamic and/or static coefficients of friction or stiction values. Dynamic stiction values can be measured using a standard drag test in which the drag produced by contact of a read/write head with a disc is determined at a constant spin rate, for example, 1 rotation per minute (rpm). Static stiction values can be measured using a standard contact start-stop (CSS) test in which the peak level of friction is measured as the disc starts rotating from zero to a selected revolution rate, for example, 5,000 rpm. After the peak friction is measured, the disc is brought to rest, and the start-stop process is repeated for a selected number of start-stop cycles.
For good long-term disc and drive performance, the disc-head interface should retain a relatively low stiction value after many start-stop cycles or contacts between the disc and a read/write head. For example, a drive manufacturer may require that the disc-head interface have a stiction value no greater than 1.5 or 3 after 15,000 start-stop cycles. A disc that meets such requirements can tolerate at least 15,000 start-stop cycles without exhibiting high friction characteristics that would interfere with the read/write operations. Improvements in the manufacture of discs are desirable to reduce the wear and improve the long-term performance of the magnetic discs.
In general, according to one aspect, a thin-film magnetic recording disc for use with a read/write head in a disc drive includes a substrate, a magnetic recording film disposed over the substrate, and a protective overcoat on the recording film. The recording disc has an outer layer that includes a solid fluorocarbon and a perfluoropolyether (PFPE) oil.
Various implementations can include one or more of the following features. The protective overcoat can include carbon and the solid fluorocarbon can be formed, for example, by a sputtering process. In some implementations, the solid fluorocarbon film has a thickness in the range of about 10-40 angstroms, and the amount of fluorine atoms in the solid fluorocarbon film can be in the range of about 8-30 percent.
In another aspect, a method of fabricating a thin-film magnetic recording disc is described.
The disc can be used as a data storage media for a digital computer and, in particular, with a read/write head in a disc drive. The addition of the fluorocarbon layer and the PFPE oil can improve the tribology of the disc, thereby reducing wear and improving the long-term performance of the magnetic disc.
In another aspect, the invention features a magnetic recording apparatus including a read/write head for transmitting and receiving information to and from a magnetic recording medium, and a magnetic recording medium having an outer layer comprising a solid fluorocarbon and a perfluoropolyether (PFPE) oil.
The invention also features a magnetic recording apparatus including a read/write head and a magnetic storage medium having means for reducing wear of the magnetic storage medium when information is transmitted to or read from the magnetic storage medium by the read/write head.
Other features and advantages will be readily apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the claims.


Various methods and user devices for managing an email message through a call application. An email application installed in the user device extracts a phone number and/or body content of the email message from the email message, and then delivers the extracted phone number and/or body content to a call application installed in the user device. Then the call application stores and/or displays, in a memory and/or on a display unit, the phone number and/or body content of the email message.

Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a method and device for offering an email message in a call application which identifies sending device by means of a phone number when the email message is received or sent. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and device for offering an email message through interworking between a call application and an email application.
Description of the Related Art
There are call applications that use a phone number to identify a caller or someone sending a text message, and email applications that use an email address to identify the sender of the email. A text message application and a call log application are two examples of the more general category of a call application. The text message application receives a text message from a sending device identified by a phone number, or sends a text message entered by a user to receiving device via a base station. As such a text message, a Short Message Service (SMS) is a message having a limitation in a quantity of characters contained in the message, a Long Message Service (LMS) is a message having substantially no limitation regarding the quantity of characters contained in the message, a Multimedia Message Service (MMS) is a message with an attached file, and the like are currently in wide use due to the proliferation of wireless devices not limited to mobile electronic devices.
For an example of various operations, the call log application stores, manages and displays a received/sent call log, a received/sent text message log, and a missed call log.
The email application receives an email message from a sender typically identified via an email address, or the email application sends an email message entered by a user to a recipient via a mail server.
In the case of using the call application and the email application together, a user often experiences the inconvenience of having to separately manage a text message and an email message by each respective application. This inconvenience is caused by a difference in a manner of identifying a sender. Namely, the call application such as the text message application or the call log application identifies a sender by the phone number of the sender's device, whereas the email application identifies a sender by an email address.
While the text message application or the call log application is an inherent function of a traditional mobile phone, the email application which is a traditionally function of a personal computer, and thus email is a recently added function of an advanced mobile phone such as a smart phone. In addition, users tend to use an email message less frequently than a voice call or a text message. Additionally, due to a lot of spam email, a user often has some difficulty in sorting a personal email message, and valid messages are sometimes inadvertently sent to a spam folder by screening programs. For such reasons, a sender tends to use the call log application or the text message application more frequently than the email application.
Considering recent changes in wireless infrastructure allowing easier use of data or WiFi, and the ever-increasing popularization of smart phones, new techniques to improve accessibility of email applications that permit both the comprehensive management of text messages and an email messages is required.

Method for managing email message of call application, user device using the same, and non-volatile medium recording thereon program for executing the method


An intrusion beam structure for reinforcing a vehicle door includes an elongated member adapted to be attached to a surface of the inner panel of a door frame that is substantially parallel to the axis defined by the elongated member. The elongated member includes first and second end portions interdisposed by a middle portion. The end portions are substantially identical and each taper away from the middle portion. In a first embodiment, the elongated member is unitarily formed and has a substantially circular cross-section. In a second embodiment, the elongated member includes first and second bar portions which substantially traverse the entire length of the elongated member and are disposed substantially parallel to each other. The first and second bar portions are separated by an intermediate structure.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to vehicle occupant protection. More particularly, the present invention relates to an intrusion beam for reinforcing a vehicle door.
2. Discussion
Conventional vehicle doors typically are equipped with a rigid intrusion beam structure to protect vehicle occupants from injuries resultant from a side impact. This practice has generally proven successful in meeting current side impact Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) which require a static test. In the current test, which is technically a quasi-static test, a ram is slowly forced into the side of a stationary vehicle. The vehicle door is required to meet minimum specified force-deflection characteristics. There are three requirements of the current test--initial crush, intermediate crush and peak crush. The peak crush is a minimum specified load requirement that must be achieved during the first 18 inches that the ram is advanced into the side of the vehicle.
Extensive testing done with an anthropomorphic test device (ATD), otherwise known as a crash dummy, has indicated that the current standard is not entirely representative of actual side impact collisions, and further that compliance with the current standard is not necessarily sufficient to protect vehicle occupants. During a vehicle side impact collision, as with most dynamic collisions involving one object substantially stationary with respect to the direction of impact, two impacts actually occur. When a first car, the striking car, collides with a second car, the struck car, a first impact occurs immediately. Milliseconds later, the second impact occurs in which the occupant and the interior of the vehicle door collide. Importantly, it is this second impact which directly inflicts injury upon the vehicle occupant.
As a result of the current standards' inability to sufficiently replicate the results of a vehicle side impact collision, an amendment to the side impact standards (FMVSS 214), adopted Nov. 2, 1990, requires a dynamic test. In this test, a moving barrier, simulating a striking vehicle, impacts a stationary vehicle at a speed of 33.5 miles per hour. Thoracic and pelvic acclerations taken from the ATD are monitored. The accelerations are then compared with specified maximums provided by the amended standard. The FMVSS dynamic requirements will be in addition to the static, or quasi-static, requirements of the current standard. Dynamic standards are scheduled to be gradually implemented begin in 1994.
The applicability of the two tests is listed immediately below.
______________________________________ VEHICLE TYPE STATIC DYNAMIC ______________________________________ PASSENGER CARS CURRENT 10% 09-01-1993 25% 09-01-1994 40% 09-01-1995 100% 09-01-1996 LIGHT TRUCKS 90% 09-01-1993 NOT CURRENTLY 100% 09-01-1993 PLANNED ______________________________________
With the retention of the current test, coupled with the pending adoption of the dynamic test, it is critical that intrusion beam structures be designed so that a vehicle door is capable of meeting both standards. It is recognized by those skilled in the art that dynamic test results can be greatly improved through the addition of padding and minor structural changes to the belt-line region of the door. Accordingly, a need exists for intrusion beam designs which meet static requirements while also permitting sufficient space for such padding and structural changes necessary to improve dynamic test results.
Historically the most difficult portion of the static test is the initial crush requirement. During the test the loading ram is placed in contact with the outer panel which may be located 1/2 inch or more from the instrusion beam. The load does not increase appreciably until the ram contacts the intrusion beam. Therefore, the initial stiffness of the door beam is critical.
The stiffness of an intrusion beam structure is controlled by the modulus of elasticity of the material and the moment of inertia of the beam cross section. The modulus of elasticity, being material dependent is necessarily limited by known methods of manufacture. The moment of inertia is dependent on section geometry. The most efficient way to increase the moment of inertia is to increase cross-sectional depth. However, the cross-sectional depth is limited by internal door packaging requirements and component weight restrictions. Increasing the section depth also results in higher beam stresses for a given displacement. This leads to an early yield point in the load vs. displacement curve, and is potentially detrimental to an intrusion beam's performance.
Heretofore, many intrusion beams having the practical cross-sections capable of meeting the initial stiffness requirement of the static test result in yield or collapse after only a few inches of ram penetration. During the static test, after the initial crush, an intrusion beam makes a transition from that of a bending member to a tensile member. In the tensile mode, significantly large tensile loads are transferred to the ends of the intrusion beam.
Several devices used to reinforce vehicle doors from the impact of a side collision are known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,141 to Johnson relates to elongated members disposed vertically between the exterior panels of a vehicle door. U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,076 to Forsting et al. relates to an energy absorbing band anchored on the door end walls. U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,642, relates to a stamped intrusion beam attached to the inner door frame of a vehicle.
None of the above-discussed devices is without its problems. While these known devices may have proven satisfactory for applications in the past, their efficiency, cost, methods of manufacture, and occupant protection capacity can be improved. Further, none of the above-discussed devices was designed to meet the requirements of the dynamic test.

Tapered intrusion beam for reinforcing a vehicle door


A system (10) with sensor equipment (30) including one or more sensors (140,142) and watering equipment (20) disposed on a parcel of land and configured to selectively apply water to the parcel, and a gateway (40) configured to provide for communication with the sensor equipment (30) and the watering equipment (20). The watering equipment (20) comprises a watering pump (120), wherein the watering pump (120) is operably coupled to a water source (100) and a water line (110) to alternately couple the water source (100) to and isolate the water source (100) from the water line (110). The watering pump (120) further includes a pump sensor assembly (155) configured to detect environmental and operational parameters and processing circuitry (160) configured to direct the watering pump (120) based on detected environmental and operational parameters.

Grounds care maintenance tasks may include lawn care and/or gardening tasks related to facilitating growth and manicuring the lawns or gardens that hopefully prosper as a result of those efforts. Facilitating growth has commonly required individuals to focus routine attention on ensuring growing conditions are appropriate for the vegetation being grown, and on providing the necessary care and grooming tasks to further enhance growth.
As technological capabilities have improved, various devices or sensors have been developed that are capable of employment to monitor various aspects of growing conditions. Gardeners have therefore been enabled to employ the sensors or devices in specific locations to monitor and correct, if needed, the growing conditions. However, even with the improvement of monitoring devices or sensors, gardeners are still often required to employ a high degree of manual interaction to place and/or operate the devices or sensors.


The present invention relates, in general, to a deflector for microcolumns for generating electron beams, and, more particularly, to a deflector capable of scanning or shifting electron beams or functioning as a stigmator using a magnetic field. The deflector (100) according to the present invention includes one or more deflector electrodes. Each of the deflector electrodes includes a core (12) made of a conductor or a semiconductor, and a coil (11) wound around the core (12).

A conventional electron column is generally operated in such a way that an electron emitter emits electrons, a source lens forms the electrons as electron beams, a deflector deflects the electron beams, and a focusing lens focuses the deflected electron beams onto a sample.
There is an example in which a magnetic deflector is used in an electron column, but such a magnetic deflector is used in a large-sized electron column and is merely a typical magnetic deflector that is very large.
Therefore, in a conventional microcolumn, such a deflector mainly deflects electron beams using an electric field.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view conceptually showing a 1 KV microcolumn based on the concept of a well-known Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) alignment field method as a representative microcolumn. In FIG. 1, a source lens 1, a deflector 2 and an Einzel lens 3 are shown. An electron emitter 5 attached to an STM-type positioner emits an electron beam 6 onto a sample surface 9. Such a beam 6 passes through the source lens 1, composed of silicon microlenses, for example, an extractor having a diameter of 5 μm on the central axis thereof an acceleration electrode having a diameter of 100 μm, and a limiting aperture having a diameter of 2.5 μm. The deflector 2 is placed below the source lens 1. The deflector is composed of eight electrodes, as shown in the plan view A on the right side of FIG. 1, and scans the electron beam emitted from the source lens 1. Thereafter, the electron beam 6 passes through the Einzel lens 3. Such an Einzel lens is composed of silicon microlenses having a diameter of 100 to 200 μm, and silicon holes having a thickness of 1 to 2 μm and a size of 1×1 mm are formed in the center of the microlenses. Respective silicon layers are separated and spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval using an insulating spacer. Thereafter, the electron beam 6 is incident on the sample surface 9, so that secondary electrons are emitted and are detected using a Channeltron detector or the like.
Generally, the above lenses and detector are manufactured as electron lenses through a Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) process and are used. Of course, a deflector can be used through the use of a conductor wire, but is also manufactured through an MEMS process to realize precision as well as the convenience of manufacture of an electron column. However, electron lenses generally function as optical lenses using an electric field or a magnetic field, and a deflector also generally performs deflection using an electric field. However, in the case of an electric field, a spherical aberration or a color aberration is poor, or a high voltage of about 100V must be applied, in the case of the lenses. Therefore, it is difficult to use a typical magnetic deflector due to the size of a microcolumn in a current situation, and thus the development of a magnetic deflector usable for a microcolumn is required.

Magnetic deflector for an electron column