A method of acoustically imaging a portion of the morphology of a subject which includes the steps of utilizing a burst of pulses for which reflections are recorded prior to analyzing and plotting the data generated thereby.

There presently exists devices which provide for acoustic imaging of conduits or cavities. In particular acoustic imaging of the morphology of respiratory tract (rhinograms or pharyngograms) has become available. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,416 (the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference) there is disclosed an apparatus and method for conducting acoustic measuring. Basically, this involves the generation of a sound pulse which reflection is sensed by a microphone. The acoustical properties of the cavity being explored is then determined. This patent teaches the use of a single electro-acoustic transducer in imaging, U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,960 (the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference) teaches the use of two transducers and associated methodology. While the apparatus and method disclosed in these references have shown to be very satisfactory, as in all things, there is a desire to improve upon it particularly, the manner in which the data is obtained.
Typically, in acoustic measuring the following steps occur: 1) an acoustic pulse is generated and its reflections are recorded; 2) the recorded data is analyzed and converted into area versus distance data; 3) a plotting of the area versus distance data occurs; 4) a plurality of sets of area versus distance data (e.g. 10 sets) are stored on a first in first out basis which is then plotted; and 5) the data sets are used to compute a mean and a standard deviation. In essence, the methodology used is to pulse, record, analyze and convert (plot). The foregoing occurs after the user has determined that the data being acquired is acceptable.
While in many applications the foregoing method has been very satisfactory and provided accurate results, it is desired to increase its speed of operation.


Apparatus for inspection of a surface, including irradiating optics which are adapted to irradiate the surface with an irradiating beam having an adjustable polarization. The apparatus further includes at least one detector, each detector being associated with a respective analyzer having an orientation and adapted to generate signals in response to light received via the analyzer from an irradiated area on the surface, one of the at least one detector being adapted to receive scattered light from the irradiated area. The apparatus also includes a controller which is adapted to direct the irradiating optics to irradiate the irradiated area and which, in response to calibration signals generated thereby at the at least one detector, is adapted to set the adjustable polarization and the orientation of the respective analyzer of each detector.

Detecting defects on the surface of wafers produced in the semi-conducting industry is a critical part of the whole production process. Efficient detection includes the ability to distinguish between apparent defects, which may include "nuisance" effects or false alarms, and actual defects. Nuisance effects may include conductors having irregular edges and/or cross-sections. Actual defects include shorts between conductors and breaks of a conductor. Detection systems known in the art include "bright field" systems, using specularly reflected radiation from the wafer surface, and "dark field" systems, which use the scattered radiation from the surface. A number of systems known in the art use specific polarizations of the beam irradiating the wafer surface, or polarizing elements in the detection system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,710, to Nikoonahad et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,325, to Leslie et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,551, to Nikoonahad et al., whose disclosures are incorporated herein by reference, describe surface inspection systems where an incident beam is directed at a low or grazing angle relative to the surface of the wafer. The incident beam may be set to have s, p, left-, or right-handed circular polarization.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,780, to Fairley et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a wafer inspection system which is able to use either or both a bright field and a dark field image. The bright field is generated by an unpolarized arc lamp. The system includes a dark field illumination module comprising two laser illumination beams, having adjustable grazing angle, light level, and polarizations.
U.S. Patent Application 2003-0184744 to Isozaki et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a surface inspection method that illuminates a region with one or two fixed laser beams, so as to illuminate the region at two different angles. A detection system includes a polarizing plate which may be rotated to maximize a signal/noise ratio.

Determination of irradiation parameters for inspection of a surface


A method for estimating at least one ring-related parameter related to at least one piston ring may include estimating a bore distortion of a cylinder bore. The bore distortion may include a plurality of bore distortions corresponding to a plurality of respective piston locations within the cylinder bore. The method may also include receiving the bore distortion in a ring performance model configured to dynamically estimate a plurality of ring-related parameters associated with combustion in the cylinder bore during operation of the internal combustion engine. The ring performance model may be configured to receive a static data signal indicative of static parameters and a dynamic data signal indicative of dynamic parameters related to operation of the internal combustion engine. The ring performance model may be configured to estimate at least one ring-related parameter related to at least one piston ring during operation of the internal combustion engine.

Internal combustion engines combust fuel and air to produce power. For example, in a reciprocating-piston internal combustion engine, the internal combustion engine may include a block defining one or more cylinder bores in each of which a piston may reciprocate during operation of the internal combustion engine. The piston and a cylinder head may define a combustion chamber into which air and fuel may be supplied, combusted, and exhausted following combustion. The piston is coupled to a crankshaft, and combustion may force the piston down the cylinder bore resulting in torque being supplied to the crankshaft, which may be used to supply power for performing work. During repetition of this process, the piston may reciprocate within the cylinder bore. In order to improve the efficiency and reduce undesired emissions, one or more piston rings may be coupled to the piston to improve a sliding seal between the piston and a surface of the cylinder bore. When evaluating operation of an internal combustion engine, it may be desirable to evaluate the performance of the one or more piston rings, for example, during simulated operation of the internal combustion engine. However, some evaluations of operation of the internal combustion may lack sophistication sufficient to provide accurate results with respect to the one or more piston rings, reducing the value of the evaluation.
An attempt to provide a method for determining a blow-by gas species concentration is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,433,495 B2 to Shieh et al. ("the '495 patent"), issued Apr. 30, 2013. Specifically, the '495 patent describes a method for determining a blow-by gas species concentration including calculating one-dimensional engine performance data with a one-dimensional engine performance model. According to the '495 patent, the one-dimensional engine performance data may be based at least in part upon an engine operating condition, and the one-dimensional engine performance data may be transformed, automatically with a processor executing a two-dimensional ring dynamics model, into piston ring motion data. According to the '495 patent, the two-dimensional ring dynamics model simulates geometrical changes to a piston-ring pack flow path. The blow-by gas species concentration may be determined with a network model including the one-dimensional engine performance model and a two-dimensional ring pack model. According to the '495 patent, the two-dimensional ring pack model simulates species concentration change in the piston-ring pack flow path, and the '495 patent purports to determine the blow-by gas species concentration using the engine operating condition and the piston ring motion data.
Although the '495 patent purports to describe a two-dimensional ring dynamics model that simulates geometrical changes to a piston-ring pack flow path, the '495 patent may suffer from inaccuracies due to a failure to accurately account for cylinder bore distortion. The systems and methods described herein may be directed to addressing one or more of the possible concerns set forth above.

System and method for estimating ring-related parameters


An unvented gas-log fireplace is formed from a sheet metal member bent to form side and rear panels. A pair of spaced apart sheet metal plates are connected between the side panels and have rear edges spaced from the rear panel. The rear edges of the plates are bent to form lips extending in a direction toward the opposite plate. Bracket members are secured to the plates adjacent the side panels. A rear refractory member is positioned between the plates in engagement with the lips, and side refractory panels are positioned in abutment with a respective side sheet metal panel and held in place by the bracket members, the side ceramic panels abutting the rear ceramic panel at the sides thereof. An air duct is formed above the top plate, and a front face assembly having upper and lower grids permits air to flow beneath the lower plate, upwardly between the rear ceramic panel and the rear sheet metal panel, and over the upper plate, below a top panel, the front face assembly having rearwardly extending ledges which provide support for the plates adjacent the front edges thereof.

This invention relates to fireplaces and more particularly to a fireplace which vents directly into the room in which it is installed to heat the room and has a construction which permits use of larger log sets and is less expensive to produce than prior art constructions.
Gas burning log sets having artificial logs which are either placed within an unvented fireplace or an unvented fireplace insert are today very popular since the burning gas supplies a very high heat level, e.g., in the order of 40,000 BTU, efficiently. Since substantially all of the gas is burned cleanly, the burning efficiency is very high and the carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide generated do not exceed acceptable limits. Oxygen depletion safety devices are provided to ensure this. Thus, the combustion products need not be vented outside the building and may be directed into the room to heat the room and may additionally heat adjacent rooms. The fireplace in which the burning log set is installed may be a conventional wood burning fireplace with the exhaust flue closed and, of course, the wood support grate removed and replaced by the log set. In other instances the fireplace may be specifically designed for use with a gas burning log set. In the prior art such fireplaces have been constructed in the same manner as direct vent fireplaces, i.e., those where the combustion products, generally from wood, are vented to the exterior of the building. These fireplaces therefore have multiple spaced apart sheet metal walls welded or otherwise connected together. One such fireplace of this type is illustrated in Moon et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,468. The multiple wall construction limits the actual log receiving space for fireplaces of given outside dimensions since the space between such walls causes a reduction in the width of the log receiving space. Additionally, fireplaces with this construction have a relatively expensive manufacturing cost, for various reasons, not the least of which is the amount of sheet metal required and the necessity of connecting the various walls together, the latter generally being done by welding.


A pressure barrier apparatus 2 for providing a removable pressure barrier in a borehole is described. The apparatus comprises a housing 6, 8 defining a central bore 10 having a first part 20 and a second part 22 separated by an erodeable pressure barrier member 18. The housing also defines a second fluid flow passage 12 for connecting the first part to the second part, and a plurality of conduits 24 for directing fluid onto the barrier member. A sleeve 30 has a first condition in which fluid communication between the first part 20 and the second fluid flow passage 12 is prevented, and a second condition in which fluid is permitted to flow from the first part to the second fluid flow passage to cause erosion of the barrier member.

In the oil and gas industries, hydrocarbons are obtained from deep in the earth by drilling wells into the ground to access the hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbons are contained in pores in permeable rock which is situated deep in the ground which must be drilled through in order to access the hydrocarbons. Following the drilling phase, the well is clad with a metal casing in order to support the rock and prevent the hole from collapsing. An additional metal tube which is smaller in diameter than the casing, usually of a fixed diameter, provides a conduit to contain the hydrocarbons in a pressure tight environment from near the bottom of the well to the surface.
At the surface, the metal tube (known as tubing) is terminated in a well head which features a number of valves to allow pressure and flow control of the hydrocarbons. At the bottom of the well, a packer prevents pressure from entering the void between the casing and the tubing. The packer is usually conveyed into the well along with the tubing during the well construction phase.
In the past, most wells have been drilled vertically, but technology now allows the drilling of what is termed "horizontal" wells. Wells are often deviated from a vertical direction to a high angle in order to access a large area from a central drilling point or to access remote pockets of hydrocarbons. Development of this technology has allowed horizontal drilling to evolve whereby the well is deliberately angled at up to 90 degrees when it passes through the hydrocarbon bearing rock, in order to maximise the contact area between the well and the hydrocarbon producing area. Not only does this improve the productivity of the well, but it increases the effective drainage area where the well is positioned.
One problem associated with operating at high deviations, or at 90 degrees to the vertical, is the absence of gravity to assist the process of lowering tools and instruments into the well. During the drilling phase, this is not a problem since the pipe which is used to drill the well may be pushed down the well and into the deviated section. During the latter stages of well construction, temporary pressure barriers are placed and removed using wireline techniques whereby tools and equipment are lowered down the well and positioned on the end of a wire. The wire may be of two types, slickline or electric line, both of which are spooled on a drum which may be rotated in and out. The tools are conveyed into the well assisted by gravity only, and will halt when a certain angle of deviation is reached, normally somewhere between 65 and 75 degrees.
Packers which are conveyed into the well on the tubing usually require the end of the tubing to be closed off so that pressure may be applied internally to set the packer. This also serves the purpose of checking the pressure integrity of the tubing before production start up. Occasionally, this pressure barrier is left in the well for some time to allow commissioning work to be undertaken at surface or on other adjacent wells. During this time, a drilling rig may be repositioned or removed for operational reasons. Normally the pressure barrier (also known as a plug) is removed using wireline techniques.
It is advantageous for the temporary pressure barrier to be left downhole but opened or bypassed by being operated remotely from the surface and without any sort of well intervention. This option is especially attractive if either it is in a highly deviated section of the well, if the well has been suspended for some time, or if the well is a sub-sea completion and no surface facilities exist. Additionally, such devices remove the requirement for well intervention in normal wells, thus saving time and cost.
A number of devices exist which provide this operational functionality. For example, pressure barriers may take the form of a ball valve, a glass disc or more recently a solid plug of a salt and sand compound. Actuation of all of these may be performed by a repeated pressure cycling to stress, and ultimately break, a retaining member, by application of pressure to overcome a shear disc or shear pins, initiation of a small explosive charge following recognition of an applied pressure signal, multi pressure cycles advancing a ratchet mechanism to allow actuating pressure ingress, or a combination of more than one of these. A wide range of actuation methods and procedures have been established in a variety of other downhole tools.
One type of plug apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,600, and relies on fresh water stored in the tool contacting a plug compound consisting of sand and salt, and dissolving the salt element following the actuation process. This tool has the advantage that the salt plug disappears following correct operation, but is easily disposable in the event of failure. However, this tool is also prone to failure through insufficient dissolution of the salt plug by the fresh water stored in the tool.
In addition, all of the above devices suffer from the disadvantage that failure of operation requires intervention into the well to remedy the problem, which is usually expensive, as a rig is usually required and time will be spent not only in the remedial work, but in mobilising and demobilising the rig. In addition, some of the above systems have been found to partially function, and in the case of ball valves, to only partially open. This provides the further disadvantage of constricting the flow and may also prevent access to a lower section of the well at a later date. Furthermore, a complete failure of a ball valve whereby it fails to open requires that the ball be milled out, which is a very expensive and time consuming operation which also threatens the integrity of the well, and is therefore to be avoided.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome one or more of the above disadvantages of the prior art.


A temporary frame system includes four masts arranged outside of a building to be constructed. The frame system includes a climbing mechanism mounted on each mast for upward and downward movement thereon, a canopy frame fixed at four corners by respective climbing mechanisms and horizontally covering the entire upper surface of the building, a plurality of overhead traveling cranes arranged on the lower surface of the canopy frame, and a jib crane movable along a guide rail provided on an upper surface of the canopy frame. The overhead traveling crane includes a main rail positioned on a lower surface of the canopy frame and subsidiary rails arranged on both sides of the main rail in parallel thereto. A transporting girder is movably supported on the main rail and subsidiary girders are movably supported on the subsidiary rails. A plurality of hoists are provided on the overhead traveling crane. The transporting girder is a dual type which has two, first and second girders.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a all-weather type temporary frame system for construction which permits constructional work to be performed even under bad weather conditions.
2. Background Art
There has been proposed an all-weather type temporary frame as a temporary foothold for construction of a high-rise building of RC construction. The temporary frame includes a plurality of temporary support frames vertically provided around a planned building to be constructed, and a canopy frame supported at the upper portion between respective temporary support frames and having a shape sufficient for covering entire upper surface of the planned building. According to increasing the height of the constructed building, the temporary support frames are added upwardly to elevate the canopy frame so that constructional work can be performed without being affected by the weather.
On the other hand, an overhead travelling crane is arranged on the lower surface of the canopy frame. Building materials lifted by lifting equipment, such as a cargo lift, a man/cargo elevator or so forth are transported to various portions by the overhead traveling crane for performing assembling work.
The overhead traveling crane includes a main girder reciprocally movable along a main rail, a subsidiary girder reciprocally movable along a subsidiary rail arranged at the side of the main rail in parallel to the latter, and a hoist movable along the main girder and the subsidiary girder for transit between respective girders at the condition where both girders are matched in alignment. Generally, two hoists are provided in the overhead traveling crane. At a condition where one of the hoists is moved on the main girder, the building material is lifted into the intended floor for execution by the lifting equipment. At this condition, the main girder is moved along the main rail to transfer the hoist to one of the subsidiary girders which is placed in alignment with the main rail. The subsidiary girder, to which the hoist is transferred from the main rail, is moved along the subsidiary rail for transporting the building material to the destinated position.
Meanwhile, in the temporary frame system, in order to constantly arrange the canopy frame immediately above the floor for executing the constructional work, it becomes necessary to sequentially rise depending upon progress of the constructional work. Conventionally, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. Heisei 4-221172, for example, discloses a method of lifting the temporary support frames by a lifting means, arranged around the temporary support frame (temporary tower) on the ground, to add new supporting material at the lower side.
On the other hand, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Heisei 5-59817, for example, there has been proposed a method, in which the temporary support frame is constructed with a plurality of telescopic long posts each of which is expandable. Also, a work station is arranged at the upper portion of the long posts, and by expanding the long posts sequentially, the work station is elevated.
However, the former invention increased weight of the added temporary supporting materials is increased in accordance with the rising temporary frame. Accordingly, load on the lifting means is sequentially increased. The lifting means requires a large driving force to be preliminarily set with taking the final weight to be lifted into account.
On the other hand, the latter invention requires a large driving force since overall load is exerted on the long posts from initiation of lifting. Furthermore, extracting length of the long post is increased at every occasion of expansion of the post to cause instability of supporting moment at joint portions of the post.
Furthermore, in either invention, since the temporary support itself is moved and support therefore cannot be provided by the building under construction, and self-standing of the individual support frame can become more unstable with taller buildings. In order to solve the problem of instability of self-standing supports, it is considered to provide reinforcement members between the temporary support frames as braces. However, installation of braces is not only cumbersome but also causes further increase of the load to require greater power for lifting.
Thus, the conventional all-weather type temporary frame was inappropriate as the temporary frame for constructing a building having large number of floors, such as skyscraper or so forth.
Furthermore, in the hoist provided in the conventional overhead traveling crane, since only one main girder is provided, even when the building material is lifted by the lifting equipment, the lifting equipment is inherently tied up until the empty hoist which completed former transportation operation, is transferred to the main girder and reaches the lifting equipment, and lifts the building material. Accordingly, efficiency of the transporting operation of the building material is lowered to cause extension of the construction work.
The first object of the present invention is to make it possible to effectively use the existing system, to require a driving force for elevating the canopy frame which is small and always constant, to provide support for the temporary support frames from the building, to restrict deflection upon elevation of the canopy frame, and to permit execution of addition of the temporary support frame at the highest position without interfering with construction work.
The second object of the present invention is to make transfer of the building materials quicker by providing a double type main girder and by maintaining at least one of the main girders empty, and thus improve efficiency of transportation.


Disclosed are devices and methods related to metallization of semiconductors. A metalized structure can include a stack disposed over a compound semiconductor, with the stack including a barrier, a copper (Cu) layer disposed over the barrier, and a first titanium (Ti) layer disposed over the Cu layer. The metalized structure can further include a sputtered titanium tungsten (TiW) layer disposed over the first Ti layer. The barrier can include an assembly of titanium nitride (TiN) and Ti layers. The metalized structure can further include a second Ti layer disposed over the sputtered TiW layer.

Field
The present disclosure generally relates to devices and methods related to copper interconnects for compound semiconductors.
Description of the Related Art
Compound semiconductor devices use metals such as gold to form interconnecting lines such as bus lines. These interconnects are commonly referred to as Metal 1, Metal 2 and Metal 3. Metal 1 or M1 typically refers to a first layer of metal interconnects that contacts, for example, ohmic metals and other active and/or passive components (e.g., resistors, capacitors and inductors) associated with integrated circuits. Metal 2 or M2 typically refers to a layer that connects to the M1. Metal 3 or M3 typically refers to, for example, a heat spreader in devices such as power amplifiers.
Gold is selected for some or all of the foregoing applications due to its properties such as low electrical resistivity, chemical inertness and desirable wire bonding properties. However, the price of gold is relatively high, thereby increasing costs associated with fabrication of compound semiconductor devices.

Methods related to a sputtered titanium tungsten layer formed over a copper interconnect stack structure


The embodiments described herein provide technologies and techniques for using available data (from a variety of data sources) to provide an integrated and virtual reality experience. Embodiments described herein include systems and methods for acquiring flight information, wherein the flight information includes at least one of seating information regarding layout and availability of seats from one or more data sources, providing the flight information in a virtual reality environment, receiving, from a virtual reality device, a user's movements of an avatar in the virtual reality environment, wherein the avatar represents an individual having pre-stored information, determining, in the virtual reality environment, a position of the avatar with respect to a first seat zone surrounding a first available seat, and assigning the avatar to the first available seat in response to the virtual reality computing system receiving a deliver command when the avatar is in vicinity of the first seat zone surrounding the first available seat.

The increasing availability of data and data sources in the modern world has driven demand for and innovation in the ways that people consume data. Individuals increasingly rely on online resources and the availability of data to inform their daily behavior and interactions. This plethora of information is being made available in a variety of delivery channels and platforms.
The use of computer technology to imitate the visual world, however, remains in its infancy. Current virtual reality systems can replicate visual data from real visual environments or an imaginary scene. Although useful and entertaining, these types of systems are usually limited to simply providing a display or an environment for a specific application and its limited data set. There is a need for virtual systems that incorporate contextual information and details about the desires of a user to provide a fully integrated, virtual reality experience that utilizes the ever-expanding corpus of available data.

Systems and methods for seat selection in virtual reality


Provided is a pouch type case, which includes a pouch type body part including an inner space for accommodating an electrode assembly, and an injection part extending from the body part to guide electrolyte into the inner space. The injection part is corrugated in a zigzag shape.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pouch type case including an electrolyte injection part corrugated in a zigzag shape, a battery cell including the pouch type case, and a method of manufacturing a battery cell.
Description of the Related Art
Batteries generate electric energy through a chemical or physical reaction. Such chemical batteries are classified into primary batteries and secondary batteries. In particular, the primary batteries are not rechargeable, examples of which include manganese batteries, alkaline batteries, and mercury batteries, and the secondary batteries are rechargeable, examples of which include rechargeable batteries and lead storage batteries.
As portable electronic devices, such as cellular phones, PDAs, smart phones, and notebook computers come into wide use, technical developments of secondary batteries, which can be used for a long time on a single charge and have long service life, are needed.
Such a secondary battery is provided in a battery cell form in which a plurality of cells, that is, a plurality unit batteries are connected to each other according to charging/discharging efficiency or current capacity. Lithium secondary batteries having advantages such as high energy density, lightness, high voltage, non-pollution, high power, quick charge, and long service life are currently popular.
The above described battery cell form is disclosed in detail in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2012-0061354.
That is, referring to FIG. 1, a pouch type battery cell 10 in the related art includes a pouch type case 20 and an electrode assembly 30.
The pouch type case 20 has a structure in which upper and lower cases 21 and 22 are brought into tight contact with and are coupled to each other.
The electrode assembly 30 has a structure in which unit cells A are repeatedly stacked. The unit cells A include a cathode plate, an anode plate, and a separator disposed between the cathode plate and the anode plate. The cathode plate is provided with a cathode tab, and the anode plate is provided with an anode tab.
The pouch type battery cell 10 configured as described above is completed by putting the electrode assembly 30 in the pouch type case 20, injecting electrolyte therein, and then, performing a sealing process and a post-treatment process.
Referring to FIG. 2, the pouch type case 20 is provided with an injection part 23 for facilitating the injecting of the electrolyte, and the injection part 23 is elongated from a non-sealing surface of the pouch type case 20.
After the electrolyte is injected into the pouch type case 20, the pouch type battery cell 10 is put in a vacuum chamber (not shown) to perform an impregnating process. At this point, the pouch type case 20 is compressed by inner pressure of the vacuum chamber, and the electrolyte injected in the pouch type case 20 is easily discharged to the outside through the injection part 23.
Moreover, since the injection part 23 of the pouch type case 20 is vertically elongated, the injection part 23 is easily compressed by the inner pressure of the vacuum chamber, and the electrolyte is easily discharged to the outside.

Pouch type case, battery cell, and method of manufacturing battery cell


In a method of manufacturing a piezoelectric device, among a +C plane on a +Z axis side of a piezoelectric thin film and a −C plane on a −Z axis side of the piezoelectric thin film, the −C plane on the −Z axis side of the piezoelectric thin film is etched. Thus, −Z planes of the piezoelectric thin film on which epitaxial growth is possible are exposed. Ti is epitaxially grown on the −Z planes of the piezoelectric thin film in the −Z axis direction such that the crystal growth plane thereof is parallel to the −Z planes of the piezoelectric thin film. Al is then epitaxially grown on the surface of the Ti electrode in the −Z axis direction such that the crystal growth plane thereof is parallel to the −Z planes of the piezoelectric thin film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to piezoelectric devices including a piezoelectric thin film and methods for manufacturing such piezoelectric devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Piezoelectric devices including a piezoelectric thin film are currently being developed. A plurality of methods for manufacturing a piezoelectric thin film are available to form such piezoelectric devices. For example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-534886, a method for manufacturing a piezoelectric device is developed in which a piezoelectric thin film is split off from a piezoelectric substrate along an ion-implanted layer.
The method for manufacturing a piezoelectric device in which a piezoelectric thin film is split off from a piezoelectric substrate along an ion-implanted layer will now be described.
FIG. 1 is a series of sectional views schematically showing a process for manufacturing a piezoelectric device in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-534886. Referring first to FIG. 1A, hydrogen ions are implanted into a surface 7 of a piezoelectric substrate 5 to form an ion-implanted layer 6 at a predetermined depth d in the piezoelectric substrate 5. Referring now to FIG. 1B, a bonding material 8 is deposited on the surface 7 of the piezoelectric substrate 5 by sputtering. Referring now to FIG. 1C, a support substrate 9 is bonded to the piezoelectric substrate 5. Finally, the stack of the piezoelectric substrate 5 and the support substrate 9 is heated to split the piezoelectric substrate 5 along the ion-implanted layer 6. As a result, a piezoelectric thin film 4 shown in FIG. 1D is formed on the support substrate 9. In the method of manufacture in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-534886, the split surface of the piezoelectric thin film 4 is planarized by polishing.
Thereafter, electrodes are formed on the piezoelectric thin film 4 shown in FIG. 1D to obtain a piezoelectric device such as an SAW device. The bonding material 8 is, for example, SiO2 or a metal material (such as Cu, Ti, or Al).
Al and Al alloys based on Al, which have low electrical resistivity and low specific gravity, are commonly used as electrode materials for piezoelectric devices. Al electrodes, however, have poor stress migration resistance; a high electric power supplied to Al electrodes causes a hillock or void in the Al electrodes and finally shorts or breaks the Al electrodes, thus damaging the piezoelectric device.
To solve this problem, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-305425 discloses a method for forming an Al electrode with improved power durability etching a surface of a piezoelectric substrate 2 and then epitaxially growing Al on the piezoelectric substrate 2. Specifically, a several-nm-thick damaged layer 3 (see FIG. 2A) formed on the surface of the piezoelectric substrate 2 by, for example, polishing is initially etched with a strong acid such as hydrofluoric acid to expose crystal planes 14 on the +Z axis side of the piezoelectric substrate 2 on which epitaxial growth is possible. As shown in FIG. 2B, after the removal of the damaged layer 3 by etching, an extremely fine stepped structure is exposed in the surface of the piezoelectric substrate 2. This structure has flat surfaces formed by the crystal planes 14 on the +Z axis side of the piezoelectric substrate 2 (hereinafter abbreviated as "+Z planes 14") perpendicular to the +Z axis, which is a crystal axis. Al is then epitaxially grown on the +Z planes 14 of the piezoelectric substrate 2 in the +Z axis direction such that the crystal growth plane thereof is parallel to the +Z planes 14. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2C, an Al electrode 11 whose crystal orientation is aligned in the +Z axis direction of the piezoelectric substrate 2 is formed on the piezoelectric substrate 2, which improves the power durability of the Al electrode.
The method in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-305425 above, however, has the problem of an extremely low etching rate in the +Y axis direction of the piezoelectric substrate 2. If the piezoelectric thin film 4 shown in FIG. 1D is used to provide a high-performance piezoelectric device with improved power durability, the etchant concentration or the etching time needs to be increased to expose the +Z planes of the piezoelectric thin film 4 on which epitaxial growth is possible. Increasing the etchant concentration or the etching time, however, causes a problem in that the bonding material 8 between the piezoelectric thin film 4 and the support substrate 9 dissolves in the strong acid.


A method for automatically filling an electronic timesheet includes extracting one or more calendar entries from an electronic calendar and matching each calendar entry of the one or more calendar entries to a corresponding project of a list of projects. An electronic timesheet is then filled based on each calendar entry matched with the corresponding project.

Numerous computer applications are available for tracking details of an employee's activities. These activities can include projects that the employee works on and the amount of time spent on each project. FIG. 1 is a screenshot 10 of a typical electronic timesheet. As used herein, a "screenshot" is an image displayed on a screen of a personal computer workstation or the like, at a particular point in time. Included in screenshot 10 are days of the work week 20, projects/categories 30, employee identification 40 and time entry period 50. In practice, an employee enters the number of worked hours into the appropriate box. For example, box 60 indicates that 1 hour was spent on the "e-Justice" project on Monday.
Somewhat similar in concept is a calendar computer application such as the one depicted in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a typical prior art screenshot 70 of an electronic calendar. Similar to screenshot 10, screenshot 70 includes days 80 of a workweek. In contrast, screenshot 70 is further divided into time segments 90. To block out time for a meeting or other activity, a user can enter the appropriate information to a block of time. This information can typically include a subject of the meeting, participants, location and duration. For example, calendar entry 100 is a presentation on ergonomics, takes place in the "St. Paul" conference room and will occur on Monday, July 15 from 3 p.m.-5 p.m.
Very often, time entries of screenshot 10 have a one-to-one correspondence to calendar entries of screenshot 70. That is, a calendar entry that pertains to a meeting regarding a specific project will very likely also be entered into a timesheet application since the duration of the meeting is accounted for in the timesheet application. As a result, information is being duplicated. First an employee enters a meeting in their calendar and then needs to re-enter essentially the same information in the electronic timesheet.
As a result of the above situation, there is a need for methods and systems to automatically fill a timesheet application based on a corresponding electronic calendar.


A system for delivering and implanting a radially expandable endoluminal prosthesis within a body lumen (e.g., blood vessel). The system comprises a) an introducer/dilator assembly, and b) a delivery catheter/loader assembly. The introducer/dilator assembly comprises an elongate tubular introducer sheath which may be provided with a valving assembly mounted on the proximal end thereof. Such valving assembly may incorporate i) a hemostatic valve, ii) a first sealing valve and iii) a second sealing valve, positioned in series, to prevent leakage of body fluid out of the proximal end of the introducer and to permit two or more elongate members (e.g., catheters, guidewires) having differing outer diameters to be inserted through the introducer without leakage of body fluid therefrom. A dilator, which has regionalized differences in stiffness, is initially deployable within the lumen of the introducer to facilitate advancement of the introducer to its desired location within the body. Thereafter, the dilator may be removed from the introducer sheath and the delivery catheter/loader assembly may be attached to the introducer, such that the delivery catheter having the prosthesis mounted thereon may advanced through the introducer, to a desired location within the body. Thereafter, the radial expandable endoluminal prosthesis mounted on the delivery catheter is deployed and implanted by an expansion device (e.g., balloon) formed on the delivery catheter. The delivery catheter may incorporate one or more outflow apertures at specific location(s) to facilitate injection of radiographic contrast medium in a manner which will check for leakage around the endoluminal prosthesis, after the endoluminal prosthesis has been radially expanded and implanted.

The term "stent" is generally used to describe endoprosthetic devices which are implanted in blood vessels or other anatomical passageways of the body for the purpose of treating stenoses, aneurysms, occlusions, etc. Typically, such stents are implanted in blood vessels to maintain dilation and patency of an occluded region of blood vessel, or to bridge a weakened or aneurysmic region of blood vessel. On the other hand, some typical non-vascular applications of such stents are for the treatment of constrictions or injuries to the gastrointestinal tract (e.g., esophagus), ducts of the biliary tree (e.g., common bile duct) or anatomical passageways of the genitourinary tract (e.g., ureter, urethra fallopian tube, etc.).
Most stents are initially disposed in a compact configuration of relatively small diameter, whereby the stent may be mounted upon or within a delivery catheter for insertion and transluminal advancement into the desired anatomical passageway. Thereafter, such stents are radially expandable to a larger "operative" diameter which is equal to or slightly larger than the diameter of the blood vessel or other anatomical passageway in which the stent is to be implanted. When radially expanded to such operative diameter, the stent will typically become released from the delivery catheter and embedded or engaged to the surrounding wall of the blood vessel or other anatomical passageway.
Some stents are covered with tubular sleeves, in which case they are typically referred to as a "stented graft".
In general, stents and stented grafts fall into two major categories--a) self-expanding and b) pressure-expandable. Those of the self-expanding variety may be formed of resilient or shape memory material (e.g., spring steel or nitinol.TM.) which is capable of self-expanding from its first (radially compact) diameter to its second (operative) diameter without the exertion of outwardly-directed force against the stent or stented graft. Examples of such self-expanding stents and stented grafts are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,655,771 (Wallsten, et al); 4,954,126 (Wallsten); 5,061,275 (Wallsten, et al); 4,580,568 (Gianturco); 4,830,003 (Wolf, et al); 5,035,706 (Gianturco, et al); 5,330,400 (Song) and 5,354,308 (Simon, et al) and Foreign Patent Publication Nos. WO94.backslash.12136; WO92.backslash.06734 and EPA183372. Those of the pressure-expandable (i.e., "passive expandable") variety may be formed of plastically deformable material (e.g., stainless steel) which is initially formed in its first (radially compact) diameter and remains stable in such first diameter until such time of outwardly directed pressure is exerted upon the stent or stented graft to cause radial expansion and resultant plastic deformation of the stent or stented graft, to its second (operative) diameter. Examples of such pressure-expandable stents and stented grafts are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,135,536 (Hillstead); 5,161,547 (Tower); 5,292,331 (Boneau); 5,304,200 (Spaulding); 4,733,665 (Palmaz); 5,282,823 (Schwartz, et al); 4,776,337 (Palmaz); and 5,403,341 (Solar) and Foreign Patent Publication Nos. EPA480667; and WO95.backslash.08966.
In many applications, careful positioning and firm implantation of the stent or stented graft is critical to the successful treatment of the underlying medical problem. In this regard, the delivery catheter which is utilized to accomplish the positioning and implantation of the stent or stented graft is an important aspect of the overall system. Various types of delivery catheters for stents and stented grafts have been previously known, including those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,665,918 (Garza, et al); 4,733,665 (Palmaz); 4,739,762 (Palmaz); 4,762,125 (Leiman, et al); 776,337 (Palmaz); 4,838,269 (Robinson, et al); 4,994,071 (MacGregor); 5,037,427 (Harada, et al); 5,089,005 (Harada); 5,102,417 (Palmaz); 5,108,416 (Ryan, et al); 5,141,498 (Christian); 5,181,920 (Mueller, et al); 5,195,984 (Schatz); 5,201,901 (Harada, et al); 5,269,763 (Boehmer, et al); 5,275,622 (Lazarus, et al); 5,290,295 (Querals, et al); 5,306,294 (Winston, et al); 5,318,588 (Horzewski, et al); 5,344,426 (Lau, et al); 5,350,363 (Goode, et al); 5,360,401 (Turnland); 5,391,172 (Williams, et al); 5,397,345 (Lazarus); 5,405,380 (Gianotti, et al); 5,443,452 (Hart, et al); 5,453,090 (Martinez, et al); 5,456,284 (Ryan, et al); and 5,456,694 (Marin, et al) and Foreign Patent Publication Nos. EP-0308-815-A2; EP-0335341-A1; EP-364-787-A; EP-0442-657-A2; EP-482976-A; EP-0505-686-A1; EP-0611-556-A1; EP-0638-290-A1; WO94.backslash.15549; WO95.backslash.01761; GB2196-857-A; DE3042-229; and DE3737-121-A. Generally, the attributes which are desirable of any delivery catheter which is to be used for placement and implantation of stents or stented grafts, are as follows:
a) maintain minimal diameter during insertion to avoid unnecessary trauma and/or difficulty of placement; PA1 b) include radiopaque markings at appropriate locations to facilitate precise visualization and positioning of the delivery catheter to ensure that the stent or stented graft is implanted at the desired location; PA1 c) reliable and reproducible expansion of the stent or stented graft to its full operative diameter, without regional or localized variations in the degree or completeness of such expansion; PA1 d) reliable and reproducible disengagement or release of the stent or stented graft from the catheter body; PA1 e) ability to withdraw and remove the delivery catheter without disturbing the newly implanted stent or stented graft; and, PA1 f) ability to easily check for leakage of biological fluid (e.g., blood) outside of a stented graft (i.e., an "endoleak") after the stented graft has been delivered and implanted within a body lumen. PA1 a) a portion of the catheter being formed of separate tubular members upon which opposite ends of a radially expandable balloon are mounted such that movement (e.g., longitudinal, rotational) movement of one of such members relative to the other will cause the balloon to be tightened (e.g., longitudinally drawn, rotatably twisted) to a taut configuration when the balloon is in its deflated state, thereby eliminating or minimizing loose or protrusive balloon material which may interfere with subsequent retraction and removal of the delivery catheter; and/or, PA1 b) a non-tapered or minimally-tapered balloon which is usable to radially expand the tubular intraluminal prosthesis, said balloon being mounted on the body of the delivery catheter and comprising: PA1 c) a loader assembly for facilitating introduction of the distal portion of the catheter and a radially-compact intraluminal prosthesis mounted thereon, into a tubular introducer. Such loader assembly may comprise a tubular sheath which is advancable over the radially compact intraluminal prosthesis mounted on the catheter body, and which is directly engageable to the proximal end of an introducer so as to facilitate subsequent advancement in introduction of the radially compact intraluminal prosthesis into the lumen of the introducer; and/or, PA1 d) one or more radiographic contrast medium outflow apertures in communication with a radiographic contrast medium infusion lumen extending longitudinally through the catheter, said outflow aperture(s) being positioned on the catheter at a location whereby radiographic contrast medium may be infused through the lumen and out of the outflow aperture(s) into the body lumen wherein the endoluminal prosthesis has been implanted, at a location upstream of the endoluminal prosthesis, such that said radiographic contrast medium will migrate outside of the endoluminal prosthesis if endoleak(s) exist whereby endogenous fluid flowing through the body lumen is seeping or leaking around the endoluminal prosthesis due to inadequate or imperfect implantation and abutment of the endoluminal prosthesis against the body lumen in which it is implanted. PA1 a) an embedded radiopaque marker which comprises a ring or segment of radiopaque material which has been melted or otherwise embedded within the wall of the introducer sheath so as to be fully surrounded or encapsulated by the material of the introducer sheath, while remaining visible by radiographic means; and/or, PA1 b) a valving assembly (e.g., "valving head") mounted on the introducer sheath in alignment with the lumen of the introducer sheath, said valving assembly comprising:
None of the previously-known delivery catheter systems have been clearly optimal for all types of stents and stented grafts. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a design and development of improved delivery catheter systems for at least some types of stents and stented grafts.


A training device to practice wedge shots on a golf course and a method of using the training device are described. The training device includes a base with one or more retaining elements to releasably retain a head of the wedge while the wedge shaft is angled backward and thereby demonstrate an approximate optimal angle at which a user should hold the wedge when practicing the wedge shot. A user places the device on a surface, like a sand trap or rough, and inserts the wedge so that the head is retained by the retaining elements while the shaft in angled backward. The user stands on one side of the device, removes the wedge from the retaining elements, shifts the wedge to an opposite side of the device while maintaining the demonstrated angled alignment of the shaft, and initiates a golf swing to hit the ball back onto the green.

A particularly challenging shot for golfers (referred to as users herein) is a short-range (e.g., greenside) wedge shot from a bunker or deep grass. A wedge shot is a shot in which a user uses a golf club that has a head with a wedge shape. Such a golf club is often referred to as a golf wedge club or just "a wedge" and is designed to make the golf ball rise steeply and land relatively "softly" (meaning with limited run after landing). For example, when a golf ball lands in a sand trap, i.e., a bunker filled with sand, a sand wedge may be used for a sand shot to hit the golf ball upward and out of the sand trap onto the putting surface, i.e., the "green." As another example, a golf ball may land in rough, i.e., thick grass and/or possibly other vegetation near a green. A wedge may be used for a flop shot to hit the ball onto the green. There are various types of wedges. These include a sand wedge, lob wedge, and gap wedge.
Short-range sand shots and flop shots take a good deal of practice to master. These shots are different than other golf shots. In other golf shots, the club should generally strike the ball first, before hitting the ground. However, in a greenside bunker shot or greenside flop shot, the club should hit the sand (or, in the case of a flop shot, the grass) first. In a greenside bunker shot, for example, the club generally should not directly contact the ball at all, but instead should splash through the sand such that a cushion of moving sand lifts the ball out of the bunker. However, it is important that the club splash through the sand without digging in too deeply (which slows the club excessively) or without skimming the surface too lightly (which risks the club striking the ball directly).

Training device for wedge shots and method of using same


High resolution observation of a sample at a high temperature above 1000xc2x0 C. is accomplished by suppressing sample drift by heating over a short time and with small electric current. A heater envelope made of a ceramic having a carbon coating on the surface is attached around a heater surrounding the sample. The heater envelope is rotatable around pivot screws, and has an outer frame portion of a holder individually having slots capable of letting an FIB enter so that the sample mounting on the holder, as it is, may be milled with the FIB.

The present invention relates to a sample heating holder used for an electron microscope by which a sample is heated in the electron microscope to observe change in the sample caused by heating.
As a conventional sample heating holder, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No.58-173159 discloses a type of sample heating holder which fixes a sample in a heating furnace. Thickness of the heating furnace type sample heating holder is increased by a thickness corresponding to the heating furnace. Further, a high melting point metal of platinum is often used for the sample table for fixing a sample.
On the other hand, a type of sample heating holder other than the heating furnace type is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.6-44936. The sample heating holder uses a heater which is wound in a coil-shape and placed horizontally. A sample is heated by directly placing inside the coil, or a finely powdered sample is heated by directly sprinkling it on the heater. In this case, the sample can be heated up to high temperature with small electric current. In addition to this, since the sample heating holder is of a direct heating type and the sample and the heater are small in size, it is possible to obtain a desired constant temperature in a short time from starting of heating and to perform high resolution observation at high temperature. Further, since the sample heating holder has no structure preventing detection of an X-ray in energy dispersive X-ray (hereinafter, referred to as xe2x80x9cEDXxe2x80x9d) analysis, it is possible to perform the EDX analysis under room temperature. The heater is detachable.
A sample heating holder using a flat ceramic heater as the heater is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.6-68828. In this case, the sample heating temperature is approximately 200xc2x0 C., and the sample table has abi-axial or double tilting mechanism.
However, the sample heating holder of heating furnace type described above has problems in that the time required to transfer heat to the sample is long because of indirect heating and in that the sample is melt-fixed onto the sample table by heating. Further, the sample heating holder is of the structure setting the sample on the bottom portion of the heating furnace, and therefore EDX analysis of the sample is not taken into consideration. Furthermore, there is a limitation in the heating temperature. On the other hand, the above-mentioned sample heating holder of the type of directly placing the sample on the coil has a limitation that the sample needs to be formed in powder or in a ribbon-shape. The above-mentioned sample heating holder using the flat ceramic heater has problems in that the time required to heat up and stabilize temperature constant is long and in that there is a limitation in the heating temperature.
Catalysts, materials for thermal plant or nuclear plant and so on require material property at a high temperature above 1000xc2x0 C. or structural analysis in the atom level in order to investigate a process of change in the material property. However, it is difficult to observe the process of change in the material property by the conventional technologies described above. Therefore, each of samples of a material treated at various temperatures is formed in a thin film for electron microscope observation to perform analysis for each treatment temperature.
By checking whether or not the change in the process in the thin film state agrees with a change in the process of heating the material in a bulk state under the same heating condition, it is possible to check whether or not a phenomenon produced in a thin film sample agrees with that in an actual material. However, in the conventional technology, in order to repetitively mill a bulk portion of a single sample after heating, it is required to extract the sample by detaching heaters attached onto the upper side and the downside of the sample and to perform milling by setting the sample to a holder for a focused ion beam (hereinafter, referred to as xe2x80x9cFIBxe2x80x9d) milling apparatus. Therefore, since the material becomes brittle by heating, the sample is probably damaged at handling to lose a position to be observed.
The present invention aims at solving such problems in the conventional technology. An object of the present invention is to provide a sample heating holder for electron microscope which can suppress sample drift caused by heating in a short time irrespective of a shape of the sample, and can perform high resolution observation of a sample heated up to a temperature above 1000xc2x0 C. with small electric current. Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a sample heating holder for electron microscope and a method of observing a sample using the sample heating holder by which after observing a sample under a heating condition, re-milling of a bulk portion of the same sample using an FIB milling apparatus and re-observation of the bulk portion of the same sample using the electron microscope can be performed. Accordingly, observation of an inner bulk portion of the sample under a heating condition and verification by comparing it with a thin film portion can be performed.
The inventors of the present invention fabricated a prototype of a sample heating holder having a structure that a high melting point metal wire coated with a ceramic on the outer surface was used as a heating heater, and an upper surface and a lower surface of a sample were brought directly in contact with the heater. This prototype holder could be directly heated up to approximately 1800xc2x0 C. However, it was founded that a problem of sample drift caused by thermal expansion of the heater newly occurred. In the high resolution observation in the atomic level, a lattice image of 0.1 to 0.5 nm interval generally needs to be identified, but the required time that the sample reached a thermal equilibrium state in a high temperature and stabilized in a condition capable of performing high resolution observation was long. In addition, there was a problem in that the heating efficiency was low because of heat loss from the sample by thermal dissipation.
The present invention is a result of such a study by which it is found that by attaching a thermally and electrically insulating heater envelope having a carbon coating on the surface around a heater surrounding a sample of a sample heating holder for electron microscope, the thermal expansion at heating and the thermal dissipation can be prevented, and stability of the sample at high temperature can be obtained in a short time.
Further, the other object can be attained by that openings for introducing an FIB are formed in a side surface portion of the heater envelope of the sample heating holder and in a side surface portion of the holder so as to mill the sample by the FIB. The sample heating holder mounted with the sample which has been observed under a heating condition, as it is, is set in an FIB milling apparatus to mill the un-milled bulk portion of the sample through the openings. After milling, the sample heating holder mounted with the milled sample is again set in the electron microscope to observe the sample. Thus, observation of an inside of the bulk portion under a heating condition and verification by comparing it with a thin film portion can be performed.
That is, a sample heating holder for electron microscope in accordance with the present invention is characterized by comprising a holder main body; a heater for heating a sample by directly contacting with the sample; and a thermally and electrically insulating heater envelope for preventing dissipation of heat by covering the heater, wherein the heater envelope has a carbon coating on a surface, and the heater is fixed to the heater envelope.
The heater envelope has a function to improve the heat efficiency, and a function to fix and fasten the heater, that is, a function to prevent the sample draft caused by thermal expansion of the heater. From the viewpoint of heat resistance and low thermal expansion coefficient, it is preferable that the heater envelope is made of a ceramic. In order to provide the heater envelope with the function to improve the heat efficiency by preventing heat dissipation from the heater, it is not always necessary that the heater envelope completely covers the heater from all the directions. Fixing of the heater to the heater envelope can be performed, for example, using a high temperature thermosetting liquid inorganic heat resistant adhesive. By fixing the sample to the heater using a high temperature thermosetting liquid inorganic heat resistant adhesive, the effect of preventing the sample drift can be further improved.
Further, by coating the heater envelope with carbon through a vapor deposition method or the like, it is possible to prevent the heater envelope from charging up by giving electric conductivity to the heater envelope, and it is also possible to prevent occurrence of noise from the heater envelope due to scattered electrons incident to the heater envelope in EDX analysis at room temperature.
By rotatably attaching the heater envelope to the holder main body, it is possible to form a bi-axial or double tilting mechanism by combining with rotation around an axis of the holder main body in the lateral direction and, therefore, to vary an orientation of a crystal to be observed. In addition, it is preferable that the heater envelope is detachable to the holder main body.
The heater envelope has necessary openings such as an opening for letting an electron beam pass through, an opening for extracting a X-ray emitted from the sample by irradiation of the electron beam and an opening for loading and unloading the sample. The opening may be any shape such as a hole-shape, or a notch shape extending from a free edge portion of the heater envelope. Through the openings formed in the heater envelope, it is possible to perform electron microscopic observation or X-ray analysis of a sample, and it is also possible to take out the sample after performing heating, observation or analysis.
The heater envelope may comprise an opening for letting a focused ion beam for milling the sample pass through in a side surface portion. By such a heater envelope, the heater envelope having a sample fixed to the inner heater is extracted from the holder main body and fixed to a holder of an FIB milling apparatus, and then a bulk portion of the sample can be milled by letting an FIB entering through the opening formed in the side surface portion of the heater envelope.
Further, the heater envelope may comprise an opening for letting a focused ion beam for milling the sample pass through in a side surface portion, and the holder main body may comprise an opening at a position overlapping with the opening formed on the side surface of the heater envelope. By such a sample heating holder, the heater envelope having the sample fixed inside is extracted together with the holder main body from the electron microscope and set in the FIB milling apparatus, and an un-milled bulk portion of the sample can be milled by irradiating an FIB on the sample through the opening of the holder main body and the opening at the side surface portion of the heater envelope overlapping with the opening of the holder main body. After finishing milling of the sample, by extracting the holder attached with the heater envelope from the FIB milling apparatus and setting it to the electron microscope, microscopic observation of the milled bulk portion of the sample can be performed.
A method of observing a sample according to the present invention is characterized by a method using the sample heating holder for electron microscope comprising the heater envelope having an opening for FIB milling or the sample heating holder for electron microscope comprising the openings formed in both of the heater envelope and the holder main body described above, which comprises the steps of observing a sample fixed to and heated by the heater of the sample heating holder using an electron microscope; extracting the sample heating holder for electron microscope from the electron microscope and milling an un-milled bulk portion of the sample using a focused ion beam milling apparatus without detaching the sample from the heater; and loading the heater of the sample heating holder for electron microscope holding the milled sample to the electron microscope and observing the portion of the sample milled in the above step using the electron microscope. Fixing of the sample to the heater can be performed using a high temperature thermosetting liquid inorganic heat resistant adhesive.
According to the sample heating holder in accordance with the present invention, high resolution observation of a sample at a high temperature above 1000xc2x0 C. by suppressing sample drift by heating in a short time and with small electric current. Further, according to the method of observing a sample in accordance with the present invention, a phenomenon occurring in a thin film portion can be verified by comparing it with a phenomenon occurring in a bulk portion re-observation.

Sample heating holder, method of observing a sample and charged particle beam apparatus


A more effective confidence/uncertainty measure determination for disparity measurements is achieved by performing the determination on an evaluation of a set of disparity candidates for a predetermined position of a first picture at which the measurement of the disparity relative to the second picture is to be performed, and if this evaluation involves an accumulation of a contribution value for each of this set of disparity candidates, which contribution values depends on the respective disparity candidate and a dissimilarity to the second picture which is associated with the respective disparity candidate according to a function which has a first monotonicity with a dissimilarity associated with the respective disparity candidate, and a second monotonicity, opposite to the first monotonicity, with an absolute difference between the respective disparity candidate and a predetermined disparity having a minimum dissimilarity associated therewith among dissimilarities associated with the set of disparity candidates.

Stereo disparity estimation is one of the most researched and active fields within computer vision. This is mainly because existing algorithms do not obtain optimal results [1, 2, 3]. The estimated disparities are not accurate enough or the computational costs are too high. In recent years, deep-learning methods increased the accuracy of such algorithms [4, 5] and, for example, can be used to improve the quality of densely rendered light fields. In order to reconstruct these, fusion of multiple disparity maps may be used, which seems to be straightforward. However, due to false disparities, it is not. False disparities are being propagated and thus result in unreliable disparity maps. We propose a new confidence measure to filter out these initially false disparities.
When performing confidence measurement based on conventional approaches [6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12], confidences are assigned by examining the cost curves. The ideal cost curve as a function of disparity for a pixel has a single, distinct minimum. However, most cost curves are ambiguous because they have multiple local minima or multiple adjacent disparities with similar costs, making exact localization of the global minimum hard. The shape of the cost curve heavily depends on the stereo algorithm used. Some algorithms tend to be more sensitive to noise. Spyropoulos and Mordohai use the stereo method developed by Zbontar and Le Cun [4] to compute the matching costs. They trained a convolutional neural network (CNN) to predict whether two image patches match or not. In recent years, many confidence measures aiming at detecting unreliable disparity assignments, proved to be very effective cues when combined with state-of-the-art stereo algorithms [5, 14, 15, 16]. The ability to reliably detect failures of a stereo algorithm by means of a confidence measure is fundamental and many approaches have been proposed for this purpose. Hu and Mordohai [17] were the first ones to exhaustively review and compare confidence measures available at that time and defined an effective metric to evaluate the performance of the different measures. New confidence measures have been introduced and evaluated, mostly based on deep learning [5, 18] and other machine learning methods [14, 15, 16, 19, 13]. The latest thorough evaluation of 76 state-of-the-art confidence measures has been performed by Poggi et al. [20] in 2017. In this, a similar trend as in the evaluation of stereo algorithms can be seen, machine learning based approaches seem to outperform conventional approaches.
However, there is an ongoing need to further improve the quality of these confidence/uncertainty measures for disparity measurements.

Concept for determining a confidence/uncertainty measure for disparity measurement

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.


Techniques for conserving power by controlling program execution in a convergence device comprising a battery or other power source and at least one processor. The processor is configured to perform processing operations associated with voice call communication functions and to perform processing operations associated with data communication functions, and is operative to execute critical programs and noncritical programs. The convergence device stores, for at least a given one of a plurality of noncritical programs associated with the data communication functions, an identifier of at least one alternate capacity program capable of performing substantially the same function as the given program but having a different power source capacity associated therewith. Based at least in part on a power indicator representative of remaining capacity or another characteristic of the power source, execution of the given program may be replaced with execution of the alternate capacity program, such that an amount of power source capacity utilizable for the voice call communication functions is increased.

A convergence device typically incorporates a variety of different communication and multimedia data processing functions. One example of such a device is a so-called "smart" telephone, which generally comprises a processor capable of running multimedia application programs or other programs associated with data communication functions, as well as programs associated with cellular voice call communication functions. A given smart telephone may be configured, by way of example, to allow a user to retrieve e-mail, browse the Internet, manage personal information, and utilize text messaging, while also providing support for traditional cellular telephone voice calls.
A more particular example of a convergence device of this type is a wireless mobile unit of a recently-developed high-speed CDMA communication system such as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) system, described in 3GPP Technical Specifications TS 25.1xx, which are incorporated by reference herein. The convergence device may include, in addition to or in place of cellular communication functionality, wireless networking functionality in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 standards, which are incorporated by reference herein, or other suitable wireless networking standards.
Convergence devices often require execution of a number of different types of code, including digital signal processor (DSP) code associated with signal processing operations as well as high-level program application code written in Java or another object-oriented programming language.
Multithreaded processors particularly well-suited for use in convergence devices are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/269,372, filed Oct. 11, 2002 and entitled "Multithreaded Processor With Efficient Processing For Convergence Device Applications," which is commonly assigned herewith and incorporated by reference herein. An illustrative embodiment of a multithreaded processor as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/269,372 is capable of executing RISC-based control code, DSP code, Java code and network processing code. This processor includes a single instruction multiple data (SIMD) vector unit, a reduction unit, and long instruction word (LIW) compounded instruction execution.
Convergence devices are typically configured to operate on battery power. It is usually desirable in such devices to maintain a certain minimum voice call communication capability as the battery capacity decreases. Generally, processing associated with data communication functions, such as multimedia application processing, requires significantly more computational capacity, and thus expends more battery power, than cellular voice call communication.
Unfortunately, conventional power conservation techniques are not designed to accommodate the particular configuration and functionality of convergence devices, and thus fail to provide optimal performance in such devices. Accordingly, a need exists for improved power conservation techniques for use in convergence devices.

Convergence device with dynamic program throttling that replaces noncritical programs with alternate capacity programs based on power indicator


Restrictions are placed on the content of usernames and other online identifiers to help maintain the privacy of offline identities of online users. A proposed username is tested by comparing at least a portion of its content to a set of personal identification information tokens that reflect aspects of an offline identity. The username is accepted if it satisfies a predetermined privacy criterion, which is defined in terms of matches to the personal identification information tokens. The user may receive questions regarding a proposed username and its relation, if any, to the online user's offline identity. Answers to the questions can be used to create personal identification information tokens which are compared to the proposed username.

Social network services are provided online for communities of people who share interests. Social network services provide ways for members of an online community to learn about each other, such as directories, profiles, personal pages, and search facilities. Social networks also build on or provide ways for members of an online community to communicate electronically with each other, such as chat, email, instant messaging, blogs, forums, video transmissions, and discussion groups.
Contacts made online through a social network using online identities may be pursued offline. People who first met online may decide to meet in person offline for dating, friendship, business, or philanthropic activities, for example. Even if a member of an online community chooses not to meet other members in person offline, the member's offline identity may become known to others, through a communication from the member or otherwise.

Privacy protection through restrictions on usernames and other online identifiers


A magnetic head drive circuit includes a first MOS transistor of a first conductivity type, a bipolar transistor of a second conductivity type, a second MOS transistor of the second conductivity type, a second bipolar transistor of the first conductivity type. The first MOS transistor of a first conductivity type has a source connected to a first power supply. The first bipolar transistor of a second conductivity type is connected in series with the first MOS transistor and has a common node thereof as a first output terminal, an emitter connected to a second power supply, and a collector current controlled as a constant current. The second MOS transistor of the second conductivity type has a source connected to the first power supply. The second bipolar transistor of the first conductivity type is connected in series with the second MOS transistor and has a common node thereof as a second output terminal, an emitter connected to the second power supply, and a collector current controlled as a constant current.

The present invention relates to a magnetic head drive circuit and, more particularly, to a magnetic head drive circuit for data write access in a hard or flexible disk drive in a data processing apparatus.
A dive current for a magnetic head must be reversed for data write access in a magnetic recording apparatus such as a hard or flexible disk drive. As shown in FIG. 3, a conventional magnetic head drive circuit for driving a magnetic head (e.g., a thin film head) having no center point of a winding comprises a bridge circuit 2 for current-driving a magnetic head 4 and a drive circuit 3 for driving the bridge circuit 2.
The bridge circuit 2 comprises series-connected bipolar transistors Q21 and Q23 having an output terminal O1 at their connecting node, and series-connected bipolar transistors Q22 and Q24 having an output terminal O2 at their connecting node. The collectors of the bipolar transistors Q21 and Q22 are commonly connected, and the common node is connected to a power supply VCC. The emitters of the transistors Q23 and Q24 are commonly connected, and the common node is connected to ground G through a constant current source I21. The constant current source I21 comprises a transistor Q25 controlled by a reference current source RI21 constituted by an input circuit as a current mirror circuit (not shown) and a resistor R21 connected between the emitter of the transistor Q25 and the ground G.
The drive circuit 3 comprises transistors Q31 and Q32 constituting a differential amplifier and having load resistors R31 and R32 connected to a power supply VCC, a constant current source I31 connected to the common node of the emitters of the transistors Q31 and Q32, switching signal sources S31 and S32 having bases for receiving rectangular wave switching signals having the same amplitude but opposite polarities, and a bias power supply VB31. The constant current source I31 comprises a transistor Q33 controlled by the reference current source RI31 and a resistor R33 connected between the emitter of the transistor Q33 and the ground G.
The collectors of the transistors Q31 and Q32 of the drive circuit 3 are respectively connected to the bases of the transistors Q21 and Q22 of the bridge circuit 2. The bases of the transistors Q31 and Q32 of the drive circuit 3 are respectively connected to the bases of the transistors Q23 and Q24 of the bridge circuit 2.
An operation of the conventional magnetic head drive circuit will be described below.
When the output polarity of the switching signal source S31 is positive (about 0.25 V) and the output polarity of the switching signal source S32 is negative, the transistors Q23 and Q24 constituting the differential amplifier of the bridge circuit 2 are turned on and off, respectively. An output current from the constant current source I21 entirely serves as an emitter current of the transistor Q23, and a collector current therefrom has almost the same magnitude as that of the emitter current. At the same time, the transistors Q31 and Q32 constituting the differential amplifier of the drive circuit 3 are turned on and off, respectively. An output current from the constant current source I31 entirely serves as an emitter current of the transistor Q31, and a collector current therefrom has almost the same magnitude as that of the emitter current. Although a voltage drop occurs across the load resistor R31 of the transistor Q31, a voltage drop does not occur across the load resistor R32 of the transistor Q32. The base potential of the transistor Q21 in the bridge circuit 2 is set lower than that of the transistor Q22. The DC resistance of the magnetic head 4 is regarded as almost zero, so that the output terminals O1 and O2 are short-circuited. The emitters of the transistors Q21 and Q22 are commonly connected in a DC manner to constitute a differential amplifier. For this reason, the transistor Q21 is turned off, and the transistor Q22 is turned on. Therefore, a drive current for the magnetic head 4 flows from the power supply VCC to the constant current source I21 through the transistor Q22, the output terminal O2, the magnetic head 4, the output terminal O1, and the transistor 21 in the order named.
When the output polarity of the switching signal source S32 is positive and the output polarity of the switching signal source S31 is negative, the ON/OFF states of the transistors Q21 and Q22 and the transistors Q23 and Q24 of the bridge circuit which constitute differential amplifiers and the transistors Q31 and Q32 of the drive circuit 3 are reversed. Therefore, the direction of the drive current for the magnetic head 4 is reversed.
The operation in the normal state has been described above. In a transient state upon reversing the direction of the drive current, the following problem is posed.
Assume that the transistors Q21 and Q24 of the bridge circuit 2 are set in an ON state, and that a drive current flows from the output terminal 01 to the output terminal 02 through the magnetic head 4. When the output polarities of the switching signal sources S31 and S32 are reversed to reverse the direction of the drive current, the transistor Q24 is turned off, and at the same time the transistor Q23 is turned on, so that the current from the output terminal O2 tends to be drawn. At this time, a flyback pulse as a pulsed voltage which decreases the voltage at the output terminal O1 and increases the voltage at the output terminal O2 is generated by the inductance of the magnetic head 4. The collector potential of the transistor Q23 set in the ON state is decreased and finally saturated to disable drawing of the drive current. In the normal state, the emitter potential of the transistor 22 set in the ON state is also increased and turned off, and the transistor Q21 whose emitter current is decreased is undesirably turned on. This state is called a flyback pulse clamp.
In a magnetic recording apparatus of this type, the output voltage of the magnetic head in the read mode is generally increased and interference between the recording signals is generally minimized at a higher reversing speed of the drive current in the write mode of the magnetic head. For this reason, an error rate is decreased, and the recording density can be increased. The flyback pulse clamp must be prevented to increase the reversing speed of the drive current.
The limit of turning on the transistor Q22 of the bridge circuit 2 is its emitter potential defined by subtracting the base-emitter voltage (i.e., 0.75 V) of the transistor Q22 in the ON state from the voltage of the power supply VCC. For example, if the voltage of the power supply VCC is given as 5 V, this emitter potential is 4.25 V or less. A voltage across the resistor R21 and a collector-emitter voltage of the transistor Q25 must be set to 0.3 V and 0.5 V, respectively, in normal design so as to normally operate the constant current source I21. The minimum collector potential of the transistor Q25 must be 0.8 V. A collector-emitter voltage which operates the transistor Q24 without saturation is 0.5 V. The minimum collector potential of the transistor Q24 becomes 1.5 V because a margin for properly turning on the transistor Q24 as 0.2 V is added. As a result, the limit of preventing the flyback pulse clamp occurring in the magnetic head 4 so as to keep the transistors Q22 and Q24 on is 2.75 V (=4.25 V-1.5 V).
In the conventional magnetic head drive circuit described above, the voltage at which the flyback pulse generated by the inductance of the magnetic head is clamped is low, and it is therefore difficult to increase the reversing speed of the magnetic head drive current so as to increase the write speed.


A plasma lamp including a waveguide body including at least one dielectric material with a dielectric constant greater than approximately 2. The body is coupled to a microwave source which causes the body to resonate in at least one resonant mode. At least one lamp chamber integrated with the body contains a bulb with a fill forming a light-emitting plasma when the chamber receives power from the resonating body. A bulb either is self-enclosed or an envelope sealed by a window or lens covering the chamber aperture. Embodiments disclosed include lamps having a drive probe and a feedback probe, and lamps having a drive probe, feedback probe and start probe, which minimize power reflected from the body back to the source both before each plasma is formed and after it reaches steady state.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices and methods for generating light, and more particularly to electrodeless plasma lamps energized by microwave radiation. Rather than using a waveguide with an air-filled resonant cavity, embodiments of the invention use a waveguide having a body including at least one dielectric material with a dielectric constant greater than approximately 2. Such dielectric materials include solid materials such as ceramics, and liquid materials such as silicone oil. The body is integrated with at least one lamp chamber containing a bulb.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrodeless plasma lamps provide point-like, bright, white light sources. Because electrodes are not used, they often have longer useful lifetimes than other lamps. Electrodeless lamps wherein microwave energy is directed into an air-filled waveguide enclosing or otherwise coupled to a bulb containing a mixture of substances that when ignited form a light-emitting plasma include: European Pat. App. EP 0 035 898 to Yoshizawa et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,755 to Lynch et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,625 to Lynch et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,891 to Ury et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,704 to Walter et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,135 to Simpson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,303 to Simpson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,242 to Simpson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,710 to Simpson, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,333 to Simpson. U.S. Pat. No. 6,617,806 B2 to Kirkpatrick et al. discloses a plasma lamp having a cylindrical, metallic resonant cavity containing solid dielectric material allowing a reduction in cavity size.

Microwave energized plasma lamp with dielectric waveguide


A pulsed plasma system with pulsed sample bias for etching semiconductor structures is described. In one embodiment, a portion of a sample is removed by applying a pulsed plasma process, wherein the pulsed plasma process comprises a plurality of duty cycles. A negative bias is applied to the sample during the ON state of each duty cycle, while a zero bias is applied to the sample during the OFF state of each duty cycle. In another embodiment, a first portion of a sample is removed by applying a continuous plasma process. The continuous plasma process is then terminated and a second portion of the sample is removed by applying a pulsed plasma process.

1) Field of the Invention
The invention is in the fields of Semiconductor Structures and Semiconductor Equipment.
2) Description of Related Art
For the past several years, the performance and capabilities of integrated circuits (ICs), e.g. logic circuits for computation and memory circuits for information storage, have been greatly enhanced by scaling the features of semiconductor structures to ever smaller dimensions. However, it is seldom the case that the equipment and processes used to fabricate ICs scale without issue. Continued advances in both semiconductor process technologies as well as in the equipment used to carry out such processes has ensured survival of the relentless pursuit of scaling by the Semiconductor Industry.
In order to pattern semiconductor stacks into meaningful structures, a lithography/etch process is typically employed. State-of-the-art etch processes include etching a semiconductor stack with a system comprising an ionized gas, i.e. a plasma. Plasma etch processing may be particularly useful for etching multiple adjacent structures with fine features. However, as demands on feature size and spacing become more stringent, limitations of the plasma etch process have revealed themselves.
One potential limitation of plasma etching may be with respect to the fabrication of an IC with variable spacing between various semiconductor structures within a single sample. For example, the etch rate may exhibit a dependence on pattern density, a phenomenon referred to as "micro-loading." At very small dimensions, and particularly in high aspect ratio regimes, the etch rate of a material that has been patterned with a high density (i.e. smaller spacings between features) may be slower than the etch rate of the same material patterned with a low density (i.e. larger spacings between features). Thus an "over-etch" may be required to fully etch all of the various structures within a single sample, i.e. the areas that are first to completely etch continue to be exposed to the etch process while areas that have not completely etched undergo completion of the etch process. In some cases, this over-etch may have a detrimental impact on the resultant semiconductor structures.
Referring to FIG. 1, a plot is provided correlating the etch rate of a particular semiconductor material with the density (i.e. spacings between features) of various semiconductor structures in a single sample in which micro-loading occurs. As indicated by the decreasing slope of the correlation line, the etch rate decreases with increasing density. Referring to FIG. 2A, a semiconductor stack 200 comprises a substrate 202, a semiconductor layer 204 and a mask 206. Referring to FIG. 2B, the pattern of mask 206 is etched into semiconductor layer 204 with a plasma etch process. Micro-loading can occur during the etch process of semiconductor stack 200, such that semiconductor layer 204 etches faster in low density region 208 than in medium density region 210 and high density region 212, as depicted in FIG. 2B. Referring to FIG. 2C, the etch process performed on semiconductor stack 200 is completed in low density region 208 prior to completion in medium density region 210 and in high density region 212. Thus, the structures in low density region 208 are exposed to an over-etch while the etch is completed in regions of higher density. Referring to FIG. 2D, during the over-etch, some detrimental undercutting 214 may occur on structures in regions of lower density. The undercutting may vary with the density, depending on the extent of over-etch that a particular region experiences, as depicted in FIG. 2D.
Thus, a method for etching semiconductor structures is described herein, along with a system within which the method may be conducted.

Pulsed-plasma system with pulsed sample bias for etching semiconductor substrates