A first gate, formed on a substrate, is surmounted by a hard layer designed, with first spacers surrounding the first gate, to act as etching mask to bound the channel and a pad that bounds a space subsequently used to form a gate cavity. The hard layer is preferably made of silicon nitride. Before flipping and bonding, a bounding layer, preferably made of amorphous silicon or polysilicon, is formed to bound drain and source areas. After flipping and bonding of the assembly on a second substrate, a second gate is formed in the gate cavity. At least partial silicidation of the bounding layer is then performed before the metal source and drain electrodes are produced.

The invention relates to a method for producing a field-effect transistor of planar structure, with double self-aligned gates on each side of a channel and source and drain electrodes, comprising formation of a first gate on a first substrate of semi-conductor on insulator type, deposition on the first gate of a hard layer designed to act as etching mask to bound the channel and a pad that bounds a space subsequently used to form a gate cavity, flipping and bonding of the assembly on a second substrate and formation of a second gate in the gate cavity, photolithographic steps relating to definition of the gates, source and drain areas and channel areas being performed before bonding.

Process for fabricating a field-effect transistor with self-aligned gates


A method for making a honeycomb core composite article includes forming a honeycomb core (24) and a precured composite skin (20) having a core edge (32) and a restraint edge (30), respectively. The precured composite skin (20) is placed in combination with a rigid mold member having a mold surface (12s) and the honeycomb core (24) is mated with the precured composite skin (20) to form a mated subassembly (36). An uncured composite skin (22) is laid over the mated subassembly (36) such that a peripheral portion (44) of the uncured composite skin (22) extends beyond the restraint edge (30) by a distance X and such that the peripheral portion (44) is in superposed abutting engagement with the mold surface (12s). The honeycomb core (24), the precured composite skin (20) and the uncured composite skin (22) define a composite lay-up (10) over which a vacuum bag (14) is disposed. The resultant mold cavity (60) is evacuated to urge the vacuum bag (14) against the uncured composite skin (22) thereby effecting engagement of the peripheral portion (44) with the restraint edge (30) and the mold surface (12s). The composite lay-up (10) is then cured to form the completed honeycomb core composite article. The method produces a honeycomb core composite article wherein the honeycomb core (24) thereof is accurately located and substantially distortion-free.

Composite articles incorporating honeycomb cores are commonly utilized for fabricating aerospace structures due to their advantageous strength to weight ratio. Honeycomb core (HC) composite articles are typically comprised of upper and lower composite skins, i.e., fiber reinforced resin matrix laminates, that are separated and stabilized by the honeycomb core. Due to the high bending stiffness and compressive strength properties of HC composite articles, i.e., the honeycomb core functions as a shear web and spaces the composite skins from the bending neutral axis, HC composite articles have particular utility in aerospace applications such as aircraft fuselage panels and door structures. The high strength and low weight of such construction results in lower overall aircraft system weight.
HC composite articles may be fabricated utilizing various composite forming methods. The most commonly employed technique involves the use of a vacuum bag molding assembly wherein an impervious membrane or "vacuum bag" is employed for consolidating the composite skins and ensuring proper adhesion thereof to the centrally disposed honeycomb core. More specifically, the lower composite skin, honeycomb core, and upper composite skin are sequentially laid in a rigid mold member so that the honeycomb core is overlaid by the upper and lower composite skins. The upper and lower composite skins are formed from uncured "prepreg" or "B-stage" laminates comprised of a fiber reinforcement such as graphite, aramide or fiberglass fibers disposed in a binding matrix such as epoxy, phenolic or other similar organic resinous material. Film adhesive, which is applied to the honeycomb core prior to the lay-up, forms the bonds between the upper and lower composite laminates and the honeycomb core. The vacuum bag is disposed over the rigid mold member and sealed thereto so as to form a mold cavity which is occupied by the uncured composite lay-up. The mold cavity is then evacuated and additional pressure and temperature are applied via an autoclave oven to cure the lay-up. The combination of vacuum and external pressure functions to consolidate the composite skins, remove air and volatiles from the resin binder, and apply the necessary compaction pressure to ensure full and uniform adhesion of the lay-up.
Difficulties commonly encountered during the fabrication of HC composite articles relate to shifting and/or distortion of the honeycomb core under compaction pressure. While the honeycomb core is relatively stable in the direction of the individual cells, i.e., the cells provide significant buckling stability, it will be appreciated that pressure applied transversely of the cells may cause distortion and/or shifting, e.g., accordioning, of the honeycomb core due to the inadequate strength thereof in a lateral direction. This is more clearly understood by reference to FIG. 1a wherein a lay-up of upper and lower composite skins 100, 102, and a honeycomb core 104 is disposed in a vacuum bag molding assembly 108. The vacuum bag 110 is shown applying a lateral component of pressure P along the ramped edges of the honeycomb sore, which lateral pressure component causes the local collapse and distortion of the honeycomb core edges. FIG. 1b shows a top view of the cured HC composite article wherein the distortion, indicated by dashed lines 112, is exaggerated for illustrative purposes.
Attempts to overcome problems of distortion and shifting have included stabilization techniques wherein the edges of the honeycomb core, i.e., several rows of honeycomb cells about the entire periphery, are stabilized by the application of film adhesive or filled with a low density syntactic foam. Once cured, the film adhesive and/or the foamfilled cells serve to retard the accordioning of the honeycomb core. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,680,216 and 5,354,195 discuss honeycomb core stabilization techniques and various materials useful therefor. While these techniques have been marginally successful in limiting distortion of the honeycomb core (on the order of about 0.64 cm to 0.95 cm (0.25 in to 0.375 in), such materials are substantially parasitic and are not practical for applications wherein minimization of overall aircraft weight is a critical design criterion. Furthermore, these stabilization options are not acceptable for applications wherein accurate and distortion-free core location is highly critical. For example, applications requiring the use of radar absorbent (i.e., carbon-loaded) honeycomb core to defeat enemy radar require far more exacting manufacturing tolerances than those which can be produced by prior art stabilization techniques. If shifting of the radar absorbent honeycomb core should occur during the manufacturing process, radar coverage on the aircraft could be compromised.
Other attempts to yield a distortion-free core have included the use of restraint devices formed or assembled about the periphery of the molding assembly. FIG. 2a depicts a vacuum bag molding assembly wherein rows of vertically protruding pins 120 are affixed to a rigid mold member 122 and disposed in adjacent relation to the HC composite article 124 to be formed. As the upper composite skin 126 is laid over the honeycomb core 128, the pins 120 are caused to engage a peripheral portion 130 of the upper composite skin 126, i.e., pierce the composite fabric, to prevent lateral displacement thereof during the molding/compaction process. A bridging effect is thereby created in the upper composite skin 126, i.e., between the uppermost corner 132 of the honeycomb core 128 and the mating surface 134 of the lower composite skin 136, to react lateral compaction pressure and, consequently, prevent distortion of the honeycomb core 128. While this technique is suitable for high tolerance applications, e.g., LO applications, the protruding pins 120 are a source of high maintenance, i.e., requiring periodic cleaning and repair, pose a hazard to the operator, and create difficulties when sealing the vacuum bag 138 to the rigid mold member 122. Regarding the latter, the vacuum bag 138 must be sealed outboard of the protruding pins 120, thus requiring the additional step of disposing a protective elastomer strip 139 over the protruding pins 120 to prevent damage to the vacuum bag 138.
A similar approach is shown in FIG. 2b wherein a perforated or apertured metal strip 140 is substituted for the protruding pins 120. The peripheral portion 130 of the upper composite skin 126 is laid over the apertured metal strip 140 such that under compacting pressure the apertures 142 thereof capture or grip the peripheral portion 130 to prevent lateral displacement of the upper composite skin 126. This approach yields similar results to the above-described pinned configuration, however, laborious cleaning is required to remove excess resin from the apertures 142 prior to initiating the next cure cycle.
A need therefore exists to provide an improved method of manufacturing HC composite articles which provides accurate and distortion-free core location and minimizes repair and/or maintenance of the molding assembly.

Method for making honeycomb core composite articles


A memory cell and a method of manufacturing a memory cell are provided. The memory cell includes a substrate; at least one first electrode disposed above the substrate; at least one second electrode disposed above the at least one first electrode; a moveable electrode disposed between the at least one first electrode and the at least one second electrode; wherein the moveable electrode is configured to move between the at least one first electrode and the at least one second electrode; wherein the moveable electrode comprises metal.

Non-volatile memories are components of electronic systems. Some examples of non-volatile memories include FLASH memory, ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (M-RAM), phase change random access memory (PC-RAM), resistive random access memory (R-RAM) and conductive briding random access memory (CB-RAM).
Non-volatile memories usually use storage layers. Some examples of solid-state storage layers are charge storage layers used in FLASH memory, polarized dielectric layers used in RAM, flipping magnetic alloys used in M-RAM, phase-change alloys used in PC-RAM, and resistive-change materials used in R-RAM and CB-RAM.
However, storage layers may fail and leak. Thus, memories based on a storage layer may suffer from poor retention at high temperature (e.g. at a temperature greater than 150° C.) and high voltage writing, and may wear out while cycling. Therefore, it is desirable to have memories which can provide reliable high temperature data storage.

Memory cell and method of manufacturing a memory cell

Agency for Science, Technology and Research


Churn-aware training of a classifier which reduces the difference between predictions of two different models, such as a prior generation of a classification model and a subsequent generation. A second dataset of labelled data is scored on a prior generation of a classification model, wherein the prior generation was trained on a first dataset of labelled data. A subsequent generation of a classification model is trained with the second dataset of labelled data, wherein in training of the subsequent generation, weighting of at least some of the labelled data in the second dataset, such as labelled data threat yielded an incorrect classification, is adjusted based on the score of such labelled data in the prior generation.

Machine learning (including traditional machine learning and deep learning) is increasingly used in cybersecurity for detection and other purposes as well as in a variety of other technical fields such as health care, financial services, transportation, oil and gas, energy, and government. But despite advances in technology, the outputted result of machine learning models is not always correct. Thus, in many cases, the results of machine learning models are post-processed (and thereby refined), for example, to correct model outputs that are false negatives and/or false positives, for example, in cybersecurity detection, incorrectly missing malicious activity and (incorrectly alerting on benign activity, respectively. Such post-processing refinements on output may include blacklists, whitelists, external intelligence feeds or rule-based detection systems.

Churn-aware machine learning for cybersecurity threat detection


A swimsuit includes a body and a belt, a portion of the body encircling a portion of the belt to form at least one pouch. The other end of the body has fastening devices that attach them to the belt opposite the pouch to form a conventional-looking swimsuit. Detaching the clips, folding up the body and inserting it into the pouch(es) gives a compact arrangement of a belt with a small pouch attached to it. For use by females, an upper body cover has a belt for encircling the body and two patches for covering the breasts. Each patch is provided with its own storage compartment into which it can be stowed after being folded.

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the "back to nature" movement and in enjoying life unencumbered by clothes. Most jurisdictions have regulations against public nudity and this acts as a restraint on those who would like to enjoy life in pretty much the state in which they were born. People will be people and those who would like to swim "in the raw", so to speak, have two choices if they wish to act unfettered: (a) wear no clothing, or, (b) wear a swimsuit on the beach and take it all off when at a safe distance from any Peeping Toms.
As noted above, option (a) is usually illegal and, in many instances, aesthetically unappealing. There are few things as disgusting as seeing it all hang out when the viewer is better off with it concealed. There is also the problem of finding a deserted location at which to take off the swimsuit. Facilities for discrete donning and removal of clothing may not exist at beaches and swimming pools. Removing clothing also presents problems in cold and/or windy weather.
Option (b), while aesthetically more appealing to the public at large, presents dangers to the swimmer. Taking the swimsuit off under water requires either bending down or stepping out of the swimsuit and can be dangerous and has the problem of collecting sand and grit inside the swimsuit. There is the additional problem of holding on to the garment once it has been taken off: if both hands are not devoted to the task, there is the risk of losing the swimsuit and the swimmer is back to the situation presented in option (a). Prior art swimsuits also present problems in putting the swimsuit back on. There is difficulty in identifying the proper holes into which legs must go, particularly in active surf. Once back on, any accumulated sand and grit can be very uncomfortable.
There is a need for a swimsuit that enables the law abiding swimmer to comply with applicable rules and regulations. Such a swimsuit should allow the swimmer to enter the water discretely clothed. Such a swimsuit should preferably be safe and easy to disengage from the human body. Such a swimsuit should remain attached to the human body without the use of hands. Such a swimsuit should be easy to put back on. In addition, it should preferably be aesthetically appealing in both the engaged and disengaged positions. The present invention satisfies this need.


An image sensor module (X1) includes a housing (1), a lens retainer (2), an image sensor chip (4), a substrate (5) and a lens unit (A, B). The housing (1) is formed with a step portion (1a) for fixing the lens unit (A, B). The lens retainer (2) is fixed to the housing (1) and held in contact with the upper face of the lens unit (A, B). The lens unit (A, B) is pressed against the step portion (1a) of the housing (1) by a biasing force of the lens retainer (2).

A conventional image sensor module generally comprises an image sensor chip, a substrate for mounting the chip, and a housing installed on this substrate. The image sensor module further comprises a lens for focusing light from an object onto the image sensor chip for image formation. This lens is retained at a predetermined position in the housing.
In order to obtain a clear image, the lens must be accurately installed with respect to the image sensor chip. However, a conventional image sensor module does not have a simple structure which enables accurate installation of a lens. Therefore, in some cases a clear image cannot be obtained due to an inappropriate mounting position of the lens. Further, the manufacturing cost of the image sensor module is high because the mounting structure of the lens is complicated.


A roll forming apparatus having a shaft member for supporting a head member above a baking container housing a dough mass. The head member can include a plurality of arms with corresponding guide blades disposed therein for contacting a peripheral wall of the container. A tension assembly is mounted about the shaft member for adjusting movement and an outward force of each of the guide blades. Upon insertion in a baking pan, the head member's arms and guide blades divide the dough into a plurality of dough lobes without damaging the container. In a roll forming process, a rack is provided for receiving and transporting the roll forming apparatus over the container. A securing assembly is mountable about the shaft member for permitting the shaft member to resiliently pivot toward a generally perpendicular orientation with respect to the rack after the container pivotally displaces the head member.

Bread and dinner roll forming devices, particularly roll forming devices adapted to form a roll having a plurality of lobes have been used. The roll forming devices or stampers typically have a shaft supporting a head or a roll forming body that presses into a ball or mass of dough placed in a baking pan. The roll forming body typically has retractable arms, each of which are coupled to the roll forming body by an internal horizontally oriented spring. Each of the internal springs biases the arms outward and prevents each arm from being removed from the roll forming body for purposes of routine cleanings. As a result, the movement of each of the retractable arms becomes restricted over time due to clogging caused by dough accumulation, thereby reducing the life of the roll forming body. Health concerns can also arise when the roll forming body cannot be properly cleaned due to the fixed nature of each of the retractable arms within the roll forming body.
Since the internal springs constantly exert a fixed outward force upon each of the retractable arms that engage the inner surface of the baking pan, such constant force can eventually damage the baking pans and the protective coatings on the inner surface. Moreover, any misalignments between the roll forming body and the baking pans can either cause substantial damage to the pan or may require the baking production to be slowed to align the pan with the roll forming body. As a result, the baking pans can deteriorate more quickly and throughput can be substantially reduced, thereby increasing the overall cost of producing the rolls.


An outer circumference of a shift drum of a vehicle transmission is provided with at least one particular lead groove among multiple lead grooves which continuously extends beyond one circle of the shift drum. Two ends of the particular lead groove are arranged so as to be out of alignment with each other in the axial direction of the shift drum. A common shift position adapted to establish gear trains with two shift stages different from each other is set at one position corresponding to the two ends of the particular lead groove along the circumferential direction of the shift drum. The resulting configuration prevents an increase in the diameter of a shift drum and eliminates the significant change of the shape of a lead groove, even as the number of shift positions set on the shift drum is increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle transmission including gear trains with a plurality of shift stages which can selectively be established; a shift drum provided in the outer with at least one circumferentially extending lead groove; drive means for rotatably driving the shift drum; a shift fork which has a shift pin slidably engaged with the lead groove and switches the established states of the gear trains with gear stages according to the operation resulting from the turning of the shift drum.
2. Description of Background Art
Such a vehicle transmission is known from e.g. patent document 1, in which, to alternatively establish gear trains with a plurality of shift stages, shift positions corresponding to the respective gear trains are set so as to be spaced from each other in the circumferential direction of the shift drum.
However, in the vehicle transmission configured as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-8683, to increase the shift positions set on the shift drum, the increased diameter of the shift drum enlarges the transmission and the significant change of the shape of a lead groove increases design manhours.


Multilayer absorbent pads for nappy/diaper pants are manufactured on a unit (1) comprising a first device (3a) and a second device (3b) by which respective first and second layers (4a, 4b) of absorbent material (5) are taken up from two infeed stations, shaped, and transferred to two release stations. The devices (3a, 3b) are synchronized in operation, and associated by way of a transfer station (8) at which the first layer (4a) of absorbent material is joined directly to the second layer (4b), positioned selectively and with the second layer still retained by suction on the second device (3b); the two layers are thereupon compressed simultaneously to form an absorbent pad (2) that emerges from the unit as a stable, one-piece core.

A typical present-day nappy or diaper comprises an absorbent pad sandwiched normally between a permeable inner layer of spun-bonded fabric and an impermeable outer layer of polyethylene.
Responding to market demand, manufacturers of nappies/diapers now offer an anatomically contoured product, hence with pads shaped to fit a selected anatomical form. The method commonly adopted in this instance is one of forming the single pads on a drum that presents a plurality of peripheral aspirating pockets, each shaped to match the required anatomical form, and is fed at a point on the periphery with a stream of absorbent material. The absorbent material deposited in the pockets of the drum is compacted by a roller, at a point downstream.
The stream of absorbent material is a blend of cellulose pulp, or fluff pulp, into which granules of superabsorbent polymer (SAP) material are introduced either with or against the flow, homogeneously to a greater or lesser degree, according to requirements.
Nappies/diapers of more recent design also present a double thickness of absorbent padding: a first top layer, smaller, positioned on a larger second layer beneath.
In certain cases, the first layer needs also to be positioned further forward on the second layer by a greater or lesser distance in order to reinforce selected areas, depending on the gender or the age of the baby or on other factors.
Moreover, to improve the drainage of the absorbed liquid and simultaneously reduce production costs, manufacturers are opting for absorbent pads of which the composition is based on an increasingly greater quantity of SAP granules and a correspondingly smaller quantity of fluff pulp.
Adopting this new formulation, the need has also arisen for the absorbent pad to be more effectively compacted, since with a higher proportion of SAP material, which is of sand-like consistency, the structure tends to be less cohesive.
To meet the requirement for two layers of padding, the aforementioned drums present an aspirating pocket with an area of greater depth, contoured to match the shape of the finished pad. In this instance however, a special drum is needed for each relative position of the two layers, so that machines having a single drum offer scant versatility. The absorbent material can nonetheless be successfully compacted utilizing a drum of the type in question, creating a one-piece core that is easily handled and processed.
In an alternative solution, use is made of a first drum with peripheral aspirating pockets contoured to match the shape of the larger layer of padding, and a second drum adjacent to the first, set apart at a given distance, with aspirating pockets contoured to match the shape of the smaller top layer. Located beneath both of the drums is a belt conveyor, onto which the layers of absorbent material are released. The single layers are compacted by respective rollers operating between each drum and the conveyor. The larger layer is fed by the conveyor into the space beneath the second drum, from which the smaller layer is released onto the selfsame larger layer in a selected position. The timing of the two drums can be controlled in such a way as to vary the position in which the second layer is released onto the first layer. A drawback with this second solution, which envisages a first compression only of the first layer and a second compression of the second when paired with the first, is that the two layers cannot be compacted in such a way as to form a one-piece core, since the compression is applied in two successive stages, rather than simultaneously in a single step immediately before the absorbent pad is assembled with the other parts of the nappy/diaper.
The object of the present invention is to provide a unit for forming multilayer absorbent pads used in nappies/diapers, offering greater versatility than prior art units, and a method of forming such pads.
A further object of the invention is to provide a unit and a method for forming multilayer absorbent pads used in nappies/diapers whereby at least two layers of absorbent material can be suitably positioned and compacted simultaneously so as to produce a one-piece core, before the absorbent pad is assembled with the nappy/diaper pant.

Unit and a method for forming absorbent pads used in nappies/diapers


A novel process for the preparation of tolterodine, i.e. (R)—N, N-diisopropyl-3-(2-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl)-3-phenylpropanamine, in the racemic form, as well as intermediates useful for its preparation.

A number of processes for the preparation of tolterodine are known. Many of them make use of starting products hardly available or the synthesis of which requires a number of steps, so that their preparation is troublesome. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,922,914 and EP 325 571 employ the intermediate 4-phenyl-chroman-2-ol. There is therefore the need for an alternative process for the preparation of racemic tolterodine, which makes use of easily available or obtainable starting products and operative conditions well suited to the industrial production, thereby decreasing costs.

Process for the preparation of tolterodine


A method for providing the layout design of semiconductor integrated circuit that is capable of promoting the reduction of the circuit pattern area is provided. A hole pattern is disposed at the mesh point which is an intersecting point of mutually orthogonal virtual grid lines and another hole pattern is not disposed at the adjacent mesh point that is the closed mesh point having the hole pattern thereon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for providing a layout design and a photo mask.
2. Related Art
Layout designs for providing patterns such as contact holes, interconnects or the like of a semiconductor integrated circuit depends upon types of circuits. In a large scale integrated circuit of the standard cell design having a plurality of predetermined logic circuits disposed thereon as unit circuits, a layout design technique of arranging hole patterns of contact holes, via holes and the like at mesh points of orthogonally intersecting virtual grid is employed. The reasons for disposing the hole patterns at the mesh points generally include two reasons.
One reason is that the technique is suitable to be adopted for the automated interconnect layout tool that utilizes a computer aided design (CAD). The interconnects can easily be disposed as originally designed by the circuit utilizing CAD, which executes the processing according to a precedently stored computer program by disposing the cells, the patterned interconnects and the hole patterns at the mesh points designed in accordance with the circuit design.
Another reason is that the technique is to be adopted to a photolithography. The hole patterns are disposed in an array-shape on mesh points, which are intersecting points of the virtual grid having even intervals, when the hole patterns are arranged, so that the photo resist can easily be processed by utilizing interference of light emitted from the adjacent hole patterns in the exposure process to have the hole patterns having the target dimension and shape. In addition, even if the hole patterns are not arranged in an array-shape but if the hole patterns are disposed at the mesh points of the virtual grid, an advantage of enabling an easy generation of the correction shape via an optical proximity correction (OPC) can be obtained.
Needs for achieving the miniaturization and the increased integration of the semiconductor integrated circuits are growing in recent years, and in order to meet the needs, it is recognized that the hole pattern design technique is particularly critical for the photolithography, and the technology of combining a manner of disposing respective hole patterns to points of the virtual grid with a modified illumination method or an use of a phase shift mask is proposed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H11-135,402 (1999)).
Next, a layout of a primitive cell that is an unit circuit of a standard cell of a semiconductor integrated circuit will be described.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram, showing a layout pattern of a configuration of a primitive cell in a conventional technology. FIG. 5 shows a case of a dual-input NAND gate. This diagram of the primitive cell illustrates the case of dual-input NAND gate having N-type metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor and P-type MOS transistor. Hereinafter, the MOS transistor is merely referred to as "transistor" in the description. In addition, N-type well, P-type well, and N-type diffusion layer and P-type diffusion layer for fixing the well voltages are not illustrated in the figure.
A primitive cell shown in FIG. 5 comprises respective patterns of: a N-type diffusion layer 4 for forming a source region and a drain region of a N-type transistor; a P-type diffusion layer 5 for forming a source region and a drain region of a P-type transistor; a gate electrode 6 of transistor; and a metal interconnect 2 for providing an electrical coupling between devices. A virtual grid 1 generally employed in the typical layout design is designed to have a grid-shape in this layout pattern. Contact holes 3 are arranged on mesh points, which are intersecting points of the orthogonally intersecting lines of the virtual grid 1.
Here, a numeral number 7 indicates a cell bound showing a boundary between the adjacent cells. Hereinafter, an interval of the virtual grid 1 is referred to as a virtual grid size, and a size of n folds of the virtual grid size (n is an integer number) is referred to as a n-virtual grid size.
As shown in FIG. 5, the center-distance between the contact holes 3 that are adjacent across the gate electrode 6 of the P-type transistor is set to the size of the virtual grid. The reason will be described as follows.
Assume that, for example, the size of the contact hole 3 is 0.09 μm×0.09 μm. And concerning the resolution limit pitch, which is the minimum pitch of the resolution limit in an exposure process for semiconductor integrated circuit, assume that the resolution limit pitch of the contact hole 3 is, for example, 0.18 μm. In such case, when the size of the virtual grid is set to 0.18 μm, which is equivalent to the pitch of the resolution limit for the contact hole 3, it is difficult to arrange the contact holes 3 to be mutually adjacent across the gate electrode 6 for ensuring the clearance between the gate electrode 6 and the contact hole 3. When the contact holes are arranged on every other grids with the interval thereof of two meshes of the virtual grid, the contact holes 3 arranged in a relationship of mutually adjacent across the gate electrode 6 are arranged with intervals of 0.36 μm, thereby increasing the flexibility for the layout reference to promote providing larger area thereof. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the contact holes 3 being mutually adjacent across gate electrode 6 may be arranged with a minimum interval that satisfies the associated multiple design reference (for example, 0.27 μm), and the interval between the contact holes 3 can be employed as the virtual grid size to effectively provide reduced cell size.
Next, the photo mask for the exposure process of the contact holes 3 of the primitive cell shown in FIG. 5 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram, showing the photo mask for the exposure process of the contact holes. Here, contact holes 3 shown in FIG. 5 are indicated with numeral number 11 on the photo mask 29.
As shown in the photo mask 29 of FIG. 6, contact holes 11 are arranged at mesh points of the virtual grid 10. In addition, supplementary patterns 12, which are smaller in size than the contact holes 11, are disposed at the mesh points, which are free of the contact holes 11. The size of the supplementary pattern 12 is set to a size that does not provide an opening in the photo resist formed on the wafer by the exposure process for the photo resist, or in other word, a size of being smaller than the resolution limit. In this case, the virtual grid 10 is not formed on the actual photo mask.
Next, the effects obtained by providing the supplementary patterns 12 will be described.
When the contact holes 11 are formed in the photo resist by employing the photo mask that is free of the supplementary pattern 12, the exposure process is conducted under a condition that is suitable for isolated holes, which are contact holes 11 having no adjacent hole of the hole patterns, to form an opening in the isolated holes in the photo resist having an opening size as designed.
However, a size of crowded holes, which have adjacent holes of the hole patterns at all adjacent mesh points, is larger than the targeted size. On the contrary, when the exposure process is conducted under a condition that is adjusted to be suitable for the crowded holes, the opening size of the isolation hole in the photo resist is smaller than the targeted size.
On the other hand, when the supplementary patterns 12 are provided thereon, the optical conditions for the respective holes in the diagrams of the layout pattern shown in FIG. 6 are uniform. Therefore, dimensional change due to a difference in the pattern coarseness and minuteness (proximity effect) is reduced. The reduced proximity effect provides reduced difference in dimensions between the isolated hole and the crowded hole, and thus this results in increasing the flexibility in the required dimension for suitably focusing, thereby promoting the formation of the hole patterns in easier way.
The size of the virtual grid in prior art is set to a dimension that is equal to or larger than the limit interval for providing a resolution to the adjacent contact holes. Alternatively, the size of the virtual grid in prior art may be determined by the other limitations in the design rules than that related to the contact hole, even though the size of the virtual grid is equal to or larger than the pitch for providing a resolution limit. It can be decided by constraint on other design reference except contact hole. Further, in the case of the primitive cell in the standard cell design stated above, the center-distance of the contact holes, which are mutually adjacent across the gate electrode of the transistor, is ordinarily set to the virtual grid size.

Method for providing layout design and photo mask


A titanium nitride layer is deposited between the metal titanium layer and the oxide cap of a conventional oxide capped titanium disilicide technology process. This titanium nitride layer is deposited in-situ after a certain thickness of metal titanium has been deposited by bleeding nitrogen gas into the titanium sputter machine. Thereafter the normal oxide cap is deposited over this titanium nitride layer. The normal titanium react process is performed to produce titanium disilicide. After the titanium disilicide has been produced, it is then necessary to strip off the oxide cap. The extra titanium nitride layer makes it is possible to use a wet etch to remove the oxide cap, with the titanium nitride layer serving as a etch stop. In this manner an isotropic wet etch may be employed to remove all of the oxide cap layer. The isotropic wet etch is preferably a 10% buffered HF etch.

This invention relates to integrated circuits and more particularly relates to methods for manufacturing integrated circuits.
Self-aligned refractory metal-silicide technology has been recognized as one of the keys to realizing good device performance in integrated circuits as device dimensions scale down. Titanium Disilicide ("TiSi.sub.2 ") has become recognized as one of the most attractive metal-silicides, because of its low resistivity, stability, and capability for self-aligned formation.
One of the major advantages of titanium silicide technology is the availability of a self-aligned VLSI process. That is, by depositing a layer of titanium metal overall and then heating in a nitrogen atmosphere, all exposed areas of silicon (whether monocrystalline or polycrystalline) will react to form titanium silicides, and a composition dominated by titanium nitrides will be formed where the titanium metal was not in contact with silicon. This is tremendously useful, since, by performing this step after the polysilicon gate level has been patterned, silicide will be formed on the surface of exposed source/drain regions (or of other exposed substrate surface regions), on the surface of the polysilicon gate level, and no where else. This means that shallower source/drain diffusions can be made with an acceptably low sheet resistance, and also means that the sheet resistance of the polysilicon gate level can be lowered. The use of the nitrogen atmosphere in this process is critical, since otherwise silicon will out-diffuse through the growing silicide layer and permit lateral growth, so that the titanium silicide formed by this reaction will be able to bridge gaps of a one-half micron or so, e.g. between gate and source/drain of a VLSI device.
However, this self-aligned TiSi.sub.2 technology is degraded by any oxygen contamination of the nitrogen atmosphere used for the silicide react process. It has been found that the oxygen contamination during the react process can result in two problems. First, the silicide will have a high resistivity. Second, the unreacted titanium (or non-silicide material such as titanium nitride) is hard to strip off.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,730 issued Sep. 1, 1987 and assigned to Texas Instruments Incorporated teaches a way to avoid any possible oxygen contamination. This patent teaches that the manufacturing process places an oxide cap on top of the titanium layer before the silicide react. During the react process, this oxide is partially reduced by the adjacent layer of titanium metal. Therefore, some oxygen will be freed and can diffuse into the titanium layer. In the low temperature of the react process, the oxygen is gettered at the grain boundaries of the titanium metal and will retard the silicon atom from outdiffusion across grain boundaries. The introduced oxygen impurity apparently performs a function partially analogous to that of the nitrogen in the traditional self-aligned TiSi.sub.2 process. Another possibility for the retardation of the silicon atom from outdiffusion is the stress caused by the deposited oxide layer. The stress will prevent a volume change which is required during TiSi.sub.2 formation in the Ti layer.
However, one of the shortcomings of the oxide cap process of the patent has to do with the plasma etch employed to remove the oxide cap. More particularly at the completion of the fabrication process, a plasma etch or oxide etch is used to remove the oxide layer. However, the plasma etch is anisotropic, since it is purely a vertical etch, i.e. the plasma etches down vertically along horizontal surfaces. However, portions of the circuit geometry involve nearly vertical surfaces which are covered by the oxide layer. Because the plasma etch is required to also etch off this nearly vertical oxide layer, it requires a very long over-etch. If these portions of the vertical oxide layer are not removed by the etch, then that leaves portions of the oxide layer covering the unreacted metal titanium. Then any subsequent steps to remove the titanium (because it is covered by unremoved portions of the oxide layer) leaves portions or filaments of metal titanium which then short out the circuitry, for short metal etches, or floating pieces of oxide that increase default density, for long metal etches.
These and other limitations and disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, however, an improved method for oxide capped titanium silicide formation to manufacture integrated circuits is provided.

Oxide-capped titanium silicide formation


The present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for simulation test of autonomous driving of a vehicle, an apparatus and a computer-readable storage medium. In embodiments of the present disclosure, a simulation-activating command is sent to the at least two simulation nodes so that each simulation node in the at least two simulation nodes simulates the designated traffic environment and runs the corresponding vehicle decision planning algorithm, then the vehicle state data and the vehicle decision route of said each simulation node are obtained so that the vehicle state data and the vehicle decision route of said each simulation node can be output. Since a plurality of simulation nodes are employed to simultaneously simulate the designated traffic environment and run the corresponding vehicle decision planning algorithm, it is possible to, in completely the same simulated traffic environment, simultaneously run a plurality of vehicles having the autonomous driving function, and visually compare the vehicle decision planning algorithm run by each simulation node, and thereby perform the check processing for the vehicle decision planning algorithm.

At present, since people's living standards improve, transportation vehicles such as cars become people's main walk-replacing tools. Intelligentization of transportation vehicles makes travel simpler and simpler. In some cases, vehicles may automatically perform the driving task, for example, the vehicles may be vehicles such as ordinary household cars, public transportation vehicles and trucks on which autonomous driving function is activated, or may be vehicles such as driverless household cars, public transportation vehicles and trucks. Upon performing autonomous driving, vehicles need to obtain a vehicle decision route according to a pre-configured vehicle decision planning algorithm, and then perform the autonomous driving task according to the vehicle decision route.
To ensure safety of vehicle autonomous driving, it is desirable to provide a simulation test method to perform check processing for the vehicle decision planning algorithm.

Method and apparatus for simulation test of autonomous driving of vehicles, an apparatus and computer-readable storage medium

BEIJING BAIDU NETCOM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


The invention provide methods and materials for producing nutritious pet chews comprising an edible thermoplastic comprising from 45 to 80 wt. % starch selected from one or more potato and non-potato starches wherein said starch comprises at least 28% amylose as determined by size exclusion chromatography if less than 50% of said starch is potato starch or at least 20% amylose as determined by size exclusion chromatography if greater than or equal to 50% of said starch is potato starch; from 5 to 25 wt. % plasticizer; 2% to 15 wt % of a humectant and from 5 to 25 wt. % water.

The present invention relates to pet chews for dogs and other animals. Animal bones have traditionally been provided to pets to provide nutrition, as play objects, and to promote the dental health of the animals. However, some animal bones can splinter and cause internal injury to the pet.
Accordingly, many alternative chews have been developed for use by pets such as rawhide bones. Chews made of rawhide may be quickly destroyed by the chewing action of the pet. In particular, dogs can tear large pieces off of a rawhide chew which they can then swallow with the possibility of resulting intestinal blockages. Synthetic alternatives to rawhide chews are inedible and provide little nutrition.
Other synthetic chews have been formed of hard plastic in the form of a bone. Such plastic chews are also subject to splintering and they are also inedible and provide no nutrition to the pet. More recently pet chews have been formed from starch and protein-based materials but there still remains a risk of breakage and splintering.
Of interest to the present application is the disclosure of Wang, U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,083 which discloses an edible pet chew comprising 30 to 50% protein, about 20 to 50% starch, about 10 to 20% water and about 1 to 10% edible fiber wherein the starch can be corn starch, including maize, waxy maize, and high amylose corn starch, potato starch, sweet potato starch, wheat starch, rice starch, tapioca starch, and combinations thereof.
Levin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,252 discloses chew formulations comprising starch and protein polymers and further comprising fiber and other hard components.
Axelrod U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,159,516 and 6,086,940 disclose methods of producing pet chews comprising starch and water and introducing the mixture into a vented barrel extruder to form extruded beads wherein the water content of said beads upon discharge from said extruder is less than the water content of said mixture entering the extruder. The extruded beads are then introduced into a heated injection molding machine and injection molding and cooling to form a pet chew or other molded article.
Axelrod U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,565 discloses a method of producing a hardness-adjustable edible dog chew, comprising the steps of: extruding a mixture of a potato starch, water and calcium carbonate to form granules; and injection molding the mixture into the shape of the dog chew. Axelrod, U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,197 discloses a carrot-based pet chew.
Also of interest are the disclosures of Nie et al., published US applications US 2004/0197455 and US 2004/0086616 which are directed to chew formulations comprising starch, plasticizers, water and other ingredients wherein a portion of the starch is retrograded.
While starch-based pet chew formulations have proven useful and popular with pets, such formulations having high levels of starch are characterized by a number of processing difficulties as a result of the adhesive properties of the starch and other components. In particular, the compositions tend to stick to and resist easy release from the processing equipment such as extruders and injection molding equipment used to produce the pet chews. Not only do the starch-based pet chew products resist completely filling molds with the result of defective chews but the pet chews also resist release from the molds which cause incomplete pet chews and fouling of the molding equipment.


A system for reading a plurality of subset views of an evolving data store may include for each subset view, a plurality of memory buffers comprising at least three buffers. The system may also include control circuitry for controlling the plurality of memory buffers of the plurality of subset views, the control circuitry configured to maintain, for each subset view, a variable defining a most-recently updated buffer of the plurality of buffers such that a read request for such subset view will respond with data of the most-recently updated buffer of such subset view; and responsive to an update of data of the evolving data store: (i) determine, for each subset view, a selected data buffer of the plurality of buffers other than the most-recently updated buffer for such subset view to write updated subset view information; (ii) cause, for each subset view, the updated subset view information for such subset view to be written to the selected data buffer for such subset view; and (iii) substantially simultaneously across all of the plurality of subset views, update the variables defining the most-recently updated buffer of the plurality of subset views such that a subsequent read request for a subset view will respond with the updated subset view information for such subset view.

Many traditional mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones) include one or more cameras for capturing images. To provide for image stabilization and focus, a position of a camera within a plane substantially parallel to a subject of an image as well as a position of a lens of the camera in a direction perpendicular to such plane, may be controlled by a plurality of motors under the control of a camera controller. A control system may be implemented using an applications processor of the mobile device coupled via a communication interface (e.g., an Inter-Integrated Circuit or I2C interface) to a camera controller local to the camera and its various motors. For example, the applications processor may communicate to the camera controller a vector of data regarding a target position, whereas the camera controller may communicate to the applications processor a vector regarding an actual position of the camera, as sensed by a plurality of magnetic sensors (e.g., Hall sensors) and/or other appropriate sensors.
The transfer of vector data from the camera controller to the applications processor may be a transfer in which the data is asynchronously produced by the camera controller and asynchronously consumed by the applications processor. In addition, in many instances, vector data may be stored in a data store that may evolve over time. Such data store may be represented in a plurality of subset views, wherein each subset view includes a subset of the data stored in the data store. These multiple subset views may optimize communication interface efficiency for different tasks. A communication interface may support one transaction at a time, and thus transactions may not overlap in time.
The various subset views must be consistent as read by the applications processor. Accordingly, a write of a register of the data store that appears in multiple views must affect the value read back for such register for all views including the register. Further, a read of a register of the data store that appears in multiple views must not return an old value in one view after a new value is read for the register in a different view.

Discrete exchange and update of multiple consistent subset views of an evolving data store


A transmitter for use in a process control system for monitoring an industrial process includes a housing having a top and a bottom and a height extending therebetween. A parallelogram display is mounted to the housing. Sides of the parallelogram display are arranged at angles relative to the height of the housing.

The present invention relates to equipment used to monitor and control industrial processes. More specifically, the present invention relates to displays for transmitters which are used to measure process variables of an industrial process.
Industrial processes are used to monitor and control process fluids such as for manufacturing or refining. Example industrial processes include oil refineries, food manufacturing plants, paper pulp preparation facilities, and many others.
In industrial processes, it is often necessary for an operator to obtain information regarding the operation of the process. Remote units, known as "transmitters," are coupled to the process and transmit information related to process variables (pressure, temperature, flow rate, etc.) to a control room. The process variables can be viewed or operated upon with equipment in the control room.
In some instances, it is desirable for an operator to view information from a process transmitter directly. Therefore, some process transmitters include displays which are used to directly display the measured process variable or other information related to the transmitter on a face of the transmitter. For example, an operator can use the display to calibrate or configure the process transmitter.
Although process transmitters have many physical configurations, a common design includes a housing having a process coupling side or a process couple face and a cylindrical cavity which houses various transmitter circuitry. The cylindrical housing arranged perpendicular to the process coupling face and is sealed with end caps which screw into each end of the cylinder. When a display is added to such a transmitter, it is typically located near one of the end caps. The end cap can have a clear window such that the display can be viewed externally. The display itself is typically rectangular and is placed squarely on the transmitter housing, i.e., it is oriented such that the long sides of the rectangular display are parallel to a width of the transmitter and the short sides are parallel to a height. Information is then displayed in a standard fashion across the width of the rectangular display, with the displayed characters and symbols aligned with the sides of the display.


A process for the fluid catalytic cracking of oils, wherein an oil is brought into contact with catalyst particles using a fluid catalytic cracking reactor under the following conditions: a) a reaction zone outlet temperature of 580 to 630.degree. C., catalyst/oil ratio of 15 to 50 wt./wt., contact time of 0.1 to 3.0 sec.; b) a catalyst-concentrated phase temperature in the regenerating zone of 670 to 800.degree. C.; and c) a temperature of regenerated catalyst to be forwarded into the reaction zone of 610 to 665.degree. C.; thereby producing light fraction olefins. The process increases the cracking rate of heavy fractions of oils while producing a lessened amount of dry gases generated by the overcracking of light fractions to obtain light fraction olefins in a high yield.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a process for catalytic cracking of an oil, particularly to a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) process which comprises cracking a heavy fraction oil to obtain olefins which are light fraction oils such as ethylene, propylene, butene and pentene.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a usual catalytic cracking technique, petroleum-derived hydrocarbons are catalytically cracked with a catalyst thereby to obtain gasoline as the main product, a small amount of LPG, a cracked gas oil and the like, and coke deposited on the catalyst is then burnt away with air to recycle the regenerated catalyst for reuse.
In recent years, however, there has been a tendency that a fluid catalytic cracking apparatus is utilized not as an apparatus for producing gasoline but as an apparatus for producing light fraction olefins for use as petrochemical materials. Such utilization of an original fluid catalytic cracking apparatus as an olefin producing apparatus is economically advantageous particularly to an oil refinery in which a petroleum refining factory and a petrochemical factory are highly closely combined.
On the other hand, much attention has been paid to environmental problems, and therefore regulation of the contents of olefins and aromatics in gasoline for automobiles, obligation to add oxygen-containing materials (MTBE or the like), or the like has started to be enforced. In consequence, it can be anticipated that alkylates and MTBE will be increasingly demanded as base materials for high-octane gasoline in place of FCC gasoline and catalytically reformed gasoline. Therefore, it will be necessary to increase the production of propylene and butene which are raw materials for these base materials.
Methods for producing the light fraction olefins by the fluid catalytic cracking of a heavy fraction oil include methods which comprise contacting a raw oil with a catalyst for a shortened time (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,419,221, 3,074,878 and 5,462,652, and European Patent No. 315,179A), a method which comprises carrying out a cracking reaction at a high temperature (U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,053), and methods which comprise using pentasil type zeolites (U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,465 and Japanese Patent National Publication (Kohyo) No. Hei 7-506389 (506389/95)).
Even these known methods still cannot sufficiently produce light fraction olefins selectively. For example, the high-temperature cracking reaction will result in concurrence of thermal cracking of a heavy fraction oil thereby increasing the yield of dry gases from said oil; the shortened-time contact of a raw oil with a catalyst will be able to decrease a ratio of conversion from light fraction olefins to light fraction paraffins due to its inhibition of a hydrogen transfer reaction, but it will be unable to increase a ratio of conversion of heavy fraction oils to light fraction oils; and, likewise, the use of pentasil type zeolites will only enhance the yield of light fraction oils by excessively cracking the gasoline once produced.

Process for fluid catalytic cracking of oils


To determine congestion within a shared memory switch, the global memory usage and the individual address queue memory usage of the switching fabric for the switch are measured. These two types of memory usage are combined to determine a net congestion state for a switching fabric. A similar congestion determination is made for line cards coupled to the main switching fabric. Specifically, the global memory usage within the line card is combined with the individual queue memory usage within the card to generate a line card congestion state. The switching fabric congestion state is then combined with the line card congestion state to determine a net congestion state. Using the net congestion state, an explicit rate can be determined for adjusting ER, CI & NI fields in the RM cell. Two methods of determining an explicit rate are disclosed. The first method modifies the explicit rate found within RM cells. The second method generates an internal "switch explicit rate" using the Current Cell Rate value within forward RM cells. Then, when a backward RM cell is received, the internal switch explicit rate is used as a benchmark to modify the explicit rate field of the RM cell.

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a new telecommunication standard for a broadband Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN). ATM has been designed from the ground up to be a telecommunication standard for carrying voice, video and data information. ATM carries information in fixed length cells. Each cell is 53 bytes long where the first five bytes are header information and the remaining 48 bytes are the data payload.
ATM Networks are build by connecting several ATM Switches together with high speed communication lines. Currently, most ATM Switches are coupled together using SONET communication lines as a physical connection layer. To establish a connection in an ATM Network a virtual circuit (VC) is opened up between a source node and a destination node. The source node originates at ATM end point that is coupled to an ATM Switch through a User-Network Interface (UNI). The virtual circuit consists of a series of connections between different ATM Switches in the Network until it terminates an ATM endpoint where the destination user equipment is connected.
For example in FIG. 1, a first piece of user equipment 115 that will act as a source system is connected to an ATM End Point 110. ATM End Point 110 may be an ATM router interface, an adapter card of a workstation or other ATM edge device. The ATM End Point 110 will act as a source for the virtual connection. The ATM End Point 110 connects to an ATM Switch in an ATM network through a UNI interface. The ATM End Point 110 builds a virtual connection to a destination by creating a path with a set of internodal links between various intermediary ATM Switches (151, 152, and 153) that make up an ATM Network 150. The virtual connection ends at a destination ATM End Point 120. The destination ATM End Point 120 is coupled to the destination user equipment 125. Once a virtual connection is established, every cell associated with the virtual connection traverses the exact same route to the destination ATM End Point 120.
When there is a large amount of traffic on an ATM network, then congestion might develop in the ATM Network such that network performance is degraded. During periods of significant network congestion, ATM cells maybe discarded to help alleviate the congestion. Thus, it would be desirable to prevent significant network congestion from occurring by regulating the entrance of new cells into the ATM network. In this manner, ATM cells will not be discarded.
Information about the state of an ATM network, such as the state of congestion and bandwidth availability is conveyed through a virtual connection using special control cells known as Resource Management cells (RM cells). Resource Management cells originate at a source end system (such as The ATM end point 110). The Resource Management cells carry requested maximum cell rate information such as the Peak Cell Rate (PCR) for the virtual circuit in an Explicit Rate (ER) field in the RM cell. The explicit rate defines an upper ceiling on the amount of bandwidth the particular virtual circuit will be allowed to use. As the RM cell travels along the network, each ATM switch adjusts the ER field in the RM cell according the ATM switch's congestion state and explicit rate determination. At the destination ATM end system (ATM end point 120), the RM cell is turned around back to the source ATM end point for rate adjustment. The source ATM end point (ATM End Point 110) adjusts its rate according to the information conveyed in the Backward RM cell. Detailed information about how source and destination systems react to ATM traffic information can be found in the "ATM Forum Traffic Management Specification", Version 4.0, March 1996. However, the methods of determining congestion within each switch, determining the available bandwidth, and explicit rate computation are not subject to standardization.
A shared memory switch is a type of ATM Switch wherein a single block of memory is shared among multiple switch points and queues. With a shared memory switch, each individual queue or port may use a large portion of the shared memory buffer if each individual queue or port is lightly loaded or only a few queues or ports are active. However, when all queues or ports are active and heavily loaded, the available memory becomes significantly low. Under such an overloaded condition, the shared memory switch should request the ATM end points (or rate control point) of the connections using the overloaded port to reduce the cell rate and thereby alleviate the ATM switch's internal congestion. This information is conveyed by the Resource Management cells to the ATM endpoints.

Method and apparatus for a rate-based congestion control in a shared memory switch


Provided is a method of fabricating an organic thin film transistor (OTFT) using surface energy control. The method changes a polarity of a gate insulating layer to a polarity of a semiconductor channel layer to be formed on the gate insulating layer by controlling surface energy of the gate insulating layer, thereby promoting growth of the semiconductor channel layer on the gate insulating layer. According to the method, the interface characteristics between the gate insulating layer and the semiconductor channel layer are improved, and thus it is possible to implement an OTFT that can minimize leakage current and has high field effect mobility and low turn-on voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating an organic thin film transistor (OTFT) using surface energy control, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating an OTFT that can minimize leakage current and has high field effect mobility and low turn-on voltage by controlling surface energy of a gate insulating layer.
2. Discussion of Related Art
An OTFT is a device having at least one thin film layer made of an organic material. The OTFT can be processed at a low temperature, can employ a substrate made of plastic, etc., which is lightweight and flexible, and is inexpensive to produce. Thus, the OTFT has drawn attention as next-generation electronic device technology. In particular, with increasing demand for thin and lightweight displays, flexible OTFT and array technology are coming into the spotlight.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views of OTFTs having a bottom-gate structure. FIG. 1A illustrates a top-contact structure, and FIG. 1B illustrates a bottom-contact structure.
Electrical characteristics of the OTFTs are greatly influenced by interface characteristics between a gate insulating layer 130 and a semiconductor channel layer 150, which play a crucial role in determining leakage current, field effect mobility, turn-on voltage, and so on.
Since the characteristics of the gate insulating layer 130 greatly effect the growth process of the semiconductor channel layer 150 deposited on the gate insulating layer 130 and thin film characteristics, the interface characteristics between the gate insulating layer 130 and the semiconductor channel layer 150 are very important.
For this reason, a method of improving characteristics of the semiconductor channel layer 150 to be deposited on a surface by performing plasma processing on the surface, or forming a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) that has a three-dimensional alignment property, has been disclosed.
However, the OTFT does not yet satisfy requirements for practical use, such as low leakage current, high field effect mobility, low turn-on voltage and high durability, and thus its use so far is limited.

Method of fabricating organic thin film transistor using surface energy control

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A wiring arrangement for interconnecting an alternating current power source to a receptacle within a motor vehicle includes a first wire harness having a current rating and a second wire harness having a similar current rating. A coupling mechanism electrically interconnects the first and second wire harnesses of similar current ratings. The coupling mechanism restricts interconnection of wire harnesses having dissimilar current ratings.

The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to connectors for use with alternating current surface mounted receptacles within motor vehicles.
Operators of cargo carrying vehicles such as Class 7 and Class 8 tractor-trailers may find themselves far away from home a large portion of the time. As such, many of these vehicles are equipped with sleeper cabs to allow the operator to rest within the vehicle during a stationary period. Accordingly, it may be desirable to equip such vehicles with wiring systems to allow use of common household electrical devices such as lap top computers, microwaves, televisions and the like.
Based on the wide variety of electrical appliances that may be used within the vehicle, it may be desirable to provide designated circuits having maximum amperage ratings that vary from one another. For example, many homes are equipped with 15 amp circuits as well as 20 amp circuits to meet the demand of the particular appliance or appliances to be electrically energized. It may also be desirable to equip a vehicle with electrical hardware configured to provide different amperage circuits. As such, a need may exist to assure that the various components used to create the different amperage circuits are not interchanged with one another. Additionally, it may be desirable to assure that a receptacle sized to transfer a certain maximum amperage is not inadvertently connected to components rated to carry a lesser current load.


A method of coating a conductive substance on a transparent electrode disposed on a substrate comprises disposing a resin containing the conductive substance over the surface of the substrate, and rubbing and pressing the resin over the surface of the substrate with a pressing shaft to coat a layer of the resin on the transparent electrode. A method of mounting a semiconductor device or the film substrate on the substrate having the transparent electrode coated with the resin layer containing the conductive substance comprises connecting a terminal portion of the semiconductor device or film substrate to the transparent electrode through the resin layer.

The present invention relates to an electrode substrate used in an electronic device such as a liquid crystal electro-optical device, a method for coating transparent electrodes on such an electrode substrate with a conductive substance, and a mounting method of an IC chip and a film substrate.
Conventionally, since an ITO pattern for external connection that was formed on a glass substrate of a liquid crystal electro-optical device had a high resistance, it was designed to be wide, for instance. When necessary, electroless nickel plating etc. was performed to reduce the electrode resistance. In a method of printing a conductive paste, the conductor width could not be reduced to less than about 100 .mu.m, which, for instance, causes limitations on the pattern shape. This method could not be applied to, for instance, a part of a product having a complex shape. Further, there was a limitation in terms of a manufacturing process, such as a requirement that printing should be performed on a substrate that was in a board-like form.
Conventionally, face-down mounting of an IC chip was performed in the following manner in the case of a liquid crystal electro-optical device, for instance. Solder bumps were formed on an IC chip. A substrate-side pattern of a liquid crystal panel is formed by subjecting an ITO pattern to nickel electroless plating. After the pads of the IC chip and the substrate-side pads of the liquid crystal panel are positioned with respect to each other, soldering is effected by heat-melting the solder bumps of the IC chip with infrared light, etc. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 13, an anisotropic conductive film 18 of a thermosetting adhesive or a thermosetting and thermoplastic adhesive containing connecting particles that have been produced by subjecting plastic particles to nickel and gold plating and then applying an insulating film thereto are temporarily attached to a substrate. After an IC chip 10 having gold bumps 11 is positioned with respect to ITO electrodes 2 of the substrate, the anisotropic conductive film of the adhesive is set by thermo-compression bonding, and the gold bumps of the IC chip and the ITO electrode of the substrate are connected to each other by breaking the insulating films by applying pressure to and heating the conducting particles interposed therebetween. As a further alternative, gold bumps of about 60 .mu.m in height are formed on an IC chip and an Ag paste is contact-transferred to only the bump portions. After the bumps are positioned with respect to ITO electrodes, connection is made by setting the Ag paste adhesive by heating.
In the case of film substrates such as a TCP and FPC, terminals of a liquid crystal panel and terminals of a film substrate were connected to each other by heating and pressure application using an anisotropic conductive film equivalent to the above-described one or produced by plating plastic particles only with nickel and gold.
In the conventional techniques, in the case of a liquid crystal electro-optical device, the resistance of transparent electrodes cannot be reduced to less than 10 .OMEGA./.quadrature. in the mass-production level. The line width should be properly adapted, because display nonuniformity occurs due to a difference in line resistance if connecting lengths from external connection electrodes to pixel portions of a display screen are not uniform. In the case of simple matrix driving with a duty of 1/240, a difference in line resistance of 500 .OMEGA. to 1 k.OMEGA. causes display nonuniformity. Therefore, it is difficult to attain high-density pattern layout. In the case of COG mounting of two or more chips, display nonuniformity or display defects may occur due to a high ITO resistance when a bus line is formed by utilizing panel electrodes. To solve this problem, auxiliary electrodes need to be formed by electroless plating, which will increase the cost. If the ITO electrodes are designed to be wide, the external size becomes large and the number of liquid crystal panels taken is reduced, resulting in a cost increase.
In the COG mounting of a liquid crystal electro-optical device, the solder bump connection causes a cost increase, because ITO is subjected to nickel electroless plating. Since the pitch cannot be reduced to less than 200 .mu.m, it is not suitable for high-density connection. In the case of the connection method using the anisotropic conductive film, a size variation of connecting particles need to be made about 5 .mu.m because bumps of an IC have a height variation of about 1 .mu.m, and the connecting particles need to be contained in an adhesive by more than 70 wt%. Thus, the cost becomes high. In conjunction with the above, since connection weighing of more than 50 g/bump is required, weight is applied to the IC in an unbalanced manner, reducing the yield. Further, since the anisotropic conductive film is temporarily attached to the substrate side in advance, it is difficult to perform pattern recognition in positioning the pads of the IC chip with respect to the ITO pattern, resulting in reduced productivity. Further, in the Ag paste method, the Ag transfer cannot be performed properly if the bump height of the IC chip is smaller than 30 .mu.m. Therefore, the bumps should be as high as 30-60 .mu.m, which causes a cost increase. Further, it is difficult to perform connection of a pitch less than 150 .mu.m, which causes limitations on the pattern layout of an IC chip. Since it is difficult to reduce the size of an IC chip, the cost is not decreased.
In a liquid crystal electro-optical device, since terminals of a glass substrate are connected to a film substrate by thermo-compression bonding, a positional deviation occurs between the terminals due to expansion of the film. Further, since the heating step requires the film to have heat resistance, stability of dimensions, etc., a polyimide film is generally used, which makes it difficult to attain a decrease in cost.

Method of coating a conductive substance on a transparent electrode formed on a substrate and method of mounting a semiconductor device or film substrate on the substrate


An electronic book device runs at least two output mode threads—one graphics, and one audio—such that the device can both graphically display book content, and play the content over a speaker in the device. Annotations can be made audibly or graphically, and user commands can likewise be made audibly or graphically.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic books.
2. Description of the Related Art
Replacing paper books with electronic devices enables more compact storage and ease of access to written information. For instance, a single small electronic device can store many books, including books that might be downloaded instantaneously at any time via the Internet. Further, electronic books can be backed up, so that physical damage to the device does not necessarily correspond to a loss of content. Additionally, many electronic books provide the capability of annotating the displayed content as desired. Even further, to accommodate sight-impaired readers, some electronic books audibly display content using synthesized speech.
Unfortunately, existing electronic book devices do not fully exploit many of the advantages they might otherwise. For instance, while some books might audibly display content, they do not provide a reciprocal means for accepting non-written input from the visually impaired user. Further, electronic devices that are configured for playing synthesized speech typically do not also provide a visual display as a convenience for sighted users, and vice-versa. Not surprisingly, since existing electronic book devices are single mode, no capability has been provided to manage and coordinate plural modes of input and output. Still further, as recognized herein visually impaired users could be accommodated by providing the capability to resize text without requiring the user to wait until a large print version of the book is published, but unfortunately this is not routinely done. In any case, existing electronic book devices are simply not as useful to certain users as they might otherwise be. The present invention has carefully considered the above problems and has provided the solutions to one or more of them as set forth herein.

International Business Machines Corporation


An optical compensatory sheet comprises a transparent substrate and an optically anisotropic layer. The optically anisotropic layer comprises discotic liquid crystal molecules. The discotic liquid crystal molecules are oriented in essentially mono domain alignment at an average inclined angle in the range of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0. A liquid crystal display of an STN mode having the optical compensatory sheet is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to an optical compensatory sheet comprising a transparent substrate and an optically anisotropic layer comprising discotic liquid crystal molecules. The invention also relates to a liquid crystal display of an STN mode equipped with the optical compensatory sheet.
A liquid crystal display of an STN mode comprises a liquid crystal cell of an STN (Super Twisted Nematic) mode, two polarizing elements placed on both sides of the liquid crystal cell, and one or two optical compensatory sheets (phase retarders) placed between the liquid crystal cell and the polarizing element.
The liquid crystal cell comprises a pair of substrates, rod-like liquid crystal molecules and an electrode layer. The. rod-like liquid crystal molecules are provided between the substrates. The electrode layer has a function of applying a voltage to the rod-like liquid crystal molecule. Each of the substrates has an orientation layer, which has a function of aligning the rod-like liquid crystal molecules. The rod-like liquid crystal molecules are twisted by using a chiral agent. A twist angle of the molecules is in the range of 90xc2x0 to 360xc2x0.
Without an optical compensatory sheet, a liquid crystal display of an STN mode gives an image colored blue or yellow because of birefringence of rod-like liquid crystal molecules. The blue or yellow color is inconvenient for not only a black and white image but also a color image. An optical compensatory sheet has a function of removing color from an image to display a bright and clear image. The optical compensatory sheet also has a function of enlarging a viewing angle of a liquid crystal cell. As the optical compensatory sheet, a stretched birefringent film has been usually used. Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 7(1995)-104284 and 7(1995)-13021 disclose an optical compensatory sheet made of a stretched birefringent film for a liquid crystal display of an STN mode.
In place of the stretched birefringent film, an optical compensatory sheet comprising an optically anisotropic layer on a transparent substrate has been proposed. The optically anisotropic layer is formed by aligning discotic liquid crystal molecules and fixing the aligned molecules. The discotic liquid crystal molecules usually have large birefringence and various alignment forms. Accordingly, an optical compensatory sheet obtained by using the discotic liquid crystal molecule has a specific optical characteristic that cannot be obtained by the conventional stretched birefringent film. The optical compensatory sheet using the discotic liquid crystal molecule is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 6(1994)-214116, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,583,679, 5,646,703 and German Patent Publication No. 3,911,620A1. However, the disclosed optical compensatory sheet is designed to be used in a liquid crystal display of a TN (Twisted Nematic) mode.
The optical compensatory sheet containing the discotic liquid crystal molecules should be redesigned to be used in a liquid crystal display of an STN mode. In a liquid crystal cell of the STN mode, rod-like liquid crystal molecules are aligned according to a super twisted birefringent mode at a twist angle of larger than 90xc2x0. The liquid crystal display of the STN mode can give a clear image with a large capacity according to a time-sharing addressing method, even if the display has a simple matrix electrode structure (having no active matrix such as a thin film transistor or a diode).
The discotic liquid crystal molecules should be essentially vertically aligned (homogeneously aligned) to optically compensate the liquid crystal cell of the STN mode. The discotic liquid crystal molecules are preferably further twisted. Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 9(1997)-26572 discloses an optical compensatory sheet in which discotic liquid crystal molecules are twisted. The drawings of Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 9(1997)-26572 further illustrate that the discotic liquid crystal molecules are essentially vertically aligned.
It is technically difficult to align discotic liquid crystal molecules uniformly (i.e., to orient the molecules in mono domain alignment) from the interface facing an orientation layer to the opposite interface facing the air, according to the disclosures of Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 9(1997)-26572. If the discotic liquid crystal molecules are not uniformly aligned (oriented in dual domain alignment), disclination of the molecules scatters light to decrease a contrast ratio of a displayed image.
Rod-like liquid crystal molecules used in a liquid crystal cell have been investigated to align the molecules essentially vertically (homeotropic alignment). For example, a liquid crystal display of a vertical alignment (VA) mode uses an orientation layer having a function of essentially vertically aligning rod-like liquid crystal molecules. In the liquid crystal display of the VA mode, rodlike liquid crystal molecules are essentially vertically aligned while voltage is not applied to the cell, and are essentially horizontally aligned while voltage is applied to the cell. Various orientation layers have been proposed to align rod-like liquid crystal molecules.
However, the orientation layer for rod-like liquid crystal molecules cannot sufficiently orient the discotic liquid crystal molecules to form uniform mono domain alignment from an interface facing the orientation layer to the opposite interface facing the air.
An object of the present invention is to provide an optical compensatory sheet particularly suitable for a liquid crystal display of an STN mode.
Another object of the invention is to provide an optical compensatory sheet in which discotic liquid crystal molecules are oriented essentially vertically (homogeneously) and uniformly in mono domain alignment.
A further object of the invention is to provide a liquid crystal display of an STN mode that can display a clear image of a high contrast, in which blue or yellow color caused by birefringence is reduced.
The present invention provides an optical compensatory sheet which comprises a transparent substrate and an optically anisotropic layer comprising discotic liquid crystal molecules, wherein the discotic liquid crystal molecules are oriented in essentially mono domain alignment at an average inclined angle of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0, said average inclined angle being an average of angles between discotic planes of said discotic liquid crystal molecules and a surface of said transparent substrate.
The invention also provides a liquid crystal display comprising a liquid crystal cell of an STN mode, two polarizing elements placed on both sides of the liquid crystal cell, and one or two optical compensatory sheets placed between the liquid crystal cell and the polarizing element; wherein the optical compensatory sheet comprises a transparent substrate and an optically anisotropic layer comprising discotic liquid crystal molecules in this order from the polarizing element side, said discotic liquid crystal molecules being oriented in essentially mono domain alignment at an average inclined angle of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0 and further being twisted at a twist angle of 90xc2x0 to 360xc2x0, and said average inclined angle being an average of angles between discotic planes of said discotic liquid crystal molecules and a surface of said transparent substrate.
In the present specification, the term xe2x80x9caverage inclined anglexe2x80x9d means an average of angles between discotic planes of discotic liquid crystal molecules and a surface of a transparent substrate (or a surface of an orientation layer). The present specification refers to alignment of liquid crystal molecules at an average inclined angle in the range of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0 as essentially vertical alignment of the molecules.
It can be easily confirmed by observation with a polarizing microscope whether discotic liquid crystal molecules are oriented in mono domain alignment or not (in dual domain alignment).
The applicants have succeeded in aligning discotic liquid crystal molecules essentially vertically (homogeneously) and uniformly in mono domain alignment.
For example, the discotic liquid crystal molecules can be thus aligned by using an appropriate amount of a specific additive (cellulose esters or alignment promoters) and by controlling the temperature for alignment. Without either using the additives or controlling the aligning temperature, the liquid crystal molecules are aligned in dual domain alignment.
An optical compensatory sheet suitable for a liquid crystal display of an STN mode is now obtained by using the discotic liquid crystal molecules in essentially vertical, uniform and stable alignment. Accordingly, blue or yellow color can be reduced in a liquid crystal display of an STN mode. Therefore, the liquid crystal display of an STN mode can give a clear image with a high contrast by using the optical compensatory sheet in which the discotic liquid crystal molecules are essentially vertically oriented in essentially mono domain alignment (and are preferably twisted).

Optical compensatory sheet comprising substrate and optically anisotropic layer


A semiconductor package and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The semiconductor package includes: patch antennas, encapsulated by a first encapsulant; a device die, vertically spaced apart from the patch antennas, and electrically coupled to the patch antennas; and at least one redistribution structure, disposed between the patch antennas and the device die, and including electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures laterally surrounding each of the patch antennas.

Antenna in package (AiP) combines antenna(s) with an integrated device die into a package structure. AiP has been recognized as one of the most promising antenna solution for high-speed short-range wireless communications because of high gain and broad bandwidth. However, further development on AiP is stilled required for overcoming challenges including undesired coupling between antennas and interference between antennas and device die.

Semiconductor package and manufacturing method thereof

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A radio frequency power amplifier amplifies an input signal at an input port, and produces an output signal at an output port. The power amplifier may include one or more amplifier stages. An amplifier stage may include an active device, and a feedback network. The feedback network may include one or more reactive elements configured to resonate at a predetermined frequency, to provide an impedance match at the input to the amplifier stage, and to provide an impedance match at the output of the amplifier stage. In some example implementations, the input and output impedance matching is caused by biasing the active device to produce a transconductance at least one of equal to or greater than a critical transconductance.

Many radio frequency applications including automotive radar systems, terrestrial wireless communications, and satellite communications require radio frequency power amplifiers. Some applications requiring power amplifiers operate at millimeter-wave frequencies. At high frequencies including millimeter-wave frequencies, designing and producing power amplifiers with high output power and high efficiency is challenging. Some other challenges include input impedance matching to a source impedance, and output impedance matching to a load impedance. These challenges are due in part to the deleterious effects of unavoidable parasitic elements of the active devices used to create amplification. For example, the parasitic base-collector capacitance and the parasitic base-emitter capacitance can degrade the input and output matching, amplifier efficiency, and output power.

The Regents of the University of California


There is provided a refrigerator. In the refrigerator, a blower fan is installed in a refrigerant body to blow a cold air, a barrier partitions an inner space of the refrigerator body into a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber, an ice machine is installed in the chilling chamber, a freezing air duct is connected with the ice machine for passing the cold air blown by the blower fan, a chilling air duct is connected with the chilling chamber for passing the cold air blown by the blower fan, and a cold air return duct is provided to pass the cold air discharged from the ice machine toward an evaporator where the cold air is cooled by exchanging heat with a refrigerant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a top mount refrigerator in which an ice machine is installed inside a chilling chamber door, and a cold air circulation passage is defined to supply cold air for the ice machine to freeze water in the ice machine quickly.
2. Description of the Related Art
A refrigerator is an electrical appliance for cooling or freezing food to preserve the food. The refrigerator carries out a refrigeration cycle using a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator to produce a cold air to store the food. The refrigerator can be classified into a top mount refrigerator in which a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber are partitioned up and down, a bottom freezer refrigerator in which a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber are partitioned down and up, and a side-by-side refrigerator in which a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber are partitioned left and right.
Among the different types of refrigerators, the top mount refrigerator will be described in detail.
The top mount refrigerator includes: a refrigerator body partitioned by a barrier to define the freezing chamber and chilling chamber; a freezing chamber door for opening and closing the freezing chamber; a chilling chamber door for opening and closing the chilling chamber; an ice maker installed in the freezing chamber for freezing water; an ice bank for collecting ice that is ejected from the ice maker; and a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator for the refrigeration cycle.
Further, the refrigerator includes cold air inflow ducts and holes at its back for supplying a cold air produced by the refrigeration cycle to the freezing and chilling chambers.
A circulation air cooled by a refrigerant at the evaporator is blown from the evaporator by a blower fan. The blown air is selectively guided to the freezing chamber and chilling chamber.
The cooled air arrived at the freezing chamber flows through the ice maker to freeze the water in the ice maker.
A refrigerator having the circulation air passage structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,604, filed on Feb. 27, 2003 by the applicant of the present invention and entitled "COOLING AIR PASSAGE APPARATUS OF REFRIGERATOR".
However, the ice maker of the top mount refrigerator is accommodated in the freezing chamber, such that there is no sufficient room in the freezing chamber for other components and the user, thereby decreasing available interior volume of the refrigerator.
Further, the ice maker in the freezing chamber of the top mount refrigerator is not convenient for short persons, for example, children to take ice out of the ice maker (ice bank). Sometimes, the short persons have to use a chair or the like to take out the ice and this may causes an accident.


Methods and kits are provided for amplifying and detecting αS proteins from samples, for example, from patients having Parkinson's Disease. For example, a method for determining a presence of a soluble, misfolded αS protein may include: contacting the sample with a monomeric, folded αS protein to form an incubation mixture; conducting an incubation cycle two or more times on the incubation mixture effective to form an amplified portion of misfolded αS protein; incubating the incubation mixture effective to cause misfolding and/or aggregation of at least a portion of the monomeric, folded αS protein in the presence of the soluble, misfolded αS protein; physically disrupting the incubation mixture effective to at least partly de-aggregate at least a portion of a misfolded αS aggregate present; and determining the presence of the soluble, misfolded αS protein in the sample by detecting at least a portion of the soluble, misfolded αS protein.

Protein misfolding disorders (PMDs) include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes, Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, systemic amyloidosis, prion diseases, and the like. Misfolded aggregates of different proteins may be formed and accumulate. The misfolded aggregates may induce cellular dysfunction and tissue damage, among other effects.
For example, Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative brain disorder with no effective treatment or accurate preclinical diagnosis. Evidence to date suggests that the misfolding, aggregation, and brain deposition of the alpha-synuclein protein (αS) may be triggering factors for PD pathology. Because the brain has low regeneration capacity, early diagnosis of PD is crucial to permit intervention before irreversible neuropathological changes occur. Several lines of evidence indicate that the process of αS misfolding and aggregation may begin years or decades before the onset of clinical symptoms and substantial brain damage. Current diagnosis of PD may include clinical examination complemented by imaging techniques used mainly to rule out other forms of dementia. Still, the lack of a widely accepted early, sensitive, and objective laboratory diagnosis remains a major problem for PD care.
The present application appreciates that diagnosis of PD may be a challenging endeavor.

Detection of misfolded alpha synuclein protein

The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System