A method of forming a layered polishing pad is disclosed. The method includes double-laminating a subpad on opposing sides with respective adhesive layers and bonding a polishing pad top layer to the subpad via the upper adhesive layer. The polishing pad optionally includes a window. Because the subpad is double-laminated, an opening can be formed through both the top and bottom adhesive layers as well as the subpad. Thus, when bonded to a top polishing pad layer having a window, the result is a layered polishing pad with a through optical path that does not include an adhesive layer.

The present invention relates to polishing pads for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), and in particular relates to methods of forming layered polishing pads, including such pads having windows.
Semiconductor wafers having integrated circuits fabricated thereon must be polished to provide a very smooth and flat wafer surface which in some cases may vary from a given plane by as little as a fraction of a micron. Such polishing is usually accomplished in a chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) operation, which utilizes a chemically active slurry that is buffed against the wafer surface by a polishing pad.
One problem associated with the CMP operation is pad performance. Certain polishing pads are made up of layers of material. Over time, due the wear and tear of the polishing process, the bonds between the different material layers can weaken. This can result in delamination of the layered pad.
Another problem associated with the CMP operation is determining when the wafer polishing process should stop. Conventional methods for determining a polishing endpoint require that the polishing operation be stopped and that the wafer be removed from the polishing apparatus so that dimensional characteristics can be determined. However, stopping the CMP operation slows down wafer production. Further, if a critical wafer dimension is found to be below a prescribed minimum, the wafer may be unusable, thereby leading to higher scrap rates and production costs.
In-process methods for determining polishing endpoint have also been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,941 discloses an optical inspection method that utilizes laser interferometry to measure a wafer dimension.
Polishing pads with windows have been developed to facilitate optical inspection methods during CMP. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,760 discloses a polishing pad that includes a transparent window. The window is a rod or plug of transparent polymer material. The rod or plug is either insert molded within the polishing pad, or is installed into a cutout in the polishing pad after the molding operation.
The prior art polishing pads with windows have a number of disadvantages. For instance, a number of manufacturing steps are required to either install a window piece into a hole in the pad, or into the mold cavity in which the pad is produced. In some cases, a hole to receive the window piece must be cut into the pad. Also, leakage of slurry between the pad and the window is often a problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,164 (the '164 patent) discloses a polishing pad having a transparent window and that is designed to mitigate leakage. The polishing pad includes an impermeable transparent sheet between the polishing pad and the subpad to prevent slurry leakage. To fabricate the pad, the transparent sheet needs to have an adhesive layer on each side, and the sheet needs to be laminated to the lower surface of the polishing pad. This leaves a double-sided adhesive layer on the lower side of the pad window.
While the pad of the '164 patent initially performs well, the transparency of the adhesive layer on the window degrades over time. This can reduce the effectiveness of the optical inspection processes.

Method of forming a layered polishing pad

Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials CMP Holdings, Inc.


The present invention provides for visual enhancement of text. A text area is selected. A plurality of non-identical images of the text area are captured. Background information is removed from these images. The contrast characteristics of text area of the plurality of images are increased. The contrasted images are combined so as to increase their effective resolution. In an alternative embodiment, the text picture is broken up into a plurality of component colors, and these colors are then sharpened and recombined.

In conventional technologies, people with sight disabilities would like to read newspapers, books, and so on. One of the problems with the presentation of text in these mediums is that there can be a fair amount of background clutter. For instance, a watermark (the Wells Fargo® coach, for instance) can interfere with someone's ability to read the check on which the watermark appears if the person has a vision impairment. To compensate for this problem, several conventional approaches have been tried.
One conventional approach involves character recognition. In this approach, software looks at a pixilated photograph and tries to recognize certain letters of the alphabet, and these are output to the end user as an enhanced text field. However, there are problems with this approach. For instance, OCR has problems dealing with text of differing formats and sizes, backgrounds can interfere with OCR, and the process generally requires very high quality, high resolution images, such as produced by a document scanner.
Another approach is to use simple magnification on the image (either analog or pixilated), where each picture element of the image is displayed larger than life size. While this can help with some visual impairments, with others it does not provide much benefit. Additionally, there are problems with simply magnifying images with no image processing. When magnifying pixilated images the large pixel elements start to become visible, making the image blocky and harder to read. The background noise and clutter is also magnified, and often can become even more of a distraction than in the unmagnified image.
A third conventional approach, often used with the magnification approaches described above, is to try to adjust the contrast in a picture. This can be very good for situations wherein the background is uniform and hard to differentiate from the letters. However, non-uniform backgrounds, either due to non-uniformity in the printed matter itself, or due to variations introduced during the imaging process, for example, by non-uniform lighting, can receive the same kinds of contrast enhancements as the type-face, thereby making the characters difficult or impossible to read.
Therefore, there is a need for a system to aid in the reading of documents in a manner that addresses at least some of the deficiencies of conventional text reading systems.

Visual enhancement for reduction of visual noise in a text field

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of reducing visible image artifacts that utilizes variable phase parameters (i.e., the standard x, y start position in halftone cells) during halftoning processes to match the phases of halftone cells, and further utilizes a brick approach to halftoning. The position in a halftone dot structure is correlated to the phase of sine waves for subsequent dots to be used in a halftoning process. Utilizing a selected x, y start position in halftone cells to match phase parameters of said halftone cells according to said position of said halftone dot and said subsequent dots. Switching from one dot to another dot on the same new starting position in the second dot will improve the probability that the thresholds and the slopes of the halftone dots are matched at the boundary between the two different dots.

Encoding methods, commonly called halftoning, are used to reduce the number of quantization levels per pixel in a digital image while maintaining the gray appearance of the image at normal reading distance. Halftoning techniques are widely employed in the printing and display of digital images. Halftoning techniques are necessary because the physical processes involved are binary in nature or the processes have been restricted to binary operation for reason of cost, speed-memory, or stability in the presence of process fluctuations. Examples of such processes are: most printing presses; ink jet printers; binary cathode ray tube displays; and laser xerography.
In the digital reproduction of documents, image information, be it color, black, or white, is commonly generated in a bitmap format where the bitmap comprises a plurality of continuous tone or gray level pixels, i.e., pixels that are defined by digital values, each value representing a gray level among a number of gray levels. Thus, in an 8 bit system, 256 levels of gray are present, where each level represents an increment of gray between white and black. Each separation includes 256 levels of information and there may be more than 16 million colors defined by a gray bitmap. Usually, bitmaps in such a gray level format are unprintable by standard printers. Standard printers print in a limited number of levels, either a spot or a no spot in the binary case, or a limited number of levels associated with the spot, for example, four in the quaternary case. Accordingly, it is a limited number of levels that are printable. Besides gray level information derived by scanning, certain processing techniques such as those described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,094 to Eschbach, may produce gray level data requiring quantization for printing.
A standard method of quantizing gray level pixel values to binary level pixel values is through dithering or screening processes. In such arrangements, over a given area having a number of gray pixels therein, each pixel value of an array of gray level pixels within the area is compared to one of a set of pre-selected thresholds as taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,194 to Holladay. The effect of such an arrangement is that, for an area where the image is gray, some of the thresholds within the screen matrix will be exceeded, i.e., the image value at that specific location is larger than the values stored in the dither matrix for that same location, while the remaining elements are allowed to remain white, dependent on the actual physical quantity described by the data. The effect of the distribution of black and white over the halftone cell is integrated by the human eye as gray. A trade-off is required between the number of gray level increments representable by a screen cell, versus the size or frequency of the cell. While it is desirable to have as many gray levels as possible representable by a screen cell, such a requirement increases the size of the cell until its repetition across an image becomes visible. However, with a smaller cell, which can be repeated at high frequency across a page, only a relatively small number of gray levels can be represented.
Algorithms that convert gray images to binary or other number of level images without repeating patterns exist, and include among them error diffusion, as taught, for example, in "An Adaptive Algorithm for Spatial Grayscale" by Floyd and Steinberg, Proceedings of the SID 17/2, 75-77 (1976). Another more elaborate error diffusion technique is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,952 to Eschbach. Error diffusion tends to suffer from a characteristic "worming" defect. One method of reducing the worming artifact in an error diffusion process that has been noted is to distribute error along a space filling curve, such as Hilbert, Peano or Murray Curves. See, for example, "Using Peano Curves for Bilevel Display of Continuous-tone Images", by Witten et al., IEEE Comp. Graph. and App. Vol. 2, No. 5, pp. 47-52 (1982); "Naive Halftoning" by A/J/ Cole, Proceedings of CGI '90, Springer Verlag pp. 203-222 (1990); and "Three Plus Five Makes Eight: A simplified Approach to Halftoning" by Wyvill et al., Proceedings of CGI '91 Scientific Visualization of Physical Phenomena, pp. 379-392 (1991). Unfortunately, space filing curves present complex processing order, see, for example, "Digital halftoning with Space Filling Curves" by L. Valhi et al., Computer Graphics, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 81-90 (1991), while, in view of the operation of printers and most image processors, it would be highly desirable to work in scan line order. Error diffusion is often unusable by certain reproduction processes, such as electrophotography, because it tends to produce isolated spots that are not reproducible. In such, cases, screening is used with threshold sets arranged to cluster spots together into larger printable dots. Error diffusion is also an inherently sequential process that does not lend itself to parallel processing, while screening.
Even with the implementation of halftoning techniques to digital image processing, the appearance of visible image artifacts still exists in a rendered image. During object oriented halftoning an artifact is created which is very visible to the eye when the halftone dot structure is switched in the middle of the line. In rendering images, the need arises to halftone different objects with different halftone dots, depending upon the classification of the object, such as text, pictures, etc. When doing this it is required that multiple halftone dots are to be used. As currently done this generates an objectionable artifact at the boundary between the two halftone dots. Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide a method of minimizing visible image artifacts on rendered images.
All of the references cited herein are incorporated by reference for their teachings.

Using the phase information in the halftone dot structure to minimize artifacts when switching between halftone dots on a scan line


To synchronize symbol timing in a communication system, time-domain signals are generated by performing an IFFT on frequency-domain signals. Positions of power peaks are detected by analyzing a channel impulse response (CIR) of the time-domain signals. Channel state informations are provided by analyzing a channel state, such that each channel state information corresponds to each position of the power peaks. A proper symbol start position is determined based on the channel state informations.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to wireless communication, and more particularly to a method and a device of synchronizing symbol timing, and OFDM communication system including the symbol timing synchronization device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In a communication system based on an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), channel delay profile estimation for a Single Frequency Network (SFN) is required. Guard Interval (GI) is inserted in a transmission signal to remove Inter-Symbol interference (ISI) due to channel delay in almost all OFDM systems, even though use of GI degrades transmission efficiency. For example, symbol timing synchronization in Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial/Handheld (DVB-T/H) systems may be classified into time-domain processing types using GI and Cyclic Prefix (CP) and frequency domain processing types using pilot symbols. Determination of exact symbol timing, that is, a symbol start position, is one of important factors for enhancing system performance.

Method and device of synchronizing symbol timing, and OFDM communication system


Novel xe2x80x9ctwo-in-onexe2x80x9d detergent compositions comprised of at least one water soluble silicone agent, at least one cationic conditioning agent, and a detergent. These compositions are suitable for use in shampoos, baths, and shower gels. Also described is a novel delivery system for depositing benefit agents into and onto the skin, nails, and/or hair comprised of at least one water soluble silicone and at least one cationic conditioning agent.

1. Field of Invention
This present invention relates to detergent compositions that not only effectively cleanse the hair but also impart superior wet stage and dry stage conditioning properties to the hair in a single application. The present invention is further directed to a novel delivery system for delivering benefit agents onto and/or into the surface of the skin, nails, and/or hair, and methods of using such systems.
2. Background of the Invention and Prior Art
Consumers often desire to have a hair shampoo that not only effectively cleanses the hair, but that also imparts other desirable properties, such as conditioning and lathering, to the hair. Because nonionic, amphoteric and zwitterionic surfactants are relatively inferior cleansing surfactants in comparison to anionic surfactants, hair shampoos generally are formulated with the latter, which thoroughly cleanses as opposed to conditions the hair. Hence, hair that has been shampooed with an anionic surfactant-based composition usually appears unconditioned and is considered to be cosmetically unappealing. Furthermore, anionic surfactants adversely leave the hair with an undesirable harsh and xe2x80x9cdry to the touchxe2x80x9d feel, which is difficult to comb in either the wet or dry state. Even after complete drying, such thoroughly cleansed hair remains unsatisfactory in hair softness and xe2x80x9cflyawayxe2x80x9d properties. Thus, it is usually necessary to perform a post-shampoo conditioning step to such hair in order to ameliorate these undesirable physical characterstics.
With the advent of so-called xe2x80x9ctwo-in-onexe2x80x9d conditioning shampoos, it became possible to condition and cleanse hair simultaneously. However, it is well known that the formulation of such xe2x80x9ctwo-in-onexe2x80x9d conditioning shampoos is difficult due to the inherent incompatiblity between the cleansing anionic surfactants and the cationic conditioning agents. Unfortunately, those known xe2x80x9ctwo-in-onexe2x80x9d conditioning shampoos that have overcome the incompatibility problem disadvantageously possess inferior cleansing and conditioning properties.
One known method for reducing the incompatibility between the anionic surfactants and the cationic conditioning agents is through the use of alternative, non-anionic surfactants and improved cationic conditioning agents. However, such alternative, non-anionic surfactants possess relatively inferior cleansing properties.
Other efforts have concentrated on varying the types of conditioners. Cationic conditioning agents disadvantageously do not generally provide optimal overall conditioning benefits, particularly in the areas of xe2x80x9csoftnessxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cwet/dry combingxe2x80x9d, when delivered as an ingredient in a shampoo composition. Water-insoluble conditioning agents, such as the non-volatile silicones that are well recognized in the art as providing a degree of softness to the hair, often results in unstable xe2x80x9ctwo-in-onexe2x80x9d formulations. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,704,272; 4,741,855; and U.S. Pat. No. RE 34,584. Substantive cationic polymers, which are capable of depositing on the hair shaft during shampooing to impart the desired degree of manageability, disadvantageously result in formulations that give the hair a greasy feeling or xe2x80x9cbuild-upxe2x80x9d on hair. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,221,530; 5,417,965; 4,292,212; and 4,472,297.
Another important property of cleansing compositions that is desired by consumers is lathering. Consumers often associate high lathering with effective cleansing, and typically prefer high lathering shampoos to low lathering shampoos from an aesthetic standpoint. Unfortunately, many therapeutic shampoos, in particular those possessing therapeutic agents such as anti-dandruff agents, contain active agents that tend to adversely affect lathering performance. It is well known that the deposition of therapeutic agents on the hair or skin may be improved via significantly increasing the levels of therapeutic agents in the shampoo compositions. However, not only does the use of such high levels therapeutic agents disadvantageously increase raw materials costs, but also it also reduces the latherability of the shampoo and deleteriously affects product stability. The presence of detergents in the anti-dandruff shampoos also interferes with the ability of therapeutic agents to deposit onto the hair because the detergents are designed to carry or remove oil, grease, dirt, and particulate matter from the hair and scalp during rinsing.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to find a xe2x80x9ctwo-in-onexe2x80x9d cleansing composition capable of effectively cleansing and detangling the hair while imparting superior wet and dry combing and softness thereto, without creating xe2x80x9cbuild-upxe2x80x9d. It would also be desirable to have a high-lathering xe2x80x9ctwo-in-onexe2x80x9d cleansing composition that not only effectively cleansed the hair but also deposited a significant amount of therapeutic agents onto the hair and skin.
In accordance with this invention, there is provided a cleansing composition comprising, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of:
a) at least one water soluble silicone agent;
b) at least one cationic conditioning agent; and
c) at least one detergent.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a delivery system for delivering benefit agents into and/or onto the hair, nails, and scalp comprised of, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of:
a) at least one water soluble silicone agent; and
b) at least one cationic conditioning agent.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method for enhancing the deposition of benefit agents which comprises, consists essentially of, and/or consists of topically administering to a human or animal a composition comprised of, consists essentially of, and/or consists of:
a) a delivery system comprised of
i) at least two cationic conditioning compounds selected from the group consists of guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, acrylaminopropyltrimonium chloride/acrylamide copolymer, and mixtures thereof;
ii) at least one water soluble silicone compound comprised of silicone quaternium-13; and
b) an effective amount of a benefit agent to a desired location on the skin, hair, and/or nails.
Yet another embodiment is directed to a method for depositing a thin coating of conditioner on a hair fiber, comprised of, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of:
a) topically applying an effective amount of a delivery system composition comprised of
i) at least two cationic conditioning compounds selected from the group consisting of guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, acrylaminopropyltrimonium chloride/acrylamide copolymer, and mixtures thereof;
ii) at least one water soluble silicone compound comprised of cetyl triethylmonium dimethicone copolyol phthalate; and
iii) a hydrophilic benefit agent to a desired location on the hair of a human or animal.
Yet another embodiment is directed to a method for treating hair loss comprising, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of topically administering to a human or animal at a desired area for treating hair loss a composition comprised of, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of based upon the total weight of the composition:
A. a delivery system comprised of
i) at least one water soluble silicone agent;
ii) at least one cationic conditioning agent; and
B. an effective amount of a hair loss treatment agent.
Another embodiment is directed to a method for inhibiting hair growth comprising, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of topically administering to a human or animal at a desired area for inhibiting hair growth a composition comprised of, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of, based upon the total weight of the composition:
A. a delivery system comprised of
i) at least one water soluble silicone agent;
ii) at least one cationic conditioning agent; and
B. an effective amount of a hair growth inhibiting agent.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method for treating or minimizing the effects of aging comprising, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of topically administering to a human or animal at a desired area a composition comprised of, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of based upon the total weight of the composition:
A. a delivery system comprised of
i) at least one water soluble silicone agent;
ii) at least one cationic conditioning agent; and
B. an effective amount of an anti-aging active agent.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method for treating acne comprising, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of topically administering to a human or animal at a desired area a composition comprised of, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of, based upon the total weight of the composition:
A. a delivery system comprised of
i) at least one water soluble silicone agent;
ii) at least one cationic conditioning agent; and
B. an effective amount of an anti-acne active agent.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method for depigmenting skin comprising, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of topically administering to a human or animal at a desired area a composition comprised of, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of based upon the total weight of the composition:
A. a delivery system comprised of
i) at least one water soluble silicone agent;
ii) at least one cationic conditioning agent; and
B. an effective amount of a depigmentation active agent.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention is a method for treating the diseases of dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis, and psoriasis and/or the symptoms associated therewith comprising, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of topically administering to a human or animal at a desired area a composition comprised of, consisting essentially of, and/or consisting of based upon the total weight of the composition:
A. a delivery system comprised of
i) at least one water soluble silicone agent;
ii) at least one cationic conditioning agent; and
B. an effective amount of a benefit agent selected from the group consisting of an anti-dandruff agent, an anti-seborrheic dermatitis agent, an anti-psoriasis agent, and mixtures thereof.
The composition of this invention, when used in a shampoo or body cleanser, possesses one or more of the following properties: lathering, cleansing, wet detangling, wet combining, dry combing, conditioning, softness, manageability, rinseabiity, and ability to significantly deposit therapeutic agents. Moreover, the delivery system of the present invention is capable of effectively depositing benefit agents into and/or onto the skin, hair and nails.

Detergent compositions with enhanced depositing, conditioning and softness capabilities

Johnson and Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc.


A networking activity interactive system includes: a creating module for creating networking activity contents; an interactive module for receiving requests for participating the networking activity and participant data submitted by a user, to ensure only participant data in conformity with the networking activity contents is added to the participant user group of the networking activity, and the user is added to the participant user group; a database for storing the networking activity contents, the participant user group of the networking activity, and the participant reply content volume; a presenting module for presenting the networking activity content and the participant reply content volume of the networking activity. Furthermore, a method, a client terminal and a server for networking activity interactive are also provided. The present interactive system and method hereof, ensure that the participant data submitted by the user is in conformity with the created networking activity contents.

As the popularization of computers, information exchange becomes more and more convenient among people. People perform information interaction through the Social Networking Service (SNS). In an SNS community, people can create all kinds of groups through which users with same interests are convened. Furthermore, people can also post some networking activity information to assemble some other people to join the activity together. However, in a traditional SNS community, there is no criterion for the format of the activity contents created by a user. It only supports that people assemble some other people to join the activity. There are many kinds of activity contents with different formats. The contents replied by a user when he/she participates the networking activity are not very orderly and difficult to read and understand.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Networking activity interactive system and method, client terminal and server thereof

TECENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


The invention is a storage container for mounting on the bed of a pickup truck. The invention requires that the pickup truck be modified by imparting equally placed left and right cutouts in the sidewalls of the bed of a pickup truck, the cutouts extending from the bed rails to about midway down the sidewalls of the bed. The inventive storage container is mounted in the cutouts and is of a width wherein the sides of the container coexist in approximate flush planar relation with the bed sidewalls and cab of the pickup truck to which the invention is attached. The mounting position of the container is such that it remains suspended in the bed cutouts a substantial distance above the deck of the pickup bed, thereby allowing elongate items such as 4×8 sheets of plywood to be accommodated beneath the container.

Storage containers for mounting in the bed of a pickup truck have been in existence for many years. These containers are most popular with workmen who desire ready and secure access to tools and materials. These containers are varied in design but are almost always mounted in the front of a pickup truck bed directly behind the cab. One typical version of these containers has dual access doors, which comprise the top surface of the container. The doors are left-right opposed and rotate from a level position, when closed, to an acute angled orientation relative to the top of the container, when open. U.S. Design No. 294,816, issued to Hoyt, is illustrative of this type of pickup bed mounted storage container. While utilitarian in many ways, this type of storage container forces the to extend his arm and shoulder considerably in order to reach over the pickup bed rails and access the storage container contents. This over-reaching motion can cause injury to the arm and shoulder joints as well as the lower back of the user. Additionally, the user cannot easily see into the depths of this type of container in order to access a desired tool or other object. In many cases the user jumps into and out of the pick-up bed to access tools located in the toolbox, which can lead to worker injuries, such as twisted ankles or even broken legs.
Another option has been to employ a pickup truck bed cap which is essentially a large container situated between the bed rails and fastened to the bed deck or even to the truck frame. Exemplary bed cap containers can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,346 issued to Berlin and U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,651 issued to Hecock, Jr. These containers suffer from the drawback that their access doors, being positioned in the rear of the container, can only be reached by the user first climbing into the pickup bed, which, as noted above, is a wholly impractical and potentially injurious method of access for the average workman.
The storage containers cited thus far also suffer from the drawback that their placement in the bed significantly reduces the amount of bed length and volume which can be used to transport lengthy materials such as 4×8 plywood sheets and 8-foot 2×4's. The only options available with these prior art containers is to transport lengthy materials with the tailgate down, or else position the materials at downward angle in the bed with the protruding ends of these materials located upon the top of the closed tailgate. The tailgate "down" option presents the possibility of the materials being ejected during acceleration, which can present road safety issues as well as the loss of expensive materials. The tailgate "up" option makes it difficult to unload heavy materials positioned at an angle in the bed, and also makes it difficult to transport other tools or objects, which invariably will roll forward upon the angled surface.
The storage container disclosed in U.S. Utility Pat. No. 5,316,358 issued to Payne, et al., offers a better solution, in that it presents a storage container mounted between the bed and cab and having gull wing access doors. The lower part of the access doors present a surface that orients flush with the pickup bed and cab sides, when the door is in its closed position. This gull wing design allows considerable ergonomic access and an easy view into the contents of the container by the user. However this container requires that the pickup bed be mounted behind it, which to maintain a standard pickup length would mean that the bed would have to be made considerably shorter than standard beds, thus again limiting the size of cargo that could be carried on the deck of the pickup bed.
Therefore a need exists for a pickup mounted storage container which has a large storage capacity and which can be ergonomically accessed by the user. Also, a need exists for a pickup bed mounted storage container which is arranged to allow for the entire length of a pickup bed to remain available for transporting large materials, such as plywood sheets and long 2×4 planks.
The foregoing reflects the state of the art of which the inventor is aware, and is tendered with a view toward discharging the inventor's acknowledged duty of candor, which may be pertinent to the patentability of the present invention. It is respectfully stipulated, however, that the foregoing discussion does not teach or render obvious, singly or when considered in combination, the inventor's claimed invention.

Storage container for a pickup truck bed


An optical head for recording or reproducing a signal with respect to an optical recording medium, which includes an optical element disposed between a light source and an optical recording medium. The optical element has an optically active polymer film in which an optical rotation property changes with respect to an applied voltage, a pair of conductive transparent thin films for applying a voltage to the optically active polymer film, and a transmittance polarization anisotropic part having a different transmittance with respect to a polarization direction, which is disposed on one of the conductive transparent thin films. By changing the applied voltage to the optically active polymer film, a light quantity of a linearly polarized light transmitted through the optical element can be changed substantially instantaneously. Therefore, the power of light reaching the optical recording medium can be switched substantially instantaneously at the time when switched between recording and reproduction.

In recent years, due to the fact that a digital versatile disc (DVD) can record digital information with a recording density about 6 times higher than a compact disc (CD), the DVD is drawing attention as an optical recording medium having a large capacity. However, along with the development of information to have a larger capacity, a high-density optical recording medium has been desired. Here, in order to achieve higher density than the DVD (wavelength 660 nm, numerical aperture (NA) 0.6), it is necessary to shorten the wavelength of a light source and to enlarge the NA of an objective lens. For example, when using a blue laser of 405 nm and an objective lens of NA 0.85, a recording density 5 times higher than that of the DVD can be achieved.
However, a high-density optical disc device using the above-mentioned blue laser has an extremely strict reproduction margin, so that quantum noise of the light source becomes a problem. Therefore, JP2000-195086A proposes an optical head that can suppress the quantum noise of a semiconductor laser to a low level and perform excellent reproduction with low noise while suppressing the power on the surface of an optical disc to a low level, thus preventing the optical disc from deteriorating or the data from being deleted and so forth.
Here, one example of the above-mentioned conventional optical head will be described with reference to the drawing.
FIG. 20 is a schematic view showing the configuration of a conventional optical head disclosed in JP2000-195086A.
In this drawing, 161 is a light source, 162 is an intensity filter, 163 is a beam splitter, 164 is a collimator lens, 165 is a mirror, 166 is an objective lens, 167 is an optical disc, 168 is a multilens, and 169 is a photodiode.
The light source 161 is a GaN-type blue luminous semiconductor laser, which is a light source emitting a coherent light for recording and reproduction to a recording layer of the optical disc 167. The intensity filter 162 is an element on which an absorption film is formed and is arranged to be inserted into and taken out from an optical path. The beam splitter 163 is an optical element for splitting light; the collimator lens 164 is a lens that converts a divergent light emitted from the light source 161 into a parallel light; the mirror 165 is an optical element for reflecting an incident light and directing it in the direction of the optical disc 167; the objective lens 166 is a lens that focuses light on the recording layer of the optical disc 167; the multilens 168 is a lens that focuses light on the photodiode 169; and the photodiode 169 receives light reflected by the recording layer of the optical disc and converts the light into an electric signal.
The operation of the optical head having the aforementioned structure will be explained. Here, the intensity filter 162 is inserted into the optical path at the time of reproduction and taken out from the optical path at the time of recording. With respect to the light emitted from the light source 161, the light quantity is attenuated by passing through the intensity filter 162 at the time of reproduction, while the light quantity is not attenuated at the time of recording since the intensity filter 162 is taken out from the optical path. Next, the light transmitted through the intensity filter 162 (the light emitted from the light source at the time of recording) is reflected by the beam splitter 163 and converted into a parallel light by the collimator lens 164. The light converted into the parallel light is reflected by the mirror 165 and focused on the optical disc 167 by the objective lens 166. Next, the light reflected from the optical disc 167 is transmitted through the objective lens 166, reflected by the mirror 165, transmitted through the collimator lens 164, transmitted through the beam splitter 163 and focused on the photodiode 169 by the multilens 168. Using the astigmatism method, the photodiode 169 outputs a focus error signal showing the focused state of the light on the optical disc 167 or a tracking error signal showing the irradiated position of the light.
Based on the focus error signal, focus control means not shown in the drawing controls the position of the objective lens 166 in its optical axial direction so that the light is collected constantly on the optical disc 167 in the focused state.
Furthermore, based on the tracking error signal, tracking control means not shown in the drawing controls the radial position of the objective lens 166 so that the light is focused on a desired track on the optical disc 167.
In addition, the photodetector 169 reproduces information recorded in the optical disc 167.
According to this configuration, it is possible to perform reproduction by suppressing the power on the surface to a low level that is incapable of causing deterioration of the optical disc or deletion of the data, while setting the power of the light source to a power with sufficiently low quantum noise, and to perform recording by using the power of the light source as it is.
However, in the optical head having the aforementioned structure, the intensity filter 162 needs to be inserted and taken out at the time of switching between recording and reproduction, and in the case where recording needs to be performed instantaneously after an address reproduction, the speed of inserting and taking out the intensity filter 162 becomes a problem. For example, the next generation high-density optical disc with a higher density than the DVD requires a switching time of about 100 n seconds, but such a speed is extremely difficult to be achieved by inserting and taking out in a mechanical manner.
Furthermore, in order to insert and take out the intensity filter 162, a system (mechanism) for implementing this operation is necessary, and thus, the optical head tends to become larger in size, so that this configuration is not suitable for miniaturization of the optical head.

Optical head including an active polymer film for switching voltage during recording and reproducing processes

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A flexible mounting system for supporting a sign from a rigid structure for minimizing damage that might result from an impact force on the sign is disclosed. The flexible mounting system includes a flexible sign mount having a support bracket secured to a sign and a stationary bracket releasably securable to a rigid structure such a bollard. A flex element can be interposed between the support bracket and the stationary bracket to permit the sign to translate and rotate relative to the rigid support when the sign is subjected to an impact load.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Point-of-purchase advertising is an important aspect of many business properties. These properties utilize a variety of devices to mount and display advertising media, such as signboards, on various structures located about the property. Some of these devices may permanently secure the advertising media to a building structure or a fixture located on the property, while other devices may releasably secure the advertising media to the building structure or fixture.
Bollards, and other support objects such as trash and/or cigarette receptacles, and other generally stationary objects located on the property provide many potential locations for mounting and displaying advertising media in high-traffic areas. While mounting the advertising media in the high-traffic area is desirable to maximize exposure to passersby, mounting in these areas can frequently subject the advertising media to impacts with people, vehicles, or other objects navigating the high-traffic area. For example, bollards are commonly used around filling station islands to protect gas pumps from vehicle impacts when the vehicle is driven near or when customers open the vehicle's doors near the gas pumps. Any advertising media mounted to the bollards are subject to the impacts described above.
Presently, advertising media is rigidly secured to bollards, and the like. These rigidly secured advertising media are susceptible to damage when inadvertently side swiped or otherwise impacted by vehicles, people, or other objects. As a result, the rigidly mounted advertising media frequently sustain damage from the impact and must be repaired or replaced. Therefore, a flexibly mounted advertising medium that can absorb low to moderate impact forces and reduce the likelihood of damage resulting from impact force is desirable.
Further, bollards and the like may be disposed individually or in groups around the structures or fixtures located on the property. The spacing and grouping of bollards and the like can be non-uniform, further rendering predetermined and/or fixed mounting arrangements inadequate. The size characteristics of the bollards and the like may also be non-uniform, further rendering predetermined or fixed mounting arrangements inadequate. Therefore, an adjustably mounted advertising medium that can accommodate a wide variety of potential mounting configurations is desirable.


The present disclosure discloses an optical lens module and a virtual reality device. The optical lens module includes: a lens assembly, and transflective layers attached to surfaces on a light incident side and a light emitting side of the lens assembly. The lens assembly includes a central region and at least one annular region surrounding the central region. The central region has a refractive index smaller than the at least one annular region. When more than one annular region is provided, the annular regions are sequentially arranged layer by layer, the annular region located on the outermost side has the maximum refractive index, and for any other annular region, the refractive index is smaller than that of the annular region located outside thereof.

With the development of science and technology and the improvement of living standard of people, higher requirements are put forward on the display effect of various display devices. In order to meet the needs of people as well as requirements of the market, the Virtual Reality (VR) technology has experienced rapid application and development in the display field in recent years, and has become a hot spot of current application research.
Among others, the optical lens module is a core component of a VR device, and the optical performance of the optical lens module direct influences experience of the VR device. Current optical lens modules for VRs typically have a relatively long focal length, resulting in a relatively long distance (also called back focal length) between the display screen and the optical lens, and then, the entire VR device has a relatively large volume and heavy weight, thereby influencing the user experience.

Optical lens module and virtual reality device

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

BEIJING BOE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD.


The x-ray target assemblies have an oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) refractory metal alloy substrate that is bonded to a carbon-containing heat sink. The x-ray target assemblies have excellent bonding between the substrate and the heat sink. The improved bonding is achieved by placing an oxide-free barrier layer between the ODS metal substrate and the heat sink. The oxide-free barrier layer minimizes or eliminates chemical reactions that would otherwise be possible between the dispersed oxides and the carbon-based heat sink during the manufacturing process. Preventing these undesired reactions while manufacturing the x-ray target assembly yields a device with improved bonding between the heat sink and the substrate, compared to devices manufactured without the barrier layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to x-ray systems, devices, and related components. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to brazed x-ray target assemblies that include an oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloy substrate and a carbon-based heat sink and methods for manufacturing such x-ray target assemblies and related devices.
2. Related Technology
The X-ray tube has become essential in medical diagnostic imaging, medical therapy, and various medical testing and material analysis industries. An x-ray tube typically includes a cathode assembly and an anode assembly disposed within an evacuated enclosure. The cathode assembly includes an electron source and the anode assembly includes a target surface that is oriented to receive electrons emitted by the electron source. During operation of the x-ray tube, an electric current is applied to the electron source, which causes electrons to be produced by thermionic emission. The electrons are then accelerated toward the target surface of the anode assembly by applying a high-voltage potential between the cathode assembly and the anode assembly. When the electrons strike the anode assembly target surface, the kinetic energy of the electrons causes the production of x-rays. Some of the x-rays so produced ultimately exit the x-ray tube through a window in the x-ray tube, and interact with a material sample, patient, or other object.
Stationary anode x-ray tubes employ a stationary anode assembly that maintains the anode target surface stationary with respect to the stream of electrons produced by the cathode assembly electron source. In contrast, rotary anode x-ray tubes employ a rotary anode assembly that rotates portions of the anode's target surface into and out of the stream of electrons produced by the cathode assembly electron source. The target surfaces of both stationary and rotary anode x-ray tubes are generally angled, or otherwise oriented, so as to maximize the amount of x-rays produced at the target surface that can exit the x-ray tube via a window in the x-ray tube.
In an X-ray tube device with a rotatable anode, the target has previously consisted of a disk made of a refractory metal such as tungsten, and the X-rays are generated by making the electron beam collide with this target, while the target is being rotated at high speed. Rotation of the target is achieved by driving the rotor provided on a support shaft extending from the target. Such an arrangement is typical of rotating X-ray tubes and has remained relatively unchanged in concept of operation since its induction.
The operating conditions for X-ray tubes have changed considerably in the recent decades. Due to continuous demands from radiologists for higher power from X-ray tubes, more and more tubes are using composite rotating anodes with tungsten-rhenium as a focal spot layer, molybdenum alloy as a substrate, and brazed graphite as a heat sink.
Increasing the power levels of the x-ray tube is typically accompanied by an increase in the operating temperatures of the anode, which, if high enough, may result in deformation of the molybdenum alloy substrate. Deformation in the substrate can cause large stresses in the metallurgical bond between the alloy substrate and the graphite heat sink. Should the stress exceed a threshold value, a complete debond of the graphite heat sink can result. The magnitude of this stress imposes a limit on the maximum size, rotational speed and highest allowable temperature of the alloy substrate.
To overcome the problem with deformation of molybdenum alloy substrates at elevated temperatures, other Mo-bearing alloys have been considered by x-ray target manufacturers. Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) Mo alloys currently show promising performance for reducing deformation of the substrate at high temperatures.

X-ray target assembly and methods for manufacturing same


A method of preparing a clean substrate surface for blanket or selective epitaxial deposition of silicon-containing and/or germanium-containing films. In addition, a method of growing the silicon-containing and/or germanium-containing films, where both the substrate cleaning method and the film growth method are carried out at a temperature below 750° C., and typically at a temperature from about 700° C. to about 500° C. The cleaning method and the film growth method employ the use of radiation having a wavelength ranging from about 310 nm to about 120 nm in the processing volume in which the silicon-containing film is grown. Use of this radiation in combination with particular partial pressure ranges for the reactive cleaning or film-forming component species enable the substrate cleaning and epitaxial film growth at temperatures below those previously known in the industry.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to an apparatus and method useful for selective and blanket (non-selective) epitaxial growth of silicon-containing films, where UV radiation is used to enable epitaxial film growth at temperatures of less than about 700° C., while still providing an economically feasible film growth rate.
2. Brief Description of the Background Art
Epitaxial growth of silicon-containing films has become increasingly important due to new applications for advanced logic and DRAM devices. A key requirement for these applications is a lower temperature process, so that device features will not be harmed during fabrication of the device. The lower temperature process is also important for future markets where the feature sizes are in the range of 45 nm to 65 nm, and avoidance of the diffusion of adjacent materials becomes critical. Lower process temperatures are required for both substrate cleaning prior to growth of the silicon-containing epitaxial film and during selective or blanket growth of the epitaxial film. By selective growth, it is generally meant that the silicon-containing film grows on a substrate which includes more than one material on the substrate surface; and, the silicon-containing film selectively grows on a surface a first material of said substrate, with minimal to no growth on a surface of a second material of said substrate.
Selective and blanket, non-selectively, grown silicon-containing epitaxial films, and strained embodiments of such films, including films such as Si, SixGe1-x, and SixGe1-x (C) which are grown at temperatures of less than about 700° C. are required for many current applications. Further, it would be desirable to have the removal of native oxide and hydrocarbons prior to formation of the epitaxial film accomplished at temperatures in the range of about 650° C. or less, although higher temperatures can be tolerated when the cleaning time period is short enough. Not only is the lower temperature processing important to providing a properly functioning device, but it helps prevent the relaxation of metastable strain layers, helps prevent or minimize dopant diffusion, and helps prevent segregation of dopant or Ge/C within the epitaxial film structure. Suppression of facet formation and short channel effects, which is enabled by low temperature processing (low thermal budget processing) is crucial for obtaining high performance devices. FIG. 10 shows a graph 1000 (Arrhenius plot) of the conditions required to produce an oxide-free silicon surface of the kind which is required for good epitaxial growth of silicon-containing films deposited on the surface. The inverse temperature of the substrate is shown on axis 102 in ° K−1. The corresponding temperature in ° C. is shown on axis 104 in ° C. The partial pressure of H2O present in the process chamber is shown on axis 1006 in Torr. It becomes readily apparent that to obtain an oxide-free silicon surface at 10−6 Torr, for example, it is necessary to raise the substrate temperature to about 800° C. or higher. To be able to obtain an oxide-free silicon surface at about 650° C., would require an H2O partial pressure of less than 10−8 Torr, which is not practical in terms of equipment costs.
Current techniques for selective and blanket epitaxial growth of doped and undoped Si, SiGe, and SiGe (C) films are typically carried out using reduced pressure CVD (also referred to as RPCVD or LPCVD). The typical reduced pressure process is carried out at temperatures above 700° C., typically above 750° C.) to get an acceptable film growth rate when the precursor compounds for film deposition are SiH4, SiH2Cl2 (DCS), Si2H6, GeH4. For selective deposition processes, these precursor compounds are combined with additional reagents such as Cl2, HCl, and optionally HBr, by way of example. A carbon-containing silane precursor compound such as CH3SiH3 may be used as a dopant. In the alternative, inorganic compounds such as B2H6, AsH3, and PH3, by way of example, may also be used as dopants.
A plot of blanket SixGe1-x epi film growth (non-selective growth) from dichlorosilane (DCS) and germane (GeH4) is illustrated in FIG. 1. The growth rate of the SixGe1-x epi film in angstroms/minute is shown as a function of the deposition temperature and as a function of the ratio of the DCS:GeH4 in the precursor gas feed to the deposition process. This plot is for deposition of films containing from about 20% to about 28% germanium. To reduce the variation in germanium content in the deposited SixGe1-x epi film at different deposition temperatures, it was necessary to adjust the ratio of Si:Ge ratio in the precursor gases used for deposition of the film. FIG. 1 shows a graph 100 of the growth rate in Å/min of the SixGe1-x epi film on axis 104 as a function of the DCS:GeH4 precursor gas flow ratio on axis 108, and as a function of temperature in ° C. on axis 102. The data shown in FIG. 1 was generated using a process chamber of the kind described subsequently herein, using a flow rate for the DCS of approximately 100 sccm, and the flow rate for the GeH4 which was varied in the manner indicated. The film formation process illustrated in FIG. 1 was carried out at a process chamber pressure of about 10 Torr. FIG. 1 illustrates the problem of reduced SixGe1-x epi film growth rate at temperatures below about 700° C., where the growth rate decreases rapidly from about 400 Å/min at 750° C. to about 15 Å/min at 600° C. This severe decrease in film growth rate at temperatures below about 700° C. is attributed to the fact that the film growth is thermally activated and surface reaction limited.
A similar rapid decrease in film growth rate is observed for the selective deposition of silicon-germanium films. The rapid decrease in film growth rate as temperature decreases is possibly due to a high activation energy required to obtain desorption of SiCl2 from the growing film surface, a low recombinative HCl desorption rate, and low surface mobility.
It is generally known in the art that a silicon-containing substrate may be cleaned to remove organic materials and to remove native oxide from the substrate surface. In some instances such cleaning has incorporated the use of UV cleaning in a reduced pressure CVD system. Such a cleaning may be carried out at a temperature in the range of about 800° C., making use of irradiation of the substrate by deep UV radiation under hydrogen at a pressure ranging from 0.002 to 10 Torr. An apparatus of the kind used to carry out the substrate cleaning process may be a horizontal cold-wall air-cooled quartz chamber where the backside of the wafer being cleaned is heated directly by air-cooled tungsten lamps. Risetime to 900° C. and cooldown time to 200° C. are typically about 5 seconds and about 20 seconds, respectively. The base pressure in the process chamber is typically in the range of about 2 mTorr. After reaching that pressure, hydrogen flow is established. The hydrogen flow is generally for purposes of avoiding contamination of the substrate surface during the cleaning process. The cleaning of the sample is carried out at 800° C., with the sample surface under hydrogen, where the sample surface is submitted for less than one minute to short UV radiation, where the radiation is centered mostly at about 253 nm. Subsequently, an epitaxially-grown silicon (for example) film is deposited from reactive gases such as electronic grade SiH4 and HCl diluted in hydrogen (around 1/1000). Typically the substrate temperature during deposition of the epitaxially-grown silicon film is about 800° C. and higher. When the processing temperatures for film deposition were above 800° C., initial interface defects are generally avoided.
In some instances, the substrate cleaning is carried out at higher temperatures at atmospheric pressure. There are examples in which, prior to the epitaxial silicon film growth, the wafer substrate is raised to a temperature in the range of 900° C. to 1190° C., where the wafer is subjected to a 60 second hydrogen bake, followed by an etch with HCl doped hydrogen gas for a period of 30 seconds to eliminate semiconductor oxides from the wafer surface. After wafer etching, the chamber is purged with hydrogen, followed by continuing HCl gas flow and the introduction of SiHCl3, where epi growth is subsequently conducted at a temperature in the range of 1,130° C., to provide a silicon film growth rate of about 5 μ/min (50,000Å/min).
The epitaxial growth of silicon has been carried out using rapid thermal processing techniques to reduce convective heat loss during film growth. The reactant gases used for rapid thermal processing typically include a chlorinated silicon source (e.g., SixHyClz) mixed with hydrogen, as the reactive carrier. An inert carrier gas may be added, such as argon, neon, xenon, or krypton. The process is carried out at temperatures of the silicon substrate above 750° C. under atmospheric or reduced pressure. When a dichlorosilane gas is used as a precursor, this gas is said to decompose when heated at the boundary layer on the substrate surface to SiCl2 and H2. The SiCl2 is said to diffuse to the surface, to then react with H2 to form HCl and silicon. The HCl is said to be desorbed through the boundary layer into the chamber, where it is carried away. A hydrogen carrier gas is said to be added to improve the deposition rate by supplying sufficient hydrogen concentration to fuel the decomposition of SiCl2 to Si and HCl. A pretreatment of the silicon substrate typically includes a baking step with 10% hydrogen in argon as an ambient environment. The pre-bake temperature is 1,050° C. for 5 seconds, followed by 1,000° C. for 20 seconds. The bake pressure was not specified in the literature. The silicon epi deposition was carried out at 1,000° C., at a process pressure of 50 Torr, and with a reaction mixture of argon/hydrogen gas, 10% hydrogen by volume at 18 slm, with dichlorosilane flow at 90 sccm.
The catalyst-assisted growth of a monocrystalline silicon layer on a silicon substrate during formation of a semiconductor device has also been described in the art. The single crystal silicon layer is formed on a seeding layer made having a lattice match with a single crystal silicon. The seeding layer is formed by CAD (Catalyst assisted deposition) during a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) process. A seeding material such as crystalline sapphire may also be used.
In forming a single-crystal silicon layer by CAD using a catalyst, it is said to be preferable that a gas containing mainly silicon hydride is decomposed through contact with a catalyst body heated to 800–2,000° C., for example 1600–1800° C., to deposit a single-crystal silicon layer on the substrate. Silicon hydride refers to a silane, such as a monosilane, disilane, or trisilane, for example. The catalyst body is at least one kind of material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, tungsten containing thorium oxide, molybdenum, platinum, palladium, silicon, alumina ceramic with metal attached thereto, and silicon carbide. The catalyst material is typically formed as coil, above and facing the substrate. The catalyst body is a resistance wire which is activated and heated to a temperature below its melting point. The incoming silicon hydride gas, and hydrogen, or a doping gas such as B2H6 or PH3 included as necessary, are introduced to come in contact with the catalyst. By using a catalytic hot filament over the substrate surface and flowing film-forming precursor gases over that hot filament prior to deposition on the substrate, it is said to be possible to deposit an expitaxial silicon seed layer on a substrate which is at a temperature of about 100° C.–700° C., typically 200° C.–600° C. However, there is a problem with metal contamination of the film, with the contamination coming from the catalyst. Without the use of a catalyst, the silicon film formed over such processing temperatures is an amorphous silicon film.
There has recently been some description of the deposition of silicon-containing films over mixed substrates using chemical vapor deposition methods. There is description of the deposition of Si and SiGe films; however, no data is provided for the precise crystalline composition of the films which are produced by this method. The processes employ trisilane (H3SiSiH2SiH3) to enable the deposition of "high quality Si-containing films" over the mixed substrates.
In a recent publication, a chemical vapor deposition process is described which is said to make use of chemical precursors which permit deposition of thin films at or near the mass transport limited regime. The embodiments described pertain to the formation of Si-containing and Ge-containing films. The use of higher-order precursors, such as trisilane or trisilane in combination with digermane, is recommended for replacement of silane precursor, for example.
There are also references in the literature which describe pro-treatment of a silicon substrate surface prior to deposition of a silicon epitaxially-grown film on the substrate. In a process referred to as advance integrated chemical vapor deposition (AICVD) for semiconductor manufacture, the substrate is said to be prebaked at a temperature ranging from 800° C. to 900° C. for 10 to 30 minutes with hydrogen flowing in a UHV-LPCVD process chamber, to remove the native oxide from the silicon substrate surface. This is followed by growth of a medium temperature silicon epitaxial layer at a temperature in the range from 600° C. to 900° C. (typically 700° C.–800° C.) to a thickness in the range from 100 Å to 300 Å, using dichlorosilane as the source gas. Subsequent to the silicon epi growth, the dichlorosilane is replaced by silent gas or other hydrogen-containing gas which is fed to the process chamber and the temperature is dropped below 400° C., whereby the surface of the semiconductor substrate is said to be hydrogen terminated.
In another method described for the removal of a native oxide layer, hydrogen gas is used as a processing reagent. Laser projection onto the surface of the substrate is used to enhance the reaction of the hydrogen. No particular wavelength for the irradiation is mentioned. Evidently, the projected laser provides for localized heating at the substrate surface.
A review of the above-mentioned background art and other art known in the field of semiconductor manufacturing indicates that there is a continuing need for a method which enables both blanket and selective deposition of a silicon-containing, epitaxially grown films at a temperature below 750° C., and preferably below about 700° C. In addition, there is a need for a substrate cleaning procedure (in preparation for deposition of the silicon-containing film) which can be carried out at the same or a lower temperature than that of the silicon-containing film deposition, so that devices in the substrate onto which the film is being deposited will not be affected by cleaning of the substrate and deposition of the film.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Low temperature epitaxial growth of silicon-containing films using UV radiation


Gold sol coated with alkanethiols and alkanethiol derivatives, which provide groups on the sol available for the linking of binding moieties such as antibodies, antigens or ligands to the gold sol. Di- and tri-thiol compounds bound to gold sol also facilitate the adsorption of antibodies, antigens or ligands to the sol. The coating process, and test kits incorporating the coated sols are also included.

This invention relates to gold sol coated with alkanethiols and alkanethiol derivatives to provide groups on the sol available for the binding or linking of binding moieties such as antibodies, antigens, or ligands to the gold sol. In addition, the use of di- and tri-thiol compounds bound to gold sol facilitate the passive adsorption of these binding moieties. This invention also relates to gold sol coated with thiolated binding moieties, including antigens, antibodies, or carrier molecules, which can be attached to relevant ligands. Also included is the process for coating the gold sols with such thiol compounds, the use of coated sols in immunological and immunocytological diagnostic tests and test kits incorporating such coated gold sols.
Test methods for the diagnosis of various diseases are constantly being improved. Currently, immunological methods are among the most sensitive methods used to detect the presence of antigens or antibodies in samples. These assays are well known to those skilled in the art of immunodiagnostics. Generally, an immunological assay consists of an assay wherein a monoclonal or polyclonal antibody is used to capture an antigen in the sample and a second antibody containing a label, such as a fluorescent compound or an enzyme, immunochemically reacts with the antigen-antibody complex. The resulting labelled antibody-antigen-antibody complex is detected. Variations on this basic assay are common, such as the use of only one reactive antibody in the test, the competitive inhibition method, or the use of particles as labels that allow an agglutination reaction to be read. Another variant is the use of microparticles coated with either an antigen or an antibody, which after formation of a complex with the analyte and a second appropriately labeled binding partner, gives a positive reaction.
Gold sol microparticles are used in an assay method known as a sol particle immunoassay (SPIA). In this assay, a solution containing the gold sol coated with an appropriate binding partner, either an antibody or an antigen, is reacted with a sample to bind to its binding partner. In this process, complexes are formed that can be detected, usually due to their change in color.
Uncoated gold sol particles, and other colloids, will undergo agglomeration when exposed to low concentrations of salt, and quickly precipitate out of solution. Therefore, the coating of gold sol with an appropriate binding partner serves two functions. The first is to provide appropriate immunological binding activity and the second is to protect against agglomeration, which would of necessity occur in buffers designed to optimize for immunological reactions. Since not all proteins or polymers will protect the gold sol completely from salt-induced agglomeration, an overcoating step is usually performed with a protein or polymer that is known to be capable of completely protecting the gold sol from salt-induced agglomeration. Such an overcoating step is a well known practice in adsorbing antibodies and antigens to plastic substrates and has been shown to increase the stability of the coated material.
The overcoating also serves to reduce nonspecific interaction of the gold sol with sample components. This nonspecific interaction is a significant problem when using antibody coated latex particles in diagnostic assays, and is probably a manifestation of the nonspecific serum interference observed in many, if not all, immunoassays, regardless of format. In some cases it is permissible to change the overcoating protein or polymer to minimize interference in specific systems. Additives to the sol medium such as guanidine hydrochloride or urea are useful. Occasionally, "non-specific" interference can be pinpointed to serum heterophile activity and is eliminated by the addition of whole animal serum.
A serious drawback in the passive adsorption of the desired binding partner to gold colloid has been that such direct coating is often unsuccessful. The physico-chemical mechanisms of passive polymer adsorption to colloids in general is a poorly understood process. Passive adsorption of antibodies to gold sol may result in a coated sol which is poorly protected from salt-induced agglomeration and which cannot be further protected by overcoating. It may also result in a coated sol with poor immunological activity, presumably due to the incorrect orientation of adsorbed antibody, or it may result in the antibody-induced agglomeration of the sol itself. Finally, the binding partner of choice may simply not bind to the gold sol. The net result of these problems is that few biological reagents useful in other diagnostic formats can be used in the production of gold colloid reagents of diagnostic quality.
What is needed in the art is a method for covalently attaching binding partners, proteins, carbohydrates or ligands, to the gold sol so that the uncertainties of the passive adsorption characteristics or the necessity of making binding partner and "good coating" carrier conjugates for passive adsorption may be eliminated. In particular, such a sol would be significantly more useful if it were refractive to salt-induced agglomeration even in the absence of a coated binding partner. The ability to change the physico-chemical surface properties of the sol would, at the same time, make it possible to minimize the sometimes undefined sample-sol interactions responsible for non-specific interference in immunochemical diagnostic assays and background problems in immunocytochemical assays.
What is also needed is the ability to facilitate the passive adsorption of biological polymers to gold sols. Thiolation of antibodies and polymers can increase their ability to bind to gold sols as evidenced by increased resistance to salt-induced agglomeration. Such a capability may prove useful for those antibodies which bind well to gold sols, but lose significant amounts of their activity in doing so as well as for antibodies which simply do not bind the gold sol in an underivatized state. An alternative method of changing the physico-chemical characteristics of the sol surface in order to facilitate antibody binding is the coating of the sol with di-thiol or tri-thiol compounds. Such an intermediate coating can significantly change the passive adsorption properties of antibodies to the coated sol.


A process and a device for controlling a movement of an armature of an electromagnetic switching element having an exciter coil. A first setpoint for the current can be defined after a first time. A second setpoint for the current can be defined after a second time. The second setpoint is smaller than the first setpoint. The second time also occurs before a third time at which the armature has reached its end position.

German Patent Application No. 38 43 138 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,501) describes a process for controlling the movement of an armature of an electromagnetic switching element having an exciter coil. At the start of triggering, the exciter coil receives a boosted current which is higher than the current that is required to keep the armature in its position. When the armature reaches its new position, the triggering current drops back to a low current level. This change does not take place until the armature has reached its new end position. The current characteristics are analyzed to detect when the armature stops.
Magnetic circuit design requirements vary with regard to the desired dynamics of the solenoid valve needle and how well the current characteristic can be analyzed.

Process for controlling a movement of an armature of an electromagnetic switching element


A printed board includes an electrically insulating board, a conductor layer made of an electrically conducting pattern, and at least one of a resist layer and an ink layer, each made of an electrically insulating solid pattern. The electrically insulating board has one surface on which electronic parts will be mounted, and the other surface on which the conductor layer is formed and covered with at least one of the resist layer and the ink layer. An organic EL display device includes the printed board, and a housing having a planar structure. The surface on which the conductor layer of the printed board is covered with at least one of the resist layer and the ink layer, each made of the electronically insulating solid pattern is arranged so as to face a planar portion of the housing having the planar structure.

1. Filed of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed board and an electronic apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, electronic parts or the like constituting an electronic apparatus are mounted on a printed board. The printed board has an electrically insulating board which is made of a glass epoxy material or the like and which has one surface on which electronic parts will be mounted, and the other surface on which a conductor layer made of a conductor pattern of a circuit is formed by means of etching a sheet of copper foil or the like. The printed board further has through-holes which are formed in the electrically insulating board so that an inner wall of each through-hole is covered with a conductor by which conductors provided on the front and rear surfaces of the electrically insulating board are connected to each other so that the electronic parts can be electrically connected to the conductor layer.
Lands for electrical connection are provided on circumferences of the through-holes respectively. A resist layer of a solder resist film or the like is provided so that the conductor layer on the front surface is covered with the resist layer except that the lands on the circumferences of the through-holes are exposed. Paste-like ink or the like is applied onto a front surface of the resist layer by silk-screen printing so that symbols or marks are printed on the front surface of the resist layer.
For example, as disclosed in JP-A-8-125288 (Page 1 and FIG. 1) which is a conventional technique, protection marks are silk-screen printed on a front surface of a solder resist film for covering an extended portion of a conductor pattern extending to the neighborhood of a circumferential portion of an electrically insulating board so that the protection marks are arranged along the circumferential portion. The protection marks abut against a support portion of a manufacturing apparatus for mounting electronic parts or the like, so that the solder resist film and the conductor pattern are prevented from being damaged.
For example, as disclosed in JP-A-6-302987 (Page 1 and FIG. 1) which is a conventional technique, an electrically conductive shield plate is bonded to a front surface of a printed board to be mounted in an acoustic apparatus, a communication apparatus or the like in order to prevent interference with unnecessary external radio wave (noise). When the shield plate is to be bonded, each through-hole portion is covered with a nonconductive symbolic layer formed by silk-screen printing so that an electrically conductive layer on an inner wall of each through-hole is prevented from coming into contact with the shield plate because of the shield plate's bending at the through-hole portion.
As described above, the through-holes and the lands are exposed on the front surface of the background-art printed board because the resist layer is formed so as to avoid the lands on the circumferences of the through-holes. For this reason, it cannot be said that the background-art printed board has satisfactory resistance to a high-temperature high-humidity environment because water may go into the printed board through the exposed through-holes and lands. There is hence a possibility that the front surface of the printed board may be corroded due to oxidization, or the insulation resistance of the printed board may be lowered due to a migration phenomenon. Therefore, a printed board more greatly improved in resistance to the high-temperature high-humidity environment has been demanded for use in an on-vehicle electronic apparatus or the like.
To satisfy the demand, it may be conceived that a protective coating agent is applied to the front surface of the printed board to eliminate the exposed portions to thereby improve resistance to the high-temperature high-humidity environment. Extra cost and time are however spent inevitably because the protective coating agent and the coating process for the protective coating agent are required.
Incidentally, in the conventional technique described in JP-A-6-302987, the shield plate and the process for bonding the shield plate are required. Accordingly, extra cost and time are spent even on an electronic apparatus that can be provided without special attention paid to interference with unnecessary radio wave (noise).


A method of purifying a hydrophobically substituted polynucleotide by reverse phase HPLC is described. The hydrophobic substituent may be removed from the polynucleotide under non-acidic conditions; the purification method is thus especially useful for acid sensitive polynucleotide analogs.

A key factor in the recent advances in molecular biology has been the development of reliable and convenient methods for synthesizing polynucleotides. As the use of synthetic polynucleotides has increased, the demand for greater convenience in the preparation of pure, ready-to-use polynucleotides has also increased. This demand has stimulated the development of many improvements in the basic procedures for solid phase synthesis and purification of polynucleotides. One such advance is the use of hydrophobic "handles", such as trityl moieties, in the rapid purification of synthetic oligonucleotides by reverse-phase HPLC (see, for example, Germann et al.; Ikuta et al.). This method presents advantages over ion exchange purification in that it is less time consuming and more readily scalable. The use of phosphorothioate linkages in polynucleotide analogs also reduces the resolution of ion exchange chromatography.
The RP-HPLC method can present difficulties in the purification of acid-sensitive polynucleotide analogs, however, because of the acidic conditions typically used for removal of the hydrophobic group. It would therefore be useful to have a hydrophobic purification handle that is stable to polynucleotide synthesis and ammoniolytic deprotection conditions, yet can be cleaved under mild, non-acidic conditions post purification.


The present invention discloses a method and a corresponding system for controlling delivery of information in a forum. In the method (300a, 300b) of the invention a user provides (306) the text of a new message to be submitted to the forum. The user then selects (315) every confidential portion of the text, and inputs (318) corresponding replacement information. A confidential version of the message (consisting of the original text) is made available (345, 351) only to a specific subset of the participants in the forum; a public version of the message, obtained substituting (366) the replacement information for the corresponding confidential portions of the original text, is made available to all the other participants.

A forum (sometimes called newsgroup or conference) is a particular type of online service, in which participants can meet to discuss a topic of common interest. Forums have become very popular in the last years; particularly, on the INTERNET there are literally thousands of forums covering every conceivable interest.
The forums are useful for acquiring a basic knowledge about a topic or for obtaining a historical perspective on trends and opinions. Moreover, the forums may be used to submit questions of different type, in order to receive corresponding answers provided by experts in the specific field.
Each message submitted to a forum (for its own nature) is always made available to all the participants, so as to be shared among the whole community. A drawback of this approach is that sometimes the message includes information the participant does not wish to disseminate. However, this information is often necessary, for example to put the experts in the position of answering the questions.
As a consequence, the participant is prevented from exploiting the services offered by the forum. This problem is particular acute in forums dealing with medical or legal topics, wherein the questions often relate to private matters that are strictly confidential.

Method and system for controlling delivery of information in a forum


A semiconductor device includes: a base and a cap having sealing surfaces furnished with a structure to prevent outflow of resin on the inner side of each corner thereof; and a lead frame arranged between the sealing surfaces of the base and the cap, with a part of the lead frame extending into each corner of the sealing surfaces, whereby the generation of recesses and holes in the resin sealing portion is prevented and a high-quality semiconductor device can be obtained which provides a satisfactory production yield.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor device and, in particular, to a semiconductor structure enclosing a semiconductor chip within a resin sealed base and cap which are joined together with an improved seal.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 15 is a sectional view showing a conventional resin sealed semiconductor device, for example, a pressure sensor. Referring to the drawing, a die pad 2 is fixed to a base 1 by an adhesive 3, and a semiconductor element 4 is fixed to a pedestal 4a that is mounted with an adhesive 5 on the die pad. A cap 6 is joined to the base 1 with sealing resin 7. Leads 8, which extend through the interface between the base 1 and the cap 6, are electrically connected to the semiconductor element 4 through metal wires 9. The dimensions of sealing surfaces 1a and 6a of the base 1 and the cap 6 are determined as shown in FIGS. 16A, 168, 17A and 17B. The values given in these drawings are in millimeters.
Next, a process of producing the conventional semiconductor device, constructed as described above, will be explained in detail.
First, the resin 7 is applied to the sealing surfaces 1a and 6a using resin application masks 10 and 11 as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, respectively. The resin application masks 10 and 11 allow simultaneous application of the resin 7 to a plurality of bases 1 and caps 6, which, after the resin 7 has been applied to the sealing surfaces 1a and 6a thereof, are respectively attached to attachment sections 12a and 13a of sealing jigs 12 and 13 shown in FIGS. 20A to 20C and FIGS. 21A and 21B.
In this condition, a continuous lead frame with the semiconductor elements 4 mounted thereon is placed on the base 1, and the sealing jig 12 having the caps 6 is reversed so that the sealing surfaces 6a of the caps 6 face the sealing surfaces la of the bases 1. The sealing jigs 12 and 13 are made to abut each other in a position where pins 12b of the jig 12 are mated with pin holes 13b of the jig 13, and the bases 1 and the caps 6 are joined to each other by means of the resin due to the engagement of the pins 12b with the pin holes 13b.
In this process, the jigs 12 and 13 are heated to a temperature of approximately 150.degree. C. When the bases 1 and the caps 6 are respectively attached to the jigs 12 and 13, the heat of the jigs 12 and 13 is conducted in approximately five seconds to the bases 1 and the caps 6, and the viscosity of the resin 7 applied to the sealing surfaces 1a and 6a first decreases rapidly as shown in FIG. 22, and then increases rapidly so that the resin is cured in approximately ten minutes. When the resin 7 has thus been cured, the joining of the bases 1 with the caps 6 is complete, and the jigs 12 and 13 are disassembled, thus completing the semiconductor devices.
In the conventional semiconductor device, produced by the above production process, the resin 7 applied through the resin application mask 10 is a fluid and, in consequence, an outflow of resin is liable to occur, in particular, on the inner side of each corner of the sealing surfaces 1a and 6a, resulting in a shortage of resin for joining the base 1 with the cap 6. Further, at the point in time when the viscosity of the resin 7 rapidly decreases as shown in FIG. 22, the amount of resin 7 flowing out further increases, thereby causing the shortage of the resin to become even greater. In addition, the leads 8 extend through the seal, from the inside to the outside thereof, perpendicularly to each side of the sealing surface 1a, as shown in FIG. 23, which leads to another problem. As shown in FIG. 24, in the middle sections of the sealing surface where the leads extend through the seal, the resin 7 moves toward the leads 8 due to surface tension, with the result that there is a shortage of resin in the corner sections of the device, where there are no leads 8. This is particularly true in the case where, due to the limitation on external dimensions of the device as a result of the progress made in device miniaturization, the inner diameters of the base 1 and the cap 6 must be made as large as possible and equalized to ensure that the requisite accommodating space is provided.
A shortage of resin for joining the base 1 with the cap 6, due to the above-described reason, causes recesses and holes in the seal after joining the base 1 with the cap 6. This causes the sealing to be incomplete, resulting in a degeneration in device quality, a reduction in production yield, etc.

Semiconductor device including package with improved base-to-cop seal