The microstructure, of semiconductor material, includes a micromotor and an encapsulation structure. The micromotor is externally delimited by a first and a second faces, opposed to one another, and by a side delimitation trench. The encapsulation structure surrounds the micromotor and has a bottom portion facing the second face of the micromotor, and an outer lateral portion facing the side delimitation trench. An outer separation trench extends through the bottom portion of the encapsulation structure, separates a mobile region from the external side portion, and defines, together with the side delimitation trench, a labyrinthic path for contaminating particles. A sealing ring extends on the bottom portion of the encapsulation structure around an inner separation trench separating the mobile region from a fixed central region and closes a gap between the bottom portion and a mobile component connected to the mobile region of the encapsulation structure.

The present invention regards a process for manufacturing a microintegrated structure protected against contaminating particles, and the thereby obtained microintegrated structure. In particular, the invention may be advantageously applied to a microactuator fixed to an integrated device including the microactuator control circuitry and to a head in a hard-disk read/write unit with double micrometric actuation.
As is known, hard disks are the most widely used data-storage medium; consequently, they are produced in very large volumes, and the maximum data-storage density increases from one year to the next. Hard disks are read and written by actuator devices, the general structure of which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and is described hereinafter.
In particular, FIG. 1 shows a known actuator device 1 of the rotary type comprising a motor 2 (also called xe2x80x9cvoice coil motorxe2x80x9d) fixed to a support body, generally called xe2x80x9cE-blockxe2x80x9d because of its E-like shape in side view (see FIG. 2). The support body 3 has a plurality of arms 4, each of which carries a suspension 5 including a cantilevered lamina. At its end not fixed to the support body 3, each suspension 5 carries a R/W transducer 6 for reading/writing, arranged (in an operative condition) facing a surface of a hard disk 7 so as to perform roll and pitch movements and to follow the surface of the hard disk 7. To this end, the R/W transducer 6 (also referred to as slider) is fixed to a joint, called gimbal or flexure 8, generally formed from the suspension 5 and comprising, for example, a rectangular plate 8a cut on three and a half sides starting from the lamina of the suspension 5, and having a portion 8b connected to the suspension 5 and allowing flexure of the plate 8a under the weight of the slider 6 (see FIG. 3).
In order to increase the data storage density, it has already been proposed to use a double actuation stage, with a first, rougher actuation stage including the motor 2 moving the assembly formed by the support body 3, the suspension 5 and the RIW slider 6 through the hard disk 7 during a coarse search for the track, and a second actuation stage performing a finer control of the position of the slider 6 during tracking. According to a known solution, the second actuation stage comprises a microactuator 10 arranged between the gimbal 8 and the slider 6, as may be seen in FIG. 3, which shows, in exploded view, the end of the suspension 5, the gimbal 8, the slider 6, and the microactuator 10, in this case, of the rotary type. The microactuator 10 is controlled by a signal supplied by control electronics on the basis of a tracking error.
The microactuator 10 is formed by fixed parts and suspended mobile parts. In particular, the latter, when assembling the R/W transducer on the microactuator and forming the connections with the control circuitry, may be displaced and/or may collapse. In addition, stresses may arise in the structure of the microactuator and cause the structure to become fragile.
In order to maintain final assembly processes similar to those used before the introduction of a double actuation stage, and at the same time prevent displacement and collapse, protection systems for the microactuator, in particular encapsulation structures, have been proposed. Since these systems must maintain the necessary mobility of the mobile parts with respect to the fixed parts, they have separation trenches. These trenches may represent privileged channels for entry of contaminating particles.
In particular, contaminating particles are usually of micrometric and submicrometric dimensions and are drawn into the hard-disk driver by the air circulating by virtue of the disk rotation and the rotor movement. The areas that are most subject to contamination are the high-voltage areas, in particular the fixed and mobile arms, which are separated by gaps with average dimensions of 2 xcexcm.
These contaminating particles, as explained, for example, in the article by LiHong Zhang and Ramesh Koka, xe2x80x9cLost data: How a little dirt can do a lot of damagexe2x80x9d, Data Storage, March 1999, can cause irreparable damage to the hard disk or in any case prevent proper operation of the driver.
According to the present invention, a process for manufacturing a microintegrated structure and the thereby obtained microintegrated structure are provided. The microintegrated structure, of semiconductor material, includes a micromotor and an encapsulation structure. The micromotor is externally delimited by a first and a second faces, opposed to one another, and by a side delimitation trench. The encapsulation structure surrounds the micromotor and has a bottom portion facing the second face of the micromotor, and an outer lateral portion facing the side delimitation trench. An outer separation trench extends through the bottom portion of the encapsulation structure, separates a mobile region from the external side portion, and defines, together with the side delimitation trench, a labyrinthic path for contaminating particles. A sealing ring extends on the bottom portion of the encapsulation structure around an inner separation trench separating the mobile region from a fixed central region and closes a gap between the bottom portion and a mobile component connected to the mobile region of the encapsulation structure.

Microintegrated structure with protection against contaminating particles


Substrates having a surface coated with fullerene and a substance attached thereto are disclosed. Cell culture substrates having a fullerene-coated surface are useful in methods of growing cells on the fullerene-coated surface. Methods of preparing cell culture substrates for cell attachment and growth by coating a surface with fullerene are provided. Cells can be grown on a fullerene-coated surface in the presence of a substance such as a cytokine, growth hormone or a drug, to evaluate the interaction between the substance and the cells. Methods for increasing cell membrane premability and for introducing a substance, such as a DNA or RNA vector, into a cell are also provided.

As a class, the recently discovered third allotropic form of carbon is termed fullerenes, and the prototypical form of this class is a spherical hollow molecule containing 60 carbon atoms, i.e., C.sub.60, that is termed buckminsterfullerene (Kratschmer, W., et al., Nature 347:354-357 (1990); Ajie, H. et al., J. Phys. Chem., 94:8630-8633 (1990); and Diederich, F., et al., Science. 252:548-551 (1991)). The fullerene family includes asymmetrical forms, such as C.sub.70, as well as cylindrical fibers nicknamed buckytubes. In C.sub.60, hexagons and pentagons of carbon link together in a coordinated fashion to form a hollow, geodesic dome with bonding strains equally distributed among 60 carbon atoms. Some of the electrons are delocalized over the entire molecule, similar to benzene. However, benzene is flat and many of its derivatives tend to stack in flat sheets. Spherical C.sub.60 adds a new dimension to the chemistry of aromatic compounds.
C.sub.60 has been shown to be one of the most chemically versatile molecules known. Chemists have produced fullerene derivatives by adding carbons to the C.sub.60 sphere while maintaining (in some instances) the aromatic electron structure. C.sub.60 has been reported to readily accept free radicals and may be useful in polymerization processes. Other potential applications include commercial basics such as catalysis as well as superconductivity and ferromagnetism. C.sub.60 easily accepts electrons. Solid fullerene can also be doped with an alkali metal such as potassium, and these compounds are called fullerides. Although pure C.sub.60 is an insulator, some fullerides are semiconductors or superconductors; for example, K.sub.3 C.sub.60 is a superconductor.
C.sub.60, a naturally hollow molecule, has been proposed as a host for nuclides. In addition, unmodified fullerenes are insoluble in water, suggesting that they may react very little with biological tissue. In the presence of light and oxygen, the C.sub.60 molecule can pass its excitation energy onto nearby oxygen molecules, creating a short-lived, reactive form of oxygen called singlet oxygen.

Fullerene coated surfaces and uses thereof


An integrated circuit is disclosed. The integrated circuit includes a power delivery network (PDN), a first voltage rail coupled to the PDN, an input/output (I/O) buffer coupled to the first voltage rail and a driver coupled to the I/O buffer. The driver transmits a current waveform to the I/O buffer whenever a switching event occurs at the I/O buffer.

I/O buffers are implemented in integrated circuit devices to transmit and receive data. Typically, whenever an I/O buffer switches from a high to a low state (e.g., when receiving or transmitting data), a current propagates from an on-board voltage supply, through a voltage rail (Vcc rail) to the buffer.
However, there is a parasitic inductance associated with trace routes from the on-board voltage supply to the I/O power rails on the integrated circuit. This inductance, if left unbalanced by a certain value of decoupling capacitance, results in a sharp drop in voltage on the Vcc rail at the event of current pull from the supply (di/dt, where i is current, and t is time, describes the rate of this pull), initiated by the buffer during data switching.
A large decoupling capacitance is traditionally added to the power delivery network to balance the parasitic inductance and prevent voltage droops. Such a capacitance is on-die and serves as storage for additional charge. Whenever the I/O buffer switches, the capacitance provides stored charge on the Vcc rail to compensate for any voltage droop.

Power delivery noise cancellation mechanism


A spherical inner surface of the outer race and track grooves in the outer race are each defined by a post-hardening cut surface. A spherical outer surface of the inner race and track grooves in the inner race are also each defined by a post-hardening cut surface. A retainer has a spherical outer surface, a spherical inner surface and inner surfaces of the pockets, all of which are defined by a post-hardening cut surface. Respective surfaces of the retainer, the outer race and the inner race which contact with each other are formed with a surface treatment layer for reducing a frictional resistance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a constant velocity universal joint for automotive vehicles and, more particularly, to the constant velocity universal joint used in an automobile propeller shaft.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The constant velocity universal joint for automotive vehicles, particularly the constant velocity universal joint used on an automobile propeller shaft when in use rotates at a high speed and does therefore require a capability of rotating in a balanced state and, also, a capability of suppressing internal heat generation. To attain a good rotatory balance, a gap present inside the universal joint has to be minimized in size. However, the smaller the gap, the more considerable generation of heat, and therefore in order to suppress the heat generation, the frictional resistance occurring between mating component parts must be reduced by minimizing surface roughness of those component parts. For this reason, in the constant velocity universal joint of a fixed ball type, contact surfaces of an inner race, an outer race and a cage all forming parts of the universal joint are, after those component parts have been heat treated, machined to secure a required dimensional accuracy and a required surface roughness. Also, as a means for reducing the frictional resistance inside the constant velocity universal joint, formation of a coating of a solid lubricating agent on those component parts is known in the art such as disclosed in, for example, the Japanese Laid-open Utility Model Publication No. 2-121333.
The grinding process generally requires a relatively long machining time as compared with the cutting process. Also, the grinding process requires the use of a coolant of a kind which is offensive to the environment.


The present invention relates to a lotion applicator and massaging apparatus including a pair of opposing substantially U-shaped handles with an attachment plate attached to each of their respective terminal ends. The two opposing attachment plates each have a plurality of cords extending from an opposing side with a snap style connector at their distal ends. A select one of a plurality of accessory pads may be attached to the U-shaped handles depending upon the application. Each applicator pad is substantially rectangular having four peripheral edges and a panel at two opposing edges thereof. Extending from each panel are a plurality of cords with a snap style connector at their distal ends for selectively engaging the snap style connectors on the U-shaped handles. Accordingly, a loofah sponge pad, a dry weave pad or a roller ball massage pad may be selectively attached to the U-shaped handles using the snap style connectors. A heating device is also provided allowing a user to selectively preheat any one of the accessory pads prior to use.

The present invention relates to a lotion applicator and body massage assembly, and more particularly, to an applicator having a pair of opposed handle members removably attached to opposing sides of any one of a plurality of accessory pads allowing the device to function as a wash cloth, a lotion applicator or as a massaging device.

Lotion applicator and body massage assembly


A field effect transistor in accordance with the present invention comprises a buffer layer made of a highly resistant diamond on a substrate; an active layer which is made of a conductive diamond on the buffer layer and has such a dopant concentration that conduction of carriers is metallically dominated thereby and such a thickness that dopant distribution is two-dimensionally aligned thereby; a cap layer made of a highly resistant diamond on the active layer; a gate electrode layer formed on the cap layer so as to make Schottky contact therewith; and a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer which make ohmic contact with a laminate structure of said buffer, active and cap layers. Namely, the active layer is formed as a so-called .delta.-dope layer or pulse-dope layer doped with a conductive dopant, while being held between both highly resistant buffer and cap layers. Accordingly, even when the dopant concentration in the conductive diamond layer is increased, a high gain, as an excellent controllability and an excellent temperature-stability in operation characteristics can be obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a field effect transistor, in which a diamond is used as a semiconductor material so that it can stably operate in a high-temperature environment and tolerate high-output operations, and a method of making the same.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, in order to develop a semiconductor device which can stably operate in a high-temperature environment and tolerate high-output operations, it has been attempted to use, as a semiconductor material, a diamond synthesized in a vapor phase.
Diamonds have a band gap as large as about 5.5 eV, they do not have an intrinsic region, where conduction of carriers cannot be controlled any more, at a temperature below about 1,400.degree. C. Also, since their permittivity is as low as about 5.5, they have a breakdown electric field as high as about 5.times.10.sup.6 V.multidot.cm.sup.-1. Further, they have a large carrier mobility, in particular, such that their electron mobility and hall mobility at a temperature of about 300 K are about 2,000 cm.sup.2 .multidot.V.sup.-1 .multidot.s.sup.-1 and about 2,100 cm.sup.2 .multidot.V.sup.-1 .multidot.s.sup.-1, respectively. Accordingly, a semiconductor device made of a diamond can be expected to operate with a high frequency and a high output at a high temperature.
For example, a diode having a good rectification characteristic, a high pressure resistance, and an excellent temperature-stability has been made by using a diamond. The prior art in this regard is disclosed in detail in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-278474, No. 4-22172, No. 4-293272, No. 4-293273, and No. 4-302172, "Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., vol. 29, no. 12, pp. L2163-L2164, 1990," and the like.
Also, by applying this technique, a diamond is used to form a transistor having an improved operation characteristic. The prior art in this regard is disclosed in detail in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-354139, No. 5-29608, No. 5-29609, and No. 5-29610, "Proceedings of The Second International Conference on New Diamond Science and Technology (Washington, D.C.), Materials Research Society (Pittsburgh, Pa.), pp. 975-1000, 1990," and the like.


System, method, and computer program product for automatically monitoring message flow in a message queuing system in an asynchronous messaging network. A message queuing application programming interface appends, in a message descriptor field for recording and monitoring message flow, unique application identification keys of applications that process the message, operation codes applied to the message, and time stamps of operations applied during message processing. The keys are generated by the start-up of the applications and are filled in by each PUT and GET function of the API. After processing of the message, the entries included in the message descriptor field are monitored, and any deviation from a predefined message flow is automatically detected and reported.

The present invention relates to message queuing in an asynchronous messaging network, and in particular to a method, system, and computer program product for monitoring message flow in a message queuing system.
It is increasingly common to distribute a data processing operation over a plurality of data processing units, with each of the units communicating over a data communications network such as the Internet. One reason for this is that a particular data processing unit may be able to do a job better than another, so a first unit makes a request for a second unit to do a particular job and then to return the result to the first unit.
It is also very common to have a large number of intermediate data processing units (also known as "nodes") between the originating unit that makes a request and the destination unit that is being requested to do the work. Each intermediate unit receives the request, performs some initial processing to determine what to do with it, and then forwards it on to the next unit.
A popular mechanism for carrying out such distributed data processing is called asynchronous message queuing, wherein applications communicate with each other by sending messages to queues, which can then be accessed by the receiving application at a convenient time. IBM's WebSphere MQ (trademark) software product is an example of this type of software. More and more companies are providing services based on message queuing systems as underlying information transportation infrastructure.
A problem in such message queuing systems is to monitor message flow, especially to identify all of the applications involved in processing messages as well as their sequence of involvement. This problem becomes more important when using message queuing systems in a grid architecture, or whenever it is essential to ensure that a message has been processed in a predefined sequence by the authorized applications.
An example would be, as shown in FIG. 1 B, a service provider which provides business-to-business (B2B) services for other companies. A company A (Appl1) sends messages to the Service Provider which will be processed and then sent to the other company B (Appl5). However, there is no evident way for the two companies to ensure that the agreed applications have been used in the agreed sequence (Appl1, Appl2, Appl3, Appl4, Appl5) and that no other application has used or read their messages.

Method, system, and program product for monitoring message flow in a message queuing system

International Business Machines Corporation


A rapid thermal processing (RTP) chamber, wherein one wall of the chamber supporting a substrate rotates with respect to the rest of the chamber so that the substrate being treated in the RTP chamber is relatively rotated with respect to the lamps heating the substrate.

Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) is a versatile optical heating method which can be used for semiconductor processing as well as a general, well controlled, method for heating objects or wafers which are in the form of thin sheets, slabs, or disks. The objects are generally inserted one at a time into a chamber which has at least some portions of the chamber walls transparent to transmit radiation from powerful heating lamps. The transparent portion of the walls is generally quartz, which will transmit radiation up to a wavelength of 3 to 4 microns. These lamps are generally tungsten-halogen lamps, but arc lamps or any other source of visible and/or near infrared radiation may be used. The radiation from the lamps is directed through the transparent portions of the walls on to the surface of the object to be heated. As long as the objects absorb light in the near infrared or visible spectral region transmitted by the transparent portion of the walls, RTP techniques allow fast changes in the temperature and process gas for the different material processes and conditions. RTP allows the "thermal budgets" of the various semiconductor processing to be reduced, as well as allows the production of various metastable states which can be "frozen in" when the material is cooled rapidly.
RTP systems are relatively new. In the last 10 or 15 years, such systems were used only in research and development. The thrust of the work was increasing the temperature uniformity, and developing heating cycles and processes which decreased the thermal budget. Prior art RTP machines can heat unstructured, homogeneous materials in the form of a flat plate or disk, and produce temperature uniformities across the plate adequate for semiconductor processing processes.
The temperature control in current RTP systems is mostly performed by monochromatic (or narrow wavelength band) pyrometry measuring temperature of the relatively unstructured and featureless backside of semiconductor wafers. The results of the temperature measurement are generally used in a feedback control to control the heating lamp power. Backside coated wafers with varying emissivity can not be used in this way, however, and the backside layers are normally etched away or the temperature is measured using contact thermocouples.
A newer method of temperature control is the power controlled open loop heating described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,693, which patent is hereby incorporated by reference.
German patent DE42 23 133 C2, hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a method of producing relatively defect free material in RTP machines. Apparatus induced thermal inhomogeneities have been reduced in the last few years because of the demand for more uniform processing. Among the techniques used have been control of the individual lamp power, use of circular lamps, and rotation of the semiconductor wafers with independent power control.
Most RTP machines have a thin rectangular quartz reaction chamber having one end open. Chambers meant for vacuum use often have a flattened oval cross section. Chambers could even be made in the form of a flat cylindrical pancake. In general, the chambers are used so that the thin objects to be heated are held horizontally, but they could also be held vertical or in any convenient orientation. The reactor chamber is usually thin to bring the lamps close to the object to be heated. The reactor chamber is opened and closed at one end with a pneumatically operated door when the wafer handling system is in operation. The door is usually made of stainless steel, and may have a quartz plate attached to the inside. The process gas is introduced into the chamber on the side opposite the door and exhausted on the door side. The process gas flow is controlled by computer controlled valves connected to various manifolds in a manner wet. known in the art.

Rapid thermal processing (RTP) system with rotating substrate


Magnetic material of the Sm-Fe-N system exhibits a crystalline hard magnetic phase with a Th.sub.2 Zn.sub.17 crystalline structure wherein N atoms are incorporated in the crystalline lattice. A preliminary product having a dual component Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 phase is produced by mechanical alloying followed by thermal treatment to achieve the desired microstructure. The preliminary product is heated in a nitrous atmosphere, as a result of which, the hard magnetic phase is formed. The preliminary product may also be obtained by a rapid-quenching technique.

For several years, magnetic material based on systems of substances that contain a rare earth metal and a transitional metal and distinguishing themselves by virtue of high coercive strength of field, H.sub.ci, and high energy products, (B*H).sub.max, have been known. A major representative of a binary system of substances includes Co-Sm, and a major representative of a ternary system of substances includes Nd-Fe-B. The hard magnetic properties of these materials are based on intermetallic compounds having a high magnetic anisotropy and a pronounced degree of structure in the materials at issue. The production of these magnetic materials can, for example, be achieved through the sintering of powders of the components of the corresponding system of material. See, for example, European Patent Application EP-A-0 134 304. In addition, it is also possible to produce the corresponding magnetic materials by means of a so-called rapid-quenching technique. See, for example, European Patent Application EP-A-0 284 832.
Among the corresponding ternary magnetic materials the system of substances comprising Sm-Fe-Ti is discussed in Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 64, No. 10, 1988, pages 5720 to 5722. Recently, the existence of Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 N.sub.x as a magnetic material has come to be known. This material possesses the well-known Th.sub.2 Zn.sub.17 crystalline structure. In the production of this material, Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 is melted as the initial material. The preliminary product obtained in this way is then heated in an N.sub.2 or NH.sub.3 atmosphere. As a result of this, the desired hard magnetic phase is formed due to the incorporation of N-atoms into the latticework structure of the preliminary product. See speech presented by J. M. D. Coey during the conference of the Nato Advanced Study Institute on the Science and Technology of Nanostructured Magnetic Materials, Jun. 25 to Jul. 7, 1990, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.

Process for the production of magnetic material based on the Sm-Fe-N system of elements


A new method of forming polysilicon buried contact to source/drain or emitter regions is described. A silicon oxide layer is formed over the silicon substrate. An opening is formed to the silicon substrate at the location of the desired buried contact to source/drain or emitter region via conventional techniques. A hydrofluoric acid solution is used to remove the native silicon oxide which forms on the exposed surface of the silicon substrate. Some native silicon oxide is formed in a controlled manner again on the surface of the silicon substrate. The wafer is put into a low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) apparatus and a layer of undoped polysilicon or amorphous silicon is deposited. An oxidizer is added to the deposition chamber or the wafer is exposed to ambient air so that a thin layer of native silicon oxide is formed in a controlled manner overlying the polysilicon layer. Additional alternating layers of polysilicon and native silicon oxide are formed as desired. The wafer is annealed at between about 800.degree. to 1000.degree. C. This causes, it is believed, the silicon oxide gas from the multiple native silicon oxide very thin layers to be exhausted resulting in the removal of all silicon oxide islands within the interface between the polysilicon and the buried contact to source/drain or emitter regions. Ions are implanted through the polysilicon layer or layers in the opening to the silicon substrate to form the source and drain regions.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the fabrication of integrated circuit devices, and more particularly, to a method of forming buried contact or a contact to the emitter regions of a bipolar transistor in the fabrication of integrated circuits.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
A typical buried contact process flow is to form an opening to the silicon substrate over the planned source/drain regions of a field effect transistor or emitter regions of a bipolar transistor, then deposit a doped layer of polysilicon over and on the planned regions. The structure is heated and the source/drain regions or emitter regions are formed by outdiffusion from the doped polysilicon layer. The doped polysilicon layer is allowed to remain on the source/drain regions or emitter regions as their contacts. This is called the buried contact process.
In forming buried contact to source/drain or emitter regions, some native silicon oxide forms on the surface of the silicon substrate. This results in some residue islands of silicon oxide in the polysilicon crystal interface which increases the contact resistance or the emitter resistance/current rating. Workers in the art believe that it is desirable to remove this native silicon oxide.
Some workers in the field have addressed this issue of unwanted silicon oxide. U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,159 to Usami et al describes a process of forming a semiconductor device in which the atmosphere in which a polysilicon film is deposited does not contain sufficient oxygen for oxidation of the polysilicon to take place. U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,179 to Mukai describes a process for removing native oxide formed on an aluminum layer via laser pulses through a second aluminum layer. Akinci et al show that a contaminating silicon oxide layer can be removed by annealing at approximately 850.degree. C. for 2 to 10 minutes. ("NiSi.sub.2 On Si(111): 1. Effects of substrate cleaning procedure and reconstruction," by G. Akinci, T. R. Ohno, and Ellen D. Williams, Surface Science 193 (1988) p. 534-548, North-Holland, Amsterdam).
The process of the present invention utilizes a multiple layer structure. Multiple layers have been used in a number of U.S. Patents, although they are composed of different materials and/or they are used for different purposes that those of the present invention. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,024 to Klein et al describes a process of forming a metal barrier layer within a contact opening followed by the deposition and etchback of multiple polysilicon layers in order to limit grain size in the polysilicon layers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,309 to Gardiner et al describes a multiple polysilicon layer used in forming a gate which reduces grain growth and void formation in the polysilicon. U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,706 to Crowder et al details an improved interconnection for semiconductor integrated circuits using layers of polysilicon and metal silicide. U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,700 to Sakata describes a gate structure formed using multiple alternating layers of polysilicon and silicon oxide to reduce grain size and improve resistance of the transistor.
The problem of native oxide islands within the polysilicon and buried contact to source/drain or emitter region interface remains to be addressed by the present invention.


To suppress a loss of data in a semiconductor device. To provide a display device including a capacitor storing data, a display element performing display in accordance with the data, and switching elements connected to electrodes of the capacitor. In the display device, the voltage is held between the electrodes of the capacitor by turning the switching elements off; thus, the data can be stored even when supplying the power supply is stopped.

1. Field of the Invention
One embodiment of the present invention relates to an object, a method, and a manufacturing method. In addition, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a process, a machine, manufacture, or a composition of matter. In particular, one embodiment of the present invention relates to, for example, a semiconductor device, a display device, a light-emitting device, a storage device, a driving method thereof, or a manufacturing method thereof. Furthermore, one embodiment of the present invention relates to, for example, a semiconductor device, a display device, or a light-emitting device each including an oxide semiconductor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patent Document 1 discloses a semiconductor device provided with a transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer over a semiconductor substrate provided with a MOS transistor. Patent Document 2 discloses that a transistor including an oxide semiconductor film has extremely low leakage current in an off state.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


We disclose a component of an injection molding tool that includes a one piece side of a mold built up by additive manufacturing using a polymer, the side of the mold defining part of an injection cavity. The side of the mold further includes an injection port coupled to the injection cavity and a heating fluid manifold separated from the injection cavity by a heat transfer wall. The heat transfer wall is reinforced against pressure in the injection cavity by a backing of engineered supports. Inlet and outlet ports are coupled to the heating fluid manifold, configured to channel a thermally conductive fluid into and out of the heating fluid manifold. Additional additive manufacturing features and material properties are described. Complementary methods of manufacturing also are disclosed.

Silicone rubber is used in major industries, including consumer products, automotive, medical, scientific, aerospace, construction, and electronics. Among its many properties are mechanical stability and flexibility over wide temperature ranges, resistance to breakdown from ultraviolet energy and radiation, biocompatibility, excellent chemical resistance, high purity without plasticizers or organic additives, ability to hold tight tolerances and optical transparency.
The thousands of silicone rubber formulations can be divided into two basic categories: high consistency rubber (HCR) and liquid silicone rubber (LSR). One difference between these categories is that HCR has high viscosity and the consistency of thick putty; LSR has a lower viscosity, which allows it to "flow" as a thick liquid, suitable for injection molding. Production grade HCR and LSR are both heat cured to increase the cross-linking between the polymer chains and yield a stronger, more durable product. Some formulations of LSR can be cured by room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) which requires a much longer cure time and does not yield a product comparable to heat cured HCR or LSR.
Liquid silicone rubber is typically molded in precision-machined heated metal molds. These molding tools are used in an injection molding machine that operates at pressures that can often exceed 1000 pounds per square inch (psi). Consequently, the molds are expensive and labor intensive to design and build, often taking several days or weeks to complete. This severely limits the practicality of making multiple design changes to refine the end product or the mold itself. While suitable for large manufacturing runs of thousands of parts, conventional injection molding machines with metal molds cannot provide a cost effective, timely solution to the problem of producing small quantities of silicone rubber parts where fast turnaround time and the ability to quickly iterate designs and try multiple design variations are paramount.
Thus, an opportunity arises to improve the molding technology for small quantities of liquid silicone rubber parts and achieve rapid time to delivery of a first part and prototypes made of the same production material to be used in the final product, while obviating the need for expensive injection molding machines and metal molds.

3D printed injection side of a multi-piece mold with internal thermal manifold


A bioelectrode sheet (100) is configured to be affixed to the skin of a subject, a drug (104b) being mixed in an adhesive layer (104) provided at a peripheral position of a conductive gel layer (103) so as to avoid the conductive gel layer (103). The drug (104b) admixed with the adhesive layer (104) can thereby be caused to penetrate the body while biological information is acquired by an electrode (102) via the conductive gel layer (103).

A surface electrocardiogram is obtained by affixing a bioelectrode sheet including an electrode fitted therein to a body surface of a subject and measuring an electric potential received through this bioelectrode sheet by an electrocardiograph. The bioelectrode sheet of this type is described, for example, in Patent Literature (hereinafter, abbreviated as PTL) 1 and PTL 2.
PTL 3 also describes a bioelectrode sheet including conductive gel. The conductive gel disposed between a probe and a skin can help to improve conductivity between the probe and the skin. In consideration of the bioelectrode sheet affixed to the skin for the long period of time, PTL 3 further describes that such a material of the conductive gel is used that dermal inflammation hardly occurs even in a case where the bioelectrode sheet is affixed for a period of at least approximately one week.


There is disclosed a method for producing azo dye compounds, which comprises reacting a compound represented by formula (I) or (II) with a coupling component, in the presence of an oxidizing agent. ##STR1## wherein Z.sup.1 and Z.sup.2 each represent an acyl group, a carbamoyl group, an alkoxycarbonyl group, or an aryloxycarbonyl group; X.sup.1, X.sup.2, X.sup.3, X.sup.4, and X.sup.5, each represent a hydrogen atom or a substituent, provided that the sum of the Hammett substituent constant .sigma.p values of X.sup.1, X.sup.3, and X.sup.5 and the Hammett substituent constant .sigma.m values of X.sup.2 and X.sup.4 is 0.80 or more but 3.80 or below; and R.sup.3 represents a heterocyclic group. According to the above method, azo dye compounds can be produced in a high yield by the use of hydrazines or azo compounds, both of which are safe raw materials, rather than a diazonium salt compound that involves a risk of explosion.

With respect to producing an azo compound, various methods have long been known, including those by means of oxidation reaction, reduction reaction, substitution reaction, addition reaction, or condensation reaction, and other methods, as described in Shin-jikken Kagaku Koza (Maruzen Co. Ltd.), Vol. 14-III, pp. 1516 to 1534. However, most of the methods that have been employed as industrial preparation methods of azo dye compounds are processes whereby a diazonium salt and a coupling component, such as anilines and phenols, are subjected to an azo coupling reaction, from such points of view as availability of raw materials, cost, and yield. Such methods have the drawbacks that the diazonium salt is at risk of exploding, and further the yield is low in accordance with some kinds of diazonium salts and coupling components. Specifically, it is difficult to prepare a diazonium salt having bonded thereto an electron-attracting group, and eventually the production of such a compound necessitates a reaction under a strongly acidic condition. Consequently, when a diazonium compound has a functional group that is unstable under an acidic condition, the above-mentioned reaction cannot be applied to the compound, so the use of such a method is greatly restricted. In particular, among these diazonium salts, many heterocyclic diazonium salts are unstable, and therefore a widely applicable method for the production of a diazonium compound is not yet known. Further, with respect to a coupling component, it is known in a diazo-coupling method that, when the coupling position is unsubstituted, or is substituted with a special substituent, such as a formyl group and a carboxyl group, a coupling reaction proceeds efficiently, whereas when the coupling position is substituted with a substituent, such as a halogen atom (e.g. a fluorine atom, a chlorine atom, a bromine atom), an aryloxy group, and an acyloxy group, almost no dye is formed.
Further, an alternative method, whereby an azo dye compound is prepared by reacting a sulfonylhydrazine compound with a coupling component in a photographic light-sensitive material, is described in, for example, European Patent Nos. 545491A1 and 565165A1. However, according to this method, only when the coupling position of a coupling component is unsubstituted, or is substituted with a special substituent, such as a formyl group or a carboxyl group, in the same manner as a diazonium salt, does a reaction proceed efficiently. Furthermore, the yield of this method is also low.


A method for controlling a dispersion size of an elastomer in a thermoplastic elastomer composition having improved durability and impermeability obtained by melt-mixing (A) a halogenated isobutylene elastomer, (B) polyamide and (C) a dispersion aid, and dynamically vulcanizing the resultant blend to form the dynamically vulcanized polymer blend, wherein the halogenated isobutylene elastomer is dispersed in the polyamide matrix at a volume-average dispersion diameter of less than 2.0 μm.

EP722850B1 disclosed a low-permeability thermoplastic elastomer composition that is superior as a gas-barrier layer in pneumatic tires. This thermoplastic composition comprises a low-permeability thermoplastic matrix such as polyamides or blends of polyamides, in which a low-permeability rubber, such as brominated poly(isobutylene-co-p-methylstyrene) (i.e., BIMS), is dispersed. Subsequently, in both EP857761A1 and EP969039A1, viscosity ratio between the thermoplastic matrix and the rubber dispersion was specified as a function of the volume fraction ratio and independently to be close to one in order to achieve phase continuity in thermoplastic and fine rubber dispersions, respectively. Criticality of smaller rubber dispersions was recognized in EP969039A1 in these thermoplastic elastomers for delivering acceptable durability especially for their usage as innerliners in pneumatic tires.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for controlling dispersion size of elastomer in thermoplastic elastomer composition


A detector of terahertz (THz) energy includes a MOSFET having an extended source region, and a channel region depleted of free carriers, which MOSFET operates in a sub-threshold voltage state and has an output that is an exponential function of THz energy supplied to the gate.

Several references, cited at the end of this patent specification, are identified by numbers in square brackets in the description below and are hereby incorporated by reference.
THz radiation typically denotes electromagnetic energy in an ITU-designated band of frequencies from 0.3 to 3 terahertz (1 THz=1012 Hz) and wavelengths ranging from 1 mm to 0.1 mm (100 μm). This is a range between microwaves and infrared light, and shares some properties with each. Like infrared and microwave radiation, THz radiation is understood to travel in a line-of-sight and to be non-ionizing, which makes it safer for biological tissue. Like microwave radiation, THz radiation can pass through some non-conducting materials such as clothing, paper, cardboard, wood, masonry, plastic, and ceramics. THz radiation can be modulated by differences in water content and density of tissue and therefore can be used for imaging. Some materials of interest in various fields, including security, have spectral "fingerprints" in the THz range, which opens prospects for combining spectral identification with imaging. The short wavelength of THz radiation can contribute to high spatial resolution in imaging and to high bandwidth in communications.
Despite such potential advantages of THz radiation, progress in utilizing it has been hindered by difficulties in detecting such radiation. Known THz detectors include pyroelectric sensors, Schottky barrier diodes, and GaAs field-effect transistors. The known detectors have limitations such as low sensitivity, slow speed, requirements for cryogenic cooling, and difficulty scaling to array formats suitable for THz imaging. Proposals have been made for using CMOS transistors but in modes that suffer from low efficiency particularly at higher frequencies. Infrared focal plane arrays (FPAs) have been proposed for THz imaging experiments but the detection efficiency is believed low, typically less than 5%. Researchers have explored metamaterlal (MM) devices, which are sub-wavelength elements in which their structure rather than their composition dominates their electromagnetic properties. MMs have been proposed for creating resonant absorber structures. Plasmonic devices have been proposed for use in surface plasmon resonance (SPR), where incident light resonantly couples with surface plasmons at a metal/dielectric interface.
The challenge of discovering efficient and effective THz detectors has remained for a long time. This patent specification is directed to meeting that challenge and providing advantageous systems utilizing novel THz detectors.

THz radiation detection in standard CMOS technologies based on thermionic emission


An image fixing device for heating and fixing an unfixed image on a recording medium has a heater, a measuring device for measuring the electrical energization time of the heater per unit time, and a control for decreasing the quantity of the recording medium passing a fixing position per unit time when the measured time by the measuring device reaches a predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image fixing device for use in a recording apparatus such as a copying apparatus of the electrophotographic type, and more particularly to an image fixing device for fixing an unfixed toner on a recording medium by a plurality of heat generating members.
2. Related Background Art
In a recording apparatus according to the prior art, a heat generating member provided in a fixing roller as a fixing member has been great in heat capacity. Therefore, when heat fixing is to be done after a toner image is transferred to transfer paper as a transfer medium, much time is required until the temperature of the heat generating member rises to a desired temperature necessary to melt a toner. Thus, the heat generating member is made to continue it heat generating state from the start till the end of an image forming process. However, the time when the heat generation of the heat generating member becomes necessary is the time when the transfer paper passes through the fixing nip portion and the unfixed toner adhering to the transfer paper is melted and fixed. During the other times, the heat generating member simply radiates heat energy, and this has given rise to the problem that it is not economical and moreover the heat adversely affects the devices around the fixing device.
For this reason, in recent years, the demand for energy saving has also been heightening in recording apparatuses. Particularly in recording apparatuses of the heat fixing type, the electric power consumed by the fixing device is great and in a halogen heater or the like, the rush power during electrical energization is also great and greatly affects the other devices. Therefore, in the latest recording apparatuses, there has been put into practical use a fixing device small in heat capacity and short in wait up time in which the electric power consumed is made as small as possible. On the other hand, the need for recording apparatuses has been widening and the sizes of the paper handled in recording apparatuses ranges widely from A5 to A3.
Therefore, to make the recording apparatus cope with various sizes of paper while reducing the electric power consumed by the fixing device, heat generating members matching the sizes of the paper become necessary and a fixing device having a plurality of heat generating members has been devised. However, even such a fixing device of the energy saving type which has a plurality of heat generating members in accordance with the sizes of paper and can secure a sufficient fixing property under ordinary environment suffers from the problem that the fixing performance is remarkably reduced when the ambient environmental temperature is low and cold paper is to be fixed or when a source voltage applied to the heat generating members is low.

Image fixing device having means for controlling conveyance a transfer medium


Multiple transform utilization and applications for secure digital watermarking. In one embodiment of the present invention, digital blocks in digital information to be protected are transformed into the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform. A plurality of frequencies and associated amplitudes are identified for each of the transformed digital blocks and a subset of the identified amplitudes is selected for each of the digital blocks using a primary mask from a key. Message information is selected from a message using a transformation table generated with a convolution mask. The chosen message information is encoded into each of the transformed digital blocks by altering the selected amplitudes based on the selected message information.

Increasingly, commercially valuable information is being created and stored in "digital" form. For example, music, photographs and video can all be stored and transmitted as a series of numbers, such as 1's and 0's. Digital techniques let the original information be recreated in a very accurate manner. Unfortunately, digital techniques also let the information be easily copied without the owner's permission.
Digital watermarks exist at a convergence point where creators and publishers of digitized multimedia content demand local, secure identification and authentication of content. Because piracy discourages the distribution of valuable digital information, establishing responsibility for copies and derivative copies of such works is important. The goal of a digital watermark system is to insert a given information signal or signals in such a manner as to leave little or no artifacts, with one standard being perceptibility, in the underlying content signal, while maximizing its encoding level and "location sensitivity" in the signal to force damage to the content signal when removal is attempted. In considering the various forms of multimedia content, whether "master," stereo, National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) video, audio tape or compact disc, tolerance of quality will vary with individuals and affect the underlying commercial and aesthetic value of the content. It is desirable to tie copyrights, ownership rights, purchaser information or some combination of these and related data into the content in such a manner that the content undergoes damage, and therefore reduction of its value, with subsequent unauthorized distribution, commercial or otherwise. Digital watermarks address many of these concerns and research in the field has provided a rich basis for extremely robust and secure implementations.
Of particular concern is the balance between the value of a digitized "piece" of content and the cost of providing worthwhile "protection" of that content. In a parallel to real world economic behavior, the perceived security of a commercial bank does not cause people to immediately deposit cash because of the expense and time required to perform a bank deposit. For most individuals, possession of a US$100 bill does not require any protection beyond putting it into a wallet. The existence of the World Wide Web, or "Web," does not implicitly indicate that value has been created for media which can be digitized, such as audio, still images and other media. The Web is simply a medium for information exchange, not a determinant for the commercial value of content. The Web's use to exchange media does, however, provide information that helps determine this value, which is why responsibility over digitized content is desirable. Note that digital watermarks are a tool in this process, but they no not replace other mechanisms for establishing more public issues of ownership, such as copyrights. Digital watermarks, for example, do not replace the "historical average" approach to value content. That is, a market of individuals willing to make a purchase based solely on the perceived value of the content. By way of example, a picture distributed over the Internet, or any other electronic exchange, does not necessarily increase the underlying value of the picture, but the opportunity to reach a greater audience by this form of "broadcast" may be a desirable mechanism to create "potentially" greater market-based valuations. That decision rests solely with the rights holder in question.
Indeed, in many cases, depending on the time value of the content, value may actually be reduced if access is not properly controlled. With a magazine sold on a monthly basis, it is difficult to assess the value of pictures in the magazine beyond the time the magazine is sold. Compact disc valuations similarly have time-based variables, as well as tangible variables such as packaging versus the package-less electronic exchange of the digitized audio signals. The Internet only provides a means to more quickly reach consumers and does not replace the otherwise "market-based" value. Digital watermarks, properly implemented, add a necessary layer of ownership determination which will greatly assist in determining and assessing value when they are "provably secure." The present invention improves digital watermarking technology while offering a means to properly "tamper proof" digitized content in a manner analogous to methods for establishing authenticity of real world goods.
A general weakness in digital watermark technology relates directly to the way watermarks are implemented. Too many approaches leave detection and decode control with the implementing party of the digital watermark, not the creator of the work to be protected. This fundamental aspect of various watermark technologies removes proper economic incentives for improvement of the technology when third parties successfully exploit the implementation. One specific form of exploitation obscures subsequent watermark detection. Others regard successful over encoding using the same watermarking process at a subsequent time.
A set of secure digital watermark implementations address this fundamental control issue, forming the basis of "key-based" approaches. These are covered by the following patents and pending applications, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,004 entitled "Steganographic Method and Device" and its derivative U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/775,216 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,236 on Nov. 11, 1997), U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/587,944 entitled "Human Assisted Random Key Generation and Application for Digital Watermark System," (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,432 on Oct. 13, 1998); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/587,943 entitled "Method for Stega-Cipher Protection of Computer Code," (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,569 on Apr. 28, 1997); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/677,435 entitled "Optimization Methods for the Insertion, Protection, and Detection of Digital Watermarks in Digitized Data," (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,868 on Mar. 30, 1999). and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/772,222 entitled "Z-Transform Implementation of Digital Watermarks," (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,078,664). Public key crypto-systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,200,770, 4,218,582, 4,405,829 and 4,424,414, the entire disclosures of which are also hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,004 provides the following example embodiment of encoding and decoding:
III. Example Embodiment of Encoding and Decoding
A modification to standard steganographic technique is applied in the frequency domain described above, in order to encode additional information into the audio signal.
In a scheme adapted from cryptographic techniques, 2 keys are used in the actual encode and decode process. For the purposes of this invention the keys are referred to as masks. One mask, the primary, is applied to the frequency axis of FFT results, the other mask is applied to the time axis (this will be called the convolution mask). The number of bits comprising the primary mask are equal to the sample window size in samples (or the number of frequency bands computed by the FFT process), 128 in this discussion. The number of bits in the convolution mask are entirely arbitrary. This implementation will assume a time mask of 1024 bits. Generally the larger the key, the more difficult it is to guess.
Prior to encoding, the primary and convolution masks described above are generated by a cryptographically secure random generation process. It is possible to use a block cipher like DES in combination with a sufficiently pseudo-random seed value to emulate a cryptographically secure random bit generator. These keys will be saved along with information matching them to the sample stream in question in a database for use in decoding, should that step become necessary.
Prior to encoding, some additional information to be encoded into the signal is prepared and made available to the encoder, in a bit addressable manner (so that it may be read one bit at a time). If the size of the sample stream is known and the efficiency characteristics of the stega-cipher implementation are taken into account, a known limit may be imposed on the amount of this additional information.
The encoder captures one sample window at a time from the sample stream, in sequential, contiguous order. The encoder tracks the sequential number of each window it acquires. The first window is 0. When the number of windows processed reaches the number of bits in the window mask, minus one, the next value of the window counter will be reset to 0.
This counter is the convolution index or phase. In the current implementation it is used as a simple index into the convolution bitmask. In anticipated developments it will be used to perform convolution operations on the convolution mask to determine which bit to use. For instance the mask might by rotated by a number corresponding to the phase, in bits to the left and XORed with the primary mask to produce a new mask, which is then indexed by the phase. There are many possibilities for convolution.
The encoder computes the discrete FFT of the sample window.
Starting with the lowest frequency band, the encoder proceeds through each band to the highest, visiting each of the 128 frequency bands in order. At each band value, the encoder takes the bit of the primary mask corresponding to the frequency band in question, the bit of the convolution mask corresponding to the window in question, and passes these values into a boolean function. This function is designed so that it has a near perfectly random output distribution. It will return true for approximately 50% of its input permutations, and false for the other 50%. The value returned for a given set of inputs is fixed, however, so that it will always return the same value given the same set of inputs.
If the function returns true, the current frequency band in the current window is used in the encoding process, and represents a valid piece of the additional information encoded in the signal. If the function returns false, this cell, as the frequency band in a given window is called, is ignored in the process. In this manner it is made extremely difficult to extract the encoded information from the signal without the use of the exact masks used in the encoding process. This is one place in which the stega-cipher process departs from traditional steganographic implementations, which offer a trivial decode opportunity if one knows the information is present. While this increases the information storage capacity of the carrier signal, it makes decoding trivial, and further degrades the signal. Note that it is possible and desirable to modify the boolean cell flag function so that it returns true <50% of the time. In general, the fewer cells actually used in the encode, the more difficult they will be to find and the less degradation of content will be caused, provided the function is designed correctly. There is an obvious tradeoff in storage capacity for this increased security and quality.
The encoder proceeds in this manner until a complete copy of the additional information has been encoded in the carrier signal. It will be desirable to have the encoder encode multiple copies of the additional information continuously over the duration of the carrier signal, so that a complete instance of this information may be recovered from a smaller segment of a larger signal which has been split into discontinuous pieces or otherwise edited. It is therefore desirable to minimize the size of the information to be encoded using both compact design and pre-encoding compression, thus maximizing redundant encoding, and recoverability from smaller segments. In a practical implementation of this system it is likely the information will be first compressed by a known method, and then encrypted using public-key techniques, before being encoded into the carrier signal.
The encoder will also prepare the package of additional information so that it contains an easily recognizable start of message delimeter, which can be unique to each encoding and stored along with the keys, to serve as a synchronization signal to a decoder. The detection of this delimeter in a decoding window signifies that the decoder can be reasonably sure it is aligned to the sample stream correctly and can proceed in a methodic window by window manner. These delimeters will require a number of bits which minimizes the probability that this bit sequence is not reproduced in a random occurrence, causing an accidental misalignment of the decoder. A minimum of 256 bits is recommended. In the current implementation 1024 bits representing a start of message delimeter are used. If each sample is random, then each bit has a 50% probably of matching the delimeter and the conditional probability of a random match would be ½1024. In practice, the samples are probably somewhat less than random, increasing the probability of a match somewhat.
The decode process uses the same masks in the same manner, only in this case the information is extracted one bit at a time from the carrier signal.
The decoder is assumed to have access to the proper masks used to encode the information originally. These masks might be present in a database, which can be indexed by a value, or values computed from the original content, in a manner insensitive to the modifications to the content caused by the stega-cipher process. So, given an arbitrary piece of content, a decoder might first process the content to generate certain key values, and then retrieve the decode masks associated with the matching key values from the database. In the case where multiple matches occur, or none are found, it is conceivable that all mask sets in the database could be tried sequentially until a valid decode is achieved, or not, indicating no information is present.
In the application of this process, it is anticipated that encoding operations may be done on a given piece of content up to 3 times, each adding new information and using new masks, over a sub-segment of the content, and that decode operations will be done infrequently. It is anticipated that should it become necessary to do a search of a large number of masks to find a valid decode, that this process can be optimized using a guessing technique based on close key matching, and that it is not a time critical application, so it will be feasible to test large numbers of potential masks for validity on a given piece of content, even if such a process takes days or weeks on powerful computers to do a comprehensive search of known mask sets.
The decode process is slightly different in the following respect. Whereas the encoding process can start at any arbitrary point in the sample stream, the decode process does not known where the encode process began (the exact offset in samples to the start of the first window). Even though the encode process, by convention, starts with sample 0, there is no guarantee that the sample stream has not been edited since encoding, leaving a partial window at the start of the sample stream, and thus requiring the decoder to find the first complete window to start the decode. Therefore, the decode process will start at the first sample, and shift the sample window along by 1 sample, keeping the window index at 0, until it can find a valid decode delimeter encoded in the window. At this point, the decoder knows it has synchronized to the encoder, and can then proceed to process contiguous windows in a more expedient manner.
By way of improving these digital watermark security methods, utilization of multiple transforms, manipulation of signal characteristics and the requisite relationship to the mask set or "key" used for encoding and decoding operations are envisioned, as are optimized combinations of these methods. While encoding a watermark may ultimately differ only slightly in terms of the transforms used in the encoding algorithm, the greater issues of an open, distributed architecture requires more robust approaches to survive attempts at erasure, or even means for making detection of the watermark impossible. These "attacks," when computationally compared, may be diametrically related. For instance, cropping and scaling differ in signal processing orientation, and can result in the weakening of a particular watermarking approach but not all watermarking approaches.
Currently available approaches that encode using either a block-based or entire data set transform necessarily encode data in either the spatial or frequency domains, but never both domains. A simultaneous crop and scale affects the spatial and frequency domains enough to obscure most available watermark systems. The ability to survive multiple manipulations is an obvious benefit to those seeking to ensure the security of their watermarked media. The present invention seeks to improve on key-based approaches to watermarking previously disclosed, while offering greater control of the subsequently watermarked content to rights owners and content creators.
Many currently available still image watermarking applications are fundamentally different from the key-based implementations. Such products include products offered by Digimarc and Signum, which seek to provide a robust watermark by encoding watermark messages that rely entirely on comparisons with the original image for decode operations. The subsequent result of the transform, a discrete cosine transform performed in blocks, is digital signed. The embedded watermarks lack any relationship to the perceptual qualities of the image, making inverse application of the publicly available decoders a very good first line of attack. Similarly, the encoding process may be applied by third parties, as demonstrated by some robustness tests, using one process to encode over the result of an image watermarked with another process. Nonrepudiation of the watermark is not possible, because Digimarc and Signum act as the repository of all registrations of the image's ownership.
Another line of attack is a low pass filter that removes some of the high frequency noise that has been added, making error-free detection difficult or impossible. Finally, many tests of a simple JPEG transform indicate the watermarks may not survive as JPEG is based on the same transforms as the encoding transforms used by the watermarking process. Other notable implementations, such as that offered by Signafy (developed by NEC researchers), appear to encode watermark messages by performing a transform of the entire image. The goal of this process is to more consistently identify "candidate" watermark bits or regions of the image to encode in perceptually significant regions of the signal. Even so, Signafy relies on the original unwatermarked image to accomplish decoding.
All of these methods still rely on the original unwatermarked image to ensure relatively error-free detection of the watermarks. The steganographic method seeks to provide watermark security without an original unwatermarked copy of the media for decode operations, as well as providing users cryptographic security with ciphered symmetric keys. That is, the same key is used for encode and decode operations. Public key pairs, where each user has a public/private key pair to perform asymmetric encode and decode operations, can also be used. Discussions of public key encryption and the benefits related to encryption are well documented. The growing availability of a public key infrastructure also indicates recognition of provable security. With such key-based implementations of watermarking, security can be off-loaded to the key, providing for a layered approach to security and authentication of the watermark message as well as the watermarked content.
It is known that attacks on the survivability of other implementations are readily available. Interesting network-based attacks on the watermark message are also known which fool the central registration server into assuming an image is owned by someone other than the registered owner. This also substantiates the concern that centralized watermarking technologies are not robust enough to provide proper assurances as to the ownership of a given digitized copy of an multimedia work.
Because the computational requirements of performing multiple transforms may not be prohibitive for certain media types, such as still images and audio, the present invention seeks to provide a means to securely watermark media without the need for an original unwatermarked copy to perform decoding. These transforms may be performed in a manner not plainly evident to observers or the owner of the content, who may assume the watermark is still detectable. Additionally, where a particular media type is commonly compressed (JPEG, MPEG, etc.), multiple transforms may be used to properly set the mask sets, prior to the watermarking process, to alert a user to survivability prior to the release of a watermarked, and thus perceived, "safe" copy to unknown parties. The result of the present invention is a more realistic approach to watermarking taking the media type, as well as the provable security of the keys into consideration. A more trusted model for electronic commerce is therefore possible.
The creation of an optimized "envelope" for insertion of watermarks to establish secured responsibility for digitally-sampled content provides the basis of much watermark security but is also a complementary goal of the present invention. The predetermined or random key that is generated is not only an essential map to access the hidden information signal, but is also the a subset of the original signal making direct comparisons with the original signal unnecessary. This increases the overall security of the digital watermark.
Survival of simultaneous cropping and scaling is a difficult task with image and audio watermarking, where such transformations are common with the inadvertent use of images and audio, and with intentional attacks on the watermark. The corresponding effects in audio are far more obvious, although watermarks which are strictly "frequency-based," such as variations of spread spectrum, suffer from alignment issues in audio samples which have been "cropped," or clipped from the original length of the piece. Scaling is far more noticeable to the human auditory system, though slight changes may affect frequency-only-type watermarks while not being apparent to a consumer. The far greater threat to available audio watermark applications, most of which are variations of frequency-based embedded signaling, are generally time-based transformations, including time-based compression and expansion of the audio signal. Signafy is an example of spread spectrum-based watermarking, as are applications by Solana Technology, CRL, BBN, MIT, etc. "Spatial domain" approaches are more appropriate designations for the technologies deployed by Digimarc, Signum, ARIS, Arbitron, etc. Interestingly, a time-based approached when considered for images is basically a "spatial-based" approach. The pixels are "convolutional." The difference being that the "spread spectrum-ed" area of the frequencies is "too" well-defined and thus susceptible to over-encoding of random noise at the same sub-bands as that of the embedded signal.
Giovanni uses a block-based approach for the actual watermark. However, it is accompanied by image-recognition capable of restoring a scaled image to its original scale. This "de-scaling" is applied before the image is decoded. Other systems used a "differencing" of the original image with the watermarked image to "de-scale." It is clear that de-scaling is inherently important to the survival of any image, audio or video watermark. What is not clear is that the differencing operation is acceptable from a security standpoint. Moreover, differencing that must be carried out by the watermarking "authority," instead of the user or creator of the image, causes the rights owner to lose control over the original unwatermarked content. Aside from utilizing the mask set within the encoding/decoding key/key pair, the original signal must be used. The original is necessary to perform detection and decoding, although with the attacks described above it is not possible to clearly establish ownership over the watermarked content.
In view of the foregoing, it can be appreciated that a substantial need exists for multiple transform utilization and applications for secure digital watermarking that solve the problems discussed above.

Multiple transform utilization and application for secure digital watermarking


A fluid ejection head comprises a heater disposed in a fluid path. A bubble is generated by supplying electric power to the heater, and ink is ejected in a direction substantially parallel to a face of the heater. The fluid path is shaped to have a first part with a constant-sectional area adjacent to an ejection orifice a second part located behind the first part and containing the heater. The cross-sectional area of the second part increases by twice as large as the cross-sectional area of the ejection orifice, a length (A) between an end of the first part of the fluid path and a top end of the heater is greater than or equal to half of the height Ph of the ejection orifice, and a shortest gap between the ejection orifice and the heater is less than or equal to a sum of a half of the height Ph of the ejection orifice and a length (L) of the first part of the fluid path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid ejection head for ejecting fluid by thermal energy and a fluid ejection recording apparatus using this fluid ejection head. This invention can be applicable to an apparatus for ejecting fluid for various and is purposes especially preferable for use in a printer and its application apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many technical papers and articles on fluid ejecting technologies using thermal energy are found in the field of recording information on a recording medium. In recording information by ejecting fluid by using thermal energy, for example, an electric resistance element is used as means for generating energy for ejecting fluid. The electric resistance element defines a heat applying face which directly or indirectly applies thermal energy to fluid. By applying thermal energy to fluid in a short period of time, film boiling occurs in fluid and a bubble caused by this film boiling grows. And hence, a pressure wave induced by this bubble growing pushes fluid outside an ejection orifice so as to record images on a recording media.
In the recording method by ejecting ink fluid, as a plurality of ejection orifices for ejecting fluid for recording can be arranged in high density, expected are various advantages such as attaining the high resolution images on a recording medium and making the recording head in a small-sized element.
However, in trying to arrange a plurality of ejection orifices with fine intervals, it is required that the size of the cross section of a fluid paths should be taken to be small enough. In this case, as the impedance and the inertance of the fluid path may be high, the refill time after ejecting ink fluid, the time defined for refilling fresh ink fluid again in the fluid path from the supply port and forming a meniscus near the ejection orifice is getting longer, and this creates an obstacle for attaining high speed recording.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 204,352/1985, disclosed is an ink jet recording head where a fluid resistor for reducing the amount of fluid flowing back to a supply port side is installed in the fluid path between the electric resistance element and the supply port in order to make fluid ejection operations stable. In this prior art, it may be difficult to fabricate an ink jet recording head having a complex structure including the fluid resistor and to control the fluid flow precisely, and distinguished advantages cannot be expected.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 87,356/1989, disclosed is an ink jet recording head where the cross-section of the fluid path in the perpendicular direction to the fluid flow is increased as it goes to the ejection orifice in order to use kinetic energy of the above mentioned bubble efficiently to be converted for ejecting ink fluid. And furthermore, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 195,050/1989, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,787, an embodiment of a fluid path is disclosed where the height of the fluid path near the thermal energy supplying part, that is, the electric resistance element, is relatively higher than other parts of the fluid path so that the fluid path may not be plugged by the bubbles, which is also one embodiment of the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 139,970/1981, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,899. In case, however, only a single objective is set forth it does not further increase combinational effects.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,787, discloses a structure of the fluid path, the cross-section of which increases in the direction toward the common fluid reservoir in order to increase refilling performances, the relative difference of fluid impedance increases and the location of developing the bubble by thermal energy is shifted to the common fluid reservoir. This contradicts the objective of making the fluid path shorter.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 59,672/1987 which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,251, a wall covering around the electric resistance element generating thermal energy is formed by a hard layer made of photosensitive resin materials. This invention advances the reduction of friction loss between the wall and the fluid.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 109,669/1980, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,899 disclosed is use of an element for generating thermal energy and that large-grained sludges in ink fluid are trapped by forming a coupling part with its cross-section less than or equal to the cross-section of the ejection orifice in the fluid path. In this invention, many modifications of shapes of the fluid path are described in detail, but the relative position of the electric resistance element in the fluid path is not described at all. According to drawings of this gazette, it may be understood that the electric resistance element may be located in the region of the fluid path where the cross-section is reduced toward the ejection orifice.
So far, there are many prior arts which disclose the structure of the fluid path and the layout of heat generation elements such as a heater or an electric resistance element, but none of them refers to altering the fluid ejection operations.

Fluid ejection head with multi-dimensional fluid path


High spatial resolution radiation detectors, assemblies and methods including methods of making the radiation detectors and using the detectors in performing radiation detection. A radiation detector of the invention includes a substrate, a scintillator layer comprising a microcolumnar scintillator, and an optically transparent outer cover layer, the scintillator layer disposed between the substrate and the cover layer with a gap disposed between at least a portion of the cover layer and the scintillator layer.

The present invention relates generally to radiation detectors and methods. More specifically, the present invention relates to high spatial resolution radiation detectors, assemblies and methods including methods of making the radiation detectors and using the detectors in performing radiation detection.
Scintillation spectrometers are widely used in detection and spectroscopy of energetic photons and/or particles (e.g., X-rays and gamma-rays). Such detectors are commonly used, for example, in nuclear and particle physics research, medical imaging, diffraction, non destructive testing, nuclear treaty verification and safeguards, nuclear non-proliferation monitoring, and geological exploration.
A wide variety of scintillators are now available and new scintillator compositions are being developed. Among currently available scintillators, thallium-doped alkali halide scintillators have proven useful and practical in a variety of applications. One example includes thallium doped cesium iodide (CsI(Tl)), which is a highly desired material for a wide variety of medical and industrial applications due to its excellent detection properties, low cost, and easy availability. Having a high conversion efficiency, a rapid initial decay, an emission in the visible range, and cubic structure that allows fabrication into microcolumnar films (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,996), CsI(Tl) has found use in radiological imaging applications. Furthermore, its high density, high atomic number, and transparency to its own light make CsI(Tl) a material of choice for X-ray and gamma-ray spectroscopy, homeland security applications, and nuclear medicine applications such as intra-operative surgical probes and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography or SPECT.
Scintillation spectrometry generally comprises a multi-step scheme. Specifically, scintillators work by converting energetic particles such as X-rays, gamma-rays, and the like, into a more easily detectable signal (e.g., visible light). Incident energetic photons are stopped by the scintillator material of the device and, as a result, the scintillator produces light photons mostly in the visible light range that can be detected, e.g., by a suitably placed photodetector. Various possible scintillator detector configurations are known. In general, scintillator based detectors typically include a scintillator material optically coupled to a photodetector. In many instances, scintillator material is incorporated into a radiation detection device by first depositing the scintillator material on a suitable substrate. A suitable substrate can include a photodetector or a portion thereof, or a separate scintillator panel is fabricated by depositing scintillator on a passive substrate, which is then incorporated into a detection device.
Improving performance of scintillator detectors is generally of great interest, for example, in order to make scintillation based detectors more useful and capable of filling existing and emerging technical needs. In imaging applications, for example, spatial resolution, or the minimum distance between distinguishable objects in an image, is one of the most important parameters. Recent advances in scintillator compositions and detector configurations, for example, have allowed improved spatial resolution, but further improvements are needed.
Thus, there is a need for improved techniques and methods, as well as devices and assemblies, for increasing performance parameters such as spatial resolution in scintillation based radiation detectors.


In a half-tone printing process according to the invention, there is provide at least one half-tone printing stencil having at least two regions which have stencil opening structures which are uniform but different from region to region. A sample print is carried out, using such a half-tone printing stencil, to produce printed images associated with the respective regions. A comparison is made of optical data of the respective printed images with corresponding desired values. Readjustment of printing parameters can occur based upon the comparison in such a way that the optical data in the case of the next print approach the corresponding desired values. To this end, there may preferably be an optical measuring device for measuring the optical data in the prescribed regions of the half-tone print, and a control unit altering the printing parameters as a function of the measured optical data.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a half-tone printing process.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Stencils for textile printing, which apply different quantities of colour per unit area, area by area, induced by the pattern produced (half-tone printing) are generally known. These stencils may be flat stencils or rotary printing stencils. These stencils may be screen-printing stencils, flexographic printing stencils, gravure printing stencils, etc. What is common to them all is that they have in different stencil regions stencil opening structures which are uniform but different from region to region. In the case of screen-printing stencils, in different stencil regions the screen openings of a screen which is coated with covering varnish is covered or exposed to a different extent, in order to achieve different degrees of permeability in the respective regions. However, the screen could also be manufactured from the start in such a way that it has different screen openings in different regions. The latter is also true for the flexographic stencils or gravure stencils also mentioned above, in which however, no through-openings are present. Here, the term screen opening structure refers to the depressions present in the surface of the said stencils.
As an example, let the production of a rotary screen-printing stencil be explained in more detail. Here, it is possible to use a hollow cylindrical round screen which is coated with lacquer and is thus closed and, for example by means of a laser which removes the lacquer coating, can be opened over the entire area or partially. If the lacquer layer can be polymerized, the laser could also be used only for the point by point exposure of the lacquer layer, in order to cure the latter. A development process would then be carried out in order to remove the non-exposed regions of the varnish layer. However, it is also possible to produce a pattern consisting of a large number of small, for example hexagonal, screen points of different size, on a nickel cylinder (hollow cylinder) which is coated with lacquer, by on the one hand removing the lacquer or, on the other hand, by exposing and developing the lacquer. In any case, a laser beam is caused to scan the surface of the screen or of the hollow cylinder, for example following closely adjacent helical lines, and the laser beam is pulsed. In the case of the hollow cylindrical round screen, the varnish is thus removed from the screen cylinder in the form of small openings, and a non-uniform, perforated varnish structure is then overlaid on the uniformly perforated screen. The stencil which is produced in this way can be used directly for printing. In the other case mentioned, of the completely closed cover of a hollow cylinder, a varnish structure or stencil opening structure consisting of a large number of small and separate points is produced by means of the laser beam via the abovementioned processing. These points are produced in different sizes, to be specific from pattern region to pattern region, and the cylinder formed in this way is subjected to a further electroplating process in order to coat it with nickel. In this case, nickel is deposited at the exposed points on the metallic cover of the hollow cylinder, whereas at those points at which a varnish point has remained, a hole is produced in the nickel coating. During this electroplating process, a sleeve or electroplated stencil is thus obtained having openings distributed in accordance with the pattern and of different diameters in different pattern regions, for which reason different amounts of ink pass through the respective pattern regions later during printing.
In the case of the varnished stencils, the different permeability of the stencil regions is produced by means of on times or off times of different lengths of the engraving laser beam.
Stencils of the type mentioned above can also be produced, however, by spraying a liquid onto the stencil base cylinder. In this case, the different permeability of the stencil regions is produced by means of on times or off times of different length of a spraying nozzle which is used. For example, it would be possible by this means to coat a uniformly perforated screen in an appropriate way with covering lacquer, in order immediately to obtain different regions having in each case a different degree of permeability. This is correspondingly true for the coating lacquer layer which is sprayed onto the closed surface of a supporting body for the production by electroplating of a corresponding screen. In the case of a screen, it would also be possible to spray an opaque liquid in pattern onto a polymerizable coating layer, following which large-area exposure is carried out. Following the curing of the non-covered layer regions, a development process would then be carried out.
One of the difficulties which occurs here is that many settings of operating parameters both on the engraver or laser engraver and also on the printing machine are left to the judgement and the skill of the engraver or of the printer and, as a result, unintentional, severe deviations from the intensity profile aimed at for the half-tone print are produced precisely in the region of the half-tone print. Even if a half-tone stencil has been engraved with the nominally correct opening relationships, that is to say with the nominally correct permeability relationships or degrees of permeability, some of the inks may be applied with the wrong intensity as the result of an unintentionally wrongly set printing machine or one of the printing stations.
In the case of polychromatic printing, in particular, this immediately leads to an appreciable disturbance in the colour reproduction, which simply means that those colours whose correct reproduction is based on the maintenance of exact quantity relationships of the individual components are completely wrongly reproduced in terms of colour.