A multi-step polishing process for producing dopant-striation-free semiconductor wafers. The process includes polishing a surface of the wafer using a sodium stabilized colloidal silica slurry, an amine accelerant, and an alkaline etchant, polishing the surface of the wafer using a sodium stabilized colloidal silica slurry and an alkaline etchant which is substantially free of amine accelerants, and polishing the surface of the wafer using an ammonia stabilized colloidal silica slurry and an alkaline etchant which is substantially free of amine accelerants.

The present invention relates generally to a process for polishing semiconductor wafers. In particular, the present invention provides a polishing process for producing dopant-striation-free polished semiconductor wafers.
Polished semiconductor wafers, such as silicon wafers, are typically obtained by slicing a single crystal ingot in a direction normal to the axis of the ingot to produce thin wafers, grinding the wafers to planarize their front and back surfaces, etching the planarized wafers to remove damage created by the slicing and grinding, and chemically/mechanically polishing at least one of the etched surfaces with a colloidal silica slurry and a chemical etchant to ensure the wafer has a highly reflective damage-free surface. Prior to polishing, the surface of the wafers typically exhibit surface roughness on the front surface and/or back surface of the wafer. In general, surface roughness appears as jagged irregularities and is characterized by a peak to peak distance of less than about 100 .mu.m with an amplitude or vertical distance from peak to valley of about 70 nm to about 100 nm.
To reduce the surface roughness, wafers are typically polished using a three step polishing process wherein at least one surface of the wafer is subjected to an initial rough polish to remove the low frequency roughness, an intermediate polish to further reduce the low frequency component of roughness after the initial rough polish, and finally a finish polish to reduce the high frequency roughness. In conventional three step polishing processes, three separate polishing apparatus are used to perform the rough, intermediate and finish polishing steps.
The polishing method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,373 improves upon conventional three-step methods discussed above, by providing a polishing method, wherein a multi-step rough polishing process is used to perform both the rough and intermediate polishing steps on one apparatus. The method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,373 reduces both the cost and complexity of the overall polishing process over the conventional three step polishing method.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,373, the rough and intermediate polish are performed on one apparatus by mounting the wafer in a first polishing apparatus, applying a sodium stabilized colloidal silica slurry and an amine reinforce alkaline etchant, such as a solution of potassium hydroxide and ethylene diamine, to a polishing material, contacting the polishing material, sodium stabilized colloidal silica slurry and amine reinforced alkaline etchant with the surface of the wafer, discontinuing the sodium stabilized colloidal silica slurry and applying an ammonia stabilized colloidal silica slurry. The wafer is quenched with an acidic solution, water rinsed, removed from the first polishing apparatus and transferred to a second polishing apparatus for finish polishing. The wafer is then finish polished on the second polishing apparatus using an ammonia stabilized colloidal silica slurry and an amine reinforced alkaline etchant on a high nap polishing material, to produce a haze free wafer having a surface roughness characterized by a peak to peak distance of less than about 100 .mu.m and an amplitude or vertical distance from peak to valley of less than about 1 nm as measured on a 1 mm.times.1 mm scan with an optical interferometer.
Several wafers polished by the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,373, while exhibiting superior surface roughness, may nevertheless exhibit dopant striations.
As schematically illustrated in FIGS. 1(a)-1(c), dopant striations differ from surface roughness in that dopant striations appear as annular surface irregularities concentrically positioned around the axis of the wafer, while surface roughness appears as jagged surface irregularities randomly distributed across the surface of the wafer.
FIG. 1(a) schematically illustrates a perfectly flat wafer in cross section wherein the front surface 1 and the back surface 2 are ideal planer surfaces, perpendicular to the axis 3 of the wafer. FIG. 1(b) schematically illustrates a wafer exhibiting roughness in cross section. Finally,
FIG. 1(c) schematically illustrates a wafer exhibiting dopant striations in cross section, wherein an ideal planer surface 4 is normal to the axis 3 of the wafer, and tangential to a valley 5 of the striations. The amplitude of the dopant striations is equal to the distance from peak 6 adjacent to valley 5 to the ideal planer surface 4 (ie. the vertical distance from peak to valley). The wavelength is equal to the distance from peak 6 of one dopant striation, to peak 7 of the immediately adjacent dopant striation. The amplitude of the dopant striations typically ranges from at least about 10 nm to at least about 100 nm from peak to valley and the wave length, or distance from the peak of one striation to the peak of the immediately adjacent striation generally ranges from about 0.5 to about 10 mm. The amplitude and the wave length may vary across the surface of the wafer.
Dopant striations can be revealed using a "Magic Mirror" inspection tool, wherein light is reflected off of the wafer surface onto an imaging device. The imaging device produces a black and white image of the reflected light with dopant striations appearing as dark concentric rings or features in the image. In general, the Magic Mirror inspection tool is capable of detecting dopant striations having an amplitude of at least about 10 nm. For example, FIG. 2 shows an image produced by a Magic Mirror inspection tool of a P.sup.+ type silicon wafer that was polished using an ethylene diamine accelerant, wherein the wafer exhibits dopant striations (ie. dark concentric rings or features). Semiconductor wafers having dopants striations with less than about 10 nm are considered to be "dopant-striation-free" as measured by the Magic Mirror inspection tool. Alternatively, dopant striations can be measured using other surface measurement devices capable of measuring the surface topology, such as an ADE SQM model CR83 surface quality monitor which is commercially available from ADE Corporation (Charlotte, S.C.).
As device technologies continue to decrease in size down to the submicron geometry, nano-topology variations in the surface of the wafer, such as dopant striations, create problems for device manufacturers, thus device manufacturers specify featureless wafers (ie. dopant-striation-free wafers as measured by the Magic Mirror inspection tool). Therefore, semiconductor wafers exhibiting dopant striations may be rejected in the final inspection which will result in yield loss.

Polishing process for manufacturing dopant-striation-free polished silicon wafers


The invention provides a door unlocking system with the switch transmitting the signal to the central processing unit (10) according to the rotary direction of the key inserted into the key box to unlock the front and rear doors, wherein the switch is installed at the door latch (30) unlocking the driver door and the switch transmits the signal to the central processing unit according to the signal input in the key rod clip (31) to unlock the other doors, in the inserted status, the key turns to one direction to operate the switch, thereby installing the switch in the driver door regardless of the door chassis and the key rotor.

This application claims priority of Korean Patent Application number 2001-26760, filed May 16, 2001.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a door unlocking system for vehicle, and more particularly, to the door unlocking system in which a switch for simultaneously unlocking the front and rear doors is installed regardless of a door chassis and a key rotor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, the driver""s door includes a switch for transmitting a signal to a central processing unit, wherein the driver inserts the key into the key box and turns the key to one direction to simultaneously unlock the front door and rear door while the driver turns the key inserted in the key box to the other direction to simultaneously lock the front door and rear door.
The prior art (FIG. 1) shows installation of a switch 10 rearward of the key box 20, which is disadvantageous in that the narrow space between a door chassis and a key rotor does not allow the switch 10 to be installed rearward the key box 20.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a door unlocking system for unlocking the front and rear doors by outputting to the central processing unit from the switch in the directions from the neutral position of the key inserted into the key box, in which the switch is installed at the door latch for unlocking the driver s door, and the switch transmits the signal to the central processing unit according to the signal input in the key rod clip to unlock the other doors. The key rod clip and the switch are connected by a key rod link, link and a switch link. The key rod link is connected to the key rod clip at one end, the link is connected to the key rod link at the other end, and switch link is connected to the link 34 and the switch, respectively.


A phase lock loop circuit (60) has a phase frequency detector (62), a charge pump (64), an active filter (87) and a voltage-controlled oscillator (100). The phase detector generates signals responsive to reference signal FR and VCO output signal FV. A charge pump generates a voltage at the input of a first transmission gate (76) according to the values of the phase detector signals. A predetermined voltage is generated at the input of a second transmission gate (112). When the transmission gates (76, 110) are closed (low impedance) the charge pump may sink or source current to the inverting input of the operational amplifier (86) of the active filter 86 and the predetermined voltage is applied to the non-inverting input. When the transmission gates are open (high impedance state) the inverting input is electrically isolated from the node and the non-inverting output is isolated from the power supply.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to electronic circuits and, more particularly, to phase locked loop circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
A phase locked loop (PLL) synchronizes an output signal to a reference signal. Phase locked loops are used in a variety of electronic circuits for frequency synthesizing, frequency and phase modulation and demodulation, clock recovery and clock synchronization, among other uses.
FIG. 1a illustrates a basic diagram of a PLL. A phase frequency detector (PFD) 12 receives two signals, FR, a reference signal, and FV, a divided-down version of the output signal. The PFD generates UP and DN (down) signals, indicating whether the frequency of the output signal needs to increase (UP high) or decrease (DN high). The UP and DN signals are input into a loop filter 16. When UP is high and DN is low, VC rises, thereby increasing the frequency of the output of the VCO 18. Similarly, when DN is high and UP is low, VC falls, thereby decreasing the frequency of the output of the VCO 18. In many cases, a divider 20 is used to divide the frequency to a lower frequency by a factor of N; in this case Fout=N*FR.
FIG. 1b illustrates a schematic diagram of a prior art active filter that may be used as the loop filter 16 in the PLL of FIG. 1a. The DN signal from the PFD 12 is coupled to the inverting input of operational amplifier (op-amp) 22, via resistor 24. The UP signal from the PFD 12 is coupled to the non-inverting input of op-amp 22 via resistor 26. The output of op-amp 22 is coupled to its inverting input via capacitor 28 and resistor 30. The non-inverting input is coupled to ground via resistor 32 and capacitor 34.
This type of filter is not often used in integrated applications, mainly because it requires a dual voltage supply and needs two tightly matched filters. Also, since both inverting and non-inverting inputs are driven by the PFD 12, this filter exhibits common mode problems.
FIG. 1c illustrates a schematic of a second active filter that may be used as the loop filter 16 in the PLL of FIG. 1a. The UP signal from the PFD 12 is coupled to the inverting input of operational amplifier (op-amp) 40, via resistor 42. The DN signal from the PFD 12 is coupled to the non-inverting input of op-amp 40 via resistor 44. The output of op-amp 40 is coupled to its inverting input via resistor 46. The non-inverting input of op-amp 40 is coupled to ground via resistor 48. The output of op-amp 40 is coupled to the inverting input of op-amp 50 via resistor 52. The output of op-amp 50 is coupled to its inverting input via capacitor 54 and resistor 56. The non-inverting output is coupled to a DC voltage, VDC.
This design also is not particularly useful for integrated designs, since it requires two op-amps, which results in larger area requirements and higher noise and power consumption. Once again, matching the filters is difficult to achieve optimum performance. Also, op-amp 40 does not present a high impedance state to op-amp 50 and, thus, all of the noise from resistors 42, 46, 44 and 48 and PFD 12, and the DC mismatch between op-amp 40 and the inverting input of op-amp 50 will introduce spurs (feed-through).
A different type of PLL is the charge-pump phase locked loop (CP-PLL). A CP-PLL pumps current in and out of a loop filter in response to detected deviations between the output frequency and the reference frequency. Among other factors, CP-PLLs are considered superior with regard to frequency range and cost. However, these devices may be difficult to integrate onto silicon die, which is highly desirable in many applications.
A basic block diagram of a CP-PLL 58 is shown in FIG. 2. In this design, a phase frequency detector (PFD) 12 receives two signals, FR, a reference signal, and FV, a divided-down version of the output signal. The PFD 12 generates UP and DOWN pulses, indicating whether the frequency of the output signal needs to increase (UP pulsed) or decrease (DOWN pulsed). The UP and DOWN pulses cause a charge pump 14 to either source current into a loop filter 16 or sink current from the loop filter 16. As current is sourced to the loop filter 16, VC rises, thereby increasing the frequency of the output of the VCO 18. Similarly, as the charge pump 14 sinks current from the loop filter 16, VC falls, thereby decreasing the frequency of the output of the VCO 18.
The noise floor of a digital circuit and the noise current of the analog charge pump 14 represent the major noise contributors in a CP-PLL within the PLL bandwidth. In a traditional analog charge pump design used in CP-PLL applications, the noise contributions mainly come directly from the active devices used in the analog charge pump to sink and source current. In order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, a higher reference current can be used in the charge pump; however, the higher reference current may necessitate a higher capacitor value in the loop filter 16, preventing a possible integration into a silicon die. In addition, mismatches between sink and source devices increase the spurious level that must be filtered out with a lower bandwidth filter (again requiring a larger capacitor) and a consequently longer settling time.
Another critical issue for the traditional charge pump is the need of a complex and low noise biasing circuit and the requirements in terms of supply headroom.
Therefore, a need has arisen for a compact charge-pump phase locked loop with low noise characteristics.

Charge pump phase locked loop with improved power supply rejection


A sight mechanism for firearms such as pistols, rifles and the like. The sight mechanism includes a sight member that has a rear sight that is vertically adjusted. The sight member can be mounted on a vertically moveable member that has a fixing member that sets the vertical position of the sight member. The vertically moveable member may, without limitation, be a pivoting member. The sight mechanism includes magnets that bias the vertical member against the fixing member so that the magnets maintain the sight at the vertical position defined by the fixing member.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to firearms and, in particular, concerns a firearm with a magnetically stabilized sight.
Description of the Related Art
Firearms such as pistols, rifles and shotguns typically have sights to facilitate the shooter in aiming the firearm. A very common type of sight is known as iron sights that typically have a rear component with an operative mounted towards the rear of the firearm and a front component in the form of a blade or bead located adjacent the end of the barrel of the firearm. To use this type of sight, the shooter looks through the aperture on the rear site and aligns the front component in the aperture and then aims the aligned front component and rear component at the desired target. This results in the barrel of the firearm being leveled and pointed at the desired target.
The front and rear components can comprise a variety of different configurations. The front component can be a simple blade or it can have a bead or other colored implement to make the front component more visible. The rear component can comprise a plate with an aperture cut in the center or it can comprise some other form of device that has an aperture that the shooter looks through or some other component that is aligned with the front sight or with the target. In the plate configuration, the aperture can comprise a slot beginning at the upper surface of the plate or it can comprise a hole in the plate. The slot or hole can have a variety of different configurations.
Often both the front and rear sight are adjustable to allow the shooter to orient the sights to align the barrel with a desired point of aim. The sights can be adjustable in both the vertical orientation which adjusts the elevation of the sight and in the horizontal direction which adjusts the horizontal orientation of the barrel. It is common that the rear component be both adjustable in the horizontal and vertical directions.
In one specific non-limiting example, the rear sight of a firearm such as a pistol includes a mounting assembly that is positioned on an upper surface of a barrel, receiver, slide or other horizontal component of the firearm that is fixed in relationship with the barrel. A swing member is attached to the mounting assembly that is vertically movable. A plate that has the aperture is attached to the swing member such that the plate can be horizontally movable. The swing member typically has springs that urge the swing member upwards and the swing member is restrained by a screw or fastener that opposes the biasing of the spring. To adjust the vertical orientation of the swing and thus of the sight, the user adjusts the vertical position of the screw or fastener and the springs urge the swing member upward against the vertical position of a flange of the fastener.
One difficulty with the vertical sight described above is that the swing member is typically often attached to the mounting assembly via a pivot pin such that the swing member pivots with respect to the pivot pin. This results in the swing member moving in an arc. However, the spring is typically a vertically extending member that exerts force in a linear direction and not in an arc. This can result in difficulty in precisely aligning the vertical orientation of the swing member with respect to the barrel of the firearm. Further, the spring can bind as a result of the miss-match between the vertical force exerted by the spring and the arc movement of the swing member. For shooters who desire very precise positioning of the vertical orientation of the sight, this problem can be significant.
Thus, there is a need for a more precise adjustment of a firearm sight. To this end, there is a need for a vertically adjustable sighting system that has a component exerting force in a vertical direction on a vertically adjustable component of a sight that is consistent with an arc-type motion of the vertical component.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The printing of an image by a thermal ink jet printer is controlled based on an internal temperature of the printer adjacent the printhead and the density of the printed image. Prior to printing, the temperature of the printhead is estimated, and the density of the image is determined from stored print data. Based on the temperature and density, either a single-pass 100% coverage print mode or a double-pass checkerboard print mode is selected. Also based on the temperature and density, the printhead droplet ejection rate is set. Such control provides a printed image with high quality and prevents misfiring of the ink jets when temperatures and density are high.

1. Object of the Invention
This invention relates to liquid ink recording devices. In particular, this invention relates to controlling the print mode of thermal ink jet printing device based on temperature of the printhead and density of the printed image.
2. Description of Related Art
In liquid ink recording apparatuses, an image is formed on a substrate by depositing wet ink on the substrate in a predetermined pattern. One type of liquid ink printing apparatus is a thermal ink jet printer, which utilizes a printhead having a plurality of aligned nozzles that eject ink droplets onto the recording medium. Thermal ink jet devices are designed to give the optimum ink dot size at room temperature. However, as the ambient temperature increases, the ink dot size begins to grow causing adjacent ink drops to overlap. Overlapping of still wet ink dots causes image degradation problems such as bleeding and misting and creates an image that is excessively bold. Further, at higher temperatures, the ink jets tend to ingest air that causes intermittent firing of the jets, which also affects the quality of the image In particular, misfiring leads to a grainy appearance of the image within the solid fill regions. Therefore, it is desirable to maintain a constant drop size by reducing the ink drop size at elevated temperatures to obtain a clear and accurate image.
One method for reducing the drop size is to operate the ink jet printhead in a checkerboard printing mode that utilizes two passes of the printhead while ejecting the required dots in an alternating pattern for each swath of printing. Under this mode for example, when printing left to right, the jets fire in an alternating odd, even, odd etc. pattern and, when printing right to left, the jets fire in an alternating even, odd, even etc. pattern, thus firing every other jet for each pass of the printhead across the printing medium. The benefits to using the checkerboard printing include allowing an ink jet twice as long to refill since each jet is only required to fire at every other dot column. Also, firing every other ink jet in this manner cuts the ink supply demand through the cartridge in half. The additional refill time and reduced ink supply demand reduces misfirings. Further, since diagonally adjacent pixel areas are deposited in the same pass, there is no overlap of ink dots from adjacent pixel areas when the ink is still flowable. This prevents the dots from blurring. An example of checkerboard dot deposition for liquid ink printing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,453 to Lin et al., which employs a checkerboard printing mode based on the printing medium to prevent blurring of the image when printed on the substrate having poor ink absorptive properties.
Another reason for choosing a checkerboard printing mode is when the density of the printed image is high thus requiring the deposition of numerous closely spaced dots, which can result in blurring. An example of using the Checkerboard printing mode based on image density is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,344 to Tasaki et al. To more accurately predict when the use of checkerboard printing mode is appropriate, both the density of the image and the estimated temperature of the printhead is used in U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,940 to Katsukawa.
Another means for controlling drop size in a liquid ink recording apparatus is to vary the frequency at which the ink droplets are deposited on the substrate. In an ink jet printhead, the frequency can be varied by reducing the ejection frequency of each ink droplet from the printhead or by lowering the scanning speed of the recording head. Several devices that vary the frequency of the ejection of droplets when temperatures are elevated are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,968 to Hawkins, U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,142 to Watanabe et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,699 to Yano et al.
However, the above solutions to controlling the dot size require complicated and expensive methods to select the appropriate printing mode. None account for both the actual temperature of the printhead and the density simply and inexpensively. For example, several of the above methods controlling dot size involve selecting the printing mode based on the substrate composition or based on certain environmental conditions, such as estimated temperature or humidity. Other methods that control the frequency of the droplet ejection rate are based solely on the density of the printed image and do not account for the problems caused by elevated temperatures. Therefore, there is a need to simply and inexpensively control the dot size to maintain a high quality printed image.

Temperature sensitive print mode selection


An image forming apparatus includes a communication section configured to communicate with an external storage device which has a storage section that stores designated information for at least designating information which is output from an apparatus, an operation state information storage section configured to store operation state information representing an operation state of an operation module for operating a corresponding device provided inside the apparatus, a detection section configured to detect whether or not communication can be made with the external storage device through the communication section, an information obtaining section configured to, when the detecting section detects that communication can be made with the external storage device, obtain the designated information at least from the external storage device, and an information outputting section configured to, based on the designated information, output the operation state information to the external storage device through the communication section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus configured to output information relating to the operation state of respective devices provided inside the apparatus and a method for outputting the information of the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally known is an image forming apparatus, for example, an electrophotographic apparatus of such a type that, after it has been connected to an external storage device, information in a nonvolatile memory can be output to the external storage device by a predetermined operation on an operation panel (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 4-50957).
After such an image forming apparatus has been connected to the external storage apparatus, the information in the image forming apparatus cannot be output to the external storage device unless a predetermined operation is done by the operator on the operation panel.
The information stored in the image forming apparatus includes, for example, information relating to the state of respective devices provided inside the apparatus, information on a problem involved, and so on. The field service person visits a customer to check an image forming apparatus installed on the customer site and, after starting the image forming apparatus in a specific mode, obtains the above-mentioned information with the use of a computer, etc. At this time, there are cases that the service person takes such information back to his or her home office for analysis, etc.
In such a case, in order to output the information of the image forming apparatus to the external storage device, it is necessary for the operator (service person) to perform a specific operation on the operation panel. This operation has been not only cumbersome but also time-consuming.
Further, when the information of the image forming apparatus is output by connecting it to the external storage device, there are cases where it is not possible to know the previous time and date at which the information in the image forming apparatus is obtained. It is necessary to output all the information because it is not possible to designate the information which has been output from the image forming apparatus to the external storage device. For this reason, it is necessary to output such originally unnecessary information items from the image forming apparatus to the external storage device. This requires a lot of time, i.e., time is wasted.

Image forming apparatus and method for outputting information of the image forming apparatus


A method of generating pictures with rotation trace includes controlling a camera lens to open a shutter within a first period and an image sensor to rotate an angle within the first period, so as to generate a first picture with a rotation trace.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and related camera device for generating pictures with rotation trace, and more particularly, to a method and related camera device equipped with a rotation driving unit for rotating an image sensor when a shutter is open to generate pictures with rotation trace.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, digital photography technology advances rapidly and becomes popular, various types and standards of cameras are brought to the market place. Further, handheld devices (e.g., smart phones and tablet computers) are equipped with built-in camera device to capture images and record videos, which allows users to share daily events at any times and any occasions to bring funs to the users.
Professional photographers are specialized in mastering camera devices to capture various types of pictures, such as a picture with a rotation trace. Specifically, the center of this type of picture is relatively sharper than its background, and the background presents ripples formed by multiple concentric circles. In order to capture the picture with rotation trace, a shutter speed should be long enough to capture the blurry background. Because of the long shutter speed, a small aperture is required to keep the picture in focus and avoid the center of the picture from out of focus due to hand shaking. A small ISO sensitivity is also required to avoid overexposure. Meanwhile, the photographer has to rotate the camera device to make the ripples effect in the background.
As can be seen, it is quite difficult for general users without professional skills to capture this type of picture. Therefore, how to make general users to easily capture the picture with rotation trace has become a challenge in the industry.

Method and related camera device for generating pictures with rotation trace


A semiconductor element mounting die pad is supported by tie bars. Plural slits and dimples are disposed on a flat surface. The slits are penetrating from the face to the back side of the semiconductor element mounting die pad. Slits are formed, for example, by a punching or chemical etching method. These forming methods are the same as the method of forming the lead frame. Accordingly, if slits are disposed simultaneously when forming the lead frame, the process is not complicated. It is also possible to form these slits using the prior art. Slits of the same shape are formed at an interval of the width of dimples. The rear side is pushed out by press means to form dimples with the boundary of the slits. Thus, slits are formed in one body at both ends of the dimples. By thus composing, the thin type surface mount semiconductor device has a sufficient mechanical strength, and is capable of controlling the stress in a narrow region, so that a semiconductor device of high reliability is realized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lead frame and a resin sealed semiconductor device using the same, and more particularly to the structure of a resin mold portion of a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The resin mold portion of a resin sealed semiconductor device is intended to protect semiconductor elements from the external environment and to prevent destruction by external force. The recent requirement for performance of the resin mold portion of a resin sealed semiconductor device must follow up the upgrading of the function of semiconductor elements incorporated therein. The upgrading of the function of semiconductor elements refers to the fact that semiconductor elements have come to have multiple functions. In other words, the functions of circuits implemented by semiconductor elements has advanced, and the circuits have become more complicated. Furthermore, in forming the semiconductor elements, the surface patterns of semiconductor elements have become dimensionally finer and the wiring has been formed in multiple layers. In this way, the surface area of the semiconductor elements has become wider and wider.
On the other hand, the resin mold portion of the resin sealed semiconductor device must respond to the increase of area of the semiconductor elements, and cope with the development of the small and thin resin mold portion as demanded in the market. The resin sealed semiconductor device mounting the semiconductor elements may be roughly classified into the pin insertion type and the surface mount type. The surface mount type semiconductor device is smaller in the thickness of the resin mold portion than the pin insertion type. Accordingly, when the surface mount type semiconductor device is exposed to the environments of high temperature and high humidity, the device's sealing resin absorbs the moisture intruded from the environment by diffusion. In addition, the interior atmosphere of the surface mount type semiconductor device is balanced with the ambient atmosphere in a short time. Therefore the surface mount type semiconductor device which easily absorbed moisture is mounted on the printed circuit board or the like by soldering.
In this soldering process, the semiconductor device is dipped in a solder bath heated to the temperature of about 260 degrees Celsius, or heated by infrared rays to a temperature of about 240 degrees Celsius, or exposed to vapor phase at temperature of about 215 degrees Celsius. There is a difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the semiconductor elements mounting die pad and the sealing resin. By heat treatment, hence, delamination occurs in the interface of the semiconductor element mounting die pad the sealing resin which is the material of the resin mold portion. At this time, the absorbed moisture or water invading through suspension leads may be collected in the delamination area. When exposed to the temperature of heat treatment in such a state, it may give rise to destruction of the resin mold portion (package crack through the delamination of interface between the semiconductor element mounting die pad and the resin mold portion). That is, the water content absorbed at heat treatment temperature reaches as high as the saturated steam pressure of water (30 to 40 kg/cm.sup.2). This saturated steam pressure exceeds the mechanical strength of the sealing resin and induces breakdown of the resin mold portion.
The physical breakdown resistance of the resin used in the resin mold portion is proportional to the square of the distance from the lower surface of the semiconductor element mounting die pad to the rear surface of the resin mold portion, that is, the wall thickness of the sealing resin. That is, in order to fabricate the semiconductor device of high physical breakdown resistance sealing resin, the thickness of the sealing resin should be increased. To the contrary, for the surface mount type semiconductor device demanded by the market, the wall thickness of the sealing resin must be reduced. As a result, the surface mount type semiconductor device has a disadvantageous profile for heat treatment when soldering on the substrate.
A conventional surface mount type semiconductor device is shown in FIGS. 6 to 8.
In FIG. 6, a semiconductor element 1 is fabricated, for example, by forming oxide film, interlayer insulation film, polycrystalline silicon film and metal film on a single-crystalline silicon substrate, and forming a fine pattern by ordinary photolithographic technology. In addition, by combining with ordinary diffusion or ion implantation technology, a large capacity memory is fabricated. This semiconductor element 1 is formed in a rectangular parallelogram shape. It is affixed on the top surface of a quadrilateral semiconductor element mounting panel 3 of lead frame 2 by means of adhesive such as silver paste or solder. Bonding pads are disposed, corresponding to lead-out terminals of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3. The bonding pads and plural leads 4 are connected using metal fine wires 5. The semiconductor element 1 connected thus to the leads 4 is molded with resin for sealing, leaving the front end regions of the leads 4. In this way, the resin sealed semiconductor device is composed.
FIG. 7 shows a sectional view of the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 6.
In this example, the resin mold portion 6 measures 2.7 mm in thickness, 8.89 mm in width, and 17.15 mm in length. The overall dimensions of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 are 0.2 mm in thickness, 6.00 mm in width and 15.4 mm in length. The thickness of the leads 4 is 0.2 mm. The thickness as measured from the lower surface of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 to the bottom of the resin mold portion 6 is a thin size of 1.05 mm. In this example, in relation to the size of the semiconductor element 1, the surface area of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 is 6 mm .times.15.4 mm. That is, the rate of the surface area of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 to the area of the resin mold portion 6 is about 61%. In this way, the resin mold portion of the resin sealed semiconductor device is increased in the area of the semiconductor element, and further smaller and thinner resin mold portions are developed.
The semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 is made of a stiff material such as Alloy 42 (iron-nickel alloy). Therefore shrinkage stress occurs by the resin mold portion 6 at the time of resin molding of the semiconductor element 1.
This generation of shrinkage stress is explained in detail by reference to FIG. 8.
FIG. 8 is a magnified view of the region of the semiconductor element 1 and the lead 4 connected with the metal fine wire 5 on the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3.
This shrinkage stress is generated in the central concentrating direction (the direction of arrow A in the diagram) of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3, in the resin mold portion 6 beneath the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3. A stress branching line B is formed, stretching in the vertical direction from the end portion of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3.
The semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 is usually formed by punching a thin sheet. Accordingly the cut section is at a right angle to the bottom surface. The stress is concentrated in the stress concentration area C of the resin mold portion 6 contacting with the right-angled end portion of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3.
In such a thin type resin sealed semiconductor device, cracks due to heat are likely to occur. For example, when quick cooling and quick heating from a temperature of -65 degrees to a temperature of 150 degrees are repeated several times, cracks are formed in the stress concentration area C of the resin mold portion 6. The stress is generated due to a difference of the coefficient of thermal expansion between the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 and the sealing resin of the resin mold portion 6. Cracks occurring in the stress concentration area C are grown along the stress branching line B. As a result, cracks contacting with the air are formed in the resin mold portion 6. Through these cracks, moisture and impurities contained in the air are introduced. The moisture and impurities finally reach the semiconductor element 1 along the crack.
To solve these problems, a semiconductor element mounting die pad having dimples or slits has been proposed.
FIG. 9 is a cross section of the semiconductor device with dimples, being cut off along the center line of the tie bar.
The dimple structure refers to a structure in which grooves 7 or dimples are formed on the back side of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3.
Delamination occurs in the interface between the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 and the sealing resin of the resin mold portion 6. The moisture absorbed in this delamination region and the moisture invading through the tie bar is collected in the delamination area. When heated in such a state, as mentioned above, the resin mold portion 6 is broken. The dimple structure is particularly intended to prevent delamination in the interface of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 and the sealing resin of the resin mold portion 6. By forming grooves 7 or dimples in the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3, the contact area with the sealing resin is widened.
FIG. 10 is a cross section of the semiconductor device having slits cut off along the center line of the suspension lead.
FIG. 11 shows a plan view of the semiconductor element mounting panel having slits.
The slit structure refers to a structure in which oval holes 8 are penetrating through the face and back side of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3.
Slits, as with dimples, are formed to prevent onset of delamination in the interface of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 and the sealing resin of the resin mold portion 6.
In the conventional structures, however, a sufficient mechanical strength is not obtained in the thin type surface mounted semiconductor device using the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 with dimples. That is, when the moisture collected in the delamination area reaches the saturated steam pressure of water by heat treatment, breakdown of the resin mold portion 6 is provoked, exceeding the mechanical strength of the resin.
More specifically, by the grooves 7 or dimples of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 with dimples, the contact area with the sealing resin is increased. However, only the resin is injected in the grooves 7 or dimples, and the adhesion strength of the resin and the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 is not improved greatly.
In the thin type surface mount semiconductor device using the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 with slits, too, sufficient mechanical strength is not obtained. By the holes 8 in the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3, the contact area with the sealing resin is increased. But only the resin is buried in the holes 8, and the adhesion strength of the resin and semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 is not greatly improved. However, the adhesion strength of slits is greater than that of dimples.
The slits are formed as shown in FIG. 11. When the stress is distributed uniformly in the semiconductor element 1, it is suited to the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 with slits. However, when the stress distribution is not uniform or the stress varies in the small area in the semiconductor element 1, it is difficult to control the stress.
Furthermore, solder for adhering the semiconductor element 1 does not deposit in the area of the holes 8 of the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 with slits, and the contact area of the semiconductor element 1 and the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3 decreases. Accordingly, when the moisture collected in the delamination area reaches the saturated steam pressure of water by heat treatment, breakdown of the resin mold portion 6 is induced, exceeding the mechanical strength of the resin.
Thus, in the semiconductor device having dimples or slits, it is difficult to sufficiently prevent breakdown of the resin mold portion 6. If the resin mold portion 6 is broken, or cracks contacting with the air are formed in the resin mold portion 6, moisture and impurities contained in the air invade through the cracks. The moisture and impurities reach the semiconductor element 1 through the cracks. As a result, the adjacent leads 4 are short-circuited by moisture, thereby causing malfunctions.
Or the impurities contained in the sealing resin are extracted by moisture. The extracted impurities may corrode the wiring metal. By this corrosion, the wiring may be disconnected.
In addition, the moisture invading through the cracks gets into the solder or silver paste adhering the semiconductor element 1 on semiconductor element mounting die pad 3. Consequently, the semiconductor element 1 is delaminated off the semiconductor element mounting die pad 3, or the semiconductor element 1 is warped by the subsequent heat treatment. As the semiconductor element 1 is warped, the characteristics of the semiconductor elements formed inside deteriorate.
Therefore, formation of cracks in the semiconductor device will notably impair the reliability of the semiconductor element 1.
In the light of the above problems, it is hence a primary object of the invention to present a highly reliable semiconductor device having a sufficient mechanical strength and capable of controlling the stress in a narrow region, in a thin type surface mount semiconductor device.

Semiconductor element mounting die pad including a plurality of extending portions


According to an embodiment, a wireless communication device includes a first wireless communication section, a wireless power receiving section and a wireless control section. The first wireless communication section is configured to transmit and receive a first wireless signal. The wireless power receiving section is configured to receive power by a second wireless signal. The wireless control section is configured to control the first wireless communication section according to a wireless power reception state of the wireless power receiving section. The wireless control section activates the first wireless communication section after wireless power reception by the wireless power receiving section is started.

Portable electronic devices and the like provided with a wireless communication device including a wireless communication section capable of performing close proximity wireless communication are known. As the communication method of close proximity wireless communication, TransferJet (registered trademark) or the like is used, for example.
Conventionally, the wireless communication section of such a wireless communication device is activated in conjunction with turning on of the wireless communication device by a user, or by the startup of application software by the user or the switching between on and off of the wireless communication section of the user. That is, an operation of activating the wireless communication section by the user is necessary.

Wireless communication device and wireless communication system


A bamboo laminated construction panel and method of manufacture is provided wherein at least two layers of prepared bamboo are laminated together with outside surface wood veneer layers. Linear bamboo starter boards, made from timber bamboo culm cut to length, split longitudinally, processed to remove sugars, pressed flat into bamboo planks with the soft pith surfaces of two bamboo planks laminated together with grain aligned, are disposed adjacent to each other along the longitudinal side edges forming a linear bamboo starter board layer. The bamboo laminated panel is formed by laminating a first wood veneer layer with grain disposed perpendicular to the vertical centerline of the finished panel, first and second bamboo starter board layers with grains aligned opposingly and equally offset from the centerline, and a second wood veneer layer with grain also perpendicularly aligned. Additional bamboo starter board layers are optionally included in pairs to form thicker panels.

Bamboo is a prolific woody grass that has long been used in various forms as a construction material. Bamboo possesses numerous properties advantageous to the construction industry. Of particular utility is the high vertical compression strength when used in pole form, also referred to as bamboo cane, as a vertical support member or load bearing element in a structure.
Traditional wood based home building techniques typically include the use of stick lumber, sheeting, panels, beams, trusses, engineered lumber products and other components fashioned from wood in the form of lumber, laminated elements and panels. Consequently the demand for wood is high requiring harvesting rates often exceeding the replenishment rates. Timber bamboo, being a grass, is prolific throughout the world and as a construction material has many advantages over wood including material cost, strength, rapid growth, high carbon sequestration and sustainability making timber bamboo an attractive substitute for wood. Use of timber bamboo as a wood replacement is highly desirable; however, the dimensional format of timber bamboo limits the use as a direct substitute. Consequently the use of bamboo cane, in its natural form as a replacement for traditional wood products, has been limited by inconsistency of cane sizes and structural variations requiring parsing and selection for diameter, length and wall thickness to satisfy structural specifications for each application. Additionally, the inconsistent shapes and dimensions of bamboo cane are difficult and costly to incorporate in the construction of most traditional buildings. Consequently, other methods of using bamboo present in the prior art are principally directed towards utilizing bamboo to replace wood in composite materials such as plywood, panels, or boards wherein the bamboo is shredded, cut into strips, wafers, or chips typically having the size and shape of the equivalent wood material. The portion of the bamboo that most closely mimics the equivalent wood material is the cellulose fibers and vascular components present in the outer portions of the bamboo culm where the density of the fibers and vascular components are high relative to a surrounding lignin natural polymer binder. Typically, the outer third portion of the culm is harvested, discarding the remainder, and shredded or crushed into wafers, chips, strands, flakes or other small shapes that are, in turn, bound together with resins and formed into board such as oriented strand board (OSB). These processes permit manufacturing finished construction materials utilizing bamboo and having consistent and predictable dimensions and structural characteristics. Composite products formed in this matter necessarily break the lignin, the natural bonding material, and then are re-bonded with resin consequently losing a significant portion of the structural characteristics of a bamboo cane. In particular, breaking the natural lignin polymer bonds and re-bonding with resin significantly adds to the weight and cost of the finished material as compared to the weight and cost of the equivalent volume of raw bamboo. Further, and most importantly, the natural high vertical compression strength structure of the bamboo cane is lost.
Regarding panel construction, panel systems typically include vertical stud or post members with sheeting forming the vertical surfaces wherein the sheeting provides a surface and sheer strength. As the sheeting, typically OSB or similar material, has low vertical compression strength, the vertical studs or posts are necessary to provide vertical load bearing. The studs and posts unfortunately provide a thermal bridge between the panel sheets thereby reducing the R value of a panelized wall. Further the studs and posts provide obstructions to the installation of utilities in a panelized wall. What is needed is a high vertical load bearing sheeting element thereby eliminating the need for studs or posts. Wood based sheet products typically are incapable of sustaining the loads. Cane timber bamboo is suitable but dimensionally incompatible.
Utilizing bamboo as a replacement for wood in vertical load bearing construction materials has been problematic. However, bamboo has many advantages over wood as a raw material. Bamboo is generally lower cost than wood. Bamboo is fast growing requiring only 3 to 4 years before harvesting as timber grade bamboo, a growth time significantly less than wood. As compared to wood, bamboo has a higher rot resistance and resistance to insect infestation than most woods in North American climates. Further, bamboo has a higher level of carbon sequestration than most woods. Therefore, what is needed is an improved load bearing construction material principally utilizing bamboo while maintaining the bamboo culm structure largely in tact thereby capitalizing on the advantageous characteristics of timber bamboo while providing a material with substantially consistent and predictable dimensions and structural characteristics such as timber or other load bearing structural components.

Bamboo laminated construction panel and method of manufacture


New uracil derivatives of the general formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 stands for a hydrogen atom or a grouping of the formula: ##STR2## R.sup.2 for a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group or a phenyl group and R.sup.3 for an alkyl group or a phenyl group, with the proviso that when both R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 stand for a hydrogen atom, R.sup.3 stands for a phenyl group or a straight chain alkyl group with 3.about.11 carbon atoms, that when R.sup.1 stands for a hydrogen atom and R.sup.2 for methyl group, R.sup.3 stands for an alkyl group with at least 2 carbon atoms or a phenyl group, and that when R.sup.1 stands for a hydrogen atom and R.sup.3 for methyl group, R.sup.2 stands for an alkyl group with at least 2 carbon atoms or a phenyl group. These uracil derivatives are prepared by reacting 5-fluorouracil with an .alpha.-haloalkyl carboxylate or with an aldehyde diacylate or by hydrolyzing a 1,3-bis(acyloxymethyl)-5-fluorouracil with an acid or alkali. These uracil derivatives are useful as improved anti-tumor agents especially for oral administration and injection.

The present invention relates to new uracil derivatives and processes for preparing same. More particularly, the present invention relates to new 1-acyloxymethyl-5-fluorouracil derivatives and 1,3-bis(acyloxymethyl)-5-fluorouracil derivatives and processes for preparing same.
Heretofore, various kinds of uracil derivatives have been developed as anti-tumor agents. Concerning 1acyloxymethyl-5-fluorouracil derivatives, however, no study have been made by any person other than the present inventors. More precisely, 1-acetoxymethyl-5-fluorouracil, 1-pivaloyloxymethyl-5-fluorouracil and 1-palmitoyloxymethyl-5-fluorouracil were developed for the first time by the present inventors as a new class of uracil derivatives and disclosed in Japanese Patent Prov. Publn. No. 98280/76.
However, the above mentioned 1-acyloxymethyl-5-fluorouracil derivatives are disadvantageous in that 1-acetoxymethyl-5-fluorouracil shows high toxicity, 1-pivaloyloxymethyl-5-fluorouracil weak anti-tumor activity and 1-palmitoyloxymethyl-5-fluorouracil poor absorbability in living body. Thus, there is still a great demand for developing new anti-tumor agents of 1-acyloxymethyl-5-fluorouracil series, which are strong in anti-tumor activity and possess good absorbability in living body with very low toxicity.


In a photoelectric conversion device, groups of unit pixels are arranged in a well, where each of the unit pixels includes photoelectric conversion elements, an amplifier transistor, and transfer transistors. The photoelectric conversion device includes a line used to supply a voltage to the well, a well-contact part used to connect the well-voltage-supply line to the well, and transfer-control lines used to control the transfer transistors. The transfer-control lines are symmetrically arranged with respect to the well-voltage-supply line in respective regions of the unit-pixel groups.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photoelectric conversion device including unit cells arranged in a well, where each of the unit cells includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, and to an image pickup apparatus including the photoelectric conversion device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Solid-state image pickup devices manufactured by using complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technologies have been shown to be high performance, multifunctional, and low power solid-state image pickup devices. The above-described solid-state image pickup devices are also referred to as CMOS image sensors. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-332714 discloses a diagram (FIG. 4) showing a circuit including a contact part used to fix the potential of a well, the contact part being provided for each of a plurality of unit cells, where each unit cell includes two pixels.
When a contact part used to fix the well potential is provided for each of the plurality of unit cells, where each unit cell includes at least two pixels, the symmetry of the layout of conductive lines and/or elements provided in the region of the unit cell becomes irregular, i.e., the layout is non-symmetrical, which may produce a fixed pattern noise. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-332714 does not disclose nor suggest an example of a layout of the conductive lines and/or the elements provided in the region of the unit cell. Further, there is no discussion in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-332714 of the effect the symmetry of the layout of the conductive lines and/or the elements provided in the region of the unit cell can affect a fixed pattern noise.

Photoelectric conversion device and image-pickup apparatus


A method of manipulating at least a portion of a character model into a pose involving a library data having a plurality of deformations, where each deformation is associated with index values of one or more distance measurement nodes. One or more distance measurement nodes are defined for the portion of the character model, wherein each distance measurement node comprises a number of points on a surface defined by the geometry of the character model, wherein the points are separated by a distance value. A particular pose is selected for the character model portion to establish an initial model by selecting values for the pose controls. For the particular pose, a value of the distance measurement nodes is determined. At least one deformation is selected from the library data based in the value of the distance measurement nodes and applied to the initial model to generate a deformed model.

Field of the Invention
The present application relates to computer graphics and, more particularly, systems, methods, software and devices providing geometry deformation of computer generated animated characters.
Description of the Related Technology
Computer graphic images are created by mathematically modeling the interaction of light with a three dimensional scene from a given viewpoint. This process, called rendering, generates a two-dimensional or three-dimensional stereo image of the scene from the given viewpoint, and is analogous to taking a photograph of a real-world scene. Animated sequences are created by rendering a sequence of images of a scene as the scene is gradually changed over time.
Computer-generated animation of characters is accomplished by manipulating a three-dimensional model of a character into a series of bodily positions, or poses, over a sequence of frames. A character model is often extremely complex, having millions of surface elements and hundreds or thousands of attributes. Due to the complexity involved with animating such complex models, animation tools often rely on armatures and animation variables to define character animation.
A character model is typically constructed from a skeletal representation that is associated with "geometry" that can be visualized as a wire frame mesh associated with the skeletal representation. The skeletal or "stick figure" representation comprises a number of segments or "bones" linked by joints where the position of the bones and joints represent the character's pose, or bodily position. By moving the segments or "bones", which are the "sticks" of the "stick figure," the character can be manipulated into a desired pose.
The geometric model comprises multiple model components that represent, for example, layers of bone and tissue that give the character dimension. Model components are associated with the underlying skeletal representation so that the model moves, stretches and deforms as the skeletal segments change position. A character model is completed by applying texture to the surfaces of the geometric model. The textures represent skin, cloth, hair and the like that is visible when the character is rendered. Depending on the artistic goals of the animator, certain features such as hair and cloth may be separately animated (e.g., have their own segmented structure with geometry and texture) rather than simply applied as texture.
Once a model is defined, the animator controls the model's position in each frame of a film either directly or indirectly so as to create a desired visual representation of the character in a film. Although usually only the outer skin of the character is visible in a final video clip, the animator often only manipulates characters with the underlying character model. To achieve a desired artistic result, the computer model of a character is often extremely complex, having millions of surface elements and hundreds or thousands of attributes. Due to the complexity involved with animating such complex models, animation tools often define a subset of control points such as joints in the skeletal model that can be manipulated by the artist. The controlled joint motion is algorithmically translated by animation tools to movements and deformations of the geometric model.

System and method for mesh distance based geometry deformation


This invention provides a pyrroloazepine compound represented by the following formula (I) or (II): ##STR1## wherein Z.sub.1, Z.sub.2, R, A and Y are defined in the claims. The pyrroloazepine compounds according to the present invention are drugs having excellent anti-serotonin action. Coupled with their high safety, they can therefore be used as novel therapeutics for ischemic heart diseases. In addition, the compounds of the present invention include those having anti-.alpha..sub.1 action. Such compounds are effective as hypotensive drugs. Pyrroloazepine compounds according to the present invention are therefore extremely useful as therapeutics for a wide variety of circulatory diseases.

It is known that serotonin is contained abundantly in platelets, a blood component, and that upon stimulation by thromboxane A.sub.2, ADP, collagen or the like, it is released to synergistically act on the release of various platelet aggregation factors through activation of the serotonin-2 receptor in platelets and vascular smooth muscle cells and on vasoconstriction by norepinephrine through the .alpha..sub.1 receptor, thereby inducing strong platelet aggregation and vasoconstriction [P. M. Vanhoutte, "Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology", Vol. 17 (Supple. 5), S6-S12 (1991)].
With the foregoing in view, there is hence an outstanding desire for the development of a serotonin-2 receptor antagonist as a circulatory disease therapeutic for preventing thrombus formation and vasoconstriction so that the serotonin-2 receptor antagonist can be used for hypertension and ischemic heart diseases such as angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, heart failure and post-PTCA restenosis. It is however the present situation that no drug has been obtained yet with sufficient antagonism and selectivity. Pharmaceuticals having .alpha..sub.1 -blocking action in combination with anti-serotonin action are expected to reduce side effects caused by hypotensive action based on .alpha..sub.1 -blocking action, such as orthostatic disorder and reflex tachycardia, so that some drugs having both actions have been developed. However, none of them have been provided with sufficient hypotensive action.


A catalytically active, truncated human cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase (CYP7) is provided. The truncated human CYP7 can be made recombinantly and thus recovered in relatively large amounts. Vectors and host cells for recombinant expression are provided, as well as an antibody which specifically recognizes an epitope of catalytically active, truncated human CYP7. Also provided is a method for screening a compound for its effect on expression of non-truncated human CYP7, and a method for screening a compound for its effect on non-truncated human CYP7 enzyme activity.

High serum cholesterol is commonly associated with an increased risk of heart attack, atherosclerosis and circulatory disorders. In addition, a variety of diseases are caused by cholesterol catabolism disorders, such as gallstone disease, atherosclerosis, hyperlipidemia and some lipid storage diseases.
The major pathway for disposal of cholesterol in the body is by secretion of cholesterol and bile acids into the gut. Bile contains free cholesterol and bile acids. The enzyme, cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase (CYP7) commits cholesterol to bile acid synthesis and catalyzes the first and rate-limiting step of bile acid synthesis in the liver. Specifically, CYP7 catalyzes, in the presence of reductase and a reducing agent such as NADPH, the initial hydroxylation of cholesterol at the 7.alpha.-position, thereby forming 7.alpha.-hydroxycholesterol. Thus, by increasing synthesis of bile acids, this enzyme plays a key role in the liver by depleting hepatic cholesterol pools, resulting in increased low density lipoprotein (LDL) uptake and a lowering of serum cholesterol levels.
Bile acids are physiological agents which are important in the solubilization of lipid-soluble vitamins, sterol and xenobiotics. Bile acids are synthesized exclusively in the liver and are secreted to the intestines where they are modified to secondary bile acids. Most bile acids are reabsorbed in the ileum and recirculated to the hepatocytes via the portal vein.
The feedback of bile into the liver is known to inhibit cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase and thus inhibit the overall rate of bile acid synthesis. Cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase, therefore, has been a subject of active investigations to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of bile acid synthesis in the liver.
It is known that an interruption of bile acid reabsorption, such as that caused by the bile sequestrant, cholestyramine, or by a bile fistula, stimulates the rate of bile acid synthesis and cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase activity in the liver. Recent achievements in the purification and cloning of cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase cDNA have advanced knowledge about the regulation of this enzyme at the molecular level. It has become clear that cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase activity in the liver is regulated primarily at the gene transcriptional level by bile acids, cholesterol, hormones, diurnal rhythm and other factors. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the regulation of cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase gene expression remains undetermined.
To understand the structure and function of human CYP7 and its regulation by factors, such as bile acids, cholesterol and hormones, it is essential to purify the human CYP7 enzyme. However, the CYP7 enzyme is present in an extremely low levels in human liver; therefore, it has not been possible to isolate sufficient quantities of purified, functional enzyme from human livers.
Although a cDNA molecule encoding human CYP7 enzyme has been determined, recombinant expression of human CYP7 has not heretofore been achieved. Karam and Chiang, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 185: 588 (1992). Recently, a strategy to express a catalytically active, truncated rat cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase in E. coli was disclosed. Li and Chiang, J. Biol. Chem. 266 (29): 19186 (1991). The disclosures of both of those publications are expressly incorporated herein by reference. In the latter publication, it was disclosed that the expression of a membrane-bound hydrophobic protein in E. coli is difficult because the bacteria lacks internal membranes. Via PCR, a modified cDNA was generated that encoded a truncated enzyme lacking the N-terminal 23 amino acid residues of the rat cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase enzyme. The resulting protein was expressed, predominantly in the cytosol of the bacteria. The purified recombinant enzyme was active, as determined by its ability to hydroxylate cholesterol in a reconstituted system, and has a K.sub.m for cholesterol and V.sub.max similar to those of the rat microsomal (non-truncated) enzyme.
Despite the high sequence identity between the rat and human cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase, however, it previously has not been possible to express the human cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase in E. coli following the same strategy and using the same expression vector (pKK233-2) as that previously used for the expression of rat cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase. Thus, a catalytically active, recombinant human CYP7 enzyme is desirable. Recombinantly-expressed, truncated human CYP7 could be used to detect agents that stimulate or inhibit human CYP7's catalytic activity. Further, such recombinant protein can be used to produce anti-CYP7 antibodies which would be useful for screening assays, for example, to detect stimulated or inhibited production of human CYP7 in response to exposure of a compound to a human CYP7-producing culture.

Truncated human cholesterol 7.alpha.-hydroxylase, method of production and use thereof


The inventive systems and methods aggregate network information to accompany file information in an indicator and warning environment. This system also provides a user interface to search for files using network attributes or file attributes, such as message digest. The system can include threat scoring functionality that can be configured to calculate a threat score based on a combination of the result of file analysis on one or more files and associated network data capture information.

There are several challenges facing modern signature-based network intrusion detection systems that impede their ability to detect malicious content. Transport mechanisms for protocols like SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) involve encoding, encryption and compression. Host-based file analysis tools, such as anti-virus (AV) systems, typically do not provide alerting information showing transport origination. Similarly, network intrusion detection systems (IDS) don't normally provide file information such as message digests, file size, or decoded content. These shortcomings in existing systems impair the ability of system administrators to defend networks from malicious content.


Embodiments of the present invention relates to a thin film transistor and a method for manufacturing the same, a display substrate and a display device. The thin film transistor comprises an active layer, a source electrode, a drain electrode and an ohmic contact layer, wherein the ohmic contact layer is disposed between the active layer and the source electrode and/or between the active layer and the drain electrode to improve an ohmic contact property of the active layer with the source electrode and/or the drain electrode. The present invention solves the problem of poor ohmic contact effect between the active layer and the source and drain electrodes in the existing thin film transistor, thereby improving the ohmic contact property of the active layer with the source and drain electrodes and meanwhile improving display effect of images of a display.

Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a substrate for a display device, a color filter module for a display device, a method for forming a substrate module of a display device and a display device.
Description of the Related Art
A traditional display device usually uses a separate optical device to realize various effects.

Substrate, color filter module, method for forming substrate module and display device

CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


The process of preparing polyolefins using rac ansa-metallocene metal amide complexes directly by use of aluminum alkyl in combination with a cocatalyst.

This invention relates to the field, now well established, of use of ansa-metallocenes as catalysts. They are particularly useful as catalysts for the polymerization of ethylene and alpha olefins, such as propylene.
Conventional heterogeneous catalysts, such as Ziegler-Natta systems, have a variety of active sites, only some of which are stereo-specific. Obtaining a polymer with specific properties can involve a considerable amount of trial and error in order to find the best combination of catalyst, co-catalyst and stereo-regulator. In contrast, however, the active polymerization site in a metallocene catalyst is well defined, and can be modified in a straightforward manner via modification by the cyclopentadienyl ligands, enabling the structure of the polymer to be controlled with far greater precision.
A simple metallocene catalyst for polymerizing ethylene is (C.sub.5 H.sub.5).sub.2 ZrCl.sub.2, which consists of a zirconium atom bound to two chlorine atoms and two cyclopentadienyl rings, and which is activated by cocatalysts such as methylaluminoxane (MAO). During the 1980's, ansa or bridged metallocenes, in which the cyclopentadienyl rings are linked by a chemical bridge, were found to be particularly useful for the polymerization of olefins. In particular, ansa-metallocene complexes, when used in combination with a cocatalyst such as methylaluminoxane (MAO), polymerize propylene to highly isotactic polypropylene, highly syndiotactic polypropylene, or atactic polypropylene, depending on the structure of the ansa-metallocene used.
As is well known, isotactic polymers have each pendant group attached to the backbone in the same orientation, whereas in syndiotactic polymers, these groups alternate in their orientations, and atactic polymers have a random arrangement of the groups along the backbone. Since the stereochemistry of the polymer has a great effect on its properties, it is desirable to control this feature. Chiral, C.sub.2 -symmetric ansa-metallocenes produce isotactic polypropylene.
While the greatest area of potential use for ansa-metallocene catalysts currently is for polymerization of olefins, such as ethylene and propylene, they also have significant uses as catalysts or catalyst precursors for other reactions where stereo-selectivity is important.
The utility of ansa-metallocene complexes as catalysts for olefin polymerization and other reactions has created a high demand for a practical synthesis of ansa-metallocene compounds.
In spite of this demand, current procedures for the synthesis of Group 4 (Ti,Zr,Hf) ansa-metallocenes require the use of ansa-bis-cyclopentadienyl dianion reagents and are hampered by low yields and tedious isomer separation and purification steps. Some of these problems have been discussed in Ellis, W. W.; Hollis, T. K.; Odenkirk, W., Whelan, J.; Ostrander, R.; Rheingold, A. L.; Bosnich, B. Organometallics 1993, 12, 4391. In particular, the synthesis of chiral C.sub.2 symmetric ansa-metallocenes typically produces mixtures of desired rac (racemic) and undesired meso isomers. A typical synthesis of an ansa-metallocene complex is shown in Equation 1 below: ##STR1##
This equation is typical of the process as shown in the art. See for example Spaleck, W.; Kuber, F., Winter, A.; Rohrman, J.; Bachmann, B.; Antberg, M.; Dolle, V.; Paulus, E. F. Organometallics 1994, 13, 954. Stehling, U.; Diebold, J.; Kirsten, R.; Roll, W.; Brintzinger, H. H.; Jungling, S.; Mulhaupt, R.; Langhauser, F. Organometallics 1994, 13, 964. Halterman, R. L. Chem. Rev. 1992, 92, 965. See also, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,819, U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,495, and EPA 0-530-908-A1.
By way of further example, an important chiral Group 4 ansa-metallocene is rac-(EBI)ZrCl.sub.2 (EBI=ethylene-1,2-bis(1-indenyl) which is currently prepared from ZrCl.sub.4 and the dianion of the EBI ligand (Halterman, R. L. Chem. Rev. 1992, 92, 965). Brintzinger (Wild, F. R. W. P.; Wasiucionek, M.; Huttner, G., Brintzinger, H. H. J. Organomet. Chem. 1985, 288, 63) and Collins (Collins, S.; Kuntz, B. A.; Hong, Y. J. Org. Chem. 1989, 54, 4154; Collins, S.; Kuntz, B. A.; Taylor, N. J.; Ward, D. G. J. Organomet. Chem. 1988, 342, 21) used (EBI)Li.sub.2 and reported low, variable yields (20-50%) of rac-(EBI)ZrCl.sub.2. Buchwald employed (EBI)K.sub.2 and obtained (EBI)ZrCl.sub.2 in a rac/meso ratio of 2/1 in 70% yield. Grossman, R. B.; Doyle, R. A.; Buchwald, S. L. Organometallics 1991, 10, 1501. In general, current synthetic procedures produce the desired rac ansa-metallocenes in 10%-30% yield after tedious separation and purification steps, and even then separation of the rac from the meso products is not always possible.
Lappert et al. (Chandra, G.; Lappert, M. F. J. Chem Soc. (A) 1968, 1940) reported that certain Group 4 metallocene complexes are formed by the reaction of Group 4 metal amide complexes with cyclopentadiene compounds. However, this reaction yields only mono-cyclopentadienyl products when the metal is titanium, or when the cyclopentadiene compound is indene. This was ascribed to steric hindrance which disfavors addition of the second cyclopentadienyl ligand when the metal is small (titanium) or the cyclopentadienyl ligand is bulky (indenyl). Hefner. et al., also (U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,532) discusses the preparation of (indenyl)Ti(NMe.sub.2).sub.3 by reaction of indene and Ti(NMe.sub.2).sub.4. Ansa-metallocene complexes are not discussed in the Lappert or Hefner references.
An earlier invention of Richard F. Jordan, et al., entitled Synthesis of Ansa-Metallocene Catalysts, filed Jun. 1, 1994 and issued Feb. 27, 1996 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,035, and incorporated herein by reference, relates to a process of preparing rac ansa-metallocene amide complexes ((Cp--X--Cp)m(NRR').sub.n-2) in high yield by reacting an ansa-bis-cyclopentadiene, indene, fluorene, or substituted derivative thereof with a metal amide complex wherein the metal is a Group 4 metal, preferably zirconium, and R and R' (Eq. 2) are preferably hydrogen or C.sub.1 to C.sub.20 hydrocarbyl radicals, and more preferably C.sub.1 to C.sub.4 alkyl, and most preferably methyl. The resulting amide is converted to a chloride ((Cp--X--Cp)mCl.sub.n-2) before use as a catalyst. It would be more efficient if a process could be developed which directly used the amide as a catalyst without the need for the conversion to the chloride.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a process for producing polyolefins, particularly isotactic polypropylene from rac ansa-metallocene metal amide complexes directly without the need to convert the amide to a chloride before use as a catalyst.
The method of accomplishing the above objective, as well as others, will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention which follows.

Olefin polymerization with direct use of ansa-metallocene amide complexes as catalysts


Methods of remotely facilitating the transition between flooding and hydrotesting a subsea pipeline include a control unit of a subsea valve actuation system closing off fluid flow out of the pipeline at the receiving end thereof based at least partially upon one or more signals emitted by at least one intelligent pig that has passed through the pipeline during flooding and without the involvement of an external source at the surface, or a UV, at the pig receiving end of the pipeline.

In subsea pipeline operations, various activities are initiated at one end (the "launch end") of the pipeline, such as launching pigs for flooding or dewatering the pipeline, conducting hydrotesting of the pipeline or other activities. Often, it is necessary or would be desirable to perform certain actions at the other end of the pipeline, which is sometimes referred to as the "distant end", "pig receiving end" or simply the "receiving end" of the pipeline. For example, it may be desirable or necessary to open or close fluid exhaust valves at the receiving end during various pipeline pre-commissioning or other operations. For instance, to facilitate the transition between flooding and hydrotesting of the pipeline, it is typically necessary to close off one or more fluid exhaust valves at the receiving end. For another example, after hydrotesting, if it is desired to dewater the pipeline from the launch end, it may be necessary to open the fluid exhaust valve(s) at the receiving end. For still a further example, it is often desirable or necessary to sample, test and/or monitor fluids exiting the pipeline, such as during dewatering.
Existing systems and techniques used in connection with various subsea pipeline operations conducted at the receiving end of the pipeline are believed to have one or more limitations. For example, existing systems and techniques to open and/or close fluid exhaust valves at the receiving end of the subsea pipeline are believed to require the deployment of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) or the like. This requirement for an ROV or similar equipment is significant because of the time and expense involved and the diversion of resources from another location. For another example, existing systems and techniques either cannot perform various functions at the receiving end or would require external power and/or control (e.g. from an ROV, diver, surface vessel, etc.), such as for varying the flow rate and/or pressure of fluid flowing through the pipeline, measuring, logging and/or communicating pipeline fluid data (e.g. pressure, flow rates, temperature, etc.), pipeline fluid sampling/testing/monitoring data, pipeline condition data, leak detection data and the like.
It should be understood that the above discussion is provided for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope or subject matter of the appended claims or those of any related patent application or patent. Thus, none of the appended claims or claims of any related application or patent should be limited by the above discussion or construed to address, include or exclude each or any of the above-cited examples, features and/or disadvantages, merely because of their mention herein.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improved systems, apparatus and methods useful to assist in performing one or more activities at the receiving end of a pipeline having one or more of the features, attributes or capabilities described or shown in, or as may be apparent from, the other portions of this patent application.

Facilitating the transition between flooding and hydrotesting with the use of an intelligent pig


An active matrix display device includes a driving section provided on a substrate, an insulating film stacked on the driving section, and light-emitting elements arranged in a matrix on the insulating film, each of the light-emitting elements having a light-emitting layer between upper and lower electrodes, the active matrix display device being driven by the driving section provided for each of the light-emitting elements, the active matrix display device also includes an auxiliary wiring provided on the same layer as the lower electrode of the light-emitting element and adapted to adjust the electrical resistance of the upper electrode, and drive wirings disposed in the underlying layer of the auxiliary wiring via the insulating film and adapted to drive the light-emitting element, wherein the auxiliary or drive wiring is routed in a roundabout manner where the auxiliary and drive wirings overlap.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an active matrix display device having light-emitting elements arranged in a matrix which are driven by driving means provided for each of the light-emitting elements. The present invention relates more particularly to a technique for providing improved yield of an active matrix display device.
An organic EL display device using organic electroluminescence elements (hereinafter referred to as organic EL elements) as its light-emitting elements has been known as a self-luminous active matrix display device. Such an organic EL element has an organic substance layer between its anode and cathode electrodes. The organic substance layer includes a hole transporting layer and light-emitting layer stacked one upon another. The hole transporting layer and light-emitting layer include an organic substance. The organic substance layer emits light as electrons and holes are injected into this layer as a result of application of a voltage thereto. An organic EL display has organic EL elements arranged in a matrix and driving means for each of the organic EL elements.
FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating a reference example of wiring structure of an organic EL display 110.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the organic EL display 110 shown in FIG. 6 in the row direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 6).
As illustrated in FIG. 6, the organic EL display 110 has organic EL elements 120 arranged in a matrix of m rows by n columns (two rows by three columns in FIG. 6 for simplification).
Here, the organic EL display 110 has TFTs (thin film transistors) 130 (TFT 130a and TFT 130b), capacitor (capacitive element) 140 and other components on a substrate 111 (refer to FIG. 7). On the other hand, each of the TFTs 130 includes, as illustrated in FIG. 7, a gate insulating film 132, a-Si (amorphous silicon) layer and protective film 134 stacked on a gate electrode 131. The TFT 130 also includes a source electrode 135 on the left side of the a-Si layer 133 and a drain electrode on the right side thereof. It should be noted that an n+ a-Si layer 137 is provided to ensure excellent ohmic contact between the a-Si layer 133 and source electrode 135 or drain electrode 136.
On the other hand, a signal line 151 is disposed on the gate insulating film 132. The signal line 151 is one of the drive wirings adapted to drive the organic EL element 120. An insulating film 160 is stacked above the TFT 130 and signal line 151. The insulating film 160 includes an insulating protective film 161 and insulating planarizing film 162. The insulating planarizing film 162 has a flat surface free from irregularities. It should be noted that the drive wirings include not only the signal line 151 but also a scan line 152 and power line 153 as illustrated in FIG. 6. These wirings are disposed in the insulating film 160.
Still further, the organic EL element 120 is disposed on the insulating planarizing film 162 illustrated in FIG. 7. The same element 120 has an organic substance layer 123 between an anode electrode and cathode electrode 122. The anode electrode 121 is connected to the TFT 130 via a connection hole (not shown) formed in the insulating film 160. It should be noted that the organic substance layer 123 includes an organic substance adapted to emit light as a result of the recombination of injected electrons and holes.
Still further, the cathode electrode 122 is a transparent electrode. Therefore, light emitted by the organic substance layer 123 is extracted from the center portion of an opening regulating insulating film 124 surrounding the anode electrode 121. That is, the organic EL display 110 as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 is a top emission display designed to extract light from the side opposite to the substrate 111.
Incidentally, the top emission organic EL display 110 uses a transparent electrode as the cathode electrode 122 as described above so that light emitted by the organic substance layer 123 can be extracted. However, a conductive material having a high transmittance is high in resistance. On the other hand, a metal having a high reflectance, for example, is used for the anode electrode 121 on the side of the substrate 111. Therefore, an auxiliary wiring 154 is disposed around the anode electrode 121 and connected to the cathode electrode 122 to reduce the resistance of the same electrode 122.
The auxiliary wiring 154 is provided on the same layer as the anode electrode 121 as illustrated in FIG. 7. The same wiring 154 overlaps the signal line 151 one above the other. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the auxiliary wiring 154 also overlaps the scan and power lines 152 and 153 one above the other. The scan and power lines 152 and 153 are each disposed for each row of the organic EL elements 120. The auxiliary wiring 154 is insulated from the signal, scan and power lines 151, 152 and 153 by the insulating film 160 (refer to FIG. 7).
However, the entry of a foreign object, for example, in the manufacturing process may lead to a short circuit, resulting in a lower yield. A possible solution to this would be to prevent the auxiliary wiring 154 from overlapping the signal line 151 or other lines by reducing the width of the same wiring 154 or reducing the area over which the same wiring 154 is disposed. This solution, however, leads to a voltage drop across the auxiliary wiring 154, resulting in crosstalk.
For this reason, a matrix-wired substrate is known which permits repair of a short circuit. That is, this technique forms a pair of openings in advance in an interlayer insulating film so that the intersection is sandwiched between gate and drain lines. The drain line crosses over the gate line. The interlayer insulating film covers the drain line. The drain line is exposed in the openings. If a short circuit is detected at the intersection between the two lines due to a defect of the interlayer insulating film in the inspection process, the interlayer insulating film is destroyed on the inside (short-circuited side) of each of the pair of openings sandwiching the short-circuited area, after which the drain line beneath the interlayer insulating film is cut off. Then, a bypass line is formed so as to bypass the short-circuited area via the pair of openings, thus rejoin the cut segments of the drain line (refer, for example, to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-241833, hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1).


An electronic sound generator is developed for generating a sound similar to that of ANGKLONG (Indonesian terms), which comprises a circuit for generating a series of consequtive rectangular waves. A plurality of envelope wave generation circuits each produce an envelope wave having the same repeating cycle as that of each said rectangular wave and, one or more sound source circuits are used for generating signals substantially equal to the output waves of angklong, circuits in each of which an output of a sound source circuit is modulated by the relevant envelop wave. A loudspeaker sounds the modulated signal as a musical sound. In a record embodiment the sound generator further comprises a first gate to which the modulated signal is directly applied, a second gate is connected in series with the volume and/or tone control circuit, means for opening said first and second gates alternatively and a means for combining the outputs of said first and second gates to provide a musical sound from the loudspeaker.

This invention relates to an electronic musical instrument capable of generating a musical sound similar to the one called in terms of ANGKLONG (Indonesian terms).
Angklong is a folk-music instrument which has been used from ancient times in South East Asian countries such as East Indian Islands and has such structure as will be described hereinafter.
The prior art electronic musical instrument of this kind has such structure as to provide two kinds of musical sounds different in pitch and appearing alternatively in time sharing principle as is found in producing marimba like sound. However none of those instruments are provided with such structure to superpose two kinds of sounds having the same or different pitch and a slight relative time lag in order to generate, with a certain repetition cycle, a composite sound resulting from the superposition.

Sound generator for producing ANGKLONG like sound


An apparatus for monitoring the current in an integrated circuit provided with a current conductor which is to supply current to a semiconductor structure at least temporarily and to supply current to other parts of the circuit. The current conductor is locally split into a first and a second parallel partial current conductor, with the semiconductor structure connected to the first partial current conductor. The first and second partial current conductors are connected to respective first and second connection contacts across which a voltage drop can be derived which is a measure of the value of the current flowing through the semiconductor structure.

This invention relates to an integrated circuit provided with:
a semiconductor structure comprising a current path designed to pass a current during operation, PA0 a current conductor of sufficient width and thickness both for supplying the said current to the semiconductor structure during operation and for supplying current to other parts of the circuit, PA0 a resistance element between the semiconductor structure and the current conductor designed to generate a voltage drop which is proportional to the current through the semiconductor structure during operation, and PA0 two connection contacts across which the said voltage drop can be derived. PA0 the current conductor is locally divided into a first and a second parallel partial current conductor (a first and a second sub-conductor), PA0 an end of the current path of the semiconductor structure is connected to the first partial current conductor (first sub-conductor, and PA0 the first and second sub-conductors or partial current conductors are connected to first and second connection contacts, respectively.
Integrated circuits are known in which the current through a semiconductor structure, which forms a part of the circuit, is monitored by means of the voltage drop generated by this current across a resistor present for this purpose in a current path of the semiconductor structure. Such a current monitoring problem occurs, for example, in voltage stabilizers, power end stages, and the like. Generally, the said resistance is created by dimensioning a portion of the metallization pattern in such a way that this portion can function as a (small) resistance.
An example of such a specially designed metallization pattern is described in Patent Abstracts of Japan 56-71963 (Japanese application 54-148902). According to this publication, the small resistance consists of a portion of a metal track between two vertical connecting tracks which lead through an insulating layer to further metal tracks at a lower level.
Another possibility for manufacturing a resistor of the type referred to above is described in, for example, Patent Abstracts of Japan 56-116658 (Japanese Patent application 55-18982). This known resistor consists of a layer of resistor material of predetermined length, width and thickness with a connection region at either end. The disadvantage of such a resistor is that it occupies a comparatively large surface area.

Integrated circuit with current detection