A disrupter to a target may be precisely aimed by positioning a radiation source to direct radiation towards the target, and a detector is positioned to detect radiation that passes through the target. An aiming device is positioned between the radiation source and the target, wherein a mechanical feature of the aiming device is superimposed on the target in a captured radiographic image. The location of the aiming device in the radiographic image is used to aim a disrupter towards the target.

Disrupters are mechanisms that are configured to emit a projectile towards the target for purposes of disrupting or disabling a target, where disruption of the target refers to inhibiting the target from performing a task, while disablement of the target refers to preventing the target from performing the task (e.g., through destroying the target). For example, a disrupter has conventionally been employed for purposes of disrupting and disabling an explosive device, such as an improvised explosive device (IED). In a more specific example, a disrupter has conventionally been used to disrupt or disable a battery, such as a 9V battery, in an explosive device. The disrupter is aimed at the battery, and a projectile emitted from the disrupter impacts the battery, thereby, for example, disabling the battery (and thus the explosive device).
Conventional means, however, for aiming a disrupter towards a target are relatively imprecise. While aiming precision is not necessary for all applications of disrupting or disabling a target, in many scenarios, higher precision in aiming the disrupter may be desirable, such as when componentry of electronics coupled to an explosive is desirably analyzed to ascertain information pertaining to an explosive device, such as the manufacturer of the explosive device, place of origin of the explosive device, etc.


The integrated circuit package includes a processing core for operating on a set of instructions to carry out predefined processes. A real time clock circuit provides a system clock for the processing core. The real time clock further comprises an internal oscillator that generates the system clock for the integrated circuit package. The internal oscillator has a factory calibrated bias current. An internal oscillator control register controls the operation of the internal oscillator responsive to control bits of the programmable load capacitor array controlled by the processing core.

Control devices for components such as wireless thermostat controllers or wireless light switches require the use of control circuitry that can operate for long periods of time on a single battery. These types of circuits have long sleep periods wherein minimal power is needed to operate the circuit thus providing a minimal draw on the battery charge. These circuits have very short periods of time when control operations require higher voltage levels in order to accomplish various procedures. In order for these types of circuits to have the necessary operating characteristics, improved circuitries must be provided which will provide optimal power characteristics in both the high power usage and low power usage modes of operation. These types of circuitries also require some type of power control logic enabling ease of switching between these modes of operation having different power usage characteristics.
The Real time clock (RTC) of this type of power control circuit is required to work with a low bias current. However, with transistor processes variation, resistor processes variation and transistor mismatch, the current in the RTC can vary from −40% to +50% in the worst corners. To control the current in the RTC in a tighter range, and ensure that RTC bias current can be set to the lowest possible value which guarantees operation under all operating conditions, a system and method is needed to reduce the RTC bias current and the potential current variation over a volume of devices.

System and method for calibrating bias current for low power RTC oscillator


A wire management clip formed of an elastic material to clip onto a structural element. The clip is formed to include an area for supporting a wire or wire bundle. Preferably, the clip includes holes formed on opposing sides to allow a strap attachment, such as a zip-tie, to hold a conduit or wire outside the clip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to photovoltaic mounting systems, and more particularly, to a wire management clip.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are various solutions in the market for addressing the need to neatly manage an electrical wire harness along structural elements in systems such as solar racking structures. For example, in solar racking systems the electrical wires from each photovoltaic panel need to be safely and easily routed along the racking structure.
The most common device used is the zip-tie which can tie a single wire or a bundle to any point where there is a hole, or other structure, to attach the tie. There are many variations of the zip-tie with integrated features to fasten into holes, slots, flanges, etc. Other solutions available include metal or plastic wire clips that are generally fastened by snapping into place via a spring action or by using a threaded fastener.
Generally, these prior solutions require a hole or other mechanical feature in order to attach the fastener. When the structural element is an extrusion or a roll form shape, the requirement to place holes for attaching wire management clips or ties adds cost, and restricts the location where the wire management components can attach. Another common feature in extrusions or roll forms that can be used to attach a clip is a flange. Most clips require high insertion force to attach to a flange and to insert the wire, which is hard on the installer's fingers, especially when an installer is required to install a large number of fasteners in a short time. However, a continuous flange provides a lot of freedom for placing the clip anywhere along the structural member.

Wire management clip for structures such as solar racking systems


An infrared light source is disclosed that comprises a layered semiconductor active region having a semimetal region and at least one quantum-well layer. The semimetal region, formed at an interface between a GaAsSb or GalnSb layer and an InAsSb layer, provides electrons and holes to the quantum-well layer to generate infrared light at a predetermined wavelength in the range of 2-6 .mu.m. Embodiments of the invention can be formed as electrically-activated light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or lasers, and as optically-pumped lasers. Since the active region is unipolar, multiple active regions can be stacked to form a broadband or multiple-wavelength infrared light source.

Infrared light sources including semiconductor light-emitting diodes and semiconductor lasers are useful for many applications including fluoride-based optical-fiber communications, spectroscopy, chemical and pollution sensing, process monitoring, and infrared laser radar and countermeasures. However, the performance of infrared light sources in the 2-6 .mu.m wavelength range has been limited by nonradiative recombination processes (usually Auger recombination) which dominate radiative recombination in narrow-bandgap semiconductors.
Infrared lasers termed "quantum cascade" lasers have recently been disclosed by Capasso et al in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,457,709; 5,509,025 and 5,570,386. Such "quantum cascade" lasers are based on intersubband transitions of electrons in a multilayer semiconductor structure that comprises doped semiconductor material of only a first conductivity type. Such "quantum cascade" lasers are not based on electron-hole recombination, and do not include a semimetal region.
An advantage of the infrared light source of the present invention is the provision of a semimetal region within the active region to produce electrons therein for the generation of infrared light.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a plurality of active regions can be stacked to form an infrared light source that emits at a plurality of different wavelengths, or to form an infrared light source having a broadband emission.
A further advantage is that the infrared light source of the present invention can be formed as a light-emitting diode (LED) or as a laser.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that a laser structure can be formed with a plurality of vertically stacked active regions to provide an increased gain and lasing output power.
These and other advantages of the infrared light source of the present invention will become evident to those skilled in the art.

Infrared light sources with semimetal electron injection


According to one embodiment of the invention, an architecture for a data processing system can be implemented that processes data for a service provider itself or a client of a service provider as in the case of a third party processor. The elements of the architecture can be managed separately. For example, the architecture can be organized around eight subject areas, such as account, party, communication point, presentation instrument, rules, balances, transactions, and product. Relationships between each of the subject areas as well as between sub-types of each subject area can be established to provide flexibility in the management of the data.

Credit card transaction management and administration is an example of a processing system that has traditionally relied on storing a great deal of information with a single identifier used as a reference. For example, a credit card account typically includes information about the customer, the account, the billing address, the formal transaction information, and the credit card and physical credit card characteristics. All of this is handled from the perspective of a single account, so that the credit card company can track transactions for a particular customer. Thus, this results in a very static data processing system that is inflexible which makes it difficult to effect changes as the business it services evolves. Furthermore, the handling of this information is typically specific to a particular line of business within an industry such as a revolving credit product for the financial services industry. It is not readily aligned with a totally different service model, such as one's utility billing system, insurance claim payment processing system, phone billing system, or cable billing system.
Thus, a third party which handles the processing of transactions for a variety of different industries or services must create independent systems for handling each service's transactions. There currently appears to be no unique system which is capable of flexibly handling different types of services, such as credit card processing, healthcare claim payment, and utility bill processing, in the same processing system. Again, the static and inflexible nature of the current processing systems prevent this.
In addition, because the account information, party information, and presentation instrument information for a credit card system, for example, is referenced by a single identifier, it is quite difficult, if not impossible, under present systems, to manage the individual areas of account information, party information, or presentation instrument as independent data. Once again, the inflexible nature of a single reference to the data prevents this from happening.
As another example of the inflexibility of current systems, it is not easy to modify existing systems to add multiple parties and the requisite roles they play to an account and utilize multiple cards for that account. Again, this is difficult due to the fact that once an account is created under the static formatting of a particular account—such as the formatting of a Mastercard Gold Card with a single customer—it is extremely difficult to modify that record to reflect change—such as a second party, playing a previously unsupported role, on the account—without restructuring the processing system (underlying data structures and program code).
Another example of the inflexibility of credit card systems is that customers are typically prevented from playing dual roles in an account, such as the role of guarantor and authorized user. Instead, the credit card account is typically configured to identify one party as the authorized user and a different party as the guarantor. Once again, this prevents the flexibility that might be desired in certain circumstances.
Yet another example of the rigidity of current systems is that, for products offered by a bank, for example, which offers different credit card lines as well as brokerage accounts and mortgages, each of those individual accounts is typically processed separately, under separate systems. It is not possible to easily combine those systems at a later point in time under a master account which could be tailored to the services desired by a particular customer.
As yet another example, the static nature of current systems makes it difficult, if not impossible, to modify the mailing contact points for an individual during different times of the year. For example, a credit card statement is typically mailed to a home residence of the customer who is financially responsible for the account. Current systems do not provide the flexibility to allow a customer to designate varying locations during the year to which statements should be sent. This is due to the fact that only a single address is currently associated with a credit card account, for example, without the flexibility to designate different contact points throughout the year. To include such information would require a complete reworking of the credit card processing system because the credit card processing system operates by referring to all account information using a single reference identifier.
Thus, as can be seen from the above examples, current processing systems for service industries are typically configured in a static and inflexible way so as to effectively prevent the efficient management of information for an account. Other examples addressed by present embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the following specification.
Thus, there is a need for a data processing system which can handle the processing of data for service industries in a more flexible manner. For example, there is a need for a data processing system and requisite data architecture that can easily adapt to changing business requirements and is not tightly coupled with a specific aspect of any one service or any one industry.


In a contact-free plate conveyor including an arrangement of nozzles each having a cup-like shape widening to a planar rim thereof, air under pressure is supplied to the nozzles such that an air flow is generated toward and through a gap formed between the rims of the cups at high speed which generates a vacuum between the cup rims and the plate so as to hold the plate at a predetermined distance from the nozzle arrangement.

The invention relates to a contact-free plate conveyor particularly for glass plates.
In the float glass production, the glass web which has been formed and solidified on a liquid metal bath is carried away in a well-known manner by plate conveyors which are generally roller conveyors on which the glass web is moved with its bath side disposed on the rollers. During movement, the finished glass web is cut longitudinally and transversely into glass plates of the desired format and these glass plates are also moved by plate conveyors to stacking station where the plates are removed from the conveyor.
By its contact with the rollers during its movement over the rollers, small traces remain on the support side of the glass. These traces are normally not noticeable but are objectionable for some applications and therefore detrimentally affect the quality of the glass surface.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a conveyor by which such traces inflicted by the mechanical contact between the glass surface and conveyor elements is avoided.


A film layer comprising a high-chi (χ) block copolymer for self-assembly and a hexafluoroalcohol-containing surface active polymer (SAP) was prepared on a substrate surface that was neutral wetting to the domains of the self-assembled block copolymer. The block copolymer comprises at least one polycarbonate block and at least one other block (e.g., a substituted or unsubstituted styrene-based block). The film layer, whose top surface has contact with an atmosphere, self-assembles to form a lamellar or cylindrical domain pattern having perpendicular orientation with respect to the underlying surface. Other morphologies (e.g., islands and holes of height 1.0Lo) were obtained with films lacking the SAP. The SAP is preferentially miscible with, and lowers the surface energy of, the domain comprising the polycarbonate block.

The present invention relates to fluoro-alcohol additives for orientation control of block copolymers used in directed self-assembly applications, and more specifically to materials for top orientation-control of high-chi (χ) block copolymers containing a polycarbonate block.
Block copolymers (BCPs) find many applications in solution, bulk and thin films. Thin film applications of BCPs are particularly attractive for nanolithography and patterning due to the ability of some BCPs to form periodic self-assembled structures ranging in feature size from 5 nm to 50 nm. The thin-film self-assembly property of BCPs can be utilized with existing photolithographic techniques to provide a unique approach to long range order for semiconductor applications. This approach, called directed self-assembly (DSA) of block copolymers, promises to extend the patterning capabilities of conventional lithography.
BCPs for directed self-assembly (DSA) applications comprise two or more polymer blocks that can phase separate into domains characterized by ordered nanoscopic arrays of spheres, cylinders, gyroids, and lamellae. The ability of a BCP to phase separate depends on the Flory Huggins interaction parameter chi (χ) and degree of polymerization of the block copolymer. Poly(styrene)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate), abbreviated as PS-b-PMMA, is the most widely used block copolymer for DSA. For PS-b-PMMA, the poly(styrene) block (PS) and the poly(methyl methacrylate) block (PMMA) have similar surface energies at the polymer-air interface at elevated temperatures. In this instance, annealing a thin layer of the BCP, which is disposed on an orientation control layer, induces phase separation to produce BCP domains that are perpendicularly oriented to the orientation control layer. Typically, for PS-b-PMMA the orientation control layer is a crosslinkable or brush-type random copolymer formed with styrene and methyl methacrylate. The neutral wetting properties of the orientation control layer (underlayer) can be controlled by adjusting the composition of styrene and methyl methacrylate in order to enable perpendicular orientation of the BCP lamellar domains.
The minimum half-pitch of PS-b-PMMA is limited to about 10 nm because of the lower interaction and interaction parameter chi (χ) between PS and PMMA. Typically when the product of chi and N of the block copolymer is less than 10, such a block copolymer tends to form disordered aggregates rather than ordered phase-separated domains. To enable further feature miniaturization (i.e., using block copolymers having lower degree of polymerization), a block copolymer with higher interaction parameter between two blocks (higher chi) is desirable. Several block copolymers having higher interaction parameter between the two blocks have been studied to obtain smaller feature sizes. Of particular interest are block copolymers comprising a block derived from ring opening of a cyclic carbonyl monomer from a reactive end-group on the first polymer block. Block copolymers formed by ring opening polymerization (ROP) of cyclic monomers (e.g., lactides, lactones, ethylene oxide) have been used to generate sub-10 nm feature size for patterning application.
As the interaction parameter between the two blocks of the block copolymer increases, neutral underlayer properties alone may not be sufficient for forming perpendicularly oriented block copolymer domains due to the increased mismatch between the polymer-air surface energies of the two blocks. This causes parallel orientation of the block copolymer domains with only the lower surface energy block present at the polymer-air interface, rendering the thin-film undesirable for lithographic applications. Top-coat based orientation control strategies have been employed to control the surface energy at the polymer-air interface of the blocks. However, these strategies introduce additional process complexity in the integration of high-chi block copolymers into standard lithography processes.
There exists a need to develop a top-coat free method for perpendicularly orienting block copolymer domains of a high-chi block copolymer with sub-10 nm half-pitch.

Fluoro-alcohol additives for orientation control of block copolymers

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of and apparatus for composting poultry carcasses, comprising a two wheel utility trailer with a rotary drum composter mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis above and parallel to the wheel axle of the trailer. The drum may be turned, manually or mechanically, until the composting process is complete. After composting, the loaded composter is taken to a field for spreading. The drum has openings which are opened and a chain drive is connected to the axle of the trailer so that the drum is turned by the movement of the wheels of the trailer over the ground. This tumbling action spreads the composted material as the trailer is pulled over the field. In one embodiment, the trailer is provided with a roof to keep rain off the composter drum. In another embodiment, the spreading action is improved by providing a distributing disc located under the trailer and driven by the drive axle to throw the composted material falling from the openings of the drum.

The present invention relates to a device for composting organic material, such as poultry carcasses, and in particular to a device which minimizes handling operations by combining the functions of a mobile composter with a spreader for land application of composted material.
Poultry growing necessarily results in the deaths of some proportion of the birds. In a large poultry growing operation, the numbers may exceed some hundreds of birds per day on an average basis. The disposal of the carcasses presents a considerable problem to growers. One solution has been to bury the carcasses. This solution has a number of problems, not the least of which is the environmental impact. Present and anticipated environmental regulations will severely limit or curtail this practice. Alternatives to burying include incineration and composting. Incineration is costly and otherwise undesirable. Composting appears to be a practical, cost effective, and environmentally acceptable method of disposal of poultry carcasses. Composting is a well known art in which organic material is decomposed to produce an environmentally benign and useful soil amendment. Composting can destroy pathogens and is well suited to the disposal of animal carcasses.
One well known technique of composting is to place the organic material in a pile, such as a windrow, or in an enclosure with suitable amendments to enhance the natural biological processes that break the organic material down into a humus for application to the soil. It is known to use such a process for poultry carcasses. U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,169 issued to Bland on Apr. 27, 1993 discloses a compost crib for composting chicken carcasses. The apparatus of Bland is not mobile and contains no provision for spreading the composted material.
Turning the material at intervals during the composting process is well known. Horizontal rotary composting drums for this purpose are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,300,438; 5,589,391; and 3,942,769.
Most composters, including the rotary types, are intended to be stationarily mounted. It is known however to mount a rotary drum composter on wheels for mobile operation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,438 issued to Augspurger et al. discloses a horizontal rotary drum composter which may be mounted on a two wheeled trailer for mobile operation. Other patents for composters that are mobile or portable include small composters for domestic use such as Petzinger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,412, or composting machines designed to be employed in turning windrows of composting materials, such as Urbanczyk, U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,723. Also disclosed is a portable compost grinder, U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,364. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,547,420 and 5,076,504 disclose mobile devices for pulverizing animal carcasses to prepare the material for composting among other purposes. Neither patent is specifically for an apparatus or method of composting.
Although horizontal rotary drum composters are suitable for composting poultry carcasses, the significant limitation to the use of composting in the disposal of poultry carcasses is not the technology of composting per se, but the material handling problem of dealing with large numbers of carcasses on a daily basis, including transferring the carcasses from poultry house to composter, transferring the composted material to a land disposal site, and finally spreading the composted material on the land disposal site. Typically, the following operations are required: poultry carcasses are collected from poultry houses and placed into some form of transport vehicle, the transport vehicle transports the poultry carcasses to a composting facility, the carcasses are loaded into the composter, and, after a suitable period of composting, the composted material is removed from the composter, loaded onto a transport vehicle, carried to a land disposal site, transferred from the transport vehicle to a mobile spreader, and the spreader then applies the composted material to the land. The large number of handling operations are inefficient and time consuming. Employing a mobile composter could alleviate some of the handling operations, although the present inventor is not aware of any suggestion in the prior art that a mobile composter would be useful in alleviating the handling problems involved in the disposal of poultry carcasses. Even the employment of a mobile composter does not alleviate all the handling problems, however, since the composted material must still be transferred from the composter to the spreader, which involves potentially two additional handling operations. To the knowledge of the present inventor, the prior art does not suggest the combination of a mobile composter with a spreader to avoid these additional handling operations.
The problems and limitations of the prior art are overcome by the present invention as summarized below.

Mobile poultry carcass composter and spreader


Process for the enantioselective preparation of phenylisoserine derivatives of general formula (I), in which R represents a phenyl or tert-butoxy radical, R.sub.1 represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl radical containing 1 to 4 carbon atoms and R.sub.2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group protecting the alcohol function. ##STR1##

The products of general formula (II) in which R represents a phenyl radical correspond to taxol and to 10-deacetyltaxol, and the products of general formula (II) in which R represents a tert-butoxy radical correspond to those which are described in European Patent EP 253,738.
The products of general formula (II), and especially those which occur in the 2'R,3'S form, possess especially advantageous antitumour and antileukaemic properties.

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique


A process for forming a polymer (and the polymer formed thereby) for passivation, resist and bonding uses, for example, that is thermally stable at relatively high temperatures in excess of 400.degree. C., but is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation. The process includes forming a heteroatom ring polymer that includes a chain formed of a large number of closed aromatic rings such as polyimide groups. According to the present teaching, intervening moieties, (that is, chemical groupings) in the form of open ring precursors of the aromatic rings, such as polyamic acid groups are introduced between the successive closed aromatic rings, which destroy and/or delimit the colinear character and the coplanar character typical of the successive aromatic rings, thus rendering the aromatic rings sensitive to structural change by electromagnetic radiation exposure, and soluble in common organic solvents, but with the exposed HRP insoluble in resist developers.

Advances in microelectronic lithography have been made possible with high sensitivity resists. The approach has reached certain inherent limits. Polymers sensitive to radiation are also susceptible to thermal and plasma degradations. The latter properties are needed, among other things, for baking and dry etching processes in the manufacturing of the LSIC devices. Furthermore, as the separation between circuit elements decreases, electrical shorting can occur in the presence of moisture and sodium ions. This occurrence can be reduced by coating the LSIC device with a passivating film. As the passage of current generates a lot of heat, the passivating polymer film must possess high thermal stability. These divergent properties have not heretofore been found in any single polymer. Thus, as radiation sensitive polymers having low thermal stability have been employed as resists, thermally stable polymers such as conventional polyimides have been proposed to passivate the LSIC device. The present inventor has found, as later discussed, that certain new families of polymers can be rendered radiation sensitive in the sense of lithographic resists-yet, these materials are stable thermally at temperatures up to and above 400.degree. C. and to plasma etching.
There have been numerous polymeric substances used in resist lithographic applications. They can, as noted above, act in the positive or negative mode depending upon the type of images formed. Some are operative only with light which includes visible and ultraviolet and will be referred to as photoresist, while others are operative with high energy radiations such as X-ray, electron and .gamma.-ray which are commonly referred to as E-beam resists.
Existing resist materials suffer from any one or several disadvantages: (a) low T.sub.g (glass transistion temperature) limiting prebaking and postbaking conditions; (b) weak mechanical strength or adhesion to resists leading to the formation of line or pin-hole defects; (c) degradation by plasma in the process of dry etching. The resists of this invention usually do not exhibit glass transitions even at the very high decomposition temperatures. The resists of this invention are soluble in common organic solvents for spin coating to form micron thick films, but they can form thicker films of, say, forty or more microns. The films thus formed are mechanically strong and adhere strongly to a substrate. The novel resist polymers of this invention have been shown to be unusually stable in the environment of plasma typically employed for dry etching to remove the metal oxides surface layer of a substrate.
Heteroatom ring polymers (HRP) are characterized by excellent mechanical strength and chemical stabilities. Even though HRP structures are not easily soluble, they have been considered as a passivating layer for LSIC. But the chemical inertness of the HRP structures renders HRP unsuited, up to now, for resist applications. One would not look at these stable structures for resist applications, which require chemical transformations in the presence of radiation. It is worthy of mentioning that Scrinivasan was able to abrade polyimide with a high-intensity laser beam at an intensity level that can also affect steel. (Lecture by R. Scrinivasan, presented at the International Conference on Polymer Degradation and Stabilization, Manchester, England, 1986.)
The novel concept of this invention is to incorporate an X moiety between aromatic rings, the said moiety being radiation sensitive, which disrupts the colinear and coplanar characteristics of successive aromatic rings, yet is highly thermal stable.
The invention is described herein mostly in the context of resists but it has uses, as above noted, in a passivating function and, in addition, by adding conductive powders thereto (e.g., gold or silver flakes), can be utilized for conductive device bonding, especially in cerdip packages in the integrated circuit field of technology. Heat transfer characteristics can be enhanced by the adding of ceramic materials and the like such as aluminum and berrillium oxides. In all these environments, viscosity is a factor for it affects the thickness of polymer deposition which may be one to several microns for a resist and up to forty or more microns for passivation of memory devices. The present polymers can be employed in the several environments, including device bonding, all of which require heat-stable characteristics (that is, greater than 400.degree. C. and, more importantly, about and above 450.degree. C.). Further, whereas resists for semiconductor fabrication are emphasized herein, the polymeric materials herein disclosed can be used in other lithographic applications.

Thermally stable highly sensitive resists and the like


A method of predicting petrophysical characteristics of an underground reservoir by constructing a geologic model consistent with seismic measurements is disclosed which permits optimization of oil reservoir development schemes. A geologic model, from which seismic data are simulated in depth, is constructed in depth. The geologic model is made consistent with seismic measurements acquired in time by minimization of an objective function by comparing the seismic measurements with seismic data simulated from the geologic model and converted to time. During minimization, the interval velocities used for conversion are updated by comparing, within the objective function, an observed thickness in time ΔTobsm,n between two markers with a thickness in time ΔTsimm,n simulated from the seismic data, and by modifying simulation parameters such as the error εsimm,n on the thickness of the two markers estimated in depth.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for predicting petrophysical characteristics of an underground reservoir, comprising constructing and updating a geologic model constrained by data in time such as seismic data.
This methodology is part of the set of themes relative to reservoir characterization, whose objective is to provide reliable information on reservoirs in order to better predict their behaviour and to optimize their development scheme.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Updating geologic models is based on the inverse problem theory: some parameters of the geologic model, such as porosity or permeability, are adjusted iteratively to fit observation data, such as seismic data for example. As in any inverse problem, there is not one and only solution. In order to reduce uncertainties on the production prediction, it is necessary to integrate more observation data (logs, production data, seismic data, . . . ), which allows to better constrain the models.
Geologic models are a fine representation of the structure and of the behavior of an underground reservoir. These models consist of a set of cells, also referred to as grid cells, that form a grid. This grid represents a discretization of the reservoir and it has to be representative of the reservoir structure. In order to be able to reproduce the static or dynamic behaviour of a reservoir, two or three-dimensional property "maps" describing the static and/or dynamic behavior of the reservoir are associated with these models, referred to as geocellular models. It is thus well known to use stochastic simulation methods (Journel A., Huijbregts C., 1978, "Mining Geostatistics", Centre de Géostatistique et de Morphologie Mathematique, London, Academic press). During these simulations, a property field or map constrained by reservoir data measured at the level of wells for example is produced.
Simultaneous integration, in the stochastic simulations, of several types of data, whether static or dynamic, allows considerable reduction of the space of the allowable geologic models and therefore to better predict the behaviour of the reservoirs studied. Some methods already use combined integration of geologic and seismic data. The seismic data recorded are the seismic amplitudes. A large number of attributes, referred to as seismic attributes, can be calculated from the latter to improve the raw data (amplitudes) interpretation. The most commonly used attributes are the impedances. They are generally determined from a seismic amplitude stratigraphic inversion technique. Such an approach is proposed for example by Tonellot et al. in the following document for example:    Tonellot, T., Macè, D., and Richard, V., 2001, Joint Stratigraphic Inversion of Angle Limited Stacks, 71st Ann. Internal. Mtg., Soc. Expl. Geophys., Expanded Abstracts, AVO 2.6, 227-230.
Impedances can also be obtained on a fine scale by means of stochastic techniques. Such a technique is proposed by Bortoli et al. in the following document for example:    Bortoli, L. J., Alabert F., Haas A. et Journel, A. G. 1993. Constraining Stochastic Images to Seismic Data. Geostatistics Troia 82, A. Soares (ed.), 325-337. Kluwer, Dordrecht.
The seismic amplitudes are here stochastically inverted on a fine grid. This approach allows to obtain several impedance cubes, all in accordance with the seismic amplitudes.
The seismic constraint (data resulting from the seismic amplitudes that the geologic model must meet) is often introduced as a secondary variable guiding the distribution of the variable of interest. Techniques known to the man skilled in the art, such as simulation techniques with external drift, or co-simulations using one or more seismic attributes as secondary variables, allow to distribute reservoir properties constrained by these seismic attributes. The following document can for example be mentioned:    Doyen P. M., 1988. Porosity from Seismic Data: A Geostatistical Approach. Geophysics 53(10), 1263-1275.
Another technique for using these seismic impedances to constrain geologic models is proposed in the following documents for example:    Matheron G., Beucher H., de Fouquet C., Galli A., Guerillot D., and Ravenne C. 1987: Conditional Simulation of the Geometry of Fluvio Deltaic Reservoirs. SPE 62nd Annual Conference, Dallas, Tex., pp. 591-599,    Matheron G., Beucher H., de Fouquet C., Galli A and Ravenne C., 1988: Simulation Conditionnelle à Trois Faciès Dans Une Falaise de la Formation du Brent. Sciences de la Terre, Série Informatique Géologique, 28, pp. 213-249,    Galli A., Beucher H., Le Loc'h G., Doligez B. and Heresim group, 1993: the Pros and Cons of the Truncated Gaussian Method. In: Armstrong M. and Dowd P. A. (eds), Geostatistical Simulations, pp. 217-233, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1993.
These documents use the technique referred to as "thresholded Gaussian". In this approach, seismic attributes are used to establish a lithofacies proportion curve matrix. This matrix then allows the spatial distribution of the lithofacies to be guided.
However, none of these aforementioned techniques allows to provide consistency between the geologic model thus obtained and the seismic impedances.
Thus, current techniques propose constructing geocellular reservoir models by means of stochastic simulations allowing spatial distribution of the lithofacies and/or of the reservoir properties (porosity and permeability for example). These simulations are constrained by well data, by geostatistical model parameters and possibly guided by one or more seismic attributes. However, it is not guaranteed that the geologic model obtained reproduces the seismic impedances obtained from the observed seismic data. In general terms, no method guarantees that the geologic model obtained reproduces the seismic data, that is a modelling of the seismic amplitudes from the geologic model does not provide a result that is consistent with the amplitudes measured during the seismic survey.
The proposed methodology allows obtaining geologic models consistent with the seismic data measured during the seismic survey.

Method for updating a geologic model by seismic data


An analog-to-digital converter circuit includes a digital-to-analog converter circuit, a voltage stabilization circuit, and a comparator circuit. The digital-to-analog converter circuit generates an analog signal based on digital signals and a reference voltage. The voltage stabilization circuit reduces variations in the reference voltage in response to at least one of the digital signals. The comparator circuit generates a comparison output based on the analog signal. The digital signals are generated based on the comparison output.

An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuit is used to convert a continuous analog signal into a discrete digital signal. One type of ADC is a successive approximation register (SAR) ADC. A SAR ADC typically has a comparator, a successive approximation register, and an internal digital-to-analog converter (DAC). In operation, a SAR ADC performs a binary search on each sample of the analog signal to determine an approximate digital output for each sample. A SAR ADC may include an array of individually switched capacitors in the internal DAC. The array, the comparator, and the successive approximation register are used to perform the binary search.

Analog-to-digital converter circuits and methods


The eyepiece of the helmet mounted display optics is formed by a beam splitter eyepiece cube and a spherical mirror to create a magnified virtual image of a rear projection screen mounted to the eyepiece cube at a relatively large distance from the observer. The rear projection screen receives an image from a spatial light modulator display which is illuminated by a separate light source.

Helmet mounted displays are well known in the art. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,477 to Welch et al., a helmet mounted display is disclosed in which a rear projection screen image is viewed through a magnifying eyepiece prism. More recently, helmet mounted displays in which a wide field of view is achieved by projection of an SLM image onto a screen or image synthesizing optic before being magnified through an eyepiece are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,323 to Hildebrand et al. and 5,483,307 to Anderson. The use of spatial light modulators and beam splitting cubes in such helmet mounted display optics is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,451 to Handschy et al.
Difficulties experienced in known prior art systems are typically eye strain or eye fatigue, lack of image resolution, weight of the image optic system which impedes freedom of hand movement in the helmet mounted display, as well as the presence of dangerous voltages or levels of electromagnetic radiation on or near the head. While various prior art systems have attempted to solve such difficulties individually, there is a need for a helmet mounted display having an improved performance which addresses the various difficulties experienced in the prior art.

Helmet mounted display with improved SLM illumination


One illustrative device disclosed herein includes a plurality of source/drain regions positioned in an active region on opposite sides of a gate structure, each of the source/drain regions having a lateral width in a gate length direction of the transistor and a plurality of halo regions, wherein each of the halo regions is positioned under a portion, but not all, of the lateral width of one of the plurality of source/drain regions. A method disclosed herein includes forming a plurality of halo implant regions in an active region, wherein an outer edge of each of the halo implant regions is laterally spaced apart from an adjacent inner edge of an isolation region.

1. Field of the Invention
Generally, the present disclosure relates to the manufacture of semiconductor devices, and, more specifically, to a transistor device with improved source/drain junction architecture and various methods of making such a device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The fabrication of advanced integrated circuits, such as CPU's, storage devices, ASIC's (application specific integrated circuits) and the like, requires the formation of a large number of circuit elements in a given chip area according to a specified circuit layout, wherein field effect transistors (NMOS and PMOS transistors) represent one important type of circuit element that substantially determines performance of the integrated circuits. During the fabrication of complex integrated circuits using, for instance, MOS technology, millions of transistors, e.g., NMOS transistors and/or PMOS transistors, are formed on a substrate including a crystalline semiconductor layer. A field effect transistor, irrespective of whether an NMOS transistor or a PMOS transistor is considered, typically comprises so-called PN junctions that are formed by an interface of highly doped regions, referred to as drain and source regions, with a slightly doped or non-doped channel region disposed between the highly doped source/drain regions. Device designers are under constant pressure to improve the electrical performance characteristics of semiconductor devices, such as transistors, and the overall performance capabilities of integrated circuit devices that incorporate such devices.
Ion implantation is a technique that is employed in many technical fields to implant dopant ions into a substrate so as to alter the characteristics of the substrate or of a specified portion thereof. For example, the rapid development of advanced devices in the semiconductor industry is based on, among other things, the ability to generate highly complex dopant profiles within tiny regions of a semiconducting substrate by performing advanced implantation techniques through a masking. In implanting specified ions into a substrate, the desired lateral implant profile may be readily obtained by providing correspondingly adapted implantation masks. A desired vertical implant profile may be achieved by, among other things, controlling the acceleration energy of the ions during the implantation process such that the majority of the ions are positioned at a desired depth in the substrate. Moreover, by appropriately selecting the dopant dose, i.e., the number of ions per unit area of the ion beam impinging on a substrate, comparably high concentrations of atoms may be incorporated into a substrate as compared to other doping techniques, such as diffusion. In the case of an illustrative transistor, ion implantation may be used to form various doped regions, such as halo implant regions, extension implant regions and deep source/drain implant regions, etc.
An illustrative ion implantation sequence employed in forming an illustrative transistor 30 will now be discussed with reference to FIGS. 1A-1D. FIG. 1A depicts the transistor 30 at an early stage of fabrication, wherein a gate structure 14 has been formed above a semiconductor substrate 10 in an active region that is defined by a shallow trench isolation structure 12. The gate structure 14 typically includes a gate insulation layer 14A and a conductive gate electrode 14B. As shown in FIG. 1A, an implantation mask 17 is formed above the substrate so as to expose the transistor. The ion implantation mask 17 is typically a patterned layer of photoresist material and it may be formed using traditional photolithography tools and techniques. In one illustrative embodiment, a plurality of angled ion implantation processes are performed to form the schematically depicted so-called halo implant regions 15 in the substrate 10. The halo implant regions 15 are typically formed by performing a series of two or four angled implant processes, during which the substrate 10 is rotated 180° or 90° after each of the angled implantation processes is performed. The halo implant regions 15 are doped with the same type of dopant material as is the active region of the substrate 10. For example, for an NMOS device, the halo implant regions 15 may be P-doped regions so as to reinforce the dopants in the P-doped active region. In the case of a PMOS device, the halo implant regions 15 would be N-doped regions. The dopant concentration of the halo implant regions 15 may vary depending upon the particular application. The implant angle used in forming the halo implant regions 15 may also vary depending upon the particular application. Among other things, the purpose of the halo implant regions 15 is to reduce so-called short channel effects on minimum channel length devices, i.e., the proximity from the left and the right halo implant regions will help to avoid premature punch-through and keep the threshold voltage of the transistor device high enough for proper functionality.
As indicated in FIG. 1B, after the halo implant regions 15 are formed, a so-called extension ion implantation process is typically performed to form so-called extension implant regions 16 in the substrate 10. The extension implant process is typically performed through the same masking layer 17 that was used when forming the halo implant regions 15. In the case of an NMOS device, the extension implant regions will be N-doped regions. The concentration of dopant materials in the extension implant regions 16 may vary depending upon the particular application. In some embodiments, the extension implant regions 16 may be self-aligned relative to the sidewalls of the gate structure 14. In other applications, a small sidewall spacer (not shown) may be formed adjacent to the gate structure 14 prior to forming the extension implant regions 16. The extension implant regions 16 typically have a lower dopant concentration and a shallower depth than that of so-called deep source/drain implant regions that, as discussed more fully below, will be formed in the substrate 10.
FIG. 1C depicts the device 30 after several process operations have been performed. First, the patterned implant mask 17 used when performing the process operations described above in connection with FIGS. 1A-1B is removed. Then, one or more sidewall spacers 18 are formed proximate the gate structure 14. The spacers 18 may be formed by depositing a layer of spacer material and thereafter performing an anisotropic etching process. Next, a so-called source/drain doping process is performed on the transistor 30 by means of an epitaxy and/or ion implantation process to form so-called deep source/drain implant regions 20 in the substrate 10. As noted above, the source/drain ion implantation process is typically performed using a higher dopant dose and at a higher implant energy than the ion implantation process that was performed to form the extension implant regions 16. The halo implant regions 15 have a sufficient concentration of counter-dopant materials so as to effectively overwhelm the dopants implanted during the source/drain implantation process. As a result, the source/drain implant regions 20 effectively stop on the halo implant regions 15.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 1D, a heating or anneal process is performed to form the final source/drain regions 22 for the transistor 30. This heating process repairs the damage to the lattice structure of the substrate material as a result of the implantation processes and it activates the implanted dopant materials, i.e., the implanted dopant materials are incorporated into the silicon lattice. As depicted, the halo regions 15 limit the depth of the final source/drain regions 22. As device dimensions are continually being reduced, it is very important that the depth of the source/drain regions 22 for a transistor be very shallow, e.g., approximately 15 nm or less in current-day technologies, and that the implanted dopants are, to the extent possible, fully activated. Thus, heating processes such as a flash anneal or a laser anneal are performed for a very short duration, e.g., 1250° C. for a duration of 2-10 milliseconds, and are performed to limit the diffusion of the implanted ions, so as to maintain the desired shallow dopant profile, while at the same time trying to maximize dopant activation. In general, the higher the annealing temperature, the greater the extent of dopant activation. For previous device generations, a typical anneal process might be a rapid thermal anneal process performed at a temperature of about 1080° C. for a much longer duration of about 1-2 seconds. However, the very short millisecond anneal times performed to activate very shallow source/drain regions are insufficient to cure all of the damages to the substrate resulting from the ion implantation processes. After a flash or laser anneal process is performed, the source/drain regions 22 of the transistor 30 will have an amorphous region (where there is a sufficient concentration of ions to enable the region to conduct current) and a semi-amorphous region (where implanted ions are not of sufficient concentration or not activated). The depth of the amorphous regions may be approximately 3-7 nm and 40-50 nm, for the extension implant regions 16 and the deep source/drain implant regions 20, respectively, of the source/drain region 22 of the transistor 30. As a result, the depth of the semi-amorphous region would tend to overlap with the PN junction in the source/drain region of the device, which may result in higher leakage currents, which tend to reduce the electrical performance of the resulting device and an integrated circuit device incorporating such transistors.
The present disclosure is directed to a transistor device with improved source/drain architecture and various methods of making such a device that may solve or reduce one or more of the problems identified above.

Transistor device with improved source/drain junction architecture and methods of making such a device


A process for fabricating a porous, high surface area electrode and the use of that electrode in an electrolytic cell for manufacturing chlorine-free chlorine dioxide from dilute alkali metal chlorite solutions in a single step is disclosed. The electrolytic cell uses a porous flow-through anode and a cathode separated by a suitable separator.

This invention relates generally to the production of chlorine dioxide. More particularly the present invention relates to the method of fabricating a coated electrode and the particular anode structure used in the electrochemical process to manufacture chlorine-free chlorine dioxide from dilute alkali metal chlorite solutions in an electrolytic cell. Chlorine dioxide is commercially employed as a bleaching, fumigating, sanitizing or sterilizing agent.
Chlorine dioxide can be used to replace chlorine and hypochlorite products more traditionally used in bleaching, sanitizing or sterilizing applications with several resulting benefits. Chlorine dioxide is a more powerful sterilizing agent and requires lower dosage levels than chlorine at both low and high pH levels, although it is not particularly stable at high pH levels. Chlorine dioxide produces lower levels of chlorinated organic compounds than chlorine when sterilizing raw water. Additionally, chlorine dioxide is less corrosive than chlorine to metals and many polymers.
A disadvantage of the prior electrolytic processes used to produce chlorine dioxide is the fact that the chlorine dioxide is produced in the anode compartment of the cell. This requires that the chlorine dioxide be recovered from the anolyte by stripping with air or some other appropriate means to obtain a suitably high conversion rate of chlorite to chlorine dioxide in the electrolyte of typically greater than 20% to make the direct use of the anolyte economically feasible. Attempts to obtain higher conversion rates by operating these electrolytic processes under conditions where more current and lower electrolyte feed rates are employed results in the formation of chlorate and/or free chlorine. Since chlorine is an undesirable contaminant and the formation of chlorate is irreversible, there has been developed a process by which chlorite can be converted to chlorine dioxide efficiently without a separation step.
The use of air stripping as one step in a multi-step purification process to obtain chlorine-free chlorine dioxide is also done in conjunction with the reabsorbing of chlorine dioxide from a generating solution to a receiving solution. This type of a process, however, can be hazardous if the chlorine dioxide concentrations in the air become high enough to initiate spontaneous combustion. Use of a gas-permeable hydrophobic membrane in a purification process has also been developed, but requires costly additional equipment.
Attempts to further significantly enhance the chlorite to chlorine dioxide conversion rate has focused on improved high surface area electrodes, especially anodes, for use in a direct continuous electrochemical process. Concurrently, there has been an increasing need for high selectivity electrodes to achieve higher electrochemical process efficiencies. One of the major technological challenges in producing such an electrode is the efficient coating of the high surface area electrode structure with electroactive metals and/or oxides while using economical amounts of the electroactive coating materials in the electrode structure. This is especially important when the specific surface area of the electrode is very high, such as greater than about 10-25 cm.sup.2 /cm.sup.3, and the electrocatalyst applied to the electrode surface is expensive.
There are many well known and established techniques and methods for the electrodeposition or electroplating of precious metals onto various metallic substrates, using DC current as the driving force for the plating. However, it is difficult to plate or coat structures that are three dimensional and have significant depth, such as metallic felts composed of fibers, ribbons, or woven structures which, when fabricated into electrodes, present high specific surface areas of greater than about 10 to about 25 cm.sup.2 /cm.sup.3.
Electroplating also suffers from the disadvantage of having very limited throwing power, that is the ability of a plating bath to produce deposits of more or less uniform thickness on a substrate structure that has irregularities over the entire surface of the structure. This is especially true on the microscopic scale. Microscopic peaks and valleys on the electrode surface, on the order of microns or less, are not plated evenly because surface projections coat more readily than depressions or crevices. This is due to the difference in plating potentials caused by distance, bulk film layer effects, and concentration/polarization effects. Methods to decrease these effects using chemical agents or current control have been developed, but they still cannot match the plating uniformity of the electroless plating methods.
Electroplating is one technique that could be successfully applied to plate spools of continuous length individual conductive fibers or conductive tow fibers in a reel to reel type of process through a series of baths using properly placed electrodes. However, this process would be difficult to use for plating short or variable length fibers that are not on a continuous spool, such as the melt spun metallic fibers employed in the contemplated electrode structure.
There are also secondary problems caused by hydrogen embrittlement of the fiber structure and coating when using electroplating. Hydrogen is a by-product in the electroplating process that can become incorporated into the coating and substrate. Where titanium is employed, a brittle titanium hydride compound is formed on the electrode surface that will flake off of the surface. If produced in sufficiently large quantities, the titanium hydride formation will destabilize the plated coating by forming voids under the coating, followed by eventual loss by flaking off. This occurs when direct electroplated platinum coatings are made in dilute chloroplatinic solutions. There are dark gray deposits that are found in the solution after electroplating that also rub off of the plated fibers upon handling. The loose deposits, when analyzed by x-ray fluorescence, are shown to contain platinum and titanium.
Another alternative electroplating method to obtain a precious metal plating distribution in a three dimensional felt material can mount the felt against a cathode conductor plate and pass the plating solution through the felt structure. If current is applied at low current density levels, a better plating distribution on the fibers in the felt can be obtained. However, a major disadvantage of this method is that the current levels must be so low (about 1-30 ma/cm.sup.2) to get an even plating that the process may take many hours to complete. Also a significant portion of the plated metal builds up on the conductor backplate. In this method especially, the use of excess precious metal in the plating process is costly.
Electroless deposition techniques have several advantages over electroplating. More uniform deposits with no excessive buildup on projections or edges are obtained. Electroless deposits can display unique chemical, mechanical and magnetic properties and are often less porous than electroplated deposits.
Electroless precious metal plating methods are well known. The most common types plate electroless nickel, copper, gold and palladium. But electroless plating methods for platinum on metals are especially rare because of the plating properties of platinum and the substrates onto which the precious metals are deposited. Achieving a high rate of electrocatalytic performance in view of the percentage of the surface area covered by the platinum or other precious metal plating of a high surface area electrode is a continuing problem. Another concern is the cost of the quantity of precious metal used to complete the coating.
Further, the physical and chemical characteristics of the electrocatalyst coatings and their placement on the electrode surface affect the performance of high surface area electrodes. These include features such as the size and crystallinity of the electrocatalyst material. The chemical and mechanical stability of the electrocatalyst material on the particular electrode substrate is also important and is often affected by the chemical characteristics of the solution environment of the electrochemical process. Oxidation reactions in strong, hot acidic solutions are particularly aggressive environments that affect the effective lifespan of coatings. High current densities also are known to shorten the effective life of an electrocatalyst coating.
Lastly, the substrate onto which the electrocatalyst is deposited can present special coating problems, such as the formation of a stable protective oxide film on the surface that must be removed prior to coating with the electrocatalyst. This is especially true with stable conductive metallic substrates, such as the valve metals of titanium, niobium, zirconium or tantalum that form these oxide films.
These and other problems are solved in the present invention by the improved process to produce an improved electrode and by employing an improved porous flow-through anode structure made by the process in an electrolytic cell using a continuous electrochemical process to produce a chlorine-free chlorine dioxide from dilute alkali metal chlorite solutions in a single step.

Process for producing an electrode by electroless deposition


Systems and methods according to present principles provide a test architecture which is designed to support software and hardware testing in an automated environment. Systems and methods are described which include a functional definition and architecture of the test system including the host environment, host-user interface, test scripts, host-to-target communications, target test module, target test shell, target commands and other supporting aspects.

FIG. 1 shows one example of an avionics system 100 that may be used in the operation of an aircraft. The system 100 includes a display device 102, a user input device 104, a processing system 106, a display system 108, a communications system 110, a navigation system 112, a flight management system (FMS) 114, one or more avionics systems 116, and a data storage element 118 that supports operation of the system 100.
The display system 108 generally represents the hardware, software, and/or firmware components configured to control the display and/or rendering of one or more navigational maps and/or other displays pertaining to operation of the aircraft and/or systems 110, 112, 114, 116 on the display device 102. In this regard, the display system 108 may access or include one or more databases suitably configured to support operations of the display system 108, such as, for example, a terrain database, an obstacle database, a navigational database, a geopolitical database, a terminal airspace database, a special use airspace database, or other information for rendering and/or displaying navigational maps and/or other content on the display device 102.
The processing system 106 includes or otherwise accesses data storage element 118, which contains aircraft procedure information (or instrument procedure information) for a plurality of airports and maintains the association of the aircraft procedure information and the corresponding airport. Aircraft procedure information includes a set of operating parameters or instructions associated with a particular aircraft action (e.g., approach, departure, arrival, climbing, and the like) that may be undertaken by the aircraft at or in the vicinity of a particular airport. For instance, the aircraft procedure information for a particular aircraft action may include graphic elements (e.g., symbols for navigational reference points, navigational segments, procedure turns, and the like) that graphically illustrate that aircraft action and textual information associated with the graphic elements that further describe the operating parameters or instructions for executing that aircraft action. For example, an instrument approach procedure (IAP) for an airport may include symbols and navigational segments that graphically illustrate the approach course along with procedure turns for transitioning to/from the approach course, and additionally, the approach procedure includes textual information associated with the symbols and/or navigational segments that describe the operating parameters or provide instructions for operating the aircraft at or in the vicinity of those symbols and/or navigational segments.

Avionics system, architecture, and method


In a belt separator system for separating constituents of a mixture of particles, the belt having a leading deflective surface at an acute angle to the direction of belt travel so as to impart a transverse momentum component to the constituent in a direction toward a longitudinal centerline of the belt separator system.

Belt separator systems (BSS) are used to separate the constituents of particle mixtures based on the charging of the different constituents by surface contact (i.e., the triboelectric effect). FIG. 1 shows a belt separator system 10, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,839,032 and 4,874,507, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Belt separator system 10 includes parallel, spaced electrodes 12 and 14/16 arranged in a longitudinal direction defined by longitudinal centerline 25 and belt 18 traveling in the longitudinal direction between the spaced electrodes. The belt forms a continuous loop which is driven by a pair of end rollers 11, 13. A particle mixture is loaded onto belt 18 at feed area 26, between electrodes 14 and 16. Belt 18 includes counter-current traveling belt segments 17 and 19 moving in opposite directions for transporting the constituents of the particle mixture along the lengths of the electrodes 12 and 14/16.
An electric field is created in a transverse direction between electrodes 12 and 14/16 by applying a potential to electrode 12 of polarity opposite to a potential applied to electrodes 14/16, e.g., electrode 12 has a positive potential, and electrodes 14/16 have a negative potential. As the constituents of the particle mixture are transported along the electrodes by belt 18, the particles become charged and experience a force in a direction transverse to longitudinal centerline 25 of system 10, due to the electric field. When electrode 12 is positively charged and electrodes 14/16 are negatively charged, the electric field moves the positively charged particles toward electrodes 14/16 while the negatively charged particles move toward electrode 12. Ultimately, each particle is transferred toward one of product removal section 24, and reject removal section 22, depending upon the sign of charge of the particular particle as well as the sign of charge of the electrodes.
The charge that a particle develops determines the polarity of the electrode to which it will be attracted, and, therefore, the direction in which belt 18 will carry the particle. This charge is determined by the relative electron affinity of the material--a function of the energy needed to remove an electron from the surface of the particle (i.e., the work function of the particle). When two particles contact, the particle with the higher work function gains electrons and becomes negatively charged, while the particle with the lower work function loses electrons and becomes positively charged. For example, mineral oxide particles have relatively high work functions, and coal species have relatively low work functions; thus, during separation of these two particles in system 10, the coal becomes positively charged while the mineral oxide becomes negatively charged.
Typically, when separating mineral oxide particles from coal, system 10 is arranged such that belt 18 moves in a counter-clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 1. Electrodes 14/16 (adjacent belt segment 19) are at negative potential, and electrode 12 (adjacent belt segment 17) is at positive potential. With this arrangement, the positively-charged coal particles are moved to the product removal section 24 by belt section 19, while the negatively-charged mineral oxide particles are moved to the reject removal section 22 by belt section 17.
It is possible to operate belt system 10 in three other modes by varying the travel direction of the belt and/or the polarity of the electrodes. In a second mode of operation, belt 18 moves clockwise with electrode 12 at a positive potential and electrodes 14/16 at a negative potential. In a third mode of operation, electrode 12 is at a negative potential and electrodes 14/16 are at a positive potential with belt 18 moving counter-clockwise. In a fourth mode of operation, electrode 12 is at a negative potential and electrodes 14/16 are at a positive potential with belt 18 moving in a clockwise direction. Generally, for positively-charged product particles, the first operational mode is preferred, while for negatively-charged product particles the third mode of operation is preferred.
Another important feature of the belt-type electrostatic separator is the ability of the belt to sweep the electrodes clean and thus prevent the adherence of layers of material on the electrodes. In this regard, the belt undergoes substantial frictional forces due to contact with the particles, electrodes and oppositely traveling belt segment, and is stretched substantially taut in the longitudinal direction (between the end rollers) during use. This leads to wear of the belt which can adversely affect the quality of the separation over time.
The two effects caused by the belt, transporting material and sweeping the electrodes clean, are both known to be important to the quality of the separation. When the electrodes are uncharged, the geometry of system 10 is generally symmetrical about centerline 25 since belt 18 creates a symmetrical flow field parallel to and within the electrodes. However, when the electrodes are charged with opposite polarity as discussed above, an asymmetry is introduced in this system 10. Furthermore, the charging of the components of the particle mixture creates an asymmetry. It is these two asymmetries that results in the electrostatic separation of components having dissimilar charge.
Typically, it is presumed that symmetrical effects, i.e., those that affect particles irrespective of their electrostatic charge, would not yield asymmetric results, such as improved separation. However, surprisingly it has been found according to the present invention that what may be considered a symmetrical change has produced a significant positive effect on the quality of the separation.

Belt separator system having improved belt geometry


Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for providing a query language based on a model. In one aspect, there is provided a computer-implemented method. The method may include receiving a first query; generating, based on a model including metadata representing a data structure, a second query specific to the data structure stored in a database; and sending the second query to the database. Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described.

A query language generally refers to one or more instructions used in connection with a database. For example, a query language typically defines data management and manipulation at a database, and may define how to control access to a database, how to create data in a database, how to read data in a database, how to update data in a database, how to delete data in a database, how to query data at a database, how to modify data in a data base, and the like. Examples of query languages are SQL, MDX, XPATH, and the like.

Query language based on business object model


Electronic components in a cabinet having an exhaust fan that creates a primary air flow across the components are cooled by a cooling enclosure which encloses predetermined heat generating electronic components to isolate them from other electronic components in the cabinet. An air inlet conduit connects the cooling enclosure with the air inlets in the cabinet and an air outlet conduit connects the enclosure with the air outlets of the cabinet and the exhaust fan. The conduits and enclosure define a secondary air flow pathway across the isolated electronic components to the air outlets and exhaust fan. The secondary air flow is isolated from the primary air flow through the cabinet. The exhaust fan creating the primary air flow across the non-isolated components simultaneously creates a separate secondary air flow through the secondary air flow pathway across the isolated heat generating components whereby the non-isolated components and the isolated components are independently cooled by the primary air flow and secondary air flows, respectively, and the heat generated by the isolated components and non-isolated components is not mixed within the cabinet to maximize cooling of all components within the cabinet. The cooling enclosure may also contain a heat sink.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for cooling electronic heat generating components within a cabinet and more particularly to a method and apparatus for cooling electronic components wherein predetermined heat generating electronic components are isolated from other electronic components in the cabinet and the isolated components are cooled by a secondary air flow isolated from the primary air flow through the cabinet such that the non-isolated components and the isolated components are independently cooled by the primary air flow and secondary air flow, respectively, and the heat generated by the isolated components and non-isolated components is not mixed within the cabinet to maximize cooling of all components within the cabinet.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
A common problem in electronic packaging is that the heat generated by the electronic components in the cabinet is detrimental to the components themselves, particularly integrated circuits and microprocessor chips in computer cabinets. Heat is normally removed by circulating air across the components by one or more low powered exhaust fans mounted in or on the computer cabinet.
The microprocessor chip in a computer generates a relatively large amount of heat and is susceptible to error or damage caused by overheating. For example, the Intel 80486 microprocessor chip generates 4.5 watts in normal operation and must be maintained below 85.degree. C. or it can introduce error as well as reduce its operating life. Even newer chips will generate 15-30 watts. To assist heat removal from an integrated circuit chip, a heat sink is often mounted on the top surface of the chip. Heat sinks are metal devices that have a plurality of fins or pins extending from a base which is mounted on the chip surface to radiate or transmit heat from the chip to the circulating air. The fins are usually aligned longitudinally with the prevalent direction of air flow and when the air flow direction is uncertain, pin-type heat sinks may be used.
The exhaust fan in a computer cabinet usually develops a single air flow path wherein air from the cabinet exterior is drawn in through inlet slots in the cabinet wall flows across the components including the heat sink and is exhausted through exhaust slots in the fan motor housing in another wall of the cabinet. Although the heat sink is useful in cooling the microprocessor chip, the heat generated by the heat sink is mixed with the heat generated by the other components in the cabinet such that the effective cooling of all the components including the ones having heat sinks is diminished.
Others have attemted to solve the heating problem by mounting a small supplementary fan on the heat sink, and mounting liquid cooling devices (water jackets) or devices utilizing the Peltier effect on the chip to be cooled.
The present invention overcomes the heating problem by isolating predetermined heat generating electronic components which may include those with heat sinks from other electronic components in the cabinet and providing a secondary air flow pathway from the air inlets across the isolated electronic components to the air outlets and exhaust fan. The secondary air flow is isolated from the primary air flow. The exhaust fan in or on the cabinet creates a primary air flow across the non-isolated components between the air inlets and air outlets in the cabinet and exhausts the air to the cabinet exterior, and simultaneously creates a separate secondary air flow through the secondary air flow pathway across the isolated heat generating components between the air inlets and air outlets in the cabinet and exhausts the secondary air flow to the cabinet exterior. Thus, the non-isolated components and the isolated components are independently cooled by the primary air flow and secondary air flow, respectively, and the heat generated by the isolated components and non-isolated components is not mixed within the cabinet to maximize cooling of all components within the cabinet.

Apparatus and method for cooling heat generating electronic components in a cabinet


An object of the present invention is to determine a kind of a passenger, e.g., adult or child, without executing a complicated image processing, thereby controlling an unfolding of an air bag. The safety apparatus for an automobile crash extracts a head ellipse from an image outputted from an area sensor. The apparatus stores beforehand reference head ellipses of every possible kind of passenger's heads. The extracted head ellipse of the present passenger is selected among the references. Then, a region including the extracted head ellipse is designated to a future processing region for searching the same passenger's head at a time to come. Thus, the passenger's head is recognized simply and rapidly, even when the passenger has moved outside the future processing region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety apparatus for an automobile crash, wherein a head of a driver or passenger is recognized, thereby controlling a safety unit, e.g., controlling an unfolding of an air bag.
2. Description of the Related Art
The unfolding of the air bag is controlled, for example, depending upon a kind of a driver and passengers, e.g., adult, or child. Further, a person's head is recognized on the basis of a face image extracted by a flesh color image picked up by a color area image sensor.
Further, the person's head is detected by face features.
However, it is not easy to identify the head on the basis of the flesh color, due to great differences thereof.
Further, it is not also easy to identify the head on the basis of shape patterns such as eyes, nose, ears. This is because glasses and masks disturb the head identification and the image processing becomes complicated, when the face is obliquely directed toward the area image sensor, thereby greatly changing the details of the face shape patterns.

Safety apparatus against automobile crash


Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed towards a method for fabricating a semiconductor memory device comprising selectively depositing a material to form a cap above a recessed cell structure in order to prevent degradation of components inside the cell structure in oxidative or corrosive environments.

Recently, the requirements on nonvolatile memory chips' storage capacity and power consumption have been advancing rapidly. Development of miniaturized and high-speed semiconductor elements is progressing at a similar pace. Resistance varying memory device are being used more often to replace flash memory devices. A resistance varying memory device employs a variable resistance element as a storage element. The resistance varying memory device includes, but is not limited to, ReRAM (Resistive RAM), CBRAM (Conductive Bridging Random Access Memory), phase change RAM (PCRAM), and the like. In a typical resistive memory device, cell material is deposited on a substrate using a conventional method, such as CVD, PVD, or plating. The cell material can be homogenous or non-homogeneous, e.g., consisting of multiple layers. The substrate, including bottom electrodes, can be homogenous or nonhomogeneous, e.g., a combination of metal contacts and a dielectric. A conductive metal layer is deposited on the cell material, acting as the top electrode. Generally, the cell material resistance is changed, for example, from a high-resistance state to a low-resistance state, when a certain voltage is applied to the top electrode.
However, it is difficult to make such a memory cell structure using photoresist masking and plasma etching, because the cell material tends to be complex and may, for example, consist of multiple transitional metal elements. Thus, these advanced cell materials cannot be patterned easily by commercially available dry etching methods. Accordingly, a damascene process is generally used to fabricate the cell structures, where a thick layer (acting as a template layer) is deposited on a substrate and patterned with open trenches where cell material will be deposited. A thick coating of the cell material is then deposited that significantly overfills the trenches in the template layer. The excess cell material above the template layer (referred to as overburden) is removed through chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP), and the template layer is exposed. The template layer is selectively removed or exhumed via a chemical method, a wet strip or a dry strip, and isolated cell structures are fabricated.
However, during the exhumation, the top of the cell materials is impacted or damaged through oxidization or corrosion because of the dry/wet chemical reactions. This degrades the top electrode conductivity and the cell material performance.
Therefore there is a need in the art for a method for forming a semiconductor memory device without degradation of the cell material in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

Method for forming a metal cap in a semiconductor memory device

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation


In order to manage, in the interrupt stage, a memory stack associated with a microcontroller according to a Program Counter signal and to a Condition Code Register signal that can be contained in respective registers, a first part of memory stack is provided which comprises a register for the Program Counter signal, and a second part of memory stack consisting of a bank of memory elements equal in number to the number of bits of the Condition Code Register signal for the number of the interrupts of the microcontroller. The two parts of stack are made to function in parallel by respective stack-pointer signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the management of system stacks in microcontrollers and has been developed with particular attention paid to its possible application to the management of a system stack in a microcontroller, for example of the register-file-based type. Reference to the above possible application must not, however, be understood as in any way limiting the sphere of protection of the invention, which is of an altogether general nature.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical operation that is very frequently carried out in a microcontroller is the storage/restoring of the state of the system in particular locations of the volatile memory (generally RAM). The above operation derives directly from the need to perform jumps to special routines at arbitrary instants in time, within the program flow, following upon occurrence of external or internal interrupts.
The state of the system consists of a certain number of registers, which is different for each microcontroller. Typically, the state can be reconstructed using the registers Program Counter (PC) and Condition Code Register (CCR), in addition to a variable number of other registers.
The operation of storage/restoring of the state may thus occupy the microcontroller for a time interval dedicated to the context-switching function. The said interval is usually quite long, owing to the sequentiality with which writing/restoring of the state in the system stack takes place. This determines a degradation in the overall performance, also in control applications that are not real-time ones.
Furthermore, very frequently the registers do not have dimensions equal to multiples of the length of the word of the volatile memory in which they are to be stored. A typical example of such a situation is the storage of the CCR, which normally consists of just a few bits.
The situation in a RAM following upon one or more executions of different interrupts may therefore be the one represented—purely by way of example—in FIG. 1 of the annexed drawings, where the reference U designates unused memory locations.
The situation described above amounts to a waste of memory due to the small dimension of the CCR, or of any other state register that has a size that is small as compared to the length of the RAM word.
If a traditional solution is resorted to, such as the one illustrated by way of example in FIG. 2, management of the system stack within the RAM, designated by ST, takes place in a sequential way, without optimization of the area used by the system stack in the memory.
The traditional architecture represented in FIG. 2 envisages that a control unit UC will generate two signals use_ss and up_down addressed to the unit SM functioning as stack manager. The unit SM generates the pointer indicating the system stack, which is commonly referred to as System Stack Pointer or ssp, which is to be forwarded to a first module 10.
The module 10 functions as a multiplexer for selecting between the signal ssp—during context switching—and the signal ram_pointer, indicating the RAM address—during normal operation—, so as to generate a signal address_ram used for managing the portion of RAM dedicated to the addresses.
Another module 12, having the function of a multiplexer, receives at input, in addition to the signal data_bus coming from the data bus of the microcontroller, also two signals PC and CCR indicating the Program Counter and the Condition Code Register, respectively, the purpose being to generate at output the signal data_ram used for managing the portion of RAM dedicated to the data.
The references 10a and 12a designate the lines on which the signals for selecting the multiplexers regulating operation of the modules 10 and 12 are present, whilst the lines designated by wen and csn correspond to the lines on which the corresponding signals indicating, respectively, write enable and read enable of the RAM where the system stack resides are forwarded to the stack ST.
Present on the output line of the stack, designated by 14, is the corresponding output signal, out_stack.
The architecture represented in FIG. 2 corresponds to solutions of a known type, this fact rendering any further detailed description thereof superfluous.
The above solution is used, for example, in the microcontroller sold under the trade name ST 5 by STMicroelectronics, the assignee of the present application. This is a microcontroller of the type referred to as register-file-based.
Execution of the context-switching operation mentioned previously typically requires a time interval of approximately two clock cycles for a microcontroller of the ST 5 type and approximately ten clock cycles for a microcontroller of the accumulator-based type.

Process for managing system stacks in microcontrollers, corresponding device and computer program product


A flexible display panel is provided, including a display region and a bending region; a support layer; a substrate disposed on the support layer; a barrier layer disposed on a side of the substrate away from the support layer; a thin film transistor layer disposed on a side of the barrier layer away from the substrate; an organic light emitting layer disposed on a side of the thin film transistor layer away from the barrier layer; and an encapsulation layer disposed on the thin film transistor layer and the organic light emitting layer. In addition, in the bending region, the support layer has at least one groove, and an elastic layer is disposed in the groove. The present disclosure solves the problem of poor recovery ability and poor support ability of the bending region of the display panel.

The present disclosure relates to the field of liquid crystal display technology, and particularly relates to a flexible display panel and a display device.
Currently, flexible display panels are slow to return to 0 degrees after being bent to 180 degrees, while having poor support ability of a bending region. Further, during use, eyes can see a middle region floating, and when a person's hand touches, the bending region can have sag. One of known methods is to assist the flexible display panel to recover and to improve support ability by adding material that is bendable and has high recovery ability, but recovery effect and support ability are still not good.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a new type flexible display panel and a display device to improve recovery ability and support ability of the display panel and the display device.

Flexible display panel and display device

Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co., Ltd.


A method for separating and filtering solid particles from a hydrocarbon slurry liquid includes two or more filter sections in fluid communication with the hydrocarbon slurry. At least one filter section is comprised of one or more filter elements having a mean pore size of less than 10 microns, and at least one other section is comprised of one or more filter elements having a mean pore size of 10 microns or greater. The small pore filter (less than 10 microns) will exclude all or substantially all of the smaller catalyst fines produced by catalyst particle attrition. The liquid product removed from the small pore filters will be substantially free of particulates. The large pore filters (10 microns or greater) will exclude larger catalyst particles, but will allow the smaller fines to pass. The liquid product removed from the large pore filters will contain the fines generated from catalyst particle attrition.

Slurry hydrocarbon synthesis (HCS) processes are known. In a slurry HCS process a synthesis gas (syngas) containing a mixture of H2 and CO is bubbled upward through a slurry in a reactor comprised of hydrocarbon reaction products having dispersed therein a Fischer-Tropsch type hydrocarbon synthesis catalyst. Reactors that contain such a three phase slurry are sometimes referred to as "bubble columns", as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,982, which is incorporated herein by reference. Irrespective of whether the slurry reactor is operated as a dispersed or slumped bed, the mixing conditions in the slurry will typically be somewhere between the two theoretical conditions of plug flow and back mixed. The catalyst particles are typically kept dispersed and suspended in the liquid by the lifting action of the syngas bubbling up through the slurry and by hydraulic means. Slurry Fischer-Tropsch reactors produce a vapor phase and a higher molecular weight liquid product stream.
Because of the formation of liquid products (commonly called waxes in this context), it is necessary to maintain the slurry at a constant level by continuously or intermittently removing liquid products from the reactor. One problem with the removal of liquids, however, is that catalyst particles are dispersed in the liquid and must be separated from the said liquid and returned to the reactor slurry in order to maintain a constant inventory of catalyst in the reactor. Several means have been proposed for separating the catalyst from the liquid products, e.g., centrifuges, sintered metal filters, cross-flow filters, magnetic separators, gravitational settling, etc.
Filtration is one of the catalyst-liquid separation methods used with Fischer-Tropsch reactors. Filtration techniques are characterized by solid-liquid separation systems that remove liquid products from a slurry by drawing the fluid across a filter medium. The filter medium may be simply a filter substrate or may be composed of a filter cake disposed on a filter substrate, such that the filter cake forms a primary filter. A filter cake is formed as solid particles are deposited on the filter substrate creating a permeable barrier between the slurry and the substrate. The thickness and permeability of the filter cake is critical to the efficient operation of the filtration system.
In a commercial slurry bubble column reactor, the hydrodynamic conditions inside the reactor, coupled with the desired long lifetime of the catalytic material, typically results in catalyst attrition. As the catalyst breaks down over time, sub-particles of various sizes are created, including very small particles known as "fines", some of which may even be sub-micron in size. The presence of fines in the reactor tends to greatly reduce the effectiveness of the catalyst-liquid separation system.
In a slurry reactor, the action of the gas rising through the liquid and solid phases results in agitation and movement of those phases. This agitation has a beneficial effect on the performance of filters that may be immersed in the slurry reactor. The agitation of the slurry generally significantly reduces the accumulation of solids on the surface of the filter due to the drag force of the agitated liquid on the solids at the filter surface. It is known that this drag force is a function of the particle size, with smaller particles experiencing less drag than larger particles. Hence, while it may be possible to operate a filter in a slurry bubble column with large catalyst particles for extended times, finer particles are more easily collected on the filter surface and can contribute to fouling of that filter. Thus, in a catalyst-liquid separation system utilizing filtration, cycle time between backwashing operations, as well as filter life, may be greatly reduced because the fines tend to reduce the permeability and flux of the filter system. The use of centrifuges or gravitational settlers is not practical for removing fines from the catalyst slurry because the fine particles are low in concentration relative to the catalyst. Magnetic separation is similarly impractical for removing fines from the slurry. Thus the performance of catalyst-liquid separation systems has heretofore been undesirably dependent upon the age of the catalyst. For example, when the catalyst is new the catalyst-liquid separation system operates at a very high rate, but the rate substantially decreases as the catalyst ages and attrition causes fines concentration to increase.
It is also undesirable to have particulates present in the liquid product from the HCS reactor. The products from an HCS reactor may be subject to additional processing in systems downstream of the HCS reactor that may have stringent specifications on the concentration of particulates. In addition, final products, e.g., lube oils or diesel, may also have stringent specifications on particulates content.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for methods and apparatus to maintain the effectiveness of a catalyst-liquid separation system independent of the age or degree of attrition of the catalyst. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods and apparatus for removing catalyst fines from a slurry that seek to overcome the limitations of the prior art.

Filtration system for slurry hydrocarbon synthesis process using both small and large pore filter elements

Exxonmobil Research and Engineering Company