A liquid crystal display (“LCD”) device includes a white sub-pixel that has a smaller size than other sub-pixels thereby increasing the brightness and the color purities of the other colors, which improves image quality. An LCD device has the common and pixel electrodes on the same substrate and may be formed of a transparent conductive material to increase the brightness further.

Liquid crystal display ("LCD") devices have been regarded as next generation display devices by providing increased value because of their low power consumption and high portability. An LCD device is driven based on optical anisotropy and polarization characteristics of a liquid crystal material. In general, an LCD device includes two substrates, which are spaced apart and facing each other, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two substrates. Each of the substrates includes an electrode. The electrodes from respective substrates face one the other. An electric field is induced between the electrodes by applying a voltage to each electrode. An alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules changes in accordance with a variation in the intensity or the direction of the electric field. The LCD device displays a picture by varying light transmittance according to the arrangement of the liquid crystal molecules.
Generally, the LCD device is manufactured by fabricating an array substrate including a thin film transistor and a pixel electrode, fabricating a color filter substrate including a color filter and a common electrode, and interposing a liquid crystal layer between the array substrate and the color filter substrate. In addition, active matrix liquid crystal display ("AMLCD") devices, which include thin film transistors as switching devices for a plurality of pixels, have been widely used due to their high resolution and ability to display fast moving images.
FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of part of an LCD device according to the related art and illustrates an active area where liquid crystal molecules are driven. In FIG. 1, the LCD device 1 includes upper and lower substrates 60 and 10 spaced apart from and facing each other and a liquid crystal layer 80 interposed between the upper substrate 60 and the lower substrate 10. A plurality of gate lines 8 and a plurality of data lines 20 are formed on an inner surface of the lower substrate 60. The gate lines 8 and the data lines 20 cross each other to define pixel regions, each of which serves as a sub-pixel SP. A thin film transistor ("TFT") T is formed as a switching element at each crossing of the gate lines 8 and the data lines 20. A pixel electrode 30, which is connected to the thin film transistor T, is formed in each sub-pixel SP.
A color filter layer 70 and a common electrode 75 are sequentially formed on an inner surface of the upper substrate 60 facing the lower substrate 10. The color filter layer 70 includes red, green and blue color filter patterns, which correspond to the sub-pixels SP, respectively, and are sequentially arranged. Although not shown in the figure, a black matrix is formed between adjacent color filter patterns to block light in a region where an arrangement of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 80 are not controlled.
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of an LCD device according to the related art. In FIG. 2, gate lines, data lines and a color filter layer are schematically illustrated, and a black matrix and thin film transistors are not shown. As illustrated in FIG. 2, in the LCD device 1, gate lines 8 and data lines 20 cross each other to define pixel regions, each of which acts as a sub-pixel SP. Red, green and blue color filter patterns R, G and B are sequentially and repeatedly arranged. The red, green and blue color filter patterns R, G and B correspond to the sub-pixels SP, respectively. The red, green and blue sub-pixels RSP, GSP and BSP constitute a pixel P. However, in the LCD device 1 having three sub-pixels RSP, GSP and BSP as the pixel P, light emitted from a backlight, which is disposed at a rear side of a lower substrate including the gate and data lines 8 and 20 thereon, transmits the red, green and blue color filter patterns R, G and B to thereby produce color images. Thus, brightness of the LCD device is lowered.
To improve the brightness, another LCD device having four sub-pixels of red, green, blue and white as one pixel may be used. A white sub-pixel includes a colorless, transparent pattern. Hereinafter, the colorless, transparent pattern may be referred to as a white color filter pattern. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of an LCD device having four color filter patterns according to the related art. As in FIG. 2, a black matrix and thin film transistors are not shown.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the LCD device 85 includes red, green, blue and white color filter patterns. The red, green, blue and white color filter patterns are formed in sub-pixels SP, respectively, and red, green, blue and white sub-pixels RSP, GSP, BSP and WSP constitute a pixel P. In one embodiment, the red, green, blue and white sub-pixels RSP, GSP, BSP and WSP have a rectangular shape and are similar in size. In an alternate embodiment, the sub-pixels may have a different shape or may differ in size. In the LCD device 85 having the red, green, blue and white color filter patterns, substantially all of light passing through the white sub-pixel WSP is transmitted from the backlight through the white color filter pattern W, and the brightness is thus increased. However, since the white sub-pixel WSP is 25% of the pixel P, the sizes of the red, green and blue sub-pixels RSP, GSP and BSP in the active area are decreased. In other words, the area that the white sub-pixel WSP is covering on the pixel P is less area available for each of the other sub-pixels, RSP, GSP and BSP. Therefore, although the brightness is increased, color purity is lowered. In addition, the difference of a contrast ratio between a gray level and a white level is deteriorated due to the increased white brightness, and thus image qualities are decreased.

Liquid crystal display device having a pixel including four sub-pixels


The connection element according to the present invention includes a central strip and two hook strips issuing from it that together form a claw strip with C-shaped cross section. The ends of the hook strips point toward each other, and with their ends, define an open jaw. Additionally, the extended central lines of the ends of the hook strips intersect outside the open jaw. Extending from the claw strip is at least one connection strip that possesses a straight neck strip and a head strip that is oval in cross section. The major axis of the oval head strip is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the neck strip.

The invention concerns a connection element for sheet piles.
Connection elements of this type are used to connect sheet piles which then form a sheet pile wall. Such connection elements are often used to connect the attachment elements at each edge of two sheet pile walls at an angle. Examples for such attachment elements may be taken from the Published German Patent Application DE-A1-39 07 348. The attachment elements described there serve to connect to so-called Larssen sheet piles or sheet piles of the claw/knob type.
When sheet piles and their attachment elements are rammed into place, high tension and shearing forces arise between these components that may be so great that the sheet piles with their attachment elements disengage. This may weaken the overall strength of the sheet pile wall and at these locations this sheet pile wall is no longer watertight.


A table has a table top that is fixedly attached to a support leg that forms a water pipe having an inlet and an outlet connection fitting for connecting a water supply line and a hose directly to the table so that water may flow to the hose through the leg of the table. The table may be secured to an edge of a dock over water using a bracket. The table top may be cleaned with water spray directly from the hose. Rear support legs of the table may form hollow tubes each having an upper open end and a lower open end at opposing ends of the tube. Each upper open end is defined by an opening on the top side of the table top. When hosing the table after cleaning fish, blood and other remains of fish may be flushed down through the tubes directly into the water below.

Fish cleaning tables are widely used at marinas or at private waterfront properties where fishermen clean fish. The tables may be attached to a dock that is positioned over water or at the edge of a body of water adjacent to the property. The tables are typically attached to the dock near an edge of the dock adjacent the water. Such an arrangement allows for easy disposal of fish remains after cleaning by disposing of the remains directly into the water body, where the remains may be eaten by wildlife such as crabs, birds, or other fish. Thus, the arrangement conveniently allows fishermen to avoid the necessity of disposing of fish remains through normal municipal trash disposal, which may require fish remains to be stored in trash cans kept near homes or businesses until the next designated day on which trash is collected. Storing fish remains in this way, even just temporarily, may attract flies or animals and may also produce strong and unpleasant odors.
However, such fish cleaning tables have some drawbacks. For example, fish cleaning tables are often cleaned with a water hose by spraying the surface of the table with the hose to use the force of water to flush fish remains into the adjacent body of water. However, when a user cleans the table with a water hose, fish remains may be inadvertently spread onto the surrounding dock or even back onto the user or others in the vicinity of the table. This may be particularly problematic on windy days when the wind may blow water spray from the hose in unintended directions. After contacting the table, the water spray may be contaminated with fish blood or other small pieces of fish remains. Depending on the construction of the table, the cleaning surface may also accumulate some blood and other remains when cleaning fish and thus require frequent flushing with water in order to keep the surface clean.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a fish cleaning table designed so that a user may easily dispose of blood or other remains of cleaned fish into an adjacent body of water. Further, there is a need in the art for a fish cleaning table designed so that a user may clean the table during or after use while preventing the blood or other remains of cleaned fish from being inadvertently spread to areas in the immediate vicinity of the table.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A needle cover assembly is provided that incorporates a drug applicator therein. The needle cover assembly includes an inner sleeve and an outer sleeve. The inner sleeve is formed from a hard material and acts as a needle shield. The inner sleeve also includes an absorbent material thereon that can absorb a drug such as an antimicrobial agent. This allows the absorbent material to be swabbed on the patient's skin prior to puncturing with a needle. The outer sleeve covers the absorbent material and prevents evaporation of the drug from the absorbent material.

This invention relates to the field of medical devices. More particular this invention relates to a needle cover assembly that is used in conjunction with a medical device employing a needle or trocar for puncturing the skin or outer wall of a body cavity.
Many medical procedures are invasive, requiring the clinician to insert a medical device through the patient's skin or into the body cavity. Such invasive procedures are needed to infuse fluid into a patient, to withdraw fluid from a patient, or to manipulate tissue inside the patient. For example, hypodermic syringes inject medication into a patient through a needle; an intravascular catheter uses an introducer needle to place the catheter into the patient's vasculature; and a trocar is used to puncture a hole in the patient's body wall to provide a path for placement of laparoscopic surgical equipment, angiography, angioplasty or arthrectomy catheters.
Before a needle or trocar can be employed, the patient's skin where the needle or trocar is to be placed must be disinfected. Otherwise, bacteria on the patient's skin will be able to enter the patient's body and infect the patient. Typically, a cotton swab, either held directly by the clinician or indirectly via an integral handle or a separate handle such as by the use of forceps, is soaked with an antimicrobial agent. Such antimicrobial agents include alcohol, povidone iodine or chlorhexidine. The cotton swab is rubbed over the patient's skin to thoroughly wet the skin with the antimicrobial agent and thus disinfect the patient's skin. After the patient's skin is disinfected, the cotton swab is discarded and the skin is punctured with the needle or the trocar.
Although this procedure is generally satisfactory, it could be improved. For example, the medical device and the antimicrobial agent are typically supplied separately. Indeed, in many instances the antimicrobial agent is also supplied separately from the cotton swab or applicator. This results in separate inventory management for the healthcare entity which can be expensive. In addition, in emergency situations, the clinician may waste valuable time in locating the proper antimicrobial agent and applicator before the medical procedure can begin. In addition, many traditional applicators require the clinician to directly contact the antimicrobial agent during application to the patient. Finally, in many developing countries, the proper disinfecting protocol may not be followed because of the shortcomings described above.

Needle cover assembly having self-contained drug applicator


Methods and systems that dynamically control and/or direct document image processing based on one or more of client device display capabilites, image formats supported by the client device, network bandwidth, document file format, document content and user hints.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to image processing as a function of the image viewing client device.
2. Description of Related Art
A user typically likes to view a document on a handheld wireless device before deciding to print, facsimile or e-mail the document. A handheld wireless device, such as, for example, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular phone or a miniaturized computing device, has relatively little screen surface area for viewing documents, as well as little memory for storing the document or the applications for all the document formats a user can conceivably access and view.
Current solutions either restrict the document types that can be viewed on handheld client devices, e.g., web pages with graphics interchange format (GIEF) files, show only the ASCII text of the document, provide viewers for a small set of document types, or do not provide viewers at all. In these current solutions, the documents can exist on the handheld client device, a server, e.g., mail server, or any document file/management system in their environment. Generally, documents that do not reside on the handheld client device are typically too large to quickly and/or efficiently transmit over today's wireless networks.

Client dependent image processing for browser-based image document viewer for handheld client devices


The MEMS switch comprises a first anchor formed over a substrate, a first spring connected to the first anchor, an upper electrode which is connected to the first spring and makes a motion above the substrate, elastically deforming the first spring, a lower electrode formed over the substrate, positioned under the upper electrode, a second spring connected to the upper electrode, and a second anchor connected to the second spring. When voltage is applied between the upper and lower electrodes and the upper electrode makes a downward motion, the second anchor is brought into contact with the substrate. As a result, the second spring is elastically deformed. When the upper electrode is subsequently brought into contact with the lower electrode, thereby the upper and lower electrodes are electrically connected. The first and second anchors, first and second springs, and upper electrode are formed of identical metal in integral structure.

Conventionally, MEMS switch has been known as a microscopic electromechanical component for turning on and off electrical signals. For example, the MEMS switch disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H9-17300 is fabricated over a substrate by a fine structure fabrication technique for use in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. A projection, which functions as an anchor (support), of an insulator is formed over a substrate, and a beam of an insulating film is fixed on the anchor. An upper electrode is formed at the upper part of the beam, and a contact portion facing downward is formed at the tip of the beam. A lower electrode is formed over the substrate opposite to the upper electrode, and a signal line is formed over the substrate under the contact portion.
When voltage is not applied to the upper or lower electrode, the contact portion and the signal line are away from each other, and the switch is off. When voltage is applied, the beam is elastically deformed by Coulomb force exerted between the upper electrode and the lower electrode, and is warped toward the substrate. As a result, the contact portion is brought into contact with the signal line, and the switch is thereby turned on.
In mobile telephones and the like, a battery is used as power supply, and thus switch operation must be performed on 3V or so. To lower the operating voltage, the restoring force of springs must be reduced. However, when the restoring force is weakened as mentioned above, the upper electrode and the lower electrode or the contact portion and the signal line do not separate from each other due to sticking phenomenon. As a result, the operating voltage becomes difficult to lower.
An example of methods for solving this problem is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-326197. This method is such that a projection is formed at some point on a spring and thereby the restoring force is increased when a sticking phenomenon takes place.

RF-MEMS switch and its fabrication method


A dishwasher includes a dispenser assembly, having a top plate portion and a rear plate portion, mounted to a dishwasher liner through at least one mechanical fastener which projects through the liner, extends freely through the rear plate portion and is secured to the top plate portion. Disposed between the liner and the rear panel portion is a seal, either a flat seal or a radial seal. In addition, a trim member, which can be hinged to the top plate portion or formed as a separate component, is provided about a periphery of the top plate portion and seats upon the liner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of dishwashers and, more particularly, to the mounting of a dispenser assembly on an inner liner of a dishwasher.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
It is common in the art of dishwashers to provide a detergent dispenser for use in the dispersion of a rinse aid and/or washing detergent for a washing operation. One known arrangement provides a dispenser mounted to the inner door liner of the dishwasher. With this configuration, the dispenser is conveniently located in a horizontal configuration for filling purposes and a vertical configuration for dispensing operations.
Certainly, there are various ways to design a detergent dispenser of this type. For instance, it is known to form the dispenser from two parts, i.e., a top plate portion and a rear plate portion, which are welded together. Screws are driven into the rear plate through a gasket to sealingly attach the dispenser to the inner door liner of the dishwasher. In such an arrangement, the screws need to be driven tight enough to avoid leaving a cosmetic gap between the dispenser and the door liner which is not appealing. In addition, the gap can trap water and food soil which can leave streaks down the door following a washing cycle. On the other hand, if the screws are driven in too tight, the attachment can pull the two parts of the dispenser apart, resulting in the potential for leakage. As electrical wiring is often routed through a dishwasher door and certain washing fluids, including rinse aid, can attack wire insulation, it is important for the dispenser construction and mounting be configured to address these concerns. Despite known prior designs, a dispenser mounting arrangement which assures the long term integrity, provides enhanced aesthetics and maintains a superior degree of cleanliness for the overall dispenser would be a welcomed enhancement.

Dishwasher door mounted dispenser assembly


A pre-plasticizing injection molding machine includes a plasticizing and flow regulating assembly connected to the tip of an injection chamber or shooting pot having an injection cylinder. A distributor valve allows the transfer of plastic resin into the shooting pot at low pressure and prevents the backward flow of resin to the plasticizing unit when the injection plunger injects the resin. A plurality of distribution channels in communication with either the distributor valve or a separate valve, and having outlets in the shooting pot angularly equispaced in proximity to the perimeter of the conical tip of the plunger uniformly distributes new resin behind resin retained in the shooting pot from the previous injection cycle, thereby obviating stagnation zones.

(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pre-plasticizing injection molding machine with a plasticizing component provided separately from an injection component and, more particularly, relates to the provision of additional melt channels and redesigned shooting pot head for minimizing material retention and stagnation in the shooting pot.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
A conventional two stage or pre-plasticizing injection molding machine comprises, in general, a plasticizing component having a screw in a heated barrel and an injection component having an injection plunger. Polymer resin plasticized in the plasticizing component is transferred to the injection component's chamber, or shooting pot, by way of a feed channel and is injected into the mold cavity through a nozzle from the injection plunger. Conventionally, a distributor or ball check valve in the feed channel prevents resin in the shooting pot from flowing backward to the plasticizing component when the injection plunger injects the resin.
In that the pre-plasticizing injection molding machine is equipped with an independent plasticizing component, it has more plasticizing capability than an in-line or reciprocating screw type injection molding machine. However, the ball check valve often causes resin retention and stagnation in the shooting pot, and such resin is prone to thermal degradation. For polyethylene teraphthalate (PET) resins, increased residence time in the shooting pot leads to higher levels of acid aldehyde (AA), an unacceptable by-product of the manufacturing process.
It is also necessary to completely purge any remaining resin in the shooting pot prior to changing resin material and/or color. If a small residual portion of resin remains in the shooting pot, purging must be repeatedly carried out until the residue is removed. This leads to more scrap waste and to delays in the manufacturing process.
Several techniques have been developed in an effort to expedite changes in resin material and/or color and to minimize down time and scrap waste.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,186 issued Jan. 10, 1995 discloses a flow regulating assembly for an in-line or reciprocating screw plastic injection molding machine in which plastic flow from a central chamber in an injection piston is directed towards the perimeter of the injection piston adjacent the wall of the accumulator cavity, thereby scouring and displacing stagnant plastic material otherwise collecting in corners.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,187 issued Jan. 10, 1995 discloses a nozzle adapter for a pre-plasticizing injection molding machine comprising an injection by-pass from the perimeter of the injection chamber to the injector nozzle for discharging resin from the previous injection to the injector nozzle. This design eliminates a key advantage of a pre-plasticizing machine, namely the ability to continue plasticizing melt during injection, because the screw must be held forward during filling of the shooting pot, injecting and holding (clamping) to prevent backflow of resin. Furthermore, the infeed channels are smaller in diameter than the outflow channel to the injection nozzle, resulting in slower filling times. Both factors impose a significant cycle time penalty.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,350 issued Apr. 1, 1997 discloses a dual flow divider for use on an extruder for balancing feed to two or more extrusion dies and for streamlining resin flow to avoid hot spots and stagnation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pre-plasticizing injection molding machine that minimizes resin retention and stagnation in the shooting pot.

Flow regulating and distributing assembly


An LED assembly having an LED and a lens disposed adjacent to a light emitting surface of the LED. The area of cross-section of the lens projected onto the light emitting surface of the LED is substantially equal to or less than the area of the LED's light emitting surface. The light emitting device can comprise an array of LEDs and an array of lenses, in which at least one lens is associated with each member of the LED array and wherein the area of a cross-section of each lens projected onto the light emitting surface of its associated LED is substantially equal to or less than the area of the LED's light emitting surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to light emitting devices comprising light emitting diode (LED) assemblies and LED array assemblies and methods of fabrication thereof. More especially, the invention concerns LED lens assemblies and LED array lens assemblies. Moreover, although not exclusively, the invention concerns LED assemblies with phosphor enhancement.
2. Description of the Related Art
Achieving the brightness expected from today's light emitting diodes (LEDs) requires efficiently extracting the light generated by the LED chip/die. LED chips typically have either an edge-emitting or surface-emitting structure. Total internal reflection is the major loss mechanism that reduces the proportion of emitted photons and as is known the total internal reflection of photons incident to surface at angles greater than a critical angle θc defined by Snell's law:θc=sin−1(n0/n1)where n0 and n1 are respectively the indices of refraction for air and LED chip material. In addition absorption within the LED material and Fresnel reflection loss at the interface reduce the light output efficiency of the LED. The total efficiency for electrical to optical conversion in a flat-surface LED is given by [W. N. Carr and G. E. Pittman, Appl. Phys. Lett. 3, 173(1963)]:
      η    F    ≈                    4                          n          0                                  n          1                                      (                                    n              0                        +                          n              1                                )                2                        (              1        -                  cos                                                                          θ            C                              )      where 4 n0n1/(n0+n1)2 is the transmission coefficient and (1−cos θc) is the solid cone.
To increase extraction efficiency, a stepwise reduction in the index of refraction from the chip to air may be employed to reduce the total internal reflection loss. For example if a medium with an intermediate index of refraction n2=√{square root over (n0n1)} is used to encapsulate the LED chip, then the critical angle between LED chip and medium is increased to θc=sin−1(√{square root over (n0/n1)}), resulting in a factor of (n2/n0)2=n1/n0 increase in the extraction efficiency relative to air plus some additional correction for Fresnel reflection losses.
Other techniques have been used to increase extraction efficiency. For example roughing the LED chip surface is used to effectively enlarge the surface area of the chip and to thereby ensure that more rays of emitted light fall within the critical angle zone provided by the effectively enlarged surface area. Another technique involves using a photonic crystal to couple as many modes of the emitted light as possible, especially those in the lower orders, out of the top surface of an LED chip.
In addition, optical components such as convex lens are commonly used to alter the emitted radiation pattern of an LED chip to collimate its emission to a desired direction and enhance the brightness of the illumination in that direction. Commonly the lens is surface mounted on an individual LED chip. Moreover, a surface mounted lens made of glass or a plastics material also enhances light extraction since its index of refraction is lower than that of chip material and greater than that of air. In addition, its convexly curved surface considerably increases the size of critical angle zone between the lens and air which assists in extracting more amount of light from the underlying chip. A problem with mounting such lenses is that due to the size of the LED chip, which is typically a few microns, the tolerances for aligning the lens with the chip are very precise and the process can become expensive. For this reason the LED chip or a number of chips are often mounted within a container and the lens mounted to the container.
The recent development of white LEDs based on an InGaN (indium gallium nitride) blue LED chip and various yellow phosphors (photo-luminescent materials) to make an LED that emits light which appears white in color to the eye have made possible many technological and commercial applications including solid state lighting. At present particles of the phosphor material are incorporated in an encapsulating material which is then applied to individual LED chips, which have been diced and packaged. Following the application of the phosphor the lens is surface mounted to the encapsulating phosphor layer. Such a fabrication technique is inefficient, time consuming and expensive.
The inventors have appreciated that the application of phosphor material directly onto the surface of, or embedding it inside, a lens or some other such optical components could simplify the manufacturing process and may in the case of a white LED achieve a better white light uniformity. However, individually packaging phosphor materials along with lenses at discrete chip level is still a time-consuming process.
A need exists therefore an improved method of fabricating LED lens assemblies which can incorporate phosphor enhancement at a wafer level in order to maintain manufacturing quality consistency, improve packaged chip performance, and achieve higher yield rates.

LED assembly with an LED and adjacent lens and method of making same


In a method of forming a silicon substrate, a gettering film is formed on a bottom surface of a silicon substrate. An oxygen ion implantation into a top surface of the silicon substrate is carried out at a substrate temperature in the range of 400.degree. C.-700.degree. C. The gettering film is removed from the silicon substrate. The silicon substrate is subjected to a heat treatment at a temperature of not less than 1300.degree. C. for causing a reaction of oxygen and silicon to form a silicon oxide film in the silicon substrate after the gettering film is removed.

The present invention relates to a method of removing metallic. contaminants from SIMOX substrate.
In recent years, the requirement for improvements in high speed performances of a semiconductor device has been on the increase, for which purpose has been proposed a technique for isolating a semiconductor substrate by a dielectric layer buried in the semiconductor substrate so as to reduce parasitic capacitance and wiring capacitance. The SIMOX substrate is a separation by implanted oxygen substrate wherein a silicon substrate is separated by an buried oxide layer formed by ion-implantation of oxygen. A conventional method of forming the SIMOX substrate will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B.
With reference to FIG. 1A, oxygen ions 3 are implanted into a single crystal silicon substrate 1 at a dose in the range of 0.4.times.10.sup.18 cm.sup.-2 and at a substrate temperature of around 600.degree. C. thereby forming an oxide implanted layer 4.
With reference to FIG. 1B, the substrate 1 is subjected to a heat treatment at a temperature of not less than 1300.degree. C. for a few hours to cause reaction of oxygen with silicon to form a buried silicon oxide layer 5 in the silicon substrate 1.
Metallic contaminants may be introduced into the SIMOX substrate in the oxygen ion implantation process. A result of analysis of metallic contaminants in the SIMOS substrate was reported by K. Watanabe et al. in IEEE International SOI Conference, Oct. 1994 p. 95. Through dislocation and stacking faults formed in the SIMOS substrate were reported by J. Stoemenos et al. in Proceedings of Sixth International Symposium On SOI Technology and Devices 1994, p, 16. The through dislocation and the stacking faults may cause deterioration of the device performance such as increase in leak current. There have been no reports related to removal of metallic contaminants from the SIMOX substrate.
Heavy metal contaminations to the silicon substrate do normally not exceed a detectable limitation of the already known analyzer. As a method of gettering heavy metals introduced in the device processes, inert gases such as nitrogen or argon are ion-implanted into the silicon substrate. Alternatively, a polycrystal silicon film is formed on a bottom surface of the silicon substrate which is disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 1-235242. It is disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 4-53140 and 4-17182 that a heat treatment and a formation of a polysilicon film are made.
As described above, the metallic contaminants, the dislocation or stacking faults may cause deterioration in resistance of the oxide film and increase in leak current. In order to obtain high performance and high reliability of the device formed on the SIMOX substrate, it is required to reduce the metallic contaminant concentration of the SIMOX substrate for suppression of the dislocation and the stacking faults. Notwithstanding, in the prior art, there have been no reports of attempts to remove the metallic contaminants from the SIMOX substrate.
If nitrogen or argon is ion-implanted into the SIMOX substrate or the polysilicon film is formed on the bottom surface of the SIMOX substrate, no substantive effect can be obtained. Namely, if nitrogen or argon is ion-implanted into the SIMOX substrate, then during a heat treatment, the heavy metal contaminants can be captured by defects formed in the ion-implantation. If the polysilicon film is formed on the bottom surface of the SIMOX substrate, then the heavy metal contaminants can be captured by crystal grains of polysilicon. Notwithstanding, if the heat treatment has been carried out to repair the crystal defects in the SIMOX substrate or to crystallization of the polysilicon toward crystal perfection, the ability of gettering the heavy metal contaminants is reduced. Normally, if the heat treatment is carried out at a high temperature of not less than 1300.degree. C., the nitrogen or argon ion implantation into the SIMOX substrate or the formation of the polysilicon film on the bottom surface of the SIMOX substrate are no longer effective.
In the above circumstances, it had been required to develop a novel method of forming an SIMOX substrate with reductions in metallic contaminant concentration and in crystal defect density.

Method of removing metallic contaminants from simox substrate


A pulsed RF oscillator employing a BIAS-ON path and a QUENCH path to produce fast turn-on and fast turn-off RF bursts with well-controlled burst width. The oscillator further includes amplitude and stability control elements, and a 5.8 GHz microstrip implementation is disclosed. The pulsed RF oscillator can be configured with quadrature RF homodyne detectors to form a range-gated pulse-Doppler motion sensor system for sensing target motion within a gated region. The sensor includes a transmitter for transmitting a sequence of RF bursts comprised of a number of cycles at the transmitter frequency. The sensor further includes a receiver responsive to the transmitted bursts and burst echoes from moving targets within its sensing field. The receiver produces Doppler signal with an amplitude representative sum of the transmitted burst and the echo burst. A Doppler motion response occurs for moving targets within a region sharply defined by the transmitted burst width. Another mode provides a quadrature receiver channel for target direction determination. Yet another mode time-sequences the transmitted burst widths to provide multiple range cell operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pulsed oscillators such as those used in electronic sensors, like radar sensors utilizing pulse-echo range gating for target motion detection.
2. Description of Related Art
Continuous Wave CW Doppler radar motion sensors emit a continuous wave carrier and mix the transmitted radio frequency RF with the return echoes to produce a difference frequency equal to the Doppler shift produced by a moving target. CW Doppler sensors have a number of serious deficiencies that limit their widespread application: 1) lack of a definite range limit, which leads to false triggers on distant clutter, 2) high current consumption due to CW operation, making battery operation impractical, and 3) inability to collocate sensors due to mutual interference.
Amplitude Modulated AM, or pulse, Doppler motion sensors have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,537 by Follen et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,164 by McEwan, and others. In pulse Doppler, a short pulse is transmitted and its echo is mixed with either the transmitted pulse or a local oscillator such that either the pulse timing or its width defines the range gated region. With 100% amplitude modulation, response beyond the gated region is zero, eliminating false alarms from distant objects. Pulse Doppler motion sensors have many desirable attributes, but the prior art fails to teach low-cost high-performance embodiments for the higher microwave frequencies. Clearly, there is a need for a practical implementation at the higher microwave frequencies where compact directional antennas can be employed, and where more spectrum is available. The pulsed RF oscillator and detector of the present invention resolve these prior limitations.

Pulsed RF oscillator and radar motion sensor


An improved reverse rupture disc for use as a safety pressure relief device is provided. The disc is defined by an annular flat flange region, a concave-convex disc dome region and a transition region that joins the disc-shaped flat flange region to the concave-convex disc dome region. One or more deformations are formed at or near the apex of the disc dome region for weakening the disc to the point that incidental damage to the disc will not weaken the disc any further, thereby ensuring that the disc will reverse at a certain pressure, and no lower. The disc is also formed with an irregular transition region at the base of the disc and a partial circular groove in the transition region. The irregular transition region of the disc cooperates with a protrusion formed in a support ring disposed downstream of the disc to sever the disc dome from the annular flat flange region along the groove in the transition region. An ungrooved region of the transition region acts as a hinge holding the ruptured disc dome to the flat flange region after the disc has ruptured. The ruptured disc dome hangs over an arcuate projection formed in the support ring, which helps to prevent the disc from fragmenting.

Relief devices of the type commonly known as rupture discs have been utilized in industry for many years to provide a safety mechanism to relieve excess pressure from an overpressurized system or vessel in a reliable manner. The rupture disc is most frequently placed in a vent or a pressure vessel or the like so as to prevent flow of fluid through the vent until the disc ruptures. Through the years, numerous improvements have been made in the rupture disc concept in order to reduce the cost and improve the reliability of the disc.
A specific type of disc normally referred to as a reverse buckling rupture disc has also been utilized for a number of years and functions under the principle that a disc dome is formed in the disc which is positioned in the vent such that the disc dome points toward or faces the pressure side of the vent, i.e., the convex side of the disc dome faces the internal region or upstream side of the vent where pressurized fluid is likely to produce an overpressure that would be dangerous or destructive if not relieved. One advantage of reverse buckling type discs is that systems being protected by the discs can be operated at pressures relatively close to the bursting pressure of the disc without producing fatigue and failure which occurs in many forward acting bursting discs when operated for long periods of time near the rated bursting pressure of such devices. When fluid pressure reaches a preselected pressure for which the disc dome was designed to rupture, the disc dome starts to collapse, i.e., the column or arch of the disc dome on one side thereof starts to buckle. It is believed that as the arch on one side of the disc dome starts to collapse, a buckling-type wave typically propagates across the surface of the disc dome to the opposite side of the disc dome where total collapse eventually occurs. This buckling wave tends to create a whiplash effect on the opposite side of the disc dome so that the disc dome at this location is rather violently urged in the direction to which the concave region of the disc dome faces (i.e., the downstream side of the vent).
One disadvantage of some conventional reverse rupture discs is that if they are damaged during handling, installation, or otherwise, they can buckle at a pressure below the rated pressure for the disc. In some cases, the disc will buckle at a pressure of between 40 and 80 percent of the rated pressure. For example, if the rated pressure is 100 psi, a damaged disc may buckle at between 40 and 80 psi. While the reverse rupture disc may buckle or reverse at such pressures, it will not necessarily open at these pressures and once a reverse rupture disc becomes inverted, it thus acts as a forward acting rupture disc which will rupture at a higher pressure than the initial buckling pressure. For such discs the rupture pressure may be as much as three to ten times the rated pressure.
Another disadvantage of some conventional reverse rupture buckling devices is that they are incapable of reversing and rupturing at low bursting pressures. Bursting pressures are generally defined relative to the size of the disc. For example, 15 psig would be a low bursting pressure for a 2 inch diameter disc made of stainless steel. Conventional limitations to achieving low bursting pressures have been twofold (1) causing the rupture disc dome to reverse at a low pressure, and (2) being able to open the rupture disc at the lower reversal pressures. As previously mentioned, some damaged, conventional reverse buckling rupture discs may reverse at a low pressure but not rupture at that pressure. Also, it is more difficult to rupture conventional reverse buckling rupture discs at low pressures where the media is noncompressible (e.g., a liquid). This is because a noncompressible media such as a liquid does not impart the same dynamic energy to the dome during collapsing as a compressible media does.
Many of the conventional reverse buckling rupture discs include knife blades positioned on the concave side of the disc dome which are normally in spaced relationship to the disc dome, but which are engaged by the disc dome upon buckling. The knives cut the disc dome typically into quarter sections. Knife blade assemblies for reverse buckling rupture discs however add substantially to the cost of such discs and are subject to failure due to corrosive activities of the fluids within the vent system, damage during handling or simply because a mechanic forgets to install the knife assembly which in normal discs results in disc bursting pressures which are many times the rated pressures of such discs. It has, therefore, been a goal of the rupture disc industry to produce a disc of the reverse buckling type which does not include knife assemblies, but which is highly reliable.
One reverse buckling disc, which was specifically designed to rupture without use of knife blades, incorporates the concept of placing grooves, scores or etchings, especially in a criss-cross or circular patterns on concave or convex faces of a reverse buckling rupture disc dome. A disc dome of this type can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,817 to Wood. In the Wood device, the rupture disc dome buckles, reverses and fractures along the lines of weakness produced by the grooves so as to form petals which are held to the remainder of the rupture disc assembly.
There is also a problem in some conventional systems with portions of the rupture disc being entrained with the fluid being relieved. Pieces of rupture discs can cause damage to pumps and the like if they are allowed to freely break away from the remainder of the rupture disc assembly upon rupture. Therefore, it is important that the rupture disc dome or petals of the rupture disc dome remain intact after rupture and that they remain attached to the remainder of the disc.
There has been a continuing desire in the rupture disc industry to produce new types of reverse buckling rupture discs which have properties that make them especially suitable for specific purposes, more cost efficient, and/or make the disc more reliable. In particular, new reverse buckling discs are desired which will function at lower burst pressures, and reliably open at or below the rated burst pressure if damaged, without the need for knife blades for cutting the disc on reversal, and yet which will remain attached after rupture to minimize possible damage to the system protected by the disc.


A method for producing a solid-state imaging device includes: a first step of mounting a solid-state imaging element on a transparent substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface such that a light receiving surface of the solid-state imaging element is substantially parallel to the first surface and faces the second surface; and a second step of forming a lens holder on the first surface, the lens holder having a lens mounting surface substantially parallel to the first surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing an imaging device with an integral lens including an optical lens and a solid-state imaging element.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 17A is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a structure of a conventional solid-state imaging device with an integral lens. FIG. 17B is a cross-sectional view of the conventional solid-state imaging device with an integral lens shown in FIG. 17A taken along line A-Axe2x80x2 of FIG. 17A. This solid-state imaging device is conventionally produced as follows. In a first step, a die bond is applied to a supporting mount 101 which is generally referred to as a package, and then a solid-state imaging element 102 is die bond-mounted on the package 101. In a second step, leads 103 provided on the package 101 are connected to electric signal I/O terminals (not shown) of the solid-state imaging element 102 by a wire bond. In a third step, recess portions 105 provided in a cylindrical member 104 of the package 101 are engaged with projecting members 108 provided on a support member 107 for supporting a lens 106. The support member 107 is moved toward the package 101 along an axis X and then turned about the axis X, so that the lens 106 is attached to the package 101. In order to achieve higher airtightness, an O-ring 109 may be provided between the support member 107 and the package 101. Such a solid-state imaging device with an integral lens is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open publication No. 10-301009.
A solid-state imaging device receives light which has passed through an optical lens at a light receiving surface of a solid-state imaging element and outputs an image obtained at the light receiving surface as an electric signal. In order to obtain a satisfactory image, an optical axis of the light incident on the light receiving surface should not deviate from a vertical axis of the light receiving surface.
Referring to FIGS. 18A to 18E, a problem of a conventional method for producing a solid-state imaging device will be described below.
In the above-described conventional art, in order to mount the solid-state imaging element 102 on the package 101, the solid-state imaging element 102 is required to be bonded to the package 101 as shown in FIG. 18A. The parallelism of the package 101 and the solid-state imaging element 102 depends on: (i) the parallelism of a surface which is in contact with a die bonding stage (not shown), i.e., a bottom surface of the package 101 (shown as face C in FIG. 18B), and a bonding tool (not shown); and (ii) a quantity and position of a die bond 110 which is applied to a bonding surface (shown as face B in FIG. 18B) of the package 101. Therefore, in practice, there is great difficulty in placing a light receiving surface 111 (shown as face A in FIG. 18B) of the solid-state imaging element 102 in parallel with the bonding surface (face B) and the bottom surface (face C) of the package 101 with high precision.
There is a slight deviation from a vertical axis of the light receiving surface 111 due to tolerance included in each of the angles formed by: an internal surface (shown as face D in FIG. 18C) of the cylindrical member 104 of the package 101 in which a lens is attached and the bonding surface (face B shown in FIG. 18C) of solid-state imaging element 102; and a side surface (shown as face E in FIG. 18D) of the support member 107 and a center of the lens 112 (in a height direction).
When all these members are combined together, there arises a problem that an angle formed (denoted as F in FIG. 18E) by an optical axis 113 of the light passing through the lens 106 and the light receiving surface 111 of the solid-state imaging element 102 is deviated from the right angle.
According to the present invention, there is provided a method for producing a solid-state imaging device which includes: a first step of mounting a solid-state imaging element on a transparent substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface such that a light receiving surface of the solid-state imaging element is substantially parallel to the first surface and faces the second surface; and a second step of forming a lens holder on the first surface, the lens holder having a lens mounting surface substantially parallel to the first surface.
According to the above method of the present invention, a light receiving-surface of the solid-state imaging element is formed on the second surface of the transparent substrate having the first surface (light receiving surface) and the second surface. The lens is mounted and fixed on the lens mounting surface of the lens holder which is formed on the first surface (light receiving surface) of the transparent substrate. As a result, an angle of an optical axis of light incident on the first surface (light receiving surface) can be prevented from being deviated from an right angle.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the first step is performed by an ultrasonic wave connection technique.
According to the above method of the present invention, high throughput can be achieved even when a low temperature connection is used.
In one embodiment of the invention, the second step is performed by injecting resin into a mold.
According to the above method of the present invention, the lens holder is directly formed on the transparent substrate, thereby providing a smaller solid-state imaging device.
In one embodiment of the invention, the lens holder is formed integrally with a package.
According to the above method of the present invention, the lens holder and the package can be integrally formed, thereby producing a solid-state imaging device with an integral lens at low cost by using a small number of parts.
In one embodiment of the invention, the first surface of the transparent substrate is adsorbed airtight to the mold by vacuum suction.
According to the above method of the present invention, the transparent substrate can be fixed. A degree of vacuum can be measured before injecting the resin. Thus, a degree of inclination of the light receiving surface of the transparent substrate can be determined based on the degree of vacuum, thereby preventing defective molding of the solid-state imaging device. Moreover, there is a vacuum hole for vacuum suction formed in the lower mold, and a cavity is formed in the lens holder so that light passes therethrough.
In one embodiment of the invention, an O-ring is placed in the mold so as to be in contact with the mold and the first surface of the transparent substrate before injecting the resin into the mold.
According to the above method of the present invention, in the case where the vacuum hole is formed in the lower mold, even when the contact area between the transparent substrate and the lower mold is not sufficiently large, higher airtightness between the lower mold and the transparent substrate can be achieved to prevent resin flow.
In one embodiment of the invention, the method for producing a solid-state imaging device further includes the step of covering the solid-state imaging element with a resin between the first step and the second step.
According to the above method of the present invention, the airtightness between the solid-state imaging element and the transparent substrate can be secured for resin molding performed later.
In one embodiment of the invention, the method for producing a solid-state imaging device further includes the step of attaching leads for input and output of an electric signal to the transparent substrate between the first step and the second step.
In one embodiment of the invention, the method for producing a solid-state imaging device further includes the step of attaching leads for input and output of an electric signal to the transparent substrate after the step of covering the solid-state imaging element with the resin but before the step of performing the second step.
According to the above method of the present invention, leads having a desired shape can be provided to the solid-state imaging device, thereby facilitating the mounting of the solid-state imaging device on other devices.
In one embodiment of the invention, the transparent substrate is an optical filter.
According to the above method of the present invention, a solid-state imaging device using an optical filter can be produced.
Thus, the invention described herein makes possible the advantage of providing a method for producing a solid-state imaging device which can be easily produced and can prevent a shift in an angle formed by a light receiving surface of a solid-state imaging element and an optical axis of light incident on the light receiving surface through an optical lens so as to obtain a satisfactory image.
This and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying figures.

Method for producing solid-state imaging device


In a process and a device for carrying out a welding process on thermoplastic material webs, the value of the pressing force (F.sub.i) of a pair of pressure rollers is determined as a measured value representing the weld seam thickness and is used as the actual value of the controlled variable of a welding process regulating unit, and it is compared with a corresponding set value. The feed speed (V) of the welding device is used as the correcting variable of this regulating unit by increasing the speed in the case of decreasing weld seam thickness and decreasing the speed in the case of increasing weld seam thickness to compensate a possibly existing deviation.

It was found that in the case of lap welding of thermoplastic material or sealing webs intended for lining landfills, the weld seams prepared without welding filler have the required optimal weld strength only when the weld thickness D.sub.N is between an upper limit D.sub.NO =D-0.2 mm and a lower limit D.sub.NU =D-0.6 mm, in which D is the sum of the thicknesses d.sub.1 and d.sub.2 of the unwelded material webs. The weld thickness D.sub.N is smaller than the sum D due to the fact that part of the plasticized material is pressed out of the welding gap by the pressing force applied by the pressure rollers on the partial areas of the material webs, which are heated to the welding temperature and thereby plasticized. If the required reduction in thickness or the upper limit D.sub.NO was not reached during welding, the material was not heated sufficiently in the welding gap, and consequently it was not sufficiently plasticized, as a consequence of which the weld seam did not have the necessary strength. In contrast, if the weld thickness was below the lower limit D.sub.NU, the material was heated too intensely, as a consequence of which the strength was impaired by notch effect at the weld margins. The above-mentioned limit values for the weld thickness are independent from the thickness of the material webs usually used to line landfills.
In the process for carrying out welding processes on thermoplastic material webs intended for lining landfills, which has been known from DE 40 20 704 C1, the welding process is carried out automatically at an essentially constant welding gap temperature by measuring the heated wedge temperature regulation by influencing the energy supply to the heated wedge in the case of deviations of the actual temperature value from the set value, and additionally regulating the feed when the actual temperature value exceeds or drops below a set point range.
Since the heated wedge temperature, which represents the controlled variable in this regulation, does not make it possible to obtain direct information on the quality of the weld seam, the required weld seam quality can be achieved only by adjusting the actual value of the welding temperature and the settings for the feed speed and the pressing force of the pressure rollers as accurately as possible to the influences of the environmental conditions, and especially to the starting temperature of the material webs, as well as to the material-specific properties. In a simple version of the regulating system, this is done by the operator. In an automated version, the environment-specific influential factors are determined by corresponding sensors, after which the computer of the regulating system determines the correct welding temperature set value by means of the measured values and the influencing variables entered via a keyboard.
Another requirement for achieving the required weld seam quality is that the actual value of the welding temperature be determined, if possible, without delay. However, this requirement is satisfied only very imperfectly in the simple version, because the welding temperature is measured within the heated wedge rather than in the welding gap so that the welding gap temperature, which is actually the temperature that is of interest, is determined only indirectly and with a time delay. In contrast, the dead time caused by the measuring technique in the control circuit is compensated in the automatic version by the measure that the regulating system is able to respond prospectively to a greater change in the starting temperature of the material webs due to the fact that the starting temperature of the material webs is measured at a spaced location in front of the welding site.
While the determination of the set value is circumstantial in the simple version, and the regulating system responds very sluggishly because of the time delay in temperature measurement, the automated version requires a relatively high technical effort, and it is also subject to the restriction that the determination of the starting temperature of the material webs is susceptible to disturbances due to contamination of the material webs or to moisture.

Process and device for carrying out a welding process on thermoplastic material webs


A method for cleaning and conditioning tape path surfaces and heads of video and audio equipment, recorders, and electrical contact surfaces of electronic equipment, improving the resolution of said heads comprising: providing a cleaning composition consisting essentially of white mineral oil, a compound selected from the group of mineral spirits, hydrotreated heavy petroleum naphtha, heavy alkylate naphtha and isoparaffinic hydrocarbons having 1-13 carbons; with application to said tape path surfaces and the heads of said video and audio equipment, said tape recorders, and the electrical contact surfaces of said electronic equipment, causing the deep cleaning and conditioning for an improved life and improved results of said recorders and said electronic equipment.

1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to a method for cleaning and conditioning tape path surfaces and heads of audio and video recording equipment, and providing improvements to electrical contact surfaces with a fluid composition. This invention is about a deep surface cleaning method for video and audio recorders, VTRs, VCRs and contact surfaces of electronic connections. This invention is about removing dirt, deeply deoxidizing contact surfaces, reducing friction, polishing, increasing signal transfer, improving electrical conductivity, increasing resistance against rust and corrosion and resistance against recording tape residue attachment to heads, tape paths and electrical contact surfaces, increasing the life of the heads and contact surfaces. This invention is about a method in which the cleaning and conditioning treatment results in an improvement upon treated surfaces, by penetrating tape oxides and dirt for removal, an unexpected deep surface deoxidization, a polishing of tape path and electrical contact surfaces, and a surface friction reduction. This invention is about unexpected improvements caused by the invented treatment to video and audio recorders, VTRs, VCRs, heads, and electrical contact surfaces and improvement to electronic signal transfer, improving electrical conductivity, enhancing video and audio tape recordings, and supporting and maintaining maximum results upon video and audio recording equipment. Particular attention is noted to the enhanced video and audio signals in VTRs/VCRs after an application of this invention. This invention also relates to the efficient maintenance of other electronic parts, including electrical switches and contacts, both moving and stationary. Greatly enhanced contact efficiency is the result for circuit boards, computer boards, computer chips, connections to sockets; and electrical, video), and audio cable connections. This invention provides superior cleaning and conditioning results over other existing methods and is used for professional, industrial and consumer VTRs/VCRs, tape recorders, heads and electrical contact surfaces. Application includes a conditioning treatment to contact surfaces for cable connections, switches, PC pegs, chip pins and computer chips. This invention is about the application of single chain hydrocarbons as a safer, and non toxic chemistry, for the invented video enhancement treatment, electronics cleaner and contact surface conditioner.
2. Description of Prior Art
Video/audio tape recorders require cleaning. As recording tape is used in a video/audio tape recorder. VTR/VCR, or camcorder (hereinafter referred to as a recorder), the tape leaves behind tiny particles of dirt, oxide, and binder. As dirt and other substances cling to the components built into the tape path, the ability of the recorder to accurately record or play back a signal is significantly reduced. Dirty recorders' heads become less sensitive in reproducing the desired quality in video or audio. If the buildup of residues is allowed to remain on the recording components without attention, they can become part of the recorders' heads, drums and pins. In this case the quality of video image, and sound, will continue to diminish until the recorders' record and playback fails to produce picture or sound. In addition, it is well known that the exposed surfaces of most electrical contacts, selected from the group consisting of metallic, aluminum, solid conductive surfaces and brass are prone to attract oxygen atoms, which leads to the formation of metallic oxides on exposed metals, causing oxidation. Metal oxides are poor conductors and can build up on electronic components, such as upon recorders' heads, causing a reduction between contact surfaces required for best reproduction of tape recordings. Capstan drive pins are especially prone to oxide build up, and get bumpy and uneven, reducing recording quality. Without removal with an effective cleaner the taped results become progressively degraded. Oxidation of video recorders' drums and heads will lead to an increase in friction between the tape and recording components, reducing image quality, as well as causing premature wear on drums and heads. The recording tape will also deteriorate more rapidly from increased friction. The primary parts requiring cleaning, within the video recorders' tape path, include the drums, both stationary and spinning, the drum heads, video and audio heads, stationary heads, the capstan drive pin, rollers, and multiple guide pins. One existing method for cleaning cassette recorders is the use of a cleaning cassette. Although easy to use, this is the least effective method, because it cannot match the quality of hand-cleaning with a cleaning fluid and wipes. The cleaning cassettes cannot possibly reach all the dirty area within the tape path and does not properly clean the capstan drive pin nor other tape path areas where the cleaning cassette tape does not reach. All parts within the tape path affect the recording and playback results, thus the entire tape path needs to be cleaned. Cleaning cassettes have also been known to leave behind harmful deposits. Some can even make the recorder dirtier. The cleaning cassettes method also tends to wear out recorders early, due to friction, especially against drum heads. Of course, there is little human control with this method. This is a blind method of recorder maintenance. Many delicate recording heads, referred to as flying heads, have been broken simply because a cleaning cassette was used. Some video recorders have built-in head cleaning devices that clean by means of friction against the upper, spinning head drum. Only the upper drum, and heads contained in the upper drum, become potentially cleaned with this method. This method fails to clean the entire tape path. Some use a flicking method from a spongy roller against the drum heads for foreign materials removal. Another built in cleaning device uses a more firm, stretched material against the upper drum assembly, with electronic sensors to test the signal. This method fails to clean the entire tape path. It does not enhance the heads The effectiveness of the existing, built in, tape path cleaning device does not clean with the effectiveness of the hand cleaning method; and more so when compared to the invention cleaner and method. This is because, first, only the head drums receive the cleaning attention, and thus fails to clean all the tape path. Manual cleaning is the primary method used by the professional video production industry. Although some major manufacturers of video cassette recorders, including camcorders, supply a cleaning cassette tape with new equipment, most certified, professional servicing technicians know to open the recorder, and clean by hand. The cassette cleaning method can he useful in a head-clog emergency, during a shoot or editing session, but is not a method that will enhance the conditions of, nor increase the life of a video recorder; but rather put the video recorder at risk. Again, this can be referred to as a "blind" method because the user cannot see all that is going on. This method fails, as compared to the invention, because it is only a casual method of cleaning the recorder and takes control away from the user. Manual cleaning the tape path of VTR/VCRs is the most effective method, but when done with existing products and methods on the market, still fails to match the invention. Existing electronic cleaning fluids are used to remove dirt, tape residues and other foreign particles from tape paths. Some cleaners have been officially removed from use due to hazards to health, or are of environmental and financial concern, such as Freon.RTM.), an ingredient in some existing electronic cleaning applications, some have proven to be carcinogenic. Acetone is a quick to use cleaning solvent, but is a health risk to the user, and high risk to electronic components such as delicate electronic heads, potentially dissolving lacquer. Alcohol and/or other solvents, without oils, are used to make up most existing electronic cleaning fluids. Alcohol, in various forms, is liked by most technicians and is traditionally accepted as the safest of existing electronic contact cleaners because it is pleasant and easy to use, plus dries rapidly. The inventor has found that the use of alcohol, alone, as a cleaner for recorders and electrical contact surfaces is a cause for excellerated oxidation and corrosion. Although commonly used in the video, computer, and electronics industry, many technicians are not aware that alcohol cleaning can bring negative results to metallic surfaces. Technicians have found that after alcohol is used to clean recording heads, tape paths, and electrical contacts, a slow, but continued increased frequency in cleaning is also required. The inventor has found that one reason for the increased and needed frequency in cleaning is because the alcohol cleaner does not remove all oxidants upon treated surfaces, and leaving cleaned surfaces unprotected, and open to oxidation The unexpected invention resolves the alcohol problem, as it cleans deeper than alcohol, alone, removing oxidation and corrosives even out of reach from the alcohol cleaner, leaving treated surfaces with a protective finish, and a resistance against oxidation, corrosion, dirt attraction; including reduced friction. So if alcohol is used as an electronics cleaner, it should be followed up the invented cleaning method in order to condition and protect the cleaned surfaces. It has been well known that alcohol causes hardening and cracking of rubber rollers, such as capstan pinch rollers used in VTRs/VCRs and all known tape recorders. This is resolved with the invention, as the invented treatment is safe for use on rubber, and lightly cleans and conditions rubber, increasing it's life; making it useful for cleaning and conditioning VTR/VCR pinch rollers. Dropouts in video, plus video noise, identified as intermittent lines and little spots on the video screen during a video tape playback, can temporarily be resolved with a thorough cleaning of heads and tape path. The invented cleaner reduces video drop out and video noise better than existing cleaners, causing an enhanced, clearer video image. Video image enhancement is particularly noticeable in VHS recordings made on VTR I VCRs treated and condition with the invented treatment, as video noise is inherent to the VHS format. Noise reducing circuitry has existed, and continues to be developed, but existing noise reducing circuitry is limited to the single electronic system it is installed in. The invented cleaner, conditioner, is readily applied to any and all existing recorders, providing opportunity for entire studios of recorders, and related electronic equipment to be cleaned and conditioned. Audio tape recorders also need maintenance cleaning. There are some impressive cleaners, of which few are environmentally safe, that clean well, but do not resolve all the tape path problems, nor do they enhance electronic heads. Most cleaners have done what the basic intention of cleaners is for, which is to clean; but conventional cleaners fail to remove deeply embedded corrosive oxidants that are hidden in the surface of electronic heads, drums, and metallic parts that touch the tape during a recording and playback of a tape. They temporarily reduce friction at the tape path. Friction causes heat and begins to wear down both the tape and the tape path surfaces It is known that video and audio recorders that are cleaned routinely last longer than those that ate not cleaned. Existing cleaners are helpful, temporarily, but again oxidation begins it's work. In addition to recording equipment maintenance, the cleaning of video and audio cable connections bring improved signal results. Signal loss occurs most often at cable connections. A non-corrosive, and environmentally safe electronics cleaner is a desirable and useful item. The instant invention brings resolve to this need.


A method of forming a periodic array of nano-scale objects using a block copolymer, and nano-scale object arrays formed from the method are provided. The method for forming the arrays generally includes the steps of depositing a block copolymer of at least two blocks on a substrate to form an ordered meso-scale structured array of the polymer materials, forming catalytic metal dots based on the meso-scale structure, and growing nano-scale objects on the catalytic dots to form an ordered array of nano-scale objects.

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have potential uses in a wide array of applications. In particular, regularly spaced arrays of CNTs are expected to have wide ranging applications, either as new and novel devices or as substantial improvements over existing technology. Carbon nanotubes are electrically conductive, have high strength and stiffness, and exhibit electro-mechanical coupling similar to piezo-electric materials: mechanical deformations of a CNT can induce charge transfer into the nanotube, and injected charge can produce deformation or mechanical stress in the nanotube.
These properties combine to give CNTs their versatility in a wide range of uses. One example uses an array of nanotubes as a filter medium in electrophoretic separations of biomolecules. Electrophoretic separation occurs through the differential transport of polyelectrolytes (DNA, proteins, etc.) through a porous medium in the presence of an electric field. The medium acts as a sieve, producing a size-dependent mobility of the molecules. Current state-of-the-art biomolecular analytical systems use polymer gels as sieves. Such gels typically have a wide, random distribution of pore sizes, often extending into size ranges much greater than that of the molecules of interest (1-10 nm), which limits the efficiency of such gels in separations. In addition, polymer gels are susceptible to radiation damage and thermal decomposition, limiting their utility in analysis in harsh environments of interest to NASA. A regularly-spaced array of carbon nanotubes, with well-defined diameters and tube-tube separations in the range of 1-10 nm, is expected to be much more efficient at such separations, much more amenable to miniaturization, and much more tolerant of harsh environments owing to the high stability of CNT. Arrays of CNT would thus advance this technology and make these methods useful in many new environments.
Another set of applications for CNT arrays takes advantage of their mechanical and electrical properties. The high strength and stiffness of these structures makes free-standing CNT excellent candidates for high-Q, high-frequency, nano-scale oscillators. In addition, the electromechanical coupling provides a means by which to either excite vibrations (by applying an RF signal), or to monitor the motions/vibrations of nanotubes by monitoring the current induced as they mechanically oscillate. Arrays of CNT have thus been proposed for use as nanometer-scale RF filters, RF signal detectors and analyzers, and spectrum analyzers for mechanical vibrations (the "electronic ear"). In addition, nanotubes can be functionalized with various chemical substituents to make various molecules bind to them more or less strongly. A nanotube so functionalized would be expected to change its resonant frequency upon the attachment of a target molecule, so that arrays of functionalized nanotubes could also be used as nano-scale chemical sensors (the "electronic nose").
Finally, the small size and high aspect ratio of CNTs suggests that they will give off electrons by field emission at much lower voltages than the (much larger) metal field emitter tips currently in use. A regular array of independently-addressable nanotubes could thus be used as a low-voltage, low-power array of field emitters, for field emitter displays.
However, all of these applications rely on the ability to produce arrays of nanotubes with regular, well-defined inter-tube spacings. The nanotubes would also need to have their aspect ratios (diameter and wall-thickness vs. length) carefully controlled, to ensure that they stood upright on the substrate, rather than bending over. Many previous studies have reported mats of CNT catalytically grown on smooth substrates. These nanotubes are produced by the decomposition of carbon-containing gases (e.g., C2H4, CO) over nanometer-sized particles of catalytic metals (e.g., Fe, Ni). The nanotubes nucleate upon the metal particles and grow longer as carbon is produced by decomposition of the source gases upon the catalyst. In such studies, catalyst particles are produced by deposition of catalytic metals onto the substrate, either physically or chemically, so that the resultant particles are randomly distributed on the surface and have a wide distribution of sizes. Since the size of growing nanotubes is determined by the size of the catalyst particle from which it nucleates, this process results in growth of nanotubes with a wide diameter distribution, positioned at random upon the substrate surface.
To date, most demonstrations of nanotube growth from such supported catalysts have yielded densely-packed "fields" of nanotubes: neighboring nanotubes are typically in contact with one another, and the size distribution is wide and not well controlled. Clearly, such an "array" does not have the properties needed for the applications discussed above: nanotubes in contact cannot move or be addressed independently, and a wide range of diameters implies a wide range of resonant frequencies, making spectral analysis as described above impossible.
"Bulk" methods for depositing catalytic metals, such as physical or chemical vapor deposition, will result in a stochastic distribution of catalytic particle sizes and locations and thus is not suitable for generating ordered arrays. Lithographic methods, such as photolithography or electron-beam lithography, could work in principle, however photolithography does not have the resolution to make nanometer-sized particles, while conventional e-beam lithography will in general be too slow for large-scale throughput and production of devices using these CNT arrays.
However, recently a technique has been developed for producing geometrically regular self-assembled nanotube arrays with excellent uniformity. This process is based upon the self-organizing formation of highly uniform pore arrays in anodized aluminum films. First, a nanochannel alumina structure is formed by anodizing an aluminum film under conditions that lead to hexagonally-ordered arrays of narrow channels with very high aspect ratios. The nanochannel alumina structure is then used as a template for the growth of nanotube arrays of carbon and other materials, including metals and some semiconductors. The full process technique is disclosed in Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 75, pg 367 (1999), and is incorporated herein by reference. Utilizing this technique the authors were able to grow nanotube arrays comprising uniform carbon nanotubes with a diameter of 32 nm. Despite the promise of this new technique, it is a complex procedure, and can provide arrays of CNT with only a narrow range of diameters, limiting its usefulness in some applications.
Accordingly, a need exists for improved method of producing, from catalytic metal particles supported on substrates, an array of nanotubes that are regularly spaced (in particular, they must not be in contact), and which have the same diameter and length (or at least have a very narrow distribution of sizes) in order that they have nearly identical electrical and mechanical properties.

Method of producing regular arrays of nano-scale objects using nano-structured block-copolymeric materials


A system and method satisfies temperature and pressure requirements of solid oxide fuel cell system 10 in a manner that increases the overall efficiency and decreases the overall weight of system 10. The system and method include a secondary blower 30 for boosting air stream pressure level sufficient for operation of a reformer 12 that is designed to minimize pressure drop; an integrated heat exchanger 18 for recovering heat from exhaust 36 and comprising multiple flow fields 18A, 18B, 18C for ensuring inlet temperature requirements of a solid oxide fuel cell 14 are met; and a thermal enclosure 46 for separating hot zone 48 components from cool zone 50 components for increasing thermal efficiency of the system and better thermal management.

The present disclosure relates in general to solid oxide fuel cell power plants, and more particularly, to a system and method for satisfying temperature and pressure demands of a solid oxide fuel cell power plant in a manner that decreases the weight and increases the operating efficiency of the plant.
Solid oxide fuel cell ("SOFC") power plants are emerging as an attractive technology for mobile applications. Fuel cells generate electrical energy and heat by electrochemically combining a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, and an oxidant, such as oxygen, across an ion-conducting electrolyte. In solid oxide fuel cells, the electrolyte is an oxygen ion conductive ceramic membrane sandwiched between an oxygen electrode (cathode) and a fuel electrode (anode). Oxygen reacts with electrons at the cathode to form oxygen ions, which are conducted through the ceramic membrane to the anode, where the oxygen ions combine with hydrogen and carbon monoxide to form water and carbon dioxide.
A typical SOFC power plant may be grouped into subsystems including but not limited to power generation, fuel processing, and air preparation subsystems. In general, the power generation subsystem comprises at least one fuel cell including an anode flow field for receiving a flow of fuel gas, a cathode flow field for receiving a flow of oxygen gas, and a ceramic electrolyte membrane separating the anode from the cathode flow fields. The fuel processing subsystem includes a reformer for generating hydrogen-rich gas fuel, frequently referred to as reformate or syngas, from a hydrocarbon fuel source for feeding to the anode channel of the fuel cell. Hydrogen gas fuel may be generated from a variety of common hydrocarbon fuel sources using methods including steam reformation, autothermal reformation, and catalytic partial oxidation. The air preparation subsystem supplies oxygen to the cathode flow field of the fuel cell, normally by drawing atmospheric air through a blower to pressurize the air to an adequate level for delivery to the cathode flow field, in addition to providing air for reformation, if needed.
Each subsystem typically has strict temperature, pressure, weight, efficiency, and other requirements. For example, the electrochemical reactions in a solid oxide fuel cell are typically performed at temperatures of between around 550-1000° C., thus necessitating that the temperature of air entering the cathode flow field be between around 450-750° C. Furthermore, to ensure adequate delivery of oxygen to the cathode electrode, the air provided to the cathode flow field must be at a pressure sufficient to overcome the pressure drop across the flow field, for example. Similarly, air delivered to fuel reformers utilizing an atomizer and a catalytic reactor must be at a pressure sufficient to overcome the even higher pressure drop associated with these components. Furthermore, the air must be heated to a temperature sufficient for ensuring the adequate mixing of fuel and air for catalytic reformation to generate a hydrogen-rich reformate gas stream for feeding to the anode flow field of the fuel cell, for example, above about 350° C. However, prior to entering the anode flow field, the reformate stream may need to be cooled such that the effective operating temperature of the fuel cell is not exceeded. In addition to the thermal management and pressure requirements listed above, SOFC systems for mobile applications must be compact and lightweight.


A call servicing system allows service agents to service calls from customers. The system includes local customer switches, local agent switches, and a customer database connected to a network call center. The local customer switches direct calls to and from the customers and the local agent switches direct calls to and from the service agents. The customer database stores information regarding the customers sending the calls. The network call center receives a call from a first one of the customers, queries the customer database to retrieve customer information corresponding to the first customer, and concurrently routes the customer call and the corresponding customer information to one of the service agents.

The present invention relates generally to call management and more particularly to call center technology that permits agents to provide quick and informed customer service.
Many businesses use agents or operators to service customers by telephone. These businesses often employ several agents connected to an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) system, such as a Meridians.RTM. ACD manufactured by Northern Telecom, Ltd., to handle multiple calls simultaneously. The call center technology distributes the calls (usually dialed with an 800 number) to the agents.
There are three principal types of call center technology: standalone ACDs, ACDs integrated with a Private Branch Exchange (PBX), and central office based ACDs. The most commonly used type is the ACD integrated with a PBX.
Conventional call centers require agents to ask customers for information, such as the customer's name and address. The customer may also request service in a language other than English. Conventional call centers typically require agents to collect this information through verbal dialogue with the customer.
Telephone companies store callers' names and addresses in databases for access by telephone company operators responding to directory assistance requests from callers. The databases are typically regional databases, updated on a daily basis to maintain current and accurate information. Operators seeking caller information usually access the databases using the caller's name or address.
Telephone companies also maintain a second set of regional databases accessed by calling telephone number or Directory Number (DN). These databases are called Line Information Databases (LIDB). LIDBs contain numerous data segments, including, for example, information regarding the kind of calling telephone (e.g., coin, coinless, etc.), the language preference of the DN owner, and the desire of the DN owner for automated telephone services.
Conventional call centers, however, have no access to the telephone companies' databases. Therefore, agents must obtain this information on their own through verbal interaction with customers. The collection of the information in this manner is time consuming for both the customer and the agent, and therefore costly. Additionally, the verbally collected information commonly contains errors due to mistakes made by the agents in collecting the information.

Call center integration with operator services databases


A system for controlling an airbag may include: an accident information collector configured to collect accident information and divide an entire road into a plurality of sections; an accident information analyzer configured to generate statistical information for each section by analyzing the accident information; a threshold value calculator configured to calculate a threshold value for each section, wherein the threshold value is a reference for inflating the airbag; and a inflation controller configured to determine whether to inflate the airbag based on the threshold value for each section.

An airbag and a seat belt are safety apparatuses that protect drivers or passengers from impact when an accident occurs.
The airbag is installed at the front or side of a driver's seat. When a signal from a front collision sensor or a side collision sensor is received, is determined whether or not to inflate the airbag according to impact amount of the collision. The airbag is inflated if the impact amount satisfies a threshold value. The threshold value is preset when manufacturing the airbag.
Since the threshold value is preset as a fixed value, the airbag may not be appropriately inflated. In other words, the airbag may be inflated with insignificant impact and thus a secondary accident such as injury of driver or repair cost occurs.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

System and method for controlling airbag


An integrated electro-optic waveguide device has a substrate, an optically transparent lower buffer layer positioned atop the substrate, an optically transparent nonlinear optic (NLO) organic poled polymer waveguide positioned atop the lower buffer layer, and a GaAs laser diode optically coupled to the waveguide. The NLO material has a higher refractive index than the buffer layer. A ridge waveguide section forms an extended resonator cavity for the laser diode and combines a modulation function and an in-cavity quasi-phase matched second harmonic generation function. A grating coupled ridge-to-planar waveguide section combines a beam expansion function, a TE-TM conversion function, and a beam turning function. A planar surface prism electrode section provides electro-optic waveguide beam deflection. A dual linear grating coupler section performs the output/input coupling. Beam turning is accomplished by a planar waveguide mirror section. An electro-optic ridge waveguide Mach-Zehnder interferometer wavefront sensor section generates TES and FES signals.

Bulk optic pick-up heads which are used to retrieve information stored on optical disks are well known. The principles of operation of such devices are briefly as follows. Polarized light from a laser diode is collimated and sent through a polarization beam splitter (PBS) and a quarterwave plate. Circularly polarized light is focused onto the information bearing surface of the optical disk by an objective lens. Information is encoded in the form of pits and land areas which are located along tracks. As the disk spins, the intensity of the reflected light is modulated by reflection off of these pits and land areas. This modulation is ultimately sensed and used to generate the data signal. Furthermore, the distribution of the reflected light is modified by motion of the data tracks due to disk runout and is ultimately used to generate the tracking error signal (TES). The reflected light is then re-collimated by the objective lens. Because the degree of recollimation is directly related to the displacement of the reflecting surface of the optical disk from nominal focus as the disk rotates, measurement of this collimation is used to generate the focus error signal (FES). The sense of circular polarization is reversed upon reflection off of the optical disk so the encoded light becomes linearly polarized in a direction perpendicular to the initial polarization state upon passage through the quarterwave plate a second time. The state of polarization of this light is such that it is reflected by the PBS to a detector section which retrieves TES, FES, and the data signal. TES and FES are amplified and are used to drive electro-mechanical tracking and focus actuators, respectively, which are attached to the objective lens. These closed-loop servo systems maintain both tracking and focus as the disk spins.
Both partial, as well as, fully integrated optic heads have been recently proposed. In these devices, the conventional optical and electromechanical elements of bulk optical heads are replaced at least in part by planar waveguide optical and electro-optical elements, respectively. These integrated optic devices are intrinsically lower in mass and smaller in volume and form-factor than are the bulk optic counterparts and can be mass produced using IC-type processing techniques. Hence, they offer the possibly of improved performance and lower manufacturing costs compared to conventional pick-up heads. On the other hand, integrated optic heads must provide one or more of the key components which define an optical pick-up head; namely, a) a source of coherent light radiation which is focused into a diffraction-limited spot on the information-bearing surface of the optical disk, b) a means of retrieval of the modulated light returning from the disk, c) isolation of the modulated light returning from the optical disk from the source, d) means of sensing the TES, FES, and data signal, e) actuator means for correcting focus and tracking errors due to disk motion, and in the case of a read/write head f) a means of modulating the source intensity during the write operation.
Partially integrated optic heads incorporating acousto-optic light deflection as a tracking actuator means are revealed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,153 and by Arimoto et al. Waveguide Optical Deflector for an Optical Disk Tracking Actuator Using a Surface Acoustic Wave Device, Applied Optics, Jan. 10, 1990, pp. 247-250. Unfortunately, these devices both require relatively high power rf generators to drive surface acoustic wave (SAW) transducers. Additional disadvantages of these devices include relatively slow response times for the SAW deflection and rf noise generation. These devices are partially integrated in that they do not incorporate means for detection of TES, FES, data signal, or tracking and focus actuation. Consequently, they require additional bulk optical and mechanical elements to form a complete optical pick-up head.
Fully or near-fully integrated pick-up heads have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 263350 (Dec. 26, 1985) and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,919. These devices are both characterized by two separated curved and blazed gratings. One grating couples the light out of the planar waveguide and focuses it onto the optical disk without the need of an external bulk objective lens. The light is reflected off of the disk at an angle such that when it returns to the planar waveguide, it is incident on the second grating which couples it into the waveguide. The blazing eliminates the possibility of light being coupled into waveguide substrate modes. The device disclosed in the former patent has the disadvantage that the spot quality produced by the focus grating output coupler is extremely sensitive to laser diode wavelength shift due to the dispersive nature of the focus grating coupler. The device described in the latter patent has the disadvantage that it does not provide for source isolation. The latter device also is complicated by the requirement for a unique polarizer which is capable of converting linear polarization to concentrically circular polarization. Neither device allows for electro-optic deflection or modulation.
European Patent Publication No. 0,174,008 discloses a fully integrated optical head based on an electro-optic waveguide such as single crystal LiNbO.sub.3. Electro-optic focus and tracking actuator functions are provided by shaped surface electrode structures. This device suffers the disadvantage that the surface electrode structures are necessarily far apart. Given the magnitude of the electro-optic coefficient of materials such as LiNbO.sub.3, this implies that unrealistically large voltages are required to obtain fringing fields in the electro-optic waveguide region between these surface electrodes large enough to cause appreciable deflection. This device concept also suffers the same difficulties mentioned above in that the focused spot quality on the optical disk is extremely sensitive to laser diode wavelength drift and the dispersive nature of the focus grating coupler.
The use of nonlinear optical materials in laser cavities to achieve conversion of stimulated radiation at the fundamental wavelength to radiation at the second harmonic wavelength is well known. The nonlinear optic (NLO) materials usually used in such applications are inorganic single crystals such as potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP), potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP), ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP), lithium niobate (LiNbO.sub.3) or lithium tantalate (LiTaO.sub.3). Such devices are usually bulky and expensive to fabricate. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a compact optical read/write device with a laser diode structure that incorporates NLO material and generates visible radiation by second harmonic generation (SHG) of the fundamental wavelength.

Integrated optic read/write head for optical data storage incorporating second harmonic generator, electro-optic tracking error actuator, and electro-optic modulator