An improved layout of transistors near LCD drive terminals in a CMOS semiconductor device to reduce a chip size without damaging resistances against electrostatic destruction and latch-up. MOSFETs whose sources are connected to neither an electric source nor a ground are selectively arranged between two protective diffusion layers having different polarities, connected to a terminal.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly to an improved layout of transistors near LCD (liquid crystal display) drive terminals in a CMOS semiconductor device.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional LCD drive terminal circuit. In this LCD drive terminal circuit, as shown in FIG. 1, three resistors 520 are coupled in series between an electric source 502 and a ground terminal 503 so as to divide a source voltage VDD of the electric source 502 to output a ground potential, the 1/3 VDD potential, the 2/3 VDD potential or the VDD potential from an input-output terminal 501. Diode-connected P-type MOSFET 514 and N-type MOSFET 519 are connected at their drains which are linked to the input-output terminal 501. Between the coupling terminals of the three resistors 520 and the input-output terminal 501, a P-type MOSFET 510 of which its gate is input by an inverted signal using an inverter 530 and receiving functions as a pass transistor, a couple of P-type MOSFET 511 and N-type MOSFET 515 receiving at their gates complementary signals using an inverter 531 and which function as a CMOS pass transistor, a couple of P-type MOSFET 512 and N-type MOSFET 516 receiving at their gates by complementary signals using an inverter 532 and which function as a CMOS pass transistor, and an N-type MOSFET 517 functioning as a pass transistor are connected in parallel.
FIG. 2 shows the relationship between input control signals a, b, c and d supplied to the circuit shown in FIG. 1 and potentials output from the input-output terminal 501.
The control signals a, b, c and d are controlled so that one of these signals may be a high level. When the control signal a is high, the N-type MOSFET 517 is "ON" to output the ground signal from the input-output terminal 501. When the control signal b is high, both the P-type MOSFET 512 and N-type MOSFET 516 are "ON" to output the 1/3 VDD signal from the input-output terminal 501. When the control signal c is high, both the P-type MOSFET 511 and N-type MOSFET 515 are "ON" to output the 2/3 VDD signal from the input-output terminal 501. When the control signal d is high, the P-type MOSFET 510 is "ON" to output the VDD signal from the input-output terminal 501.
Various conventional methods are used for driving the LCD, but in general, in order to display many patterns, electrically, a matrix type driver shown in FIG. 3 is used. Lines COMO to COM3, S0 and S1 are inputs of the LCD and can be driven by the LCD drive terminal circuit shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4A and 4B show display patterns of the LCD and are used for displaying numerals. For example, when displaying a numeral "1", patterns 1 and 2 are ON and the rest is OFF. The line S0 is connected to patterns 0 to patterns 3 and the line S1 to patterns 4 to pattern 7, as shown in FIG. 4A. The line COM0 is connected to pattern 0 and pattern 4, the line COM1 to pattern 1 and pattern 5, the line COM2 to pattern 2 and pattern 6, and the line COM3 to pattern 3 and pattern 7, as shown in FIG. 4B.
Voltages shown in FIG. 5 are supplied to the lines COMO to COM3, S0 and S1. Hence, a large voltage amplitude is applied between COM1 and S0 (see COML-S0 in FIG. 5) and between COM2 and S0 (see COM2-S0 in FIG. 5), and patterns 1 and 2 turn ON.
A voltage amplitude is small between COM0 and S0 and between COM3 and S0, as shown by COMO-S0 and COM3-S0 in FIG. 6, and patterns 0 and 3 are OFF. Similarly, a voltage amplitude is small between COM0 to 3 and S1, and patterns 4 to 7 are OFF.
FIG. 7 schematically shows one example of LCD drive terminals of the circuit shown in FIG. 1. The P-type MOSFET 514 and the N-type MOSFET 519 act as protective elements against electrostatic destruction.
FIG. 8 shows the detailed layout and wiring of the LCD drive terminals shown in FIG. 7.
In FIG. 8, a P-type diffusion layer 601 provides the source and the drain of the P-type MOSFET 514, and polysilicon 604 provides the gate of the same. A second aluminum (A1) 607 is a wire for supplying a source potential to the source and the gate of the P-type MOSFET 514.
An N-type diffusion layer 602 provides the source and the drain of the N-type MOSFET 519, and a polysilicon 603 provides the gate of the same. Another second aluminum 606 is a wire for supplying a ground potential to the source of the N-type MOSFET 519.
A first aluminum 609 couples the drains of the P-type MOSFET 514 and the N-type MOSFET 519, the drains of the P-type MOSFETs 510 to 512 and the drains of the N-type MOSFETs 515 to 517 to a pad 541 corresponding to the input-output terminal 501.
As is well-known, in general, destruction due to static electricity is liable to occur in a MOS type IC. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, when high static electricity is applied to an input-output terminal, a current flows in a PN junction connected to this terminal to destroy the PN junction, or dielectric breakdown occurs in a gate formed by a thin oxide film.
In order to reduce such destruction or breakdown due to static electricity, usually, large size protective elements such as the N-type MOSFET 519 and the P-type MOSFET 514, as shown in FIG. 7, are mounted on the input-output terminal of the MOS type IC to diminish a current density caused when the static electricity is applied to the input-output terminal, resulting in preventing destruction or breakdown.
An LSI using both a P-type MOSFET and an N-type MOSFET is called a CMOS LSI which involves a problem usually called "latch-up".
This latch-up is a phenomenon of current flow in a parasitic thyristor annexed to a CMOS structure and may bring about destruction of a chip at the worst.
FIG. 10 shows a parasitic thyristor. A parasitic thyristor of a PNPN structure is formed between an electric source and a ground. When a latch-up is caused in this part, a large current flows between the electric source and the ground shown in FIG. 10.
The latch-up happens most frequently in a CMOS semiconductor device when higher voltage than the source voltage or a lower voltage than the ground voltage, that is, an overvoltage is applied to the input-output terminal.
As shown in FIG. 11, usually, some P-type or N-type diffusion layer is connected to the input-output terminal 501. For example, when a lower voltage than the ground voltage is applied to the input-output terminal 501, the PN junction between the drain of the N-type MOSFET 519 connected to the input-output terminal 501 and a P-type substrate coupled to the ground has a forward bias and a large current flows therein.
A part of the large current flowing in the P-type substrate reaches a parasitic thyristor shown in FIG. 10, which is positioned near the terminal part of the CMOS type IC shown in FIG. 11.
In the parasitic thyristor shown in FIG. 10, the P-type substrate provides the gate of the thyristor, and, when it is sufficient for the reached current to allow the thyristor to be conductive, the parasitic thyristor becomes conductive and turns to latch-up.
Since this latch-up may bring about the destruction of the chip, the chip is designed so that the latch-up phenomenon is prevented as far as possible. Usually, the P-type and N-type diffusion layers connected directly to the input-output terminal, in particular, are separated from other P-type and N-type diffusion layers at a predetermined distance. As described above, when an overvoltage is applied to the input-output terminal, the P-type and N-type diffusion layers connected directly to the input-output terminal can act as escape paths for the current which causes the latch-up and hence can prevent the sufficient current from reaching the parasitic thyristor causing its conductive state and latch-up.
In the circuit shown in FIG. 7, in order to prevent the latch-up, a predetermined distance is given between the N-type MOSFET 519 and the P-type MOSFET 514, and between the P-type MOSFET 514 and the P-type and N-type MOSFETs 510 to 513 and 515 to 517.
In a semiconductor device for implementing the LCD drive function, usually, the LCD includes many display elements and thus the number of drive terminals also increases.
In the foregoing conventional LCD drive terminal circuit, sufficient space is ensured around each of the many LCD drive terminals for preventing the latch-up. As a result, the chip size is enlarged and the production cost increases.

CMOS semiconductor device with improved layout of transistors near LCD drive terminals


Techniques for generating a stable, force-resisting positive or negative representation of a shape. A state-changeable mixture includes uniform, generally ordered, closely-spaced solid bodies and a liquid carrier medium, with the liquid filling any voids or interstices between the bodies and excluding air or gas bubbles from the mixture. Within the mixture, the solid bodies can be caused to transition from a near-liquid or fluent condition of mobility to a stable, force-resisting condition. To create mobility, a small excess quantity or transition liquid is introduced to create a fluent condition by providing a slight clearance between the bodies which permits the gently-forced introduction of at least two simultaneous slip planes between ordered bulk masses of the bodies at any point in the mixture. Transition to the stable condition is caused by extraction of the transition liquid, removing the clearance between bodies and causing them to make stable, consolidated contact.

The present invention relates generally to reformable materials, and more specifically to mixtures, primarily solid/liquid mixtures, that can be formed into desired shapes and then re-used to form other desired shapes. The desired shapes may be end products, or may be templates or tools used to form end products or other templates or tools.
The prior art for making molds or tooling deals for the most part with fabricating, machining, layered deposition forming, molding or casting of tools for a single dedicated purpose. While the tools may be modified or the materials recycled, often this is accomplished only with multiple steps and at considerable expense. Specific instances of quickly reformable molds have been found that rely on beads, sand or other particulate materials being blown or poured into a container with at least one flexible or elastically extensible surface. An article is pushed against or surrounded by the flexible surface and the contained particulate material, and then a vacuum is pulled on the container to remove air so that ambient air pressure consolidates the beads or particles and holds the flexible surface against them in the shape of the article. Likewise, numerous instances have been found of cushions, pads or seats that rely on introducing or vacuuming air from a bead-filled, flexible or stretchable sealed envelope, while other instances have been found of reformable shapes comprising flexible envelopes that contain mixtures of beads or microspheres combined with binding yet flowable lubricants or highly viscous materials. Some of these shapes have been made temperature responsive, so that heat would soften them and cooling would harden them.
The following U.S. patents relate to casting, molding, and fabrication:                U.S. Pat. No. 2,517,902 (Luebkeman);        U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,395 (Hägglund);        U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,241 (Freitag);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,167 (Ohta et al.);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,121 (Goodno);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,070 (Fischer et al.);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,388 (Frailey);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,597 (Van Ert et al.);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,189 (Uzaki et al.);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,742 (McCollum); and        U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,808 (Essinger et al.).
The following U.S. patents relate to formable objects of use:                U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,961 (Von Heck);        U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,046 (Davis et al.);        U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,811 (Hayes);        U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,190 (Tarnoff et al.);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,138 (Drew et al.);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,169 (Parrish et al.);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,409 (Pearce); and        U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,763 (Thomas et al.).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Use of state-change materials in reformable shapes, templates or tooling


Embodiments of power-on reset (POR) circuits are described. In one embodiment, a POR circuit includes a primary ladder circuit connected to a supply voltage and configured to generate a reference signal for a reset signal in response to the supply voltage and a secondary ladder circuit connected to the supply voltage and configured to bias the primary ladder circuit in response to the supply voltage.

An input supply circuit can be used to provide an input voltage to one or more components of a device, such as an integrated circuit (IC). When an input voltage is applied to a device, such as, a semiconductor device, the device is typically needed to be in a known state, for example, to deal with an unstable voltage. A power-on reset (POR) circuit can be used to reset or initiate a device, such as, a semiconductor device when an input voltage is applied to the device. Typically, a POR circuit needs to support a wide range of supply voltage, for example, in case of multiple voltage supply domains. In addition, a POR circuit typically needs to keep a low circuit area to satisfy circuit design requirements and/or to reduce circuit manufacturing costs. Furthermore, in a POR circuit, it is typically desirable to have a low quiescent current draw in order to reduce power consumption. Therefore, there is a need for a POR circuit that can support a wide range of supply voltage, keep a low circuit area, and exhibit a low quiescent current draw.


An explosive panel, in which detonation is limited to a predetermined area bout any point in the panel at which detonation is initiated, consisting of an array of identical interconnected explosive tile assemblies, each including an explosive tile, a peripheral explosive path, and a plurality of connecting links crossing the peripheral path at a destructive crossover. The outer end of each link is connected to the outer end of an adjacent tile assembly link, and the inner end of the link is connected to the tile through a delay trail. Each link is connected to the peripheral paths by explosive diodes which propagate an incoming detonation to the peripheral path on both sides of the link. When any tile assembly is detonated internally, it will propagate the detonation to all adjacent tile assemblies through its connecting links. When a tile assembly is detonated from an adjacent tile assembly through one of its connecting links, the peripheral path will be detonated and cut all other connecting links of the tile assembly, so that the incoming detonation is limited to only that tile.

The invention relates generally to explosives and particularly to explosive initiation mechanisms, specifically, self-limiting explosive logic networks.
In some applications, it is necessary to limit the spread of detonation of a sheet or panel of secondary explosive. The explosive panel does not have to be simply connected, and it may have breaks or holes of relatively small size. However, it must be self-limiting no matter where the point of initiation may be. In addition, the explosive panel must meet the usual criteria of being safe, practical and rugged.
It is well known to use explosive logic networks to direct and control the detonation of explosive material. These logic networks may include explosive logic devices utilizing the "corner effect" principle, such as the destructive crossovers and explosive diodes discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,402, issued Aug. 21, 1973 to Menz et al. These logic networks may also include time delay elements, such as the explosive delay paths discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,493, issued Nov. 1, 1983 to Silvia.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


Device for writing and reading a data including a floated cantilever part connected to a support, a resistively heated tip at an end of the cantilever part, and a piezoelectric sensor formed on the cantilever part, thereby preventing an occurrence of a sensing error by reading a data and reducing power consumption by using a piezoelectric sensor, and tip wear by making heights of the cantilever array uniform by using piezoelectric actuators.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for writing and reading data by using a cantilever, and more particularly, to a device for writing and reading data by using a cantilever, in which a resistively heated tip is used in writing data and a piezoelectric-sensor is used in reading data, for prevention of sensing error and reduction of a power consumption, and piezoelectric actuator array makes the height of cantilever array be uniform, for prevention of wear of a tip.
2. Background of the Related Art
In general, an Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measures a surface form and the like by using a micron cantilever. The cantilever has a tip of a few nm size at an end thereof, for measuring an atomic force between the tip and a specimen for detecting the surface form or electric or magnetic properties of the specimen.
Recently, research on nano-lithography devices or nano data storages of the atomic force microscopy principle has been active. The atomic force microscopy principle enables storage of data using a probe of a few nm in size, to develop a data storage having a storage density higher than a tera bit/in2. IBM of the USA has studied a data storage device of a polymer recording medium of the atomic force microscopy principle for a few years.
FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view showing a state in which a related art atomic force microscopy writes data, schematically, wherein the IBM has designed the AFM data storage device provided with two dimensionally linked 32×32 unit cantilevers each inclusive of a silicon tip 10, a resistive heater platform 11 at the tip part, a unit cantilever having a cantilever part 12 connected to the resistive heater platform 11 and floated by a support 13.
In writing data by using the data storage device, the silicon tip is heated, to reduce a viscosity of the polymer recording medium 22 on a silicon substrate 21, a force is applied to the recording medium 22 locally by using the silicon tip 10, to form an data storage recess 23 in the recording medium 22. Thus, data is recorded.
On the other hand, referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, in reading data by using the AFM data storage device, a principle is used, in which a heater cooling rate is varied with a distance between the heater platform and the recording medium.
In more detail, referring to FIG. 2A, if the silicon tip 10 is inserted into the data storage recess 23 in the recording medium 22, making a distance between the heater platform 11 and the recording medium 22 near, the heater platform 11 is cooled down quickly, and, referring to FIG. 2B, if the silicon tip is on a flat surface of the recording medium, with the distance between the heater platform 11 and the recording medium 22 far, the heater platform 11 is cooled down slowly.
Such a difference of cooling down rates varies a temperature of the heater platform 11, with a consequent variation of electric resistance, using which data is read.
Though the related art AFM data storage cantilever developed by the IBM has an advantage of simple fabrication process, it has the following problems.
First, the parallel cantilever array for faster AFM data storage is liable to cause failure in forming uniform heights of the cantilever tips due to deviations of layers of SOI substrates, and etching, which in turn causes deviations between the recording medium and the cantilever tips. The height deviation is greater than approx. 80 nm, significantly greater than a depth of the data storage recess of 40 nm, that deteriorates a reliability of the AFM data storage, and causes a serious wear down problem.
Second, the array of cantilevers require to have uniform heater platforms. If resistances of the heaters are not uniform, a reading reliability can not be secured.
Third, the heating of the heater platform to approx. 350° C. for detecting change of resistance of the heater platform and reading a data consumes much power, and, in the case of the array of the cantilevers, the power consumption is much higher as hundreds of heaters are heated at the same time. Since the nano data storage of the AFM principle is mostly for application to portable apparatuses, the high power consumption is a big disadvantage.

Device for writing and reading data by using cantilever


A system and method for adaptively removing feedback in audio systems and, more particularly, hearing aid systems. The audio system comprises an analysis unit, for receiving an input signal and providing N bandpass input signals, and an adaptive feedback cancellation unit for removing a feedback condition in one or more of the N bandpass input signals. The adaptive feedback cancellation unit comprises N sub-units with at least one of the sub-units including: (i) a feedback detector for indicating the presence of the feedback condition in one of the bandpass input signals, (ii) an adaptive feedback canceller for providing an adaptive gain modification factor for adjusting gain when the feedback condition is detected within one of the bandpass input signals, and (iii) a multiplier coupled to the adaptive feedback canceller and the analysis unit for providing a bandpass output signal based on one of the bandpass input signals and the corresponding adaptive gain modification factor.

Feedback in hearing aid systems is a well-known problem that can occur when there is a feedback path from the output signal of the hearing aid system to the input signal of the hearing aid system. This usually occurs when a user of the hearing aid system is moving his/her jaws (i.e. while eating), wearing a hat, using a telephone, standing close to walls, etc. The feedback usually occurs in mid and high frequency regions which are important for allowing the hearing aid user to understand speech. Accordingly, feedback is not only annoying but impairs speech comprehension for the hearing aid user. Feedback can also be due to other causes such as magnetic, vibrational or electrical.
Many different feedback reduction approaches have been developed to cancel feedback when it occurs in the hearing aid system. Some of these approaches comprise estimating a feedback path transfer function and altering the feedback path transfer function at critical frequencies (i.e. feedback prone frequencies) to remove feedback. The feedback path transfer function can be estimated via auto-correlation of the input signal and/or cross-correlation of the input signal and the output signal. This approach may also be adaptive by incorporating a variation of the Least Mean Square algorithm for adaptive estimation of the feedback transfer function. Consequently, this approach requires rather high levels of computational power, and due to the limited computational power of available digital hearing aid systems, the effectiveness of this approach is restricted particularly in dealing with the multiple feedback paths that usually occur in daily life.
Another approach for reducing feedback in hearing aid systems is to use a notch filter. A single notch filter may effectively reduce feedback when the overall loop gain in a single narrow frequency band reaches values larger than unity and the phase of the feedback signal is 0° or a multiple of 360° (i.e. the Nyquist criterion). If the loop gain begins to exceed unity and the corresponding phase satisfies the Nyquist criterion in several frequency bands that lie far apart, then several notch filters may be used. However, the notch filters have to be tuned to the correct frequencies at which the feedback occurs which implies that the frequencies and frequency bands where feedback occurs must be detected. Detection of a single frequency feedback signal in noise may involve signal processing techniques such as correlation and parametric modeling methods, followed by peak picking, zero crossing counters, etc., as is well known to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, this method of feedback cancellation also requires high levels of computational power that can exceed the computational power available in hearing aid systems.
Another approach for reducing feedback in the hearing aid system is anti-phase feedback canceling. This involves adaptively detecting changes in the feedback path, and once feedback is detected, generating an anti-phase feedback signal to cancel the feedback. If the hearing aid system is linear, the feedback path changes slowly, and only a small number of feedback paths exist (such as one or two), anti-phase feedback canceling works well. However, the feedback path can change dramatically and very rapidly in real-life situations. Furthermore, most of the advanced digital hearing aid systems are not linear and incorporate some type of input or output referred compression. Accordingly, the gain of the hearing aid system changes constantly as the input or output signal levels change. The feedback signal level is therefore not constant, as it is for a linear hearing aid system. In addition, multiple feedback paths usually occur as well as temporary feedback path changes. All of these factors result in high computational demand which can limit the application of the anti-phase feedback canceling technique in hearing aid systems, particularly when dealing with multi-feedback path situations.
Another approach for reducing feedback in the hearing aid system, while addressing the limited computational power in the hearing aid system, is to use a non-adaptive feedback manager. The most basic feedback manager is a static feedback manager that permanently reduces the maximum loop gain to prevent the occurrence of feedback in the hearing aid system. Although this approach can be effective, reducing the maximum system gain limits the user's access to higher gain, which may be required on occasion depending on the individual's hearing loss. Since feedback often occurs in the higher frequency range, which is also the frequency range that contains the consonant sounds of speech, reducing the gain in this frequency range can have detrimental effects on speech discrimination. In addition, the static feedback manager cannot dynamically compensate for temporary feedback caused when a hand or a telephone is placed close to or on the hearing aid system, or if the user distorts the ear canal with jaw movements.
Another characteristic of these prior art feedback reduction methods is that they typically require a few hundred milliseconds (i.e. 200 ms) to detect the occurrence of feedback and then another few hundred milliseconds (i.e. 200 ms) to eliminate the feedback. Accordingly, the user of the hearing aid system will hear a short, but very loud, burst of feedback before the feedback is suppressed. This is detrimental since such a feedback signal can be uncomfortable and annoying for the hearing aid user.


A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes providing a substrate that is divided into a first region on which a pattern layer is formed and a second region on which a photo key is formed. A silicon layer is formed on the first region and second region of the substrate. The silicon layer is patterned to form a hole exposing a photo key portion of the second region on which the photo key is formed. A buried oxide layer is formed to fill the hole exposing the photo key portion. The silicon layer is patterned by using the photo key formed under the buried oxide layer to form a silicon pattern layer.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device by using a photo key.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, when a semiconductor device is fabricated, a plurality of material layers is formed on a substrate and the material layers are patterned by photolithography to form pattern layers. Accordingly, there is a need to increase the accuracy of alignment or overlay of pattern layers sequentially formed by photolithography in the course of the fabrication of a semiconductor device.

Method of fabricating semiconductor device using photo key


A demolition shear has a pair of pivotably movable elongated jaws each having a pivot portion and an elongated jaw portion extending therefrom. The lower jaw portion has a cutter side wall, a guide side wall and an outer end wall, and the cutter side wall has an upper working surface with a generally V-shaped configuration, and a recess providing a blade seating shoulder extending parallel to the upper surface. The end shoulder at the proximal end intersects at an obtuse angle with the blade seating shoulder, and defines a reference plane. Seated on the shoulder are abutting; elongated rhimboidal lower cutter blades with end faces extending parallel to the reference plane. The outer end wall has an inner surface portion has a blade seating shoulder on its inner surface on which is seated a cross cutter blade. The guide side wall has a recess adjacent the outer end wall which provides a blade seating shoulder on which is seated a guide blade. The distal end surfaces of the guide and distal cutter blades extend parallel to the reference plane and bear firmly against the cross cutter blade which also lies in parallel plane. The upper jaw has an invention V-shape pivot portion and a jaw portion extending therefrom with a cutter side surface adjacent the cutter side surface of the lower jaw and a guide side surface. Its cutter side surface has a recess providing a blade seating shoulder on which is seated a pair of abutting elongated rhomboidal upper cutter blades.

The present invention relates to demolition shears, and, more particularly, to such shears in which there are provided replaceable blade elements.
Demolition shears conventionally employ relatively movable upper and lower jaws which are structured and configured to cut metallic and other elements between the relatively movable jaws. As is well known, such shears generally cut along one side of the relatively movable jaws while the workpiece is supported on a guide surface extending along the other side of the jaws. In addition, many shears have a "tooth" or cutting tip at the forward end of the upper jaw which is designed to pierce the workpiece. These shears are used to cut large metallic members into short pieces which can be more easily handled and transported.
The lower jaw of a demolition shear has a guide mechanism to support the narrower upper jaw as it moves within the recess of the lower jaw. The guide mechanism consists of a blade insert on the side of the jaw opposite from that mounting the main cutter blades. This blade insert is bolted into a blade seat which is exposed and requires frequent dressing with weld metal.
As is conventional, the demolition shear is an attachment which is mounted on the boom structure of a hydraulically powered construction machine and has a hydraulic cylinder attached to one or both jaws to move the jaws relative to each other.
Because of the hardness and/or abrasiveness of various workpieces which are being processed, the material of the jaws is abraded and otherwise worn away over a period of time. The jaws are large and heavy and are generally fabricated as cast structures or welded from metal plate. Although weld metal may be utilized to rebuild the surfaces which are being worn, commonly hardened steel cutter blades are employed along the several working surfaces of the upper and lower jaws to provide wear resistance since they will provide the principal working surface and reduce the wear on the surrounding structure of the jaws upon which they are mounted. Desirably, these cutter blades are removably mounted on the jaws so that they can be replaced as they wear.
Desirably, the demolition shear usually has at least one jaw which is V-shaped to facilitate retention of the material being processed. When utilizing conventional rectangular cutter blades, small triangular portions of the jaws at the apex of the V-shape are exposed between the adjacent ends of inserts are exposed to wear and require frequent dressing with weld metal.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel demolition shears utilizing V-shaped jaws and cutter blades which protect the working surface of the jaws and which are readily replaceable.
It is also an object to provide such demolition shear in which the cutter blades may be rotated and/or inverted to utilize multiple edges thereof.
Another object is to provide such a demolition shear in which the cutter blades of both jaws may be readily interchanged to enable optimum usage thereof.
Still another object is to provide such a demolition shear in which the cutter and guide blades may be quickly replaced or reoriented upon the jaws.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a demolition shear utilizing a guide blade and cross blade assembly to protect the outer end of the lower jaw and which are readily replaceable.


In a method for improving the quality, particularly the signal-to-noise ratio, of an image, first image data are subjected to a mathematical operation in the position domain that improves the image quality, with picture elements in the environment of the individual picture element, for each individual picture element of the image to be subjected to the mathematical operation are provided with mutually independent, first weighting factors that have a magnitude dependent on the spatial distance of the respective picture element of the environment from the individual picture element, and with which the mathematical operation is implemented for the individual picture element. Picture elements in the environment of the individual picture element for each individual picture element of the image are additionally provided with mutually independent, second weighting factors that have a magnitude dependent on intensity differences or color differences of the respective picture element of the environment compared to the individual picture element. The method enables an improvement of the image quality with approximately unaltered sharpness and can be realized as a real-time procedure in medical imaging.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method for improving the quality, particularly the signal-to-noise ratio, of an image, of the type wherein image data are subjected to a mathematical operation in the position domain that improves the image quality by, for each picture element subject to the mathematical operation, picture elements in the environment of that picture element are provided respectively with independent, first weighting factors that have a magnitude dependent on the spatial distance of the respective picture element of the environment from the individual picture element, and the mathematical operation for that picture element is implemented with those weighting.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Images of exposure subjects often have a noise component that can make it more difficult to recognize details in the image. A low signal-to-noise ratio in the image has a negative effect specifically in the field of medical imaging such as, for example, magnetic resonance tomography or computed tomography since the recognition of image details plays a significant part in this field of application.
For improving a low signal-to-noise ratio of magnetic resonance images, it is known to apply low-pass filters to the digital image data. For this purpose, the image data are convoluted (convolved) with a suitable function, for example a Gauss function that forms a filter window. In this mathematical operation, picture elements in the environment of the individual picture element, for each individual picture element of the image are taken into consideration with mutually independent weighting factors formed by a weighting function that has a magnitude dependent on the spatial distance of the respective picture element of the environment from the individual picture element. As a result of the low-pass filtering, however, the spatial resolution of the image is reduced, so that important information about structure details of the examined body region in, for example, medical images, can be lost.
In addition to this simple low-pass filtering, a number of more complex methods are known for noise suppression that, however, frequently require considerable computing time. One known method, for example, is median filtering, but this does not provide satisfactory results for magnetic resonance images. Further, complicated segmenting approaches are known for the image processing in the medical field in order to detect and suitably process regions in the image containing similar image information.
Lim, J. S., Image Enhancement in Digital Image Processing Techniques, M. P. Ekstrom (Editor), Academic Press, 1984, pages 11–25 and 33–41, discloses methods for improving the quality of images wherein adaptive filter techniques are utilized. In one of these methods, the variance is calculated for a defined surrounding region of every individual picture element that is subjected to a low-pass filtering, and the window width of the filter function is set dependent on this variance. This, however, produces no noise suppression at sharp edges within the image, so that the image quality is not improved in these regions.

Method for improving the quality of an image


Maintaining proper planarity of elements of a microelectronic component test system helps ensure reliable operation of the test system. Aspects of the invention provide test systems and methods for verifying planarity of, for example, a head and a support surface of a microelectronic component test system. In one exemplary method, a probe card is mounted to and electrically coupled to a head of a microelectronic component test system. The probe card has an array of probes. A contact surface of the support is moved with respect to the head and a change in contact condition of each of the probes is recorded in a first data set. The orientation of the probe card with respect to the contact surface is changed, the contact surface is moved with respect to the head again and a change in contact condition of each of the probes is recorded in a second data set.

The present invention provides certain improvements in microelectronic component testing. More particularly, certain embodiments of the invention provide methods and systems for verifying planarity of elements of a microelectronic component test system, e.g., a semiconductor wafer prober.
The microelectronics industry is highly competitive and most microelectronics manufacturers are highly sensitive to quality and cost considerations. Most microelectronics manufacturers require that suppliers of microelectronic components test the performance of each microelectronic component before shipment to minimize the manufacturer's product losses. Microelectronics are commonly tested by establishing temporary electrical connections between a test system and electrical terminals on the microelectronic component.
Temporary electrical connection between the test system and the terminals of the microelectronic component is conventionally established using a test card carrying a plurality of test probes. In some circumstances, the probes comprise cantilevered wire probes which are coupled to an epoxy ring or the like. The tips of the wire probes are rearranged relative to one another to position their ends in an array that matches an array of the terminals on the microelectronic component. In another conventional system, the probes of the test card may comprise pins, typically either a length of wire or a spring-biased mechanism, e.g., POGO PINS, commercially available from Pogo Industries of Kansas City, Kans., USA. Again, the ends of these pins will be arranged in an array intended to match the array of terminals on the microelectronic component.
As microelectronic components and the terminals carried by those components are made progressively smaller, it becomes increasingly difficult to insure proper contact between the probes of the test card and the terminals of the microelectronic component. Sometimes when these elements are not precisely aligned, one or more of the probes will not establish adequate contact with the intended terminal on the microelectronic component. When this data is analyzed, the test system may improperly indicate that an acceptable microelectronic component is defective. Such false rejections can be expensive and time consuming.
One factor which can affect proper alignment of the test probes with the terminals on the microelectronic component can be the relative planarity of the test card and the terminal-bearing surface of the microelectronic component. The probe tips are often intended to lie generally in a single plane. If this probe tip plane and a plane of the microelectronic component terminals are not parallel to one another, probe tips intended to contact terminals on one side of the array may be overly compressed or stressed, while terminals on the other side of the terminal array do not adequately contact the intended probes. If the microelectronic component is pushed harder against the probes, these variations in relative planarity can be overcome. Unfortunately, this can place undue stress on the microelectronic component being tested and on the test card.

Planarity diagnostic system, e.g., for microelectronic component test systems


An ocular comprises two magnifying mechanisms (10, 12) each having at least two lenses (22, 24). The two magnifying mechanisms (10, 12) are arranged in front of human eyes and are connected via fasteners (40) to a supporting portion (14) of a frame. The frame includes a holding portion (16) for holding the ocular on a human head. The two magnifying mechanisms (10, 12) are attached via the fasteners (40) to the supporting portion (14) of the frame.

The invention relates to an ocular, such as binoculars or opera glasses.
Known binoculars and opera glasses must be held by hand before a user""s eyes. If the user cannot support his arms, it is not possible to keep the magnifying glass steady. This leads to a blurred picture seen by the user. In particular over an extended period of time holding of such magnifying glasses leads to exhaustion and thus to stronger shaking of the arms.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an easy-to-handle ocular which prevents the arms from exhausting.
The ocular according to the present invention comprises a magnifying device connected with a frame. Said magnifying device comprises at least two lenses per optical path. Thus at least two lenses are arranged in front of each human eye, the lenses magnifying the image viewed. The frame comprises a holding portion and a supporting portion. The holding portion is configured for holding the ocular on the human head and the supporting portion is configured for supporting the magnifying device.
Since the ocular according to the present invention is adapted to be directly fastened to the human head by means of the holding portion, it is no longer necessary that the user holds the ocular in his hands. Exhaustion of the arms caused by the force required to hold the ocular does not longer occur. The impression of a blurred image shown by known oculars is due to the fact that a relative movement takes place between the human eye and the ocular. Since the ocular according to the present invention is fastened to the human head by means of the holding portion, no relative movement takes place between the magnifying device and the human eye such that the user does not see a blurred image.
Further, the ocular according to the present invention offers the advantage that the user can move his head in any direction with the ocular following that movement. Another advantage is that the hands of the user are free.
The frame of the ocular according to the invention may be a kind of spectacle frame, wherein the holding portions serve as the spectacle sidepieces. Such a configuration allows the ocular to be easily put on and taken off like spectacles. The bridge of the spectacles, which corresponds to the supporting portion, may be provided with nose pads.
Preferably, the magnifying device is adapted to be fastened via an attachable fastening means to the supporting portion. Said fastening means can be provided on the magnifying device or the supporting means. Thus the magnifying device is adapted to be fastened by simple attachment to the supporting portion and removed by simple detachment from the supporting portion to allow transport of the ocular.
The fastening means are preferably configured as detachable snap-in means. This prevents unintended detachment of the magnifying device from the supporting means such that the magnifying device remains rigidly connected with the supporting means even in the event of stronger movements of the head.
To facilitate attachment of the magnifying device to and detachment of the magnifying device from the supporting portion, the fastening means preferably comprises at least one elastic fastening arm having a snap-in pin. When the magnifying device is attached or detached, the elastic arm is bent out of its initial position and returns to its initial position when the magnifying device has been completely attached to or completely detached from the supporting portion. To ensure that the magnifying device is securely held on the supporting portion, the snap-in pin may e.g. engage on recesses provided on the supporting portion. Preferably, the supporting portion is configured such that the fastening arm at least partially embraces the supporting portion. Special recesses on the supporting portion for engagement by the snap-in pins are not required.
Preferably, the fastening means comprises two snap-in arms of elastic configuration, each arm comprising a snap-in pin. This facilitates attachment of the magnifying device to and detachment of the magnifying device from the supporting portion.
In a particularly preferred embodiment the magnifying device comprises two magnifying means, each magnifying means being arranged in front of one eye. These are preferably two magnifying means which can be handled independently of each other. Said magnifying means may be of identical configuration and are individually attachable to the supporting portion. Thus the two magnifying means can be directly attached, independently of each other, to the supporting portion such that they are arranged in front of the respective eye. The ocular according to the invention is thus adjustable to the interpupillary distance of the individual users.
Each magnifying device comprises two lenses arranged in the optical path of the human eye. For focus adjustment the lenses are adapted to be displaced relative to each other. This displacement can be carried out by means of a rack and a focussing wheel. Further, an electrical focussing can be provided, wherein the distance between the two lenses is adjusted e. g. by a motor-driven screw-and-nut system. Electrical focussing offers the advantage that automatic focussing in the form of an autofocus system can be provided. When a user of the ocular according to the invention has a vision defect, this defect is usually compensated for by the lenses of the ocular so that, prior to using the autofocus system, the distance between the two lenses must be adjusted such that the vision defect is balanced out. Then continuous focussing using an autofocus system can be performed.
In another preferred embodiment the magnifying means are not attached but articulated to the supporting portion. This allows the magnifying means to be folded when the ocular is to be transported such that the ocular has a small transport size.
For secure fastening of the magnifying means to the frame or the supporting portion of the frame a reinforcing bar may additionally be provided, the bar extending from the magnifying means to the frame thus ensuring lateral stabilization of the magnifying means. The ends of the reinforcing bar are removably connected either with the frame or with the magnifying means such that, according to the embodiment, the magnifying means can be either detached or folded after removal of the reinforcing bar.
Preferably, the fastening means for the magnifying devices to be attached to the supporting portion are configured such that the magnifying devices can be attached to normal spectacles. In this case the magnifying means or the lens arranged nearer to the eye would be located between the eye and the lens of the normal spectacles. Further, it is possible to configure the fastening means of the magnifying device such that the two magnifying means are arranged in front of the lens of the normal spectacles. Arrangement of the lens of the normal spectacles between the two magnifying means offers the advantage that the spectacle frame is securely held on the human head and does not tilt due to the additional weight.
Another preferred embodiment solving the object of the present invention, i.e. to provide an easy-to-handle ocular, relates to a second pair of lenses attachable to normal spectacles. In this embodiment the ocular according to the invention comprises at least two lenses per optical path, i.e. at least two lenses are arranged in front of each eye. Further, the ocular comprises a frame having a holding portion for holding the ocular on the human head. This holding portion may be a normal spectacle frame. A first pair of lenses is connected with the holding portion of the frame, the pair of lenses comprising one lens per optical path such that one lens of the pair of lenses is arranged in front of each eye as in the case of normal spectacles. In front of the first pair of lenses a second pair of lenses also having one lens per optical path is arranged.
According to the invention the second pair of lenses is removably connected via fastening elements with the holding portion of the frame. Said fastening elements are arranged on the outside of the lenses of the second and the first pair of lenses. Since at least two fastening elements are provided and these elements are located on the outside of the pairs of lenses, said fastening elements are arranged at as large a distance as possible to each other. This ensures good stability of the connection between the second pair of lenses and the holding portion of the frame.
Further, another fastening element may be provided between the two lenses of the two pairs of lenses. Said fastening element connects the two bridges arranged between the lenses of a pair of lenses.
Preferably, the fastening elements are configured such that the distance between the two pairs of lenses is adjustable. Easy adjustment of the distance between the two pairs of lenses allows easy focussing of the magnified picture. Preferably, the fastening elements are fastened to the sidepieces of the frame such that they are adapted to be displaced. For this purpose the fastening elements may be configured such that they at least partially embrace the sidepieces of the frame. Due to the elasticity of the portions of the fastening elements embracing the sidepieces of the frame an adequate friction can be produced such that the second pair of lenses, relative to the first pair of lenses, can, on the one hand, be easily displaced by hand and, on the other hand, remains in the adjusted position when the ocular is taken off. Maladjustment of the distance between the two pairs of lenses due to slipping can be prevented by providing an additional fixing means, such as a screw or a snap-in means.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the ocular according to the invention the frame comprises a drive unit and a focussing unit. The drive unit allows the distance between the two pairs of lenses to be automatically adjusted. The additionally provided focussing unit allows this adjustment to be effected automatically in such a way that the viewer always sees a sharply defined, i.e. automatically focussed, image.
As in the case of the preferred methods of connecting the magnifying device with the supporting portion described above, the fastening elements can, in the present embodiment, be configured e.g. with snap-in pins and similar parts.


An artificial gut (100) comprises a first hollow fiber (203) having an inner surface (215) that is lined with at least a portion of a layer of one or more of a plurality of biological components (205) that typically line a mammalian gut. Further, a second hollow fiber (201) is adjacent the first hollow fiber. The layer of one or more of the plurality of biological components can consist essentially of enterocytes. The enterocyte-lined inner surface is perfused with a feeding solution containing nutrients, and the enterocytes absorb, process, and transport the nutrients across the wall of the first hollow fiber. The nutrients eventually diffuse into the second hollow fiber. A perfusate selected from the group consisting of culture medium, blood, and plasma, can perfuse an inner surface of the second hollow fiber, whereby the perfusate is nourished by the nutrients.

In the medical environment, it is often desirable to have apparatus that mimic human organs. Such apparatus can be used, for example, to study the organ and its reaction to agents, to produce cells, tissues, or other materials, or to treat patients whose human organ is failing.
Artificial organs, such as, kidney, liver, lung, and pancreas, have been described in the art. Furthermore, a model of a digestive tract that simulates peristaltic movements that move the contents of the intestine onward has been described. There is not known, however, an artificial gut that adequately mimics the anatomy, morphology, and function of the mammalian small intestine, especially the absorption of nutrients from the contents of the intestine into the blood stream.
A need therefore exists for an artificial gut, and a method of manufacture and use therefore, that mimics the anatomy, morphology, and function of the mammalian small intestine.


An electronic device estimates a depth map of an environment based on matching reduced-resolution stereo depth images captured by depth cameras to generate a coarse disparity (depth) map. The electronic device downsamples depth images captured by the depth cameras and matches sections of the reduced-resolution images to each other to generate a coarse depth map. The electronic device upsamples the coarse depth map to a higher resolution and refines the upsampled depth map to generate a high-resolution depth map to support location-based functionality.

Depth cameras are used as inputs for computer vision tasks such as hand, body, or object tracking, three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction, and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). Computation of a depth map relies on stereo triangulation between two images of a scene, which typically suffers in the presence of textureless regions, occlusions, repetitive patterns, thin structures, and reflective surfaces. In addition, computing a depth map typically requires vast amounts of processing power and memory, which often exceeds a computational budge of an electronic device.

Active stereo depth prediction based on coarse matching


A Multi-Phase Simulation Environment (“MPSE”) is provided which simulates the conductor current and voltage or electric field of multiple phases of an electrical power distribution network to one or more sensing or measuring devices and includes independent control of wireless network connectivity for each sensing or measuring device, independent control of GPS RF to each device, and interface to a back-end analytics and management system.

In providing power to customers, electrical power utility companies employ a power grid distribution network that includes distribution-line-conductors (which are often referred to as power lines). Typically, difficulties or faults within the distribution network are identified only after occurrences of "events." These events may merely result in a temporary loss of power for a limited number of customers, but more significant problems may occur.
Protection components and systems are known. "Reactive" components are particularly common. A reactive component is a device or system that is activated or deactivated by a fault event or its consequences. For example, a circuit breaker will open a transmission line as a response to excessive current, thereby protecting power distribution equipment. More sophisticated systems are also available.
Clearly, there are benefits to identifying conditions that precede fault events. For example, if it can be determined that a power line from a power transformer is experiencing intermittent fluctuations, scheduling a replacement of the transformer to avoid an outage event would be beneficial to the utility provider and its customers. Thus, "predictive" components and systems are desirable. Monitoring systems that monitor power parameters of equipment and power lines can provide useful information for the prevention and identification of power distribution faults or events.
Line monitoring devices typically take the form of a sensor monitoring the electric current and electric field ("E-field") or voltage of a conductor in the utility network, and provide output data consisting of measurements and analysis of the conductor via wireless network (mesh WLAN, cellular WWAN, or "WAN"). In addition to providing location data, the use of GPS by these sensors provides a precise timing reference which enables coordination of measurement activity across a widely deployed population of sensors which otherwise share no common direct connection. The output data from each sensor is typically returned to a "back-end" management system, which stores the data for further analysis, management display, etc.


A plasma enhanced chemical processing reactor and method. The reactor includes a plasma chamber including a first gas injection manifold and a source of electromagnetic energy. The plasma chamber is in communication with a process chamber which includes a wafer support and a second gas manifold. The reactor also includes a vacuum system for exhausting the reactor. The method includes the steps of generating a plasma within the plasma chamber, introducing at least one gaseous chemical into the process chamber proximate to the wafer support, applying r.f. gradient to induce diffusion of the plasma to the area proximate the wafer support, and exhausting the reactor in a substantially symmetrical manner.

The processing of semiconductor wafers and other integrated circuits (IC) includes critical manufacturing steps such as etching wafer surfaces and depositing layers of material on wafer surfaces to form device components, interconnecting lines, dielectrics, insulating barriers and the like. Various systems have been employed to deposit layers of material and the like on the surface of integrated circuits, and often such layers are formed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). A conventional thermal CVD process deposits a stable chemical compound on the surface of a wafer by thermal reaction of certain gaseous chemicals. Various CVD reactors have been used in the art including low pressure CVD systems and atmospheric pressure CVD systems.
More recently, plasma enhanced (sometimes called plasma assisted) CVD systems (PECVD) have been developed. PECVD systems generally operate by disassociation and ionization of gaseous chemicals. The high electron temperatures associated with the plasma increase the density of the disassociated species available for deposition on the wafer surface. Accordingly, such systems are able to operate at lower temperatures than conventional thermal CVD systems. Such lower temperature processes are desirable and minimize diffusion of shallow junctions and inter diffusion of metals contained within the integrated circuits. Moreover, PECVD systems are suitable for forming multiple dielectric layers to be used to isolate stacked device features as device densities increase. When forming such multilayer dielectric layers it is desirable to provide a layer with good gap fill, isolation, stress and step coverage properties. These properties become more difficult to attain as device dimensions shrink.
In PECVD systems, the reactor is typically operated at low pressures during processing of the semiconductors. Such low pressures present particular gas flow dynamics considerations that must be addressed. With low pressures, the collision rate of the active species is relatively low and the mean-free path of the species is relatively long. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a reactor capable of uniform, controlled gas flow within the process chamber, across the wafer, and to the exhaust, thus providing uniform processing of the wafer. Moreover, other operating pressures may be used for various processes, and thus it is desirable for the reactor to be capable of operating over a large pressure range.
Cleaning of the reactor plays an important role in the effective operation of a system. The highly reactive species deposit on the walls of the chamber, and the operating components, as well as on the surface of the substrate. Such deposits affect the operation of the system, may affect the plasma potentials within the system, and are a serious source of particulates which may end up contaminating the deposited film. Accordingly it is advantageous to provide a reactor design capable of self cleaning.


Methods and apparatus are provided for measuring a profile of an ion beam. The apparatus includes an array of beam current sensors, each producing a sensor signal in response to incident ions of the ion beam, a translation mechanism configured to translate the array of beam current sensors along a translation path with respect to the ion beam, and a controller configured to acquire the sensor signals produced by the beam current sensors at a plurality of positions along the translation path, wherein the acquired sensor signals are representative of a two-dimensional profile of the ion beam.

Ion implantation is a standard technique for introducing conductivity-altering impurities into semiconductor wafers. A desired impurity material is ionized in an ion source, the ions are accelerated to form an ion beam of prescribed energy and the ion beam is directed at the surface of the wafer. The energetic ions in the beam penetrate into the bulk of the semiconductor material and are embedded into the crystalline lattice of the semiconductor material to form a region of desired conductivity.
Ion implantation systems usually include an ion source for converting a gas or a solid material into a well-defined ion beam. The ion beam is mass analyzed to eliminate undesired ion species, is accelerated to a desired energy and is directed onto a target plane. The beam may be distributed over the target area by beam scanning, by target movement or by a combination of beam scanning and target movement.
In one prior art approach, a high current, broad ion beam implanter employs a high current density ion source, an analyzing magnet to direct a desired species through a resolving slit and an angle corrector magnet to deflect the resulting beam, while rendering the beam parallel and uniform along its width dimension. A ribbon-shaped ion beam is delivered to a target, and the target is moved perpendicular to the long dimension of the ribbon beam to distribute the ion beam over the target.
Uniform implantation of ions over the surface of the semiconductor wafer is an important requirement in most applications. As semiconductor device geometries decrease in size and wafer diameters increase, device manufacturers demand minimal dose variation over large surface areas. Uniformity is determined, in part, by the profile of the ion beam used for ion implantation. The beam profile is a map of ion beam intensity in a plane orthogonal to the direction of beam transport. The beam current may vary over the cross-sectional area of the ion beam, particularly in the case of large area beams such as ribbon ion beams. Furthermore, the beam profile may vary with implant conditions, such as dopant species, energy and current, and with time. Accordingly, it is desirable to measure and, if necessary, adjust the beam profile in order to enhance ion implanter performance.
A dose measurement and uniformity monitoring system for ion implantation, including a mask plate with sensing apertures and an annular Faraday cup aligned with the apertures, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,393 issued Jun. 14, 1988 to Corey, Jr. et al. A beam scanning control device for ion implantation, including a plurality of fixed ion beam detectors, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,005 issued Jan. 15, 1985 to Shibata et al. An ion beam profile monitor, including a two-dimensional array of sample points placed in the beam, is disclosed by E. P. EerNisse et al. in Rev. Sci. Instrum., Vol. 46, No. 3, (March 1975), pp. 266–268. A method and apparatus for high efficiency scanning in an ion implanter, including a single, slowly-translating Faraday detector, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,562 issued Dec. 25, 1999 to Berrian et al. All of the prior art beam measuring techniques have had one or more drawbacks, including, but not limited to, low resolution, inaccuracy and slow operation.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and apparatus for ion beam profiling.

Apparatus and methods for two-dimensional ion beam profiling

Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.


A switched receptacle device with led indication made up of a standard two-outlet receptacle that has two respective hot terminals and two respective neutral terminals, a resistor electrically connected to a first outlet neutral terminal; an LED having a first lead and a second lead electrically connected by the LED first lead in series with the resistor, and the second lead electrically connected to a first outlet hot terminal; and a rectifier diode electrically connected in parallel across the LED first lead and second lead, whereby the LED is activated whenever a switch has energized a hot terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to 120 V duplex electrical receptacles found in 15A and 20A service.
2. Description of the Related Art
NEC code article 210.70 (A)(1) Exception No. 1 states that in other than kitchens and baths, one of more receptacles controlled by a wall switch shall be permitted in lieu of lighting outlets. This is typically accomplished by first wiring any device box intended to have a switched receptacle during the "rough wiring" phase with three-wire Romex or MC cable. Upon the "finish wiring" phase, the device boxes containing the provisions for switching means are ready to attach to the duplex receptacle.
On any residential, commercial, or spec grade receptacle, small tabs are located on both the hot and neutral terminal sides. A three-wire cable typically consists of a black, red, white, and bare copper ground. On the duplex receptacle, the tab on the hot side is broken off, separating the feeds for the top and bottom receptacles. The black wire is constantly hot, while the red is typically terminated on the wall switch load side. The red and black conductors may be positioned however the electrician desires, switching either the top or bottom receptacle.
Once all the duplex receptacles are installed, e.g. in a bedroom, there is no way for the average person to know which receptacles are switched. Many homes, apartments, condos, hotels, etc., are wired this way to save time in the "finish phase" by not having to hang light fixtures, install recessed light trims, and so forth. Numerous service calls to expensive electricians are placed every year by home buyers who think a room was wired with a dead wall switch, or simply cannot figure out why a receptacle has no power (since some electricians switch the entire duplex receptacle).
What is needed, therefore, is a device and method of easily determining whether a receptacle is switched or not.

Switched receptacle device with LED indication


Coating compositions which provide coatings having enhanced properties, e.g., gloss, are disclosed. The coating compositions may be water-borne compositions, or may be water-reducible or water-dispersible compositions including a thermoplastic resin component. Such compositions include a gloss enhancing amount of a nitrogen-containing component selected from compounds having the formula ##STR1## and mixtures thereof, wherein each R is independently selected from the group consisting of H, monovalent hydrocarbyl radicals having 1 to about 4 carbon atoms, and divalent hydrocarbyl radicals having 1 to about 2 carbon atoms,R'OH wherein R' is a divalent hydrocarbyl radical having 1 to about 4 carbon atoms, provided that the compound includes at least one hydroxyl group and if one R is a divalent radical then another R is a bond in the divalent radical or is another divalent radical.

The present invention relates to coating compositions having one or more enhanced properties. In particular, this invention relates to water-borne thermoplastic and thermosetting resin coating compositions and to water-reducible or water-dispersible thermoplastic resin coating compositions which provide coatings which have enhanced gloss properties.
Coating compositions, e.g., paints, can be divided into at least four (4) different categories. Thus, the coating composition can be a water-borne thermoplastic resin composition, often called a thermoplastic emulsion. Alternately, the coating composition can be a water-borne thermosetting resin composition, often called a thermosetting emulsion. The third type of coating composition is a water-reducible or water-dispersible thermoplastic resin composition. Finally, the coating composition can be a water-reducible or water-dispersible thermosetting resin composition. These water-reducible or water-dispersible compositions include solvent (other than water)-borne compositions.
These four (4) different types of coating compositions are substantially different from each other, e.g., in composition, and in application utility and procedure. For example, the thermoplastic resins are present substantially in their final form in the coating composition, while the thermosetting resins are not, and often require elevated temperatures to form the final crosslinked or thermoset resin. The thermoplastic and thermosetting emulsions include resins which have very little or no significant water solubility. On the other hand, the water-reducible or water-dispersible compositions include resins which have substantial water solubility.
In many instances with all four (4) types of coating compositions, the gloss of the final coating is an important consideration. High coating gloss, indicative of the reflective nature of the coating, is often desired, e.g., for aesthetic reasons. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide coating compositions which have enhanced gloss properties.
The use of 2-hydroxyethyl ethylene urea as a reactive diluent in water-reducible and water-dispersible thermosetting resin coating compositions is known. Such component acts to effectively increase the weight solids, reduces the viscosity of aqueous industrial baking coatings crosslinked with amino resins, such as melamine/formaldehyde resins, and functions as a cosolvent in the liquid coating, reducing viscosity and solvating polymeric components. During the stoving cure step, 2-hydroxyethyl ethylene urea reacts with the amino resin and becomes part of the coating, and thus reduces the volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the coating composition.
Heretofore, the use of 2-hydroxyethyl ethylene urea has not been recognized as providing gloss enhancement in any coating composition. Moreover, this component has not been used in any coating composition other than water-reducible and water-dispersible thermosetting resin coating compositions, e.g., as discussed above.

Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation


An image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a first IC chip; a second IC chip connected to the first IC chip via a serial bus; and a memory that is either connected to or included in the first IC chip. The first IC chip includes: a first internal bus; a memory controller of the memory; a first processing circuit which outputs an access request to the memory; plural buffers corresponding to plural arbitration priority degrees of the first internal bus, and a request classifying circuit which identifies an arbitration priority degree of a requester of the access request received from the second IC chip and causes a buffer corresponding to the identified arbitration priority degree to buffer the access request. The first internal bus performs arbitration of access requests from the first processing circuit and the plural buffers in accordance with the arbitration priority degrees.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image forming apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, high speed serial buses are developed such as PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), and some image forming apparatus are applied a system in which functions are distributed to plural IC (Integrated Circuit) chips which are connected via such a high speed interface.
Such a system which includes plural IC chips connected via a serial bus enables each of the IC chips to be extensible and versatile, and results in small design changes of the IC chips and low cost system development.
FIG. 4 shows a block diagram which indicates an example of an image forming apparatus which includes plural IC chips connected via a serial bus to each other. FIG. 5 shows a block diagram which indicates an example of arbitration priority degree setting for processing circuits on an internal bus in FIG. 4.
In the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 4, an IC chip 101 and an IC chip 102 are connected via a serial bus to each other, and a memory 103 such as RAM (Random Access Memory) is connected to the IC chip 101.
In the IC chip 101, processing circuits are connected to an internal bus 111, such as a memory controller 112, a serial bus interface 113, an image processing circuit 114, a security module 115, and a serial interface 116.
On the other hand, in the IC chip 102, processing circuits are connected to an internal bus 121, such as a serial bus interface 122, a scan processing circuit 123, a compressing-decompressing circuit 124, a network interface 125, a USB circuit 126, and a parallel interface 127.
In the memory 103, a predetermined memory area is allocated for each of processing circuits such as the image processing circuit 114, the security module 115, and the serial interface 116, a scan processing circuit 123, a compressing-decompressing circuit 124, a network interface 125, a USB circuit 126, and a parallel interface 127. Each of the processing circuits performs data processing using the memory area allocated for itself as a buffer area or the like.
The internal buses 111 and 121 perform arbitration according to arbitration priority degrees of circuits connected to the internal buses 111 and 121. The arbitration priority degree is set as any of plural levels (here, three levels: high, middle, and low).
Among these processing circuits, since real time processing is required for copy job and so forth, arbitration priority degrees of the image processing circuit 114 and the scan processing circuit 123 are set as "high". Arbitration priority degrees of the serial interface 116, the USB circuit 126, and the parallel interface 127 are set as "low" due to their relatively low speed operation. Arbitration priority degrees of the other processing circuits (the compressing-decompressing circuit 124, the network interface 125, and the security module 115) are set as "middle".
As shown in FIG. 5, in the respective internal buses 111 and 121 in the IC chips 101 and 102, on the basis of these arbitration priority degrees, unshown arbiters run multiplexers 131 to 133 and 141 to 144. Specifically, in the internal bus 121 of the IC chip 102, the multiplexers 141 to 144 perform arbitration for the processing circuits in the IC chip 102 (i.e. the scan processing circuit 123 to the parallel interface 127), and an access request (either read request or write request) from the processing circuit selected by the arbitration to the memory 103 is transferred to the IC chip 101.
In the internal bus 111 of the IC chip 101, the multiplexers 131 to 133 perform arbitration for the processing circuits in the IC chip 101 (i.e. the serial bus interface 113 to the serial interface 116), and an access request from the processing circuit selected by the arbitration to the memory 103 is provided to the memory controller 112, which performs a memory access (either read or write) specified by the access request.
In the aforementioned system configuration, since the arbitration priority degree of the serial bus interface 113 is set as a constant level (i.e. any of "high", "middle", and "low") in the internal bus 111 of the IC chip 101 to which the memory 103 is connected, arbitration priority degrees in the internal bus 111 of the IC chip 101 can not be set as respective individual levels for the processing circuits in the IC chip 102 (i.e. scan processing circuit 123 to the parallel interface 127).
Therefore, in the aforementioned system configuration, an access request from the processing circuits in the IC chip 102 (i.e. scan processing circuit 123 to the parallel interface 127) to the memory 103 may be not processed adequately according to the original arbitration priority degrees.
If the IC chip 101 and the IC chip 102 are connected via plural channels such as virtual channels of PCIe and the plural channels are assigned to plural arbitration priority degrees, this problem would be solved. However, in this case, the plural channels such as the virtual channels must be available in both of the IC chips 101 and 102, and therefore, large scale circuits would be required for both of the IC chips 101 and 102 (especially, for the serial bus interfaces 113 and 122) and would result in a higher cost of the apparatus.

Image forming apparatus performing arbitration of access requests from an IC chip to a memory


An AGC circuit includes both wide-band and narrow-band VGAs. Two power monitors monitor the power level of the two VGAs. Based upon the signals provided by the power monitors, the AGC circuit derives two error terms. The AGC circuit filters and combines the error terms to determine a desired adjustment to the total gain and a desired adjustment to the distribution of the gain between the wide-band VGA and the narrow-band VGA. The AGC circuit also minimizes the noise figure of the narrow-band VGA subject to linearity constraints.

A typical terrestrial signal receiver includes a wide-band radio frequency (RF) stage in which broadcast signals are amplified. These signals are then converted to an intermediate frequency (IF) by a mixer, filtered and further amplified by an IF amplifier stage to provide a narrow-band signal to a demodulator.
Terrestrial receivers typically include one or more variable gain amplifier (VGA) stages to accommodate the wide range of received signal power that may be encountered in practice. The gains of these amplifiers are adjusted to achieve a desired signal level at the demodulator. For example, one VGA circuit may amplify the broadcast signals at the RF stage and another may amplify the signals at the IF stage. It is the function of the automatic gain control (AGC) algorithm to set the gain of each VGA such that the power of the desired signal presented to demodulator is maintained at approximately the prescribed level. Furthermore, because amplifiers can introduce spurious electrical signals (i.e. "noise") into the signal and because non-linearities in amplifiers and mixers can distort the amplified signal, practical aspects of AGC circuits including device "noise figure" and "linearity" are desirably considered when adjusting the gain of each VGA.


A telecommunications system and method for providing cellular phone voice recording to subscribers, in order to simplify the recording of information while using a mobile terminal, and to increase the safety of the subscriber while operating a motor vehicle. For example, during a call, a subscriber may initiate the recording feature by pressing a dedicated key or a sequence of keys on the cellular phone. This feature can be implemented completely within the cellular phone itself, or it can be implemented in the Mobile Services Center/Visitor Location Register (MSC/VLR). With this feature, a subscriber can record information at any time during a call without the need for recording materials, e.g., paper or the scratch pad function on the cellular phone, which both increases the safety of the subscriber while driving, and provides a convenient manner of recording information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications systems and methods for recording information during phone calls, and specifically to providing a technique for recording information to a memory unit during a call, using the subscribers mobile terminal, for later retrieval by the subscriber.
2. Background and Objects of the Present Invention
Cellular telecommunications is one of the fastest growing and most demanding telecommunications applications ever. Today it represents a large and continuously increasing percentage of all new telephone subscriptions around the world. A standardization group, European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), was established in 1982 to formulate the specifications for the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) digital mobile cellular radio system.
With reference now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is illustrated a GSM Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), such as cellular network 10, which in turn is composed of a plurality of areas 12, each with a Mobile Services Center (MSC) 14 and an integrated Visitor Location Register (VLR) 16 therein. The MSC/VLR areas 12, in turn, include a plurality of Location Areas (LA) 18, which are defined as that part of a given MSC/VLR area 12 in which a mobile station (MS) (terminal) 20 may move freely without having to send update location information to the MSC/VLR area 12 that controls the LA 18. Each Location Area 12 is divided into a number of cells 22. Mobile Station (MS) 20 is the physical equipment, e.g., a car phone or other portable phone, used by mobile subscribers to communicate with the cellular network 10, each other, and users outside the subscribed network, both wireline and wireless.
The MSC 14 is in communication with at least one Base Station Controller (BSC) 23, which, in turn, is in contact with at least one Base Transceiver Station (BTS) 24. The BTS is the physical equipment, illustrated for simplicity as a radio tower, that provides radio coverage to the geographical part of the cell 22 for which it is responsible. It should be understood that the BSC 23 may be connected to several base transceiver stations 24, and may be implemented as a stand-alone node or integrated with the MSC 14. In either event, the BSC 23 and BTS 24 components, as a whole, are generally referred to as a Base Station System (BSS) 25.
With further reference to FIG. 1, the PLMN Service Area or cellular network 10 includes a Home Location Register (HLR) 26, which is a database maintaining all subscriber information, e.g., user profiles, current location information, International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) numbers, and other administrative information. The HLR 26 may be co-located with a given MSC 14, integrated with the MSC 14, or alternatively can service multiple MSCs 14, the latter of which is illustrated in FIG. 1.
The VLR 16 is a database containing information about all of the Mobile Stations 20 currently located within the MSC/VLR area 12. If a MS 20 roams into a new MSC/VLR area 12, the VLR 16 connected to that MSC 14 will request data about that Mobile Station 20 from the HLR database 26 (simultaneously informing the HLR 26 about the current location of the MS 20). Accordingly, if the user of the MS 20 then wants to make a call, the local VLR 16 will have the requisite identification information without having to reinterrogate the HLR 26. In the aforedescribed manner, the VLR and HLR databases 16 and 26, respectively, contain various subscriber information associated with a given MS 20.
In today's society, there is an increasing usage of cellular phones by subscribers while operating motor vehicles. In order for a subscriber to record information, e.g., phone numbers, names, or addresses, while using their cellular phone, the information must either be written down on a piece of paper or, if available, a scratch pad function on the subscribers cellular phone can be used. However, both of these alternatives normally require two hands and would cause the subscriber to look away from the road. This is undesirable, as it increases the possibility that the subscriber might be involved in an automobile accident.
It is therefore an object of the invention to allow a subscriber to record information while using their cellular phone without interfering with the subscriber's operation of a motor vehicle.
It is a further object of the invention to implement a voice recording mechanism within the mobile station itself.
It is still a further object of the invention to enable network operators to provide voice recording services to subscribers during a call to or from the subscriber.


There is provided a safety system comprising at least one gas detector for detecting presence and concentration of at least one toxic gas inside the target space and for generating corresponding analog signals; (2) an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) connected to the at least one gas detector for converting the analog signals into digital signals; (3) a controller connected to the ADC for receiving the digital signals and generating commands as a function of pre-programmed instructions; (4) at least one exhaust fan connected to the controller for receiving the commands and operating as a function thereof for exhausting the at least one toxic gas outside the target space; and (5) at least one draught fan connected to the controller for receiving the commands and operating as a function thereof for generating a flow of air inside target space.

Gas poisoning as a result of fuel-burning inside closed areas is responsible of the lives of many people worldwide. Toxic gases generated from fuel-burning include CO2 and CO. Since these gases are toxic and can cause death, and CO has no smell or odor making such gas hard to detect by human beings, as well as CO2, while the difference is that the latter has a sour taste and stinging effect at high concentrations, thus, numerous conventional apparatuses and methods for the detection of such gases have been suggested in the past.
Among these traditional apparatuses, there were suggested devices for detecting toxic gases and ventilating areas containing these gases, such that sensors of toxic gases (e.g. O2, CO, CO2, H2O vapor, N2, and other poisonous gases) inside and outside a building are connected to motors which control the starting and stopping of ventilating fans as well as the opening and closing of a tilting window. These devices respond to departures of the air quality from between upper and lower thresholds. It can be programmed to operate periodically and to exclude smog, offensive smells, rain and gales. These devices can be coupled to alarm systems.
Other traditional devices include environment intelligent regulation and control devices, generally comprising an intelligent environment controller, an air conditioner, a humidifier, a temperature sensor, a CO2 sensor, a fuel gas sensor, an electrostatic precipitator and a ventilating mechanism. The air conditioner, the humidifier, the temperature sensor, the CO2 sensor, the fuel gas sensor, the electrostatic precipitator and the ventilating mechanism are connected with the intelligent environment controller through a data line. The ventilating mechanism consists of an exhaust fan, a draught fan, a heat exchange jacket wind pipe and an electric wind door. The exhaust fan and the draught fan are communicated with the outdoor environment through an air-vent. One end parts of an air inlet channel and an air outlet channel in the heat exchange jacket wind pipe are respectively communicated with the air-vents at which the exhaust fan and the draught fan are located and the other end parts are located indoors and communicate with the indoor environment. Each air channel opening is provided with the electric wind door.
Since the prior art ventilating and gas detecting devices used either one ventilating fan to ventilate an area while detecting more than one gas, or two ventilating fans while detecting only one toxic gas, the overall efficiencies of such devices are substandard and needs to be enhanced.

Safety system for detection and elimination of toxic gases

JORDAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A recording device and a control method for a recording device improve the accuracy of reading MICR information while also shortening the time required for recording media processing. A dot impact printer 10 has a magnetic head 34 that magnetically reads MICR information recorded on a recording medium S, a recording head 18 that is mounted on a different carriage than the magnetic head 34 and records images on the recording medium S, and a back scanner 112 that optically reads MICR information recorded on the recording medium S, disposed sequentially to the transportation path P of the recording medium S. When reading the MICR information by means of the magnetic head 34 does not succeed, the recording medium S is conveyed to the back scanner 112, the MICR information is read by the back scanner 112, the reading results are compared, and the MICR information is identified.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to recording devices and related methods for reading magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) information.
2. Related Art
Devices for reading MICR information that is recorded in magnetic ink on recording media such as checks are known. Some of these devices improve recognition accuracy by combining the result of magnetically reading the MICR information with the result of optically reading the MICR information to identify the MICR information. See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-H05-258100.
A problem with such devices is that when a reading unit that reads the MICR information magnetically and a reading unit that reads the MICR information optically are both disposed in a single device, the time required to process one piece of recording medium, such as one check, is increased because the recording medium must be conveyed to both reading units. In addition, when the transportation path is configured so that two reading units are collocated in order to shorten the processing time, the number of times the MICR information is read magnetically and the number of times the MICR information is read optically cannot be changed independently of the other. Additionally, checks that have been printed after reading the MICR information succeeds may be difficult to read optically again. Adapting such devices for use with recording media other than single forms such as checks, such as a bound recording media, may also be difficult.

Recording device and control method for a recording device


A crystallization method includes wavefront-dividing an incident light beam into a plurality of light beams, condensing the wavefront-divided light beams in a corresponding phase shift portion of a phase shift mask or in the vicinity of the phase shift portion to form a light beam having an light intensity distribution of an inverse peak pattern in which a light intensity is minimum in a point corresponding to the phase shift portion of the phase shift mask, and irradiating a polycrystalline semiconductor film or an amorphous semiconductor film with the light beam having the light intensity distribution to produce a crystallized semiconductor film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a crystallization apparatus for irradiating an amorphous or polycrystalline semiconductor film with a laser beam to produce a crystallized semiconductor film, an optical member for use in the crystallization apparatus, a crystallization method, a thin film transistor, and a display apparatus. The present invention particularly relates to an apparatus and method in which an amorphous or polycrystalline semiconductor film is irradiated with a laser beam phase-modulated using a phase shift mask to produce a crystallized semiconductor film.
2. Description of the Related Art
A material of a thin film transistor (TFT) for use in a switching device for controlling a voltage to be applied to a pixel, for example, of a liquid crystal display (LCD) has heretofore roughly been classified into amorphous silicon, poly silicon and single crystal silicon.
Amorphous silicon can obtain a high withstand property. Poly silicon has an electron mobility higher than that of amorphous silicon. Therefore, a transistor formed by poly silicon has advantages that a switching speed is high, a response of a display is high, and a design margin of another component is reduced as compared with a transistor formed by amorphous silicon. In addition to a main body of a display, peripheral circuits such as a driver circuit and DAC can be incorporated in the display. In this case, these peripheral circuits can be operated at a higher speed.
Poly silicon is constituted of an aggregate of crystal grains, and has lower electron or hole mobility than single crystal silicon. Moreover, in the thin film transistor (FET) formed using the poly silicon, fluctuation of the number of crystal grain boundaries existing in a channel portion is a problem. To solve the problem, a crystallization method of producing poly silicon having a larger grain diameter has been recently proposed in order to enhance the mobility of electrons or holes and to reduce the fluctuation of the number of crystal grain boundaries in the channel portion of each FET.
As this type of crystallization method, a "phase control excimer laser annealing (ELA)" has heretofore been known in which a polycrystalline or amorphous semiconductor film is irradiated with an excimer laser beam via a phase shift mask to produce a crystallized semiconductor film. Details of the phase control ELA are described in, for example, "Surface Science Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 278 to 287, 2000" and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-306859.
In the phase control ELA, an inverse peak type light intensity distribution (light intensity distribution in which a light intensity rapidly increases as a distance from a position having a minimum light intensity increases) is generated by the phase shift mask. The polycrystalline or amorphous semiconductor film is irradiated with light beams which periodically have the inverse peak type light intensity distribution. As a result, a molten region is generated in accordance with the light intensity distribution, and a crystal nucleus is formed in a portion which is disposed opposite to a position having a minimum light intensity and which is not molten or which first coagulates. When a crystal grows from the crystal nucleus toward periphery in a lateral direction (lateral growth), crystal grains having a large grain diameter (mono-crystal) are generated.
For example, when a liquid crystal display is manufactured, a ratio of a transistor forming region requiring the above-described crystallization in each pixel region is usually very small. In a conventional art, for example, the phase shift mask including a plurality of two-dimensionally arranged phase shift portions is uniformly irradiated with the laser beam. Therefore, a large part of the laser beam supplied from an optical illumination system does not contribute to the crystallization of the transistor forming region, and a so-called light amount loss is very large.
Moreover, as described above, in the conventional art, the semiconductor film is irradiated with light beams which have the inverse peak type light intensity distribution. In the light intensity distribution, the crystal nucleus is formed in the portion disposed opposite to the position in which the light intensity is minimized. Therefore, it is possible to control the forming position of the crystal nucleus. However, it is impossible to control the light intensity distribution in an intermediate portion between two inverse peak portions disposed opposite to each other.
In actual, in the conventional art, in general, the light intensity distribution in the intermediate portion involves irregular surges (wave-shaped distribution in which increase and decrease of the light intensity are repeated). In this case, in a process of crystallization, the lateral growth started toward the periphery from the crystal nucleus stops in a portion in which the light intensity decreases in the intermediate portion, and there is a problem that the growth of large crystals is inhibited. Moreover, even if a substantially uniform light intensity distribution is obtained in the intermediate portion, the lateral growth stops in an arbitrary position in this uniform light intensity distribution, and there is a problem that the growth of large crystals is inhibited.

Crystallization apparatus, optical member for use in crystallization apparatus, crystallization method, manufacturing method of thin film transistor, and manufacturing method of matrix circuit substrate of display

Advanced LCD Technologies Development Center Co., Ltd.