An integrated circuit pattern lithography system comprises a repeat unit candidate generating section of extracting a repeat pattern area and further extracting pattern data and array data of a minimum unit of repeated patterns in the repeat pattern area, for generating repeat unit candidates formed by the array of a plurality of the minimum repeat units, a repeat unit deciding section for deciding a repeat unit to be arrayed in the whole repeat pattern area, from the generated repeat unit candidate group, and a cell projection mask manufacturing section for manufacturing a cell projection mask for use in partial batch exposure in the repeat pattern area, correspondingly to the decided repeat unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit pattern lithography system and its method for forming pattern data of an integrated circuit, and more particularly to an integrated circuit pattern lithography system and its method capable of improving in throughput by forming patterns at once partially in an area where the same patterns are repeatedly formed through charged particle beam exposure with a preliminary transparent mask.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, circuit patterns are getting finer and finer in order to realize large scale integration in the manufacturing technique of a semiconductor device. A pattern exposure system with an electron beam or the other charged particle beam which can form finer patterns is being used instead of the conventional optical pattern exposure. In the optical pattern exposure system, a mask with a pattern of an integrated circuit chip formed on a quartz glass is made and a given area is exposed at once with this mask, so to form integrated circuit patterns on a semiconductor substrate, thereby featuring high throughput. On the contrary, the charged particle beam exposure system is unable to do a batch exposure of chip patterns, differently from the optical pattern exposure system, but it is formed each pattern in a way of direct writing a line in every pattern, or, what is called, with a single stroke of the brush. Therefore, according as an integrated circuit becomes larger scale integration and the patterns to be formed are more increased in number, it takes much more time to be formed patterns on the whole chips, thereby deteriorating the throughput.
Then, proposed is an exposure system having a mask with a plurality of transparent holes for forming a repeat pattern unit (hereinafter, referred to as a cell projection mask) as illustrated in FIG. 13(a), by the use of the characteristic that many of the basic circuits are formed by the repeat of the same pattern in the case where an integrated circuit chip 211 is an integrated circuit chip including a semiconductor memory. The exposure system performs pattern forming by exposing a repeat pattern area 201 of FIG. 13(a) to a charged particle beam through a cell projection mask. In an irregular pattern area 213, patterns are formed in the conventional forming method with a single stroke of the brush. In these ways, it can shorten the direct writing time extremely on the whole as well as improve in throughput.
Design data of the repeat pattern area 201 in a semiconductor integrated circuit is formed by expansion of the minimum repeat units 202 in array, as illustrated in FIG. 13(b). The size of the minimum repeat unit 202 depending on a chip, the description will be made, by way of example, in the case of 1 Gb (gigabit) DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory). The most typical area as the repeat pattern area of DRAM is a memory cell array area. In the case of 1 Gb DRAM, there exist about one billion memory cells. Some of these memory cells gather in an array to form the repeat pattern area 201, and the respective repeat pattern areas 201 are dispersedly disposed on the chip.
The size of one memory cell for use in 1 Gb DRAM is about 0.8 .mu.m.times.0.4 .mu.m. In order to form the design data of the repeat pattern area 201, the minimum repeat unit 202 is formed by four (=2.times.2) memory cells and the minimum repeat units 202 are expanded in array. Namely, the size of the minimum repeat unit 202 is about 1.6 .mu.m.times.0.8 .mu.m. The allowed size 205 of the cell projection mask for use in the partial batch exposure method is generally about 5 .mu.m.times.5 .mu.m. Therefore, since the size of the minimum repeat unit 202 is smaller than the allowed size 205 of the cell projection mask as illustrated in FIG. 13(c), the same minimum repeat unit 202 may be used as the cell projection mask. As a result, the repeat pattern area 201 has an expansion array of the minimum repeat units 202 in 16 rows and 32 columns as illustrated in FIG. 13(b). If the cell projection exposure method may adopt a cell projection mask all based on the minimum repeat units 202, every pattern could be generated by the exposure of "512" (=16.times.32) shots.
The design pattern 203 illustrated within the minimum repeat unit 202 of FIG. 13(c) is one example of a pattern for forming a field and one minimum repeat unit 202 includes three design patterns 203 as illustrated. When the design pattern 203 included in the minimum repeat unit 202 is formed by the conventional pattern lithography with a variable rectangular beam, since the design pattern 203 is formed by dividing it into individual five rectangles, the necessary shot number for pattern forming on one minimum repeat unit 202 becomes five. Therefore, in the whole repeat pattern area 201, every pattern can be formed by the number "2560" (=16.times.32.times.5) shot exposure. Namely, in the example of FIG. 13(c), the cell projection exposure method can reduce the shot number into one fifth of the conventional variable shaped beam exposure method, thereby improving in throughput. Since one part of the design pattern 203 illustrated in FIG. 13(c) is sequential between both adjacent minimum repeat units 202 in a horizontal direction, strictly speaking, the shot number by the conventional variable shaped beam exposure method would be not more than five times as many as the number of the repeat units 202. However, for brevity's sake, the description hereinafter will be made on the assumption that the number of the exposure shots by the conventional variable shaped beam exposure method would be five times as many as the number of the repeat units 202.
This conventional method, however, cannot make effective use of the allowed size 205 and insufficient to the improvement in throughput, because the size of the minimum repeat unit 202 is extremely smaller than the allowed size 205 of the cell projection mask.
In order to improve the throughput more effectively, it is considered that the repeat unit is fixed at the larger size than the minimum repeat unit 202. With reference to FIG. 14, the improving method will be described. FIG. 14(b) shows a maximum repeat unit 206 as the repeat unit for use in the cell projection mask, in which the minimum repeat units 202 are arrayed as many as possible within the range of the allowed size 205 of the cell projection mask. With reference to FIG. 14(a), the maximum repeat unit 206 for use in the cell projection mask has an expansion array of the minimum repeat units 202 in 3 rows and 6 columns. Therefore, the size of the maximum repeat unit 206 is 4.8 .mu.m.times.4.8 .mu.m.
The repeat pattern area 201 has an array of the minimum repeat units 202 in 16 rows and 32 columns as mentioned above. Therefore, the repeat pattern area 201 has enough size to include the partial batch exposure area 214 formed by an expansion array of the maximum repeat units 206 in 5 rows and 5 columns, as illustrated in FIG. 14(a). As a result, patterns in the range of the partial batch exposure area 214 can be formed with the shot number "25" by use of the cell projection mask of the maximum repeat unit 206.
However, there remains an area where the maximum repeat units 206 cannot be expanded, within the repeat pattern area 201, as illustrated. The remaining area is in the size for 62 (=16.times.32-18.times.25) minimum repeat units 202 in this example. Then, the conventional variable shaped beam exposure method is adopted to the remaining area, as the variable shaped beam exposure area 215, in order to form the design pattern 203 there.
This operation, however, cannot reduce a sufficient number of shots. More specifically, the shot number becomes "310" (=62.times.5) in the remaining area for the data processing as the variable shaped beam exposure area 215. The total shot number becomes "335". As mentioned above, the shot number in the partial batch exposure area 214 can be enormously reduced, while the shot number in the variable shaped beam exposure area 215, however, becomes twelfth times or more than the shot number in the partial batch exposure area 214, which is not a sufficient reduction although the shot number is reduced compared with the case of the minimum repeat units used for the cell projection mask.
Since two types of exposure methods, partial batch exposure and variable shaped beam exposure, are used in order to form the design patterns 203 in the whole repeat pattern area 201, the pattern shape and position of the partial batch exposure area 214 is completely different from the pattern shape and position of the variable shaped beam exposure area 215. When the shape and position differs in the exposure pattern in the repeat pattern area 201, the characteristics of the individual semiconductor devices to be formed by these patterns also differ from each other. As a result, reliability and yield of the integrated circuit would be deteriorated.

Integrated circuit pattern lithography method capable of reducing the number of shots in partial batch exposure


An optical transmission system utilizing a nonlinear fiber demultiplexer. A time division multiplexed optical signal is transmitted via a first optical signal path. An optical pump pulse is transmitted via a second optical signal path. The optical pump pulses are synchronized to correspond to the pulses in the multiplexed optical signal for which extraction is desired. The first and second optical signal paths are coupled such that the portions of the multiplexed signals which are synchronized with the optical pump pulses are amplified through Raman gain. The resulting signal is detected and passed through a threshold detector which filters out pulses below an intensity threshold. The desired demultiplexed signal, which was amplified by the pump pulses, passes through the optical threshold detector as an electronic pulse.

Digital transmission systems send signals as a series of ones and zeros. In an optical transmission system, such as a fiber optic transmission system, the ones and zeros are represented by the presence or absence of an optical pulse. A number of different digital signals can be combined together with each signal occupying its own time slot in a digital pulse stream of higher rate than of each individual signal. This is known as "time-division multiplexing" (TDM) and it allows the optical digital signals to timeshare the same transmission line, such as an optical fiber. As used herein, the term multiplexed means time division multiplexed. At the receiving end of the optical transmission system the multiplexed signals are separated out (demultiplexed) to extract the individual signals, and the individual signals may be processed accordingly. It is noted that multiplexed signals can in turn be multiplexed together to form a hierarchy of multiplexed digital signals. In such a case, the demultiplexing may take place in several stages.
In conventional system, a multiplexed optical signal is first detected by electronic components, such as photodetectors, to convert the string of optical pulses into electrical pulses which contain the multiplexed signal. The demultiplexing is then performed electronically on the resulting electrical signal. Current limitations in the speed of the electronics limits the pulse rate of high speed transmission systems to about 10 Gbit/s. Current research is being done with a view toward increasing this speed to 20 Gbit/s. However, future optical transmission systems envision rates of 100 Gbit/s or higher which would be accomplished by wavelength division multiplexing or time division multiplexing.
A problem results in that demultiplexing an optical signal of 100 Gbit/s or greater clearly exceeds the limitations set by the speed of the detection electronics. As a result, techniques for performing the demultiplexing step optically, before the optical signal is converted into an electronic signal, have been investigated.
The techniques for optical demultiplexing typically involve nonlinear optical processes. A nonlinear optical demultiplexer generally requires: 1) a sequence of short optical pulses which are transmitted at the rate of the pulse sequence to be extracted from the multiplexed optical signal; 2) a means for synchronizing the series of pulses with the pulse sequence to be demultiplexed; and 3) a nonlinear medium which is usually an optical fiber but could also be a semiconductor amplifier. For further information on nonlinear devices see, M. N. Islam, Ultrafast Fiber Switching Devices and Systems, Cambridge Univ. Press (1992), which is incorporated herein by reference.
The fiber nonlinear optical devices which have been used or proposed for optical time-division demultiplexing are all based on the nonlinear refractive index of the optical signal path which is the small increase in the index of refraction with optical power. These devices are described below.
1. Kerr Effect Devices.
A Kerr effect device uses the nonlinear index to change the state of polarization out of a fiber. In a Kerr demultiplexer (shown in FIG. 1) a strong optical pulse which functions as a demultiplexing control pulse is transmitted over optical signal path 100 at wavelength.lambda..sub.p . A weaker multiplexed signal is transmitted over optical signal path 120 at wavelength .lambda..sub.s . The signals are combined by wavelength multiplexing coupler 110. For the portions of the multiplexed signal which are synchronized with the control pulse, birefringence from the control pulse changes the polarization of the weaker multiplexed signal transmitted in optical signal path 115. Bandpass filter 120 is used to filter out the optical pulse signal at wavelength.lambda..sub.p to allow only the demultiplexed signal at wavelength .lambda..sub.s to pass through to signal path 122. A polarizer 130 is provided so an output pulse on optical signal path 140 appears only when the desired multiplexed signal pulses are present. Polarization controllers (PC) 150, 152, 154 are required to ensure proper orientation of the states of polarization of the signal on optical signal path 120, the strong pulse on optical signal path 100, and the signal on optical signal path 122. About 1 kW peak power in 1 m of fiber (or 1 W in 1 km) is necessary to operate a Kerr device. For further information on Kerr effect multiplexing see, T. Morioka, M. Saruwatari, and H. Takara, Ultrafast Optical Multi/Demultiplexer Utilizing Optical Kerr Effect in Polarization-Maintaining Single-Mode Fibres, Electronics Letters Vol. 23, No. 9, pages 453-454, Apr. 23, 1987; and O. Duhr, Frank Seifert, and Valentin Petrov, Ultrafast Kerr Demultiplexing up to 460 Gbits/s in Short Optical Fibers, Applied Optics, Vol. 34, No. 24, Aug. 20, 1995, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Nonlinear directional coupler.
The basic nonlinear directional coupler (shown in FIG. 2) is a twin-core fiber or parallel planar guides. An intensity-dependent change in refractive index blocks the normal power exchange between the guides so the coupler 220 becomes an intensity-dependent optical switch. For demultiplexing, a length is chosen so that the multiplexed optical signal on path 200 appears on the optical signal path 200 after the coupler 220 only when the demultiplexing pulse is present on optical signal path 210. Beat lengths are short (1 meter would be long for a twin-core fiber) so the nonlinear coupler is a high power device. The power-length product is about the same as for a Kerr device. A nonlinear coupler many beat periods long is similar to a Kerr device. It also suffers similar requirements for active stabilization because of sensitivity to temperature and pressure fluctuations.
The basic principal of the nonlinear directional coupler is that some sort of coupling or transfer of light is blocked by an optical beam intense enough to change the refractive index. There is a family of such devices which appear to be quite different from the twin-core directional coupler but are similar both in function and optical power requirements. These devices are made with a two-mode fiber, a birefringent fiber, or a so-called `rocking filter fiber`. Mode beating in a two-mode fiber is just one limit of coupling in a twin-core fiber. In a birefringent fiber the sign of circular polarization reverses at half the birefringence beat length. High power changes the properties of the fiber and the input polarization propagates unchanged. A rocking filter coupler uses linear rather than circular polarizations in a birefringent fiber with periodic polarization coupling matched to the beat length. High optical power shifts the coupling wavelength. For further information on a rocking filter coupler see, C. G. Krautschik, P. Wigley, G. I. Stegeman, and R. H. Stolen, Demonstration of demultiplexing with a Rocking Filter Fiber, Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 63, No. 7, Aug. 16, 1993, pages 860-862, which is incorporated herein by reference.
3. Nonlinear Loop Mirror.
A fiber Mach-Zender interferometer is, in principle, a simple way to make a demultiplexer. Demultiplexing high-power pulses in one arm of the interferometer change the relative phase of the two signal paths meeting at the output coupler but it is difficult to achieve temperature stability in two long separate fibers. A nonlinear interferometer that does not require stabilization is a loop mirror made with a 3 dB fiber coupler and a loop of fiber as illustrated in FIG. 3. The loop mirror 310 is a perfect reflector and transmits nothing from its output port 340. A loop mirror is stable to environmental changes because the two arms of the interferometer are clockwise and counterclockwise paths in the same fiber so a very long fiber can be used. Demultiplexing pulses transmitted over optical signal path 320 copropagate with the signal pulses transmitted over optical signal path 330 in only one direction. By way of the nonlinear index, clockwise and counterclockwise signals experience a relative phase shift and signal power will be transmitted from the output port 340. Demultiplexing with 150 mW pulses was demonstrated in a 5 km loop in, B. P. Nelson, K. J. Blow, P. D. Constantine, N. J. Doran, J. K. Lucek, I. W. Marshall, K. Smith, All Optical Gbit/s Switching Using Nonlinear Optical Loop Mirror, Electronics Letters, Vol. 27, No. 9, Apr. 25, 1991, which is incorporated herein by reference. Nonlinear loop mirrors do require polarization control to ensure the proper state of polarization at the fiber coupler. Active stabilization is necessary because the state of polarization can vary with changes in temperature and pressure.
4. Four-wave mixing.
A four-wave mixing demultiplexer (shown in FIG. 4) utilizes mixing of waves through the nonlinear index. A pump signal transmitted over optical signal path 410 at frequency .omega..sub.p and a weaker multiplexed signal transmitted over optical signal path 420 at frequency .omega..sub.s generate an idler on signal path 430 at frequency .omega..sub.i =2.omega..sub.p -.omega..sub.s. The demultiplexed pulse stream transmitted over optical signal path 430 at frequency .omega..sub.i is isolated with a bandpass filter 440. If the pump wavelength is close to the zero-dispersion wavelength, the coherence length for four-wave mixing becomes extremely long. With 100 mW of pump power, 10 km of fiber, and wavelength separations 10 nm or less conversion efficiency from input signal could be 20 dB. For further information on four-wave mixing demultiplexers see, P. O. Hedekvist and P. A. Andrekson, Demonstration of Fibre Four-Wave Mixing Optical Demultiplexing with 19 dB Parametric Amplification, Electronics Letters, Vol. 32, No. 9, pages 830-831, Apr. 25, 1996, which is incorporated herein by reference.
All of these nonlinear fiber demultiplexers suffer from the choice between short fibers requiring high optical powers or long fibers with polarization control and some sort of active stabilization. As a general rule, the power-length product for all these nonlinear index devices is about 1 kW-m using standard fiber. Thus, a nonlinear fiber demultiplexer which would circumvent the tradeoff between length and stability is desirable.

Time division demultiplexing using selective Raman amplification


Systems and related methods for stationary digital chest tomosynthesis (s-DCT) imaging are disclosed. In some aspects, systems include a stationary x-ray source array with an array of x-ray pixels configured to generate x-ray beams at different viewing angles relative to a subject to be imaged that is stationary, a stationary area x-ray detector configured to record x-ray projection images of the subject, a physiological gating apparatus for monitoring at least one physiological signal of the subject and defining a physiological phase and a time window based on the at least one physiological signal, and a computing platform configured to activate the x-ray pixels based on the physiological phase and the time window and upon receipt of the at least one physiological signal from the physiological gating apparatus in order to synchronize x-ray exposure with the at least one physiological signal of the subject.

Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. Over 200,000 new cases of lung cancer are identified in the United States per year, and the number of deaths from lung cancer exceeds the total deaths from breast, prostate, and colon cancer combined. In spite of decades of research on diagnosis and therapy, survival rates remain poor. Possible screening tests for lung cancer include chest x-ray radiograph (CXR), and computed tomography (CT). CXR imaging is well known to perform poorly in screening and identification of small cancers due to small lesion size and poor conspicuity. CT imaging is the current gold standard for imaging pulmonary lesions since it can eliminate any overlapping anatomical structures and reveal hidden lung nodules. However, CT imaging involves both high costs and high radiation doses, which can lead to radiation induced cancer. Thus, CT imaging of lung cancer is not recommended for the general population.
Digital tomosynthesis is a three-dimensional (3D) imaging technique that provides reconstruction slice images from a limited-angle series of projection images. Digital tomosynthesis improves the visibility of anatomical structures by reducing visual clutter from overlying normal anatomy. Some examples of current clinical tomosynthesis applications include chest, abdominal, musculoskeletal, and breast imaging. Digital chest tomosynthesis (DCT) imaging improves the visibility of anatomical structures such as the pulmonary vessels, bronchial walls, small airways, vascular trees, and bronchiectasis when compared to CXR imaging. DCT imaging displays the lungs in the coronal plane with contiguous slices and gives a better overview of the bronchial tree when compared to traditional axial CT imaging. DCT imaging has better resolution than CT imaging in a plane of the image because it yields coronal images and utilizes a higher resolution detector compared to CT imaging, whereas the spatial resolution of CT imaging is limited for the most part by a z-axis resolution of its detectors. By reducing visual clutter from overlying normal anatomy, DCT imaging also enhances detection of small lung nodules. Equally significant, the radiation dose used in DCT imaging is approximately between 10-40 times lower than CT imaging and its cost is only a fraction (i.e., about one tenth) of CT imaging.
There are several commercial digital tomosynthesis systems including, for example, VOLUMERAD® and RADSPEED® for chest imaging, SELENIA® DIMENSION® and Siemens MAMMOMAT INSPIRATION® for breast imaging. The design of existing commercial tomosynthesis systems are all similar, in which an x-ray tube with a single x-ray generating focal spot is used to collect the projection images by moving the x-ray source over approximately a 10-50 degree arc angle related to a subject being imaged. Due to gantry rotation and mechanical instability, effective focal spot size during image acquisition is larger than the static value which degrades the image resolution. Accordingly it is desirable to provide a digital tomosynthesis image system that does not require mechanical motion of the x-ray source.
More importantly, mechanical motion of a heavy x-ray source gantry over a linear or arc trajectory requires acceleration and deceleration of the gantry. The instability associated with acceleration limits a maximum speed the gantry can move, thus intrinsically limiting a speed of tomosynthesis image acquisition. Typically, a minimum scan time for existing moving gantry chest tomosynthesis systems is five seconds or more; the typical respiration period for adults is three to five seconds, and one to three seconds for children. Thus, conventional tomosynthesis imaging systems generally result in very poor image quality due to physiological movement of the patient. Existing moving gantry chest tomosynthesis systems require a breath-hold for imaging, and generally are not suitable for pediatric imaging. For many lung disease patients and children, holding their breath for five seconds or more can be difficult. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide systems and related methods for stationary digital tomosynthesis imaging that render patent motion insignificant.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


The present invention relates to a thin film transistor substrate and a metal wiring method thereof, more particularly to a thin film transistor substrate comprising self-assembled monolayers between the substrate and the metal wiring, and a metal wiring method thereof. Since a thin film transistor substrate of the present invention comprises three-dimensionally cross-linked self-assembled monolayers between the Si surface and the metal wiring, it has good adhesion ability and anti-diffusion ability.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film transistor substrate and a metal wiring method thereof, and more particularly to a thin film transistor substrate having superior adhesion ability and diffusion resistance and a metal wiring method thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A thin film transistor (TFT) is one of the devices widely used as switching devices of TFT liquid crystal displays.
A thin film transistor substrate comprises a scanning signal wiring or gate wiring that transfers scanning signals, a picture signal wiring or data wiring that transfers picture signals, a thin film transistor that connects the gate wiring and the data wiring, a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor, a gate insulation film that covers the gate wiring, and a passivation film that protects the thin film transistor and the data wiring. A thin film transistor comprises a semiconductor layer that forms a gate electrode and channels, a source electrode, a drain electrode, a gate insulation film and a passivation layer. A thin film transistor is a switching device that transfers or interrupts picture signals transferred through the data wiring depending on scanning signals transferred by the gate wiring.
In TFT LCDs using the thin film transistor as a switching device, an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal using optical anisotropy and polarization of the liquid crystal. The electric field controls arrangement orientation of the liquid crystal molecules to offer images.
In the active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD), which is being actively researched and developed, the pixel electrodes connected with the thin film transistor are arranged in matrix form, so that it can offer large screen size and high resolution, such as SXGA or UXGA.
In order to make such large-area and high-resolution liquid crystal displays as SXGA or UXGA, resistance of gate wiring, data wiring and other wirings should be low. In particular, if the resistance of the gate wiring is high, the image quality worsens because of cross-talks due to signal delay caused by the wiring resistance. Metals that can be used for the wiring and their characteristics are summarized in the following Table 1.
TABLE 1Specific resistanceAdhesionHeatMetal(μΩ · cm)PriceabilityresistanceCu2LowLowHighAu3HighLowHighAl4LowHighLowMo20ModerateHighHighCr50ModerateHighHigh
As seen in Table 1, aluminum has low heat resistance. While copper is satisfactory in cost and heat resistance, it has poor adhesion ability to the substrate. Therefore, many researches are trying to improve the adhesion ability of copper to the substrate.
In this regard, wirings of copper alloys, such as Cu/Ti/Si, Cu/TiN/Si, Cu/Ta/Si and Cu/TaN/Si, are widely used. However, these copper alloy wirings are manufactured through complicated processes. Also, they have weak adhesion of Si and Cu, and the anti-diffusion films are thick. Moreover, the anti-diffusion films react with Cu during heat treatment.
Recently, the copper-silver alloy wirings are widely used. However, silver has weak adhesion ability to the glass substrate or silicon layers. The weak adhesion ability causes problems like the thin film's coming off from the substrate or breaking of the wiring. Also, silver is easily damaged by dry-type etching agents for etching insulation film consisting of silicon nitride, etc.

Thin film transistor substrate and method for forming metal wire thereof


A method for constructing and addressing a nanoscale memory with known addresses and for tolerating defects which may arise during manufacture or device operational lifetime. During construction, nanoscale wires with addresses are stochastically assembled. During a programming phase, nanoscale wires are stochastically selected using their stochastic addresses through microscale inputs and a desired address code is associated with the selected nanoscale wires. Memory addresses are associated to the codes and then selected using the known codes during read/write operations from/to the memory.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to the field of sublithographic fabrication of electronic circuits, in particular molecular electronics. More specifically, deterministic addressing of nanoscale devices assembled at sublithographic pitches is disclosed.
2. Related Art
Stochastic decoder assembly allows memories constructed on sublithographic-scale pitches to be addressed. See, for example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/627,405. However, if the sublithographic arrays are to be used directly as memory, the random collection of addresses which index into each memory array is sometimes difficult to manage. This makes access slow, requiring the reading of thousands of bits in order to reliably find where each good bit is actually located in the array. A general disclosure of the related art can be found in PCT publication WO03/063208.
A diode programmable decoder is disclosed in Yong Chen et al., "Nanoscale Molecular-switch Crossbar Circuits", Institute of Physics Publishing, Nanotechnology 14 (2003), p. 462–468. However, such decoder cannot be built at nanoscale pitch. Additionally, it is difficult to use the decoder to put a strong voltage on the output of the decoder or to provide strong isolation of current on non-selected lines in the decoder.

Deterministic addressing of nanoscale devices assembled at sublithographic pitches


An improved pipelined analog to digital converter that facilitates calibration for non-linearity errors and a method for obtaining calibration values. The analog to digital converter has a calibration mode in which the output bits for stages in the pipeline can be coupled to output pins of the device. Device pins that are used in normal operating mode to output the most significant bits of the ADC output are used in calibration mode to make available output bits of a pipeline stage being calibrated. A calibration method takes advantage of the outputs of the stages being directly observable to compute calibration values. The output bits of a pipeline stage are monitored as the analog input to the ADC is increased. A change in these bits identifies a subrange boundary. Errors are measured for values immediately above and immediately below each subrange boundary and used to compute correction factors.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to analog to digital converters and more specifically to calibration of analog to digital converters.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Analog to digital converters are used in many modern electronic systems. Many electrical signals are analog—meaning that the signal can take on any value in a range of values. However, many components in electronic systems operate on digital signals—meaning that the value of the signal is represented at any time by "bits" of data, with each bit taking on only one of two possible states. Accordingly, there is a need for analog to digital converters to allow analog signals to be processed in digital form.
FIG. 1 shows in simplified block diagram form a prior art analog to digital converter. Analog to digital converter (ADC) 100 receives an analog input Sin and produces a digital output 120.
Analog input Sin is applied to a buffer amplifier 112. The output of buffer amplifier 112 is applied to a chain of separate stages 114A, 114B . . . 114N. Usually, these stages are pipelined.
Each of the stages 114A, 114B . . . 114N receives an analog input and produces a digital output. The digital outputs of the stages are applied to digital logic 116. Each stage also produces an analog output that is passed on to the next stage. The analog output of the stage is a residue, representing the difference between the analog input of the stage and the value corresponding to the digital output of that stage. Because each stage represents its input with a finite number of digital bits, the digital representation produced at each of the stages is not an exact representation of the value of the analog input. However, at each stage the residue becomes smaller, meaning that the collective outputs of all of the stages becomes a more accurate representation of the analog input Sin as outputs of more stages are produced.
Digital logic 116 combines the outputs of all of the stages 114A, 114B . . . 114N into a binary output 118. In general, it is not necessary that there be a one-to-one correspondence between the output bits of the stages and the bits of the digital word 118. For example, stage 114A might produce digital outputs that could take on one of six possible states. Stage 114B might have digital output bits that represent one of three possible states. The combination of the output bits from the first two stages form the four most significant bits of the digital word 118. The output of stage 114B would also influence the output of the fifth most significant bit. Digital logic 116 is constructed to make the appropriate combination of bits from all of the stages 114A . . . 114N to produce a digital word 118. In this way, the digital output 120 of ADC 100 represents the analog input Sin.
Even though each stage has a limited number of bits and cannot exactly represent the input, it is desirable for each stage to output a digital value that is as close as possible to the value of the analog input to that stage. However, variations in manufacturing processes and other real-world phenomena often preclude the construction of stages that always respond as desired. In practice, calibration circuitry is included in an ADC. Measurements are made on an ADC to detect differences between the actual and expected performance. The calibration circuitry is set to counteract differences between actual and desired performance of the ADC.
ADC 100 is shown to include calibration circuitry in the form of calibration memories 130A, 130B, 130C . . . 130N. These calibration memories hold values that map the output values produced by each of the stages as nearly as possible to the desired values.
As part of the manufacture of ADC 100, a calibration process is used to determine calibration values for memories 130A . . . 130N. A series of test inputs is applied to ADC 100 and the output of the converter observed. Differences between the actual digital output of the analog to digital converter and the expected output based on the value of the analog input can be measured. The measurement of the difference can be used to compute calibration values. These calibration values are stored in memories 130A . . . 130N.
However, it is difficult to determine what calibration values to store in the memories. Because there is not a one-to-one relationship between the output digital bits and the output of the individual stages, it is difficult to identify the values of outputs of stages 114A . . . 114N from the digital word observable at the output 120 of ADC 100. For this reason, prior art ADC's have been limited in the number of stages having calibration memories. Generally, only the first stage or two included such a memory.
FIG. 2A shows a transfer function of an idealized ADC. Line 210 shows that as the analog input increases, the digital output increases. Line 210 depicts a series of steps. These steps result from the fact that the ADC can represent only a finite number of values. The idealized ADC produces an output that matches the input value to the closest one of these finite values. As the analog input increases and comes closer to the next higher value that can be represented, the digital output steps up. These steps are evenly centered around line 200, showing the linear relationship between the input and the output.
FIG. 2B shows the same type of plot for a realistic, or non-idealized, ADC. As in FIG. 2A, the output values increase in steps. Unlike FIG. 2A, each step in FIG. 2B is not centered around line 200. For each output value, the difference between the actual position of the step and the idealized position as shown in FIG. 2A represents non-linearity in the conversion process. To make a more accurate analog to digital converter it is desirable to remove this nonlinearity. Values stored in calibration memories 130A . . . 130N should adjust for any nonlinearity.
FIGS. 3A–3C illustrate that the nonlinearity error is the result of error components from each of the stages 114A, 114B . . . 114N. FIG. 3A illustrates the linearity error of stage 114A. FIG. 3A is divided into subranges 350, 351 . . . 357. Each of the subranges corresponds to an output value of the stage. The term "subrange" is used because each stage should have a certain value for a range of analog inputs. Accordingly, the ordinate of the graph might be thought of as a range of analog inputs or the specific digital values corresponding to those inputs. The linearity error of stage 114A may be different in each of the subranges.
FIG. 3B shows linearity error associated with stage 114B. Stage 114B has subranges 360, 361, 362, 363. The output of stage 114B may take on multiple values in each subrange defined for stage 114A. For this reason, the subranges for stage 114B are smaller than the subranges for stage 114A. Also, the error pattern for stage 114B repeats in each of the subranges for stage 114A.
FIG. 3C shows this pattern continuing for stage 114C. Stage 114C also introduces linearity errors. The amount of error is different in each of the subranges for stage 114C. Each of the subranges 370, 371, 372 and 373 for stage 114C is smaller than the subranges in stage 114B. The pattern of error repeats in each of the subranges 360, 361, 362 and 363 for stage 114B.
This pattern repeats for all stages, with the subrange per stage getting smaller at each successive stage. An ADC will be most accurate if correction factors can be ascertained and stored in calibration memories for each stage. In practice, it is difficult to determine these values for stages 114B and successive stages. Also, the errors get smaller for successive stages. Thus, despite the fact that FIG. 1 has been generalized to show calibration memories for all stages 114A . . . 114N, such memories have traditionally been used for only the first stage.
Part of the difficulty in ascertaining the correction factors is that the errors from each of the stages are superimposed to create a combined error at the output 120 of the ADC 100. The total nonlinearity error of ADC 100 can be determined, for example, by applying an analog input in the form of a ramp 200. The actual output of ADC 100 will contain non-uniform steps as shown in FIG. 2B. The non-linearity error can be measured by comparing the input voltages at which transitions occur to the values at which such transitions should have occurred with idealized performance as shown in FIG. 2A. However, it is difficult to determine from just the output what error was contributed by each stage.
Also, noise on the analog signal causes the performance of ADC 100 to differ from the idealized form shown in FIG. 2A. Noise is particularly a problem for detecting small errors introduced at stages 114B and smaller stages.
Further, there is not a one-to-one correspondence between the output of each of the stages 114A, 114B . . . 114N and the digital output bits of work 118. Accordingly, when measuring the overall error in analog to digital converter 100 it is often not readily apparent which correction factors need to be loaded into correction memories 130A, 130B . . . 130N.
FIG. 4 represents a plot of non-linearity errors as might be measured for an analog to digital converter. The non-linearity errors shown in FIG. 4 represent the combination of the errors introduced by all of the stages, such as those shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C. The plot also reflects noise on the analog signals. FIG. 4 is sometimes called an Integrated Non-Linearity (INL) plot.
Though the errors introduced by all of the stages are blended together in the INL plot of FIG. 4, knowing that the magnitude and repetition rate of errors introduced by each stage follows a pattern as shown generally in FIGS. 3A . . . 3C, might allow identification of the errors produced at each stage. For example, subrange 420 can be identified by a relatively large change in the INL plot such as represented by transitions 412 and 414. The average value of the error in subrange 420 between these transactions might be correlated to one of the subranges 350, 351 . . . 357 shown in FIG. 3A. This approach has been used with some prior art analog to digital converters to identify correction factors for the first stage of a pipelined analog to digital converter. However, for subsequent stages it becomes more and more difficult to identify the component of the overall error contributed by each stage.
One technique that has been used to determine calibration values for higher number stages involved the addition of special hardware to the ADC. This hardware overrides the portion of each stage that outputs the digital bits for that stage. During a test, the input to the ADC is increased until a change in the digital output indicates that a subrange boundary has been crossed. Once the input voltage corresponding to a transition between subranges is determined, the input voltage to the ADC is held constant at that value. The specific stage of the ADC that has changed its output to create the subrange boundary is identified. The digital outputs of that stage are forced to toggle between the value below the subrange boundary and the value above the subrange boundary.
As the output of the stage toggles between subranges, a tester measures the output of the ADC. Measurements taken while the stage is forced to have a value representing the subrange below the boundary represent the error at the upper end of that subrange. Measurements taken while the stage is forced to have a value above the boundary represent error at the lower end of that subrange. By making similar measurements at each subrange boundary, the nonlinearity error in each subrange can be computed and appropriate correction factors to counter this error can be determined.
This approach requires that subrange boundaries be detected by observing the output of the ADC, which can be difficult. It would be desirable to provide a way to calibrate an ADC that does not rely on detecting subrange transitions from the output of the ADC. It would be desirable to accurately determine calibration factors, without requiring additional circuitry in an analog to digital converter to force certain stages into desired output ranges.

Calibration of analog to digital converter by means of multiplexed stages


An apparatus for validating an identity of an individual based on biometrics includes a memory and a processor operatively coupled to a distributed database and the memory. The processor is configured to provide biometric data as an input to a predefined hash function to obtain a first biometric hash value. The processor is configured to obtain, using a first pointer to the distributed database, a signed second biometric hash value. The processor is configured to define a certification of the biometric data in response to verifying that a signature of the signed second biometric hash value is associated with the compute device and verifying that the first biometric hash value corresponds with the second biometric hash value. The processor is configured to digitally sign the certification using a private key associated with the processor to produce a signed biometric certification and store the signed biometric certification in the distributed database.

The present application generally relates to systems, apparatus and methods for secure electrical communication of biometric personal identification information to validate the identity of an individual. Specifically, the present application relates to use of a distributed database for identity validation using body characteristics and/or biometric personal identification information.
In some known systems, biometrics can be stored and used for identity validation. Such systems, however, are often insecure and inefficient. Specifically, such known systems are subject to data breaches leaving biometric data of users exposed. Moreover, such known systems are often difficult for multiple entities to use to validate an identity of an individual using biometrics.
Accordingly, a need exists for secure and efficient systems, apparatus and methods for secure electrical communication of biometric personal identification information to validate the identity of an individual.

Systems, apparatus and methods for secure electrical communication of biometric personal identification information to validate the identity of an individual


The invention disclose a method for purifying microbial protease, comprising:(i) providing an aqueous liquid sample containing a microbial protease, and a separation medium comprising a base matrix and a plurality of attached ligands that are capable of binding to microbial protease;(ii) contacting separation medium with the sample under conditions permitting binding of microbial protease to the separation medium; and (iii) desorbing microbial protease from the separation medium, wherein the base matrix is hydrophilic and the plurality of ligands are hydrocarbon groups in which all carbon atoms are sp3-hybridised.

Rhizomucor miehei aspartic protease is a microbial protease suitable for milk-clotting purposes. Preparations of milk-clotting enzymes are used in the food industry, for instance in cheese manufacturing.
Rhizomucor miehei aspartic protease is the most commonly used milk-clotting enzyme, due to its low cost and favorable performance (Sternberg, M. Z. (1971) "Crystalline milk-clotting protease from Mucor miehei, and some of its properties" J. Dairy Sci., Vol. 54, pp 159-167). This protease can also be produced heterologously via recombinant DNA technology in filamentous fungi (Boel, E. et al. European Patent EP 238 023).
A problem with the production of proteases via microbial fermentation is the expression of other undesirable enzymes. Due to an increasing demand in the market for pure enzyme preparations, several methods have been developed in the art for either the separation and purification of desirable enzymes from enzyme mixtures or for the selective inactivation of undesirable enzymes.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,683,682 (1954) discloses the differential inactivation of proteases or amylases from mixtures of both enzyme types. The method comprises adjusting the pH of the aqueous solution between 3.0 and 4.5 (to selectively inactivate amylase) or between 7.0 and 10.5 (to selectively inactivate protease). The method also comprises maintaining the mixture at a temperature comprised between about 5° C. and 60° C. for a period of time sufficient to inactivate the undesired enzyme, generally for about 0.5 hours or less for higher temperatures and 20 hours for lower temperatures. Treatment of enzyme mixtures derived from malted wheat flour or malted barley at pH 3.6 and 50° C. for 0.5 hours leads to a protease recovery of up to 66% and amylase deactivation of 99.7%. At the same pH but 5° C. for 20 hours the protease recovery is 85%, with an amylase deactivation of 99.6%.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,139 (1978) describes the selective inactivation of amylase in enzyme mixtures comprising protease and amylase. The inactivation of amylase occurs by treating the enzyme mixture with an oxidizing agent selected from chlorite and hypochlorite ions. The ions are added to the enzyme mixture in sufficient amount to inactivate the amylase and leave the protease intact, so that further purification steps are avoided. The temperature and pH of the treatment are not critical as far as they are not detrimental to the protease. This method can treat enzyme compositions derived from animal organs (e.g. crude animal organ extracts) or bacteria like Bacillus subtilis or licheniformis (e.g. fermentation broths). With this method, more than 80% of the amylase is inactivated leaving more than 80% of the protease activity intact.
International Patent Application WO 97/20921 (published Jun. 12, 1997) describes a method for the selective inactivation of at least one undesirable enzyme from an enzyme mixture comprising desirable and undesirable enzymes. The enzyme mixture is treated at a pH lower than 5 and at a temperature from 2 to 75° C. for at least 20 seconds, and/or at a pH higher than 9 and at a temperature from 2 to 75° C. for at least 20 seconds. According to this method, amylase is completely inactivated by treatment of an enzyme mixture comprising amylase and cellulase at pH 3.5 for 1 min at 70° C., while 96% of the cellulase activity remains intact. On the other hand, only 2% of the protease activity is left when enzyme mixture comprising lipase and protease is treated at pH 3.5, 45° C. for 60 minutes. In mixtures comprising cellulase and protease (Example 7), the protease is completely inactivated by treating at 3° C. or 25° C. for 60 minutes and at a pH of 2.5.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,943 (1992) describes a method for selective recovery of microbial produced chymosin from mixtures of polypeptides or enzymes produced by fermentation, for example α-amylase. This method is based on the use of a two phase, liquid-liquid system having a partition coefficient for chymosin greater than about 85. The two-phase system is obtained by adding PEG and a salt, for example a phosphate or a sulphate, to the aqueous enzyme composition. The chymosin is selectively extracted into the organic phase while the amylase stays in the aqueous phase. Chymosin can be recovered from the PEG via ion exchange chromatography. By using a pH lower than 3, partition coefficients for chymosin can be obtained of about 1000, allowing full separation from amylase and a chymosin recovery of about 96-98%.
For chymosin obtained by recombinant techniques, U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,551 (Subramanian) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,673 (Subramanian et al.) propose dye affinity ligand adsorption and U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,467 (Heinsohn et al.) proposes adsorption to phenyl SEPHAROSE® matrix (SEPHAROSE® matrix is the trade mark of GE Healthcare Biosciences; the corresponding products are based on agarose). U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,467 states that a comparison was made between phenyl SEPHAROSE® matrix and agaroses with other functionalities (including octyl), and it was concluded that only the former provides the required selectivity for chymosin in fermentation broths. Experiments have also been presented to use other ligands containing aromatic rings in WO 96/00735 (Burton et al.) and WO 96/09116 (Burton et al.).
In a recent study by Burton et al. ("One-step purification of chymosin by mixed mode chromatography" in Biotech. Boeing. 56(1) (1997) 4555) a number of chargeable and non-chargeable aromatic ligands have been examined for adsorption of chymosin from a fermentation broth.
Purification of microbial protease can be achieved by binding of microbial protease to an appropriate chromatographic resin. Suitable resins are for instance ion exchange resins. Ion exchange chromatography depends upon the reversible adsorption of charged solute molecules to an immobilized ion exchange group of opposite charge. Separation is obtained because different substances have different degrees of interaction with the ion exchanger due to differences in their charges and charge densities. Molecules are bound to ion exchangers when they carry a net charge opposite to that of the ion exchanger. The binding is electrostatic and reversible. Ion exchange chromatography is a technique which offers different selectivities using either anion or cation exchangers. Separation can be obtained by differences in charge of the biological compounds. Changing the pH alters the charge characteristics of the sample components and can thus modify the separation.
Anion exchangers, for instance Q-SEPHAROSE® matrix, can be used if a microbial protease solution at a pH above its isoelectric point (IP) is applied to an anion exchanger equilibrated at the same pH. The bound microbial protease can be eluted (desorbed), free of contaminating proteins by increasing the ionic strength and/or changing the pH. The change in ionic strength and/or pH during desorption can take place as a stepwise or continuous gradient.
The same separation can be achieved with a cation exchanger, for instance SP-SEPHAROSE® matrix, if a microbial protease preparation is applied to the resin below its IP.
Other suitable resins are hydrophobic interaction media. Using a hydrophobic interaction medium, separation can be based on the differences in hydrophobicity. Different hydrophobic interaction resins are available containing different ligands for instance ethyl, propyl, butyl, phenyl, and octyl. By applying an aqueous microbial protease solution under conditions permitting binding of microbial protease to the resin, it is possible to separate microbial protease from contamination compounds
Some purification methods described in the art have the disadvantage of being laborious. In general, said methods are characterized by a low selectivity towards protease and/or by a relatively high loss in protease activity and/or by excessive use of salts and/or solvents. Despite the number of previously suggested purification protocols, there is still a need for improvements relating to yield/recovery, purity, specific microbial protease activity, simplicity of operation, need for elution agents and salt burden amongst others.

Method for the purification of microbial protease


A stator assembly of a gas turbine engine includes first and second annular metal stator rims. The stator rims, positioned in parallel, include a plurality of ceramic blades therebetween, each ceramic blade having a rounded nose and a flattened and tapered tail. Each ceramic blade further includes an opening for receiving a mounting pin. The mounting pin mounts between the first and second annular stator rims, clamping and containing the ceramic airfoil therebetween in a position relative to an axis of the turbine engine.

This invention relates generally to gas turbine engines and more particularly to improved airfoil construction. An improved blade construction embodying a member of a first material such as ceramic and shaped as an airfoil cooperatively arranged with a second material such as metal for the insertion in the air flow path of a reduction gas turbine engine. The improved blade can absorb and function with thermally induced stress. Further the enhanced airfoil exhibits durability characteristics suitable for use in a high-temperature environment.
In a well-known gas turbine engine, air is compressed in a rotating compressor, heated in a combustion chamber and expanded through a turbine. To increase the available energy in the turbojet cycle, and hence the thrust and efficiency of the engine, designers have conventionally attempted to increase the turbine inlet temperature because turbine engine power is directly related to turbine inlet temperature, as is turbine engine efficiency.
However, as a result of the high temperatures necessary to operate the gas turbine engines, trailing and leading edges of the turbine's stator blade are often burned away. Repairs to restore the turbine stator blade to functional condition are expensive and require extensive hours of welding. The erosion and burning of the high pressure turbine stator blade is a primary repair frequency item for turbomachinery applications. To improve the life of turbine stator blades, industry has turned to methods such as cooling blades while in use.
One method, therefore, of providing more efficient turbojet operation, i.e. higher cycle temperatures and hence higher thrust values for a given size engine, involves the use of more sophisticated and advanced turbine airfoil cooling techniques to permit higher turbine inlet temperatures. With these techniques, turbine nozzle (vane) and rotor blade temperatures may be brought within the capability of existent heat or oxidation resistant materials (metal). However, there is a limit to temperature that can be achieved with these materials.
As an alternative to such cooling methods or techniques recourse is made to improve blade or vane materials and construction methods. It is known, for example, that ceramic materials have the ability to withstand significantly higher temperatures than the known refractory alloys when used in the conventional blade or vane designs, even when the latter are intensely cooled. In particular, the use of ceramic material would appear to be indicated at the leading edge of the turbine airfoil where the temperatures are always highest and where cooling is most difficult since the heat input is highest here also. It will be understood that the term "ceramic" as herein used includes composites of nonmetallics and metallics, the latter sometimes being referred to as ceramics. Examples of the latter materials which have been evaluated and been found to perform well in the practice of the present invention include: (1) chromium and 30 weight percent M.sub.g O, or Cr30M.sub.g O, and (2)Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 or (3) SI.sub.3 N.sub.4.
However, ceramic materials present certain problems that have heretofore prohibited their widespread use for constructing part or all of the blade or vane. Firstly, ceramic materials do not have the tensile strength of metallic materials. Secondly, due to its usually relatively low ductility, ceramic material has a tendency to crack under the impact of severe or suddenly applied thermal shock or stresses such as may occur in advanced lightweight aircraft gas turbines. Thirdly, where it is desired to strengthen the blade or vane structurally, such as by means of metallic body or strut member or members, the dissimilar characteristics of the metal body and the ceramic materials in the areas of ductility, thermal conductivity and brittleness, for example, create additional problems concerning how to mate these materials in an integral airfoil construction.


A poly(trimethylene-ethylene ether)glycol is disclosed. The poly(trimethylene-ethylene ether)glycol is, preferably, prepared by the polycondensation of 1,3-propanediol reactant and ethylene glycol reactant. The composition is preferably used in breathable membranes, synthetic lubricants, hydraulic fluids, cutting oils, motor oils, surfactants, spin-finishes, water-borne coatings, laminates, adhesives, packaging, films and foams, fibers and fabrics.

Polytrimethylene ether glycol ("PO3G") and its use have been described in a number of patents and patent applications. PO3G can be prepared by dehydration of 1,3-propanediol or by ring opening polymerization of oxetane. PO3G can be prepared from 1,3-propanediol, preferably as described in U.S. Published patent application Nos. 2002/7043 A1 and 2002/10374 A1, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Published patent application No. 2002/7043 A1 teaches that the reaction mixture can comprise up to 50 mole %, preferably 1 to 20 mole %, based on all diols present, of a comonomer diol other than oligomers of 1,3-propanediol. Listed are 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol, 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol, 2,2-diethyl-1,3-propanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, 1,8-octanediol, 1,10-decanediol, 1,12-dodecanediol and mixtures thereof. More preferred as comonomers are 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol, 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol, and 2,2-diethyl-1,3-propanediol.
Similarly, U.S. Published patent application No.2002/10374 A1 teaches that the reaction mixture can comprise up to 50 mole %, preferably 1 to 20 mole %, based on all diols present, of a comonomer diol other than oligomers of 1,3-propanediol. Listed are aliphatic diols, for example 1,6-hexanediol, 1,7-heptanediol, 1,8-octanediol, 1,9-nonanediol, 1,10-decanediol, 1,12-dodecanediol, 3,3,4,4,5,5-hexafluro-1,5-pentanediol, 2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5-octafluoro-1,6-hexanediol, 3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,9,9,10,10-hexadecafluoro-1,12-dodecanediol, cycloaliphatic diols, for example 1,4-cyclohexanediol, 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol and isosorbide, polyhydroxy compounds, for example glycerol, trimethylolpropane, and pentaerythritol. A preferred group of comonomer diol is selected from the group consisting of 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol, 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol, 2,2-diethyl-1,3-propanediol, 2-ethyl-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-propanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, 1,8-octanediol, 1,10-decanediol, isosorbide, and mixtures thereof.
Polyether ester elastomer comprising polytrimethylene ether ester soft segment and tetramethylene and trimethylene ester hard segments are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,562,457 B1 and U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2003/120026 A1, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Polytrimethylene ether ester amides are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,590,065 B1, which is incorporated herein by reference. Polyurethanes and polyurethane ureas are described in U.S. patent application ser. No. 10/215,575, filed Aug. 9, 2002 (published as US 2004-0030060 A1), which is incorporated herein by reference.
Polytrimethylene ether glycol is preferably prepared by polycondensation of 1,3-propanediol, preferably using an acid catalyst as described in U.S. Published Patent Application Nos. 2002/7043 A1 and 2002/10374 A1. Polyethylene glycol, on the other hand, is made from the ring-opening polymerization of ethylene oxide, and can not be polymerized from ethylene glycol by acid catalyzed polycondensation due to the cyclization of its dimer into dioxane.


A pneumatic tire including a tread portion, a pair of sidewall portions, a pair of bead portions, and a carcass extending between the bead portions through the tread portion and sidewall portions, wherein the tread portion is provided radially inside the carcass with a tread tape having a thickness of not more than 2.0 mm and having a tensile elastic modulus larger than any rubber existing between the tread tape and the adjacent carcass cords. A method of manufacturing the pneumatic tire includes vulcanizing a main body of the tire, excepting the tread tape, and attaching the tread tape onto the inside of the vulcanized tire main body.

The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire and a method of manufacturing the same, more particularly to a flexible tape disposed on the inside of the tread portion to improve steering stability and ride comfort of the tire.
In the pneumatic tires especially for passenger cars, conventionally employed in order to improve the steering stability is to increase the rigidity of the sidewall portions and/or tread portion by adjusting the properties, e.g. hardness, modulus and the like of rubber components used therein and also providing reinforcing cord layers therein such as tread belt and bead reinforcing layer. such techniques for increasing the rigidity are usually liable to deteriorate ride comfort.
On the other hand, a pneumatic tire is, in order to use without tire tube, conventionally provided along the inner surface thereof with an innerliner made of an air-impermeable rubber compound. And it has been believed that, no additional component or layer is to be disposed on the inside of the tire not to break the seal.
The inventors are however, studied and found that, by disposing a tape having special characteristics in a special position on the inside of the tire, the steering stability and ride comfort can be improved without deteriorating the sealing performance.

Pneumatic tire with tread tape radially inside carcass and method of manufacturing the same


A filter element for use in a pan, such as a oil pan for a vehicle transmission or internal combustion engine, is configured for positioning in the opening of a sump in the pan. In order to position the filter element, an inwardly projecting shoulder is provided on the wall of the sump upon which a shoulder on the frame of the filtering elements rests. Between the two shoulders a resilient seal is positioned and held compressed by a latching arrangement on the filter element. A preferred latching arrangement comprises plurality of detents that project laterally from the filter element frame and seat within indentations in the wall of the sump. Preferably, the filter element has a pleated filter media.

Automotive devices such as transmissions, both automatic and standard which use recirculating-transmission fluid, as well as internal combustion engines which use recirculating lubricating oil, filter the fluid and oil to remove particulate contaminants therefrom. In these devices, oil drains into oil pans prior to being recirculated through the transmission or engine. In automatic transmissions, it is a practice to use a pan-type filter with a flow tube covered by a pan/tray with the tray acting as a sump for the fluid. Some sumps have a horizontal floor and others have an inclined floor. The filter life is determined by the area of the media and by utilization of the media in a way that provides good flow characteristics.
In order to decrease the cost of transmission maintenance by protecting the quality of the oil used as transmission fluid, there is a need to increase the life of the filter media, while improving efficiency and decreasing restriction thereof.

Filter element for oil pans and filter element/oil pan combination


An Outrigger Obstruction Detection System for an Aerial Fire Truck that will warn the driver of an impending obstruction to an outrigger prior to full extension of the outrigger. The system comprises ultrasonic sensors located at or near each outrigger assembly on the aerial fire truck, which can be programmed to detect an object within the travel range of the outrigger. In addition, a control/indicator panel is mounted in the cab of the aerial fire truck. The control/indicator panel is positioned in the cab to allow the driver physical and visual access. The control/indicator panel contains the power switch, diagram of the truck and indicator lights used to warn the driver of an obstruction. The sensors provide an electrical signal to a control/indicator panel located in the cab of the aerial fire truck to alert the driver if an object is detected. This alert allows the driver to reposition the truck to clear the obstruction, which in turn reduces the time to react to the emergency. The ultrasonic sensors are affixed to the aerial fire truck via a pivotal mounting assembly, which allows proper sensing alignment to be achieved.

When the aerial apparatus of a fire truck is used, outriggers are extended to provide support for the chassis by widening the support base of the fire truck. When the aerial fire truck arrives on a scene, the driver of the fire truck must position the fire truck so that there are no obstructions to prevent the outriggers from fully extending.
The task of positioning an aerial fire truck at the scene of a fire/emergency involves many factors, including but not limited to the location of the fire/emergency; overhead obstacles such as trees, guide wires, electric wires, telephone wires, overhanging structures; obstacles such as telephone poles, vehicles, garbage dumpsters, buildings, and curbs, sidewalks, and slopes in terrain. Each of these obstacles need to be quickly evaluated by the driver of the aerial fire truck in order to effectively and efficiently position the truck in order to employ the aerial device to attack the fire/emergency.
One of the major complaints of fire fighters is the inability to effectively position the aerial fire truck to ensure that the outrigger will not be obstructed when being extended. It is important that the outriggers be fully extended. If the outrigger cannot be fully extended, the safety features of the aerial device will have to be overridden in order to operate the aerial device. This potentially puts the fire fighters in jeopardy, along with those being rescued.
In order to set up an aerial fire truck at the scene of a fire, the driver of the fire truck must position the truck in such a way as to not obstruct the outward movement of the outriggers. Currently, this is accomplished through experience of the driver visually determining whether an obstruction exists. If the driver was not correct in his judgment, the truck might have to be repositioned after a failed attempt to fully extend the outriggers. This increases the response time of the fire fighters to attack the fire/emergency. In other words, someone's house continues to burn; someone trapped in the building might be exposed to the fire/carbon monoxide/smoke longer; or someone might be swept downstream by the rushing currents because they could not hang on any longer. This could all be due to the environment surrounding the fire/emergency and the false judgment of the driver of the aerial fire truck.
Time is of the essence when emergency services such as fire fighters are called to a fire/emergency. If the aerial fire truck arrives on the scene, stops, and then must be repositioned because the initial stopping point has obstructions preventing the outriggers from fully extending, valuable time is lost which can lead to unnecessary property damage, bodily injury and even death.
Therefore, it would be advantageous for the fire fighters to ensure that the aerial fire truck is positioned at the scene so that there are no obstructions to prevent the outriggers from extending. Further, it would be advantageous to have a system and method for ensuring that obstructions do not prevent the outriggers from being extended thereby preventing valuable time from being wasted due to repositioning the aerial fire truck.

Outrigger obstruction detection system for aerial fire trucks


A laser diode package according to the present invention is composed of CTE mismatched components soldered together. The laser diode package includes a laser diode bar, at least one heat sink, and at least one exothermic layer. Solder layers are adjacent the heat sink(s) and laser diode bar, respectively. The exothermic layer(s) are positioned between the solder layers. The exothermic layer(s) are exposed to an energy source which causes an exothermic reaction to propagate through the exothermic layer thereby melting the solder layers and solder layers. The exothermic layer(s) may be designed to provide sufficient heat to melt the solder layers and solder layers but provide only minimal heat to the laser diode bar and heat sink(s). Several packages can be stacked together to form a laser diode array.

Semiconductor laser diodes have numerous advantages. They are small in that the width of their active regions is typically submicron to a few microns and their height is usually no more than a fraction of a millimeter. The length of their active regions is typically less than about a millimeter. The internal reflective surfaces, which produce emission in one direction, are formed by cleaving the substrate from which the laser diodes are produced and, thus, have high mechanical stability. The laser diode typically has several emitters, each of which is aligned with a corresponding active region.
High efficiencies are possible with semiconductor laser diodes with some pulsed junction laser diodes having external quantum efficiencies near 65%. Semiconductor lasers produce radiation at wavelengths from about 20 to about 0.7 microns depending on the semiconductor alloy that is used. For example, laser diodes made of gallium arsenide with aluminum doping (AlGaAs) emit radiation at approximately 0.8 microns (˜800 nm) which is near the absorption spectrum of common solid-state laser rods and slabs made from Neodymium doped, Yttrium-Aluminum Garnet (Nd:YAG), and other crystals and glasses. Thus, semiconductor laser diodes can be used as the optical pumping source for larger, solid-state laser systems.
Universal utilization of semiconductor laser diodes has been restricted by thermal related problems that can cause catastrophic failures. These problems are associated with the large heat dissipation per unit area of the laser diodes which results in elevated temperatures within the active regions and stresses induced by thermal cycling. Laser diode efficiency and the service life of the laser diode is decreased as the operating temperature in the active region increases. Thus, high powered laser diodes require significant heat sinking.
Solder is often used to make electrical and thermal connection between laser diodes and heat sinks. Conventionally, soldering is performed by applying a solder layer between the laser diode and heat sink(s), then externally heating the laser diode and heat sink(s) to the melting temperature of the solder. However, problems arise because laser diodes and heat sinks are typically made from different materials having different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE). The CTE is a measurement of the expansion and contraction of each material during heating and cooling cycles, respectively. Attachment of CTE mismatched devices can cause degraded performance and reduced service life of the devices due to warpage or fracturing during the heating and cooling cycles of conventional soldering. Because heat sinks are typically metallic and laser diodes are generally non-metallic materials, CTE mismatching is particularly problematic.
To minimize CTE mismatching problems associated with conventional soldering methods, a choice is often made between using either a soft solder on a high thermally conductive heat sink or hard solder on a low thermally conductive heat sink. However, using the hard solder on a low thermally conductive heat sink causes higher temperature operation of the laser diode, which can reduce the service life of the laser diode. Using the soft solder on a high thermally conductive heat sink can lead to electrical and thermal migration of the solder under certain operating conditions, which also can reduce the service life of the laser diode. Thus, in addition to thermal problems related to operation, there are potential thermal problems related to the assembly of the laser diodes.
Therefore, a need exists for a way to solder CTE mismatched high thermally conductive heat sinks to laser diodes with hard solder.

Method of manufacturing laser diode packages and arrays


The tripod apparatus provides a tripod stand with player tray for removably holding a variety of media player sizes and shapes. The media players may be any of a variety of such including but not limited to CD players, DVD players, and laptop computers. The adjustability of the player tray provides for players of a variety of widths and depths and also provides elongated eyelets for any players that allow securement through various forms of fasteners. The angled handle of the player tray receiver allows a user to easily adjust direction as chosen. The telescopic stalk of the tripod allows height adjustment. Further, the tray receiver may be pivoted with height angle with the easily-used 45 degree angled handle. The clip on media holder provides holder slots for convenience in storing various media. The apparatus is lightweight, significantly collapsible, and highly portable.

While various tripods exist, particularly like those used in holding cameras and music, the present apparatus is a tripod apparatus especially suited to holding a media player, such as that for DVD's. The bracketry adjusts to fit various players. Additionally, an especially useful feature is the media holder which removably clips to the telescopic stalk tripod.


Techniques are described for implementing a cloud computer system to facilitate communication between a computing device (e.g., a mobile computing device) and enterprise computer systems. In certain embodiments, the cloud computer system may receive, from a computing device, a request for a service provided by an enterprise computer system. The cloud computer system may determine security authentication of a user for the requested service. A security protocol may be determined for a requested enterprise computer system and a security token may be generated for the request according to the determined security protocol. The request may be sent to the requested enterprise computer system. In some embodiments, security authentication for a request to an enterprise computer system may be determined based on previous authentication. The cloud computer system may be configured to communicate with several different enterprise computer systems according to their supported protocols (e.g., communication protocol and/or security protocol).

Companies are striving to find ways to connect electronic mobile devices to their enterprise computer systems. This is so that on-the-go employees can access information remotely from where the information is stored on enterprise computer systems. Thus, employees can manage their information no matter where they might be—as if they were at the office. Such capabilities can allow salespeople to work from the road, service technicians to look up parts while at a customer site, and other employees to work from home.
Similarly, some companies would like to allow end customers to access data from their enterprise computer systems, which are often times implemented using back-end computer systems. Such access may differentiate a company from its competitors, improve the customer experience, and lower costs for the company. For example, certain stores can allow a customer to search store inventory for an item of merchandise. This type of self-service improves the customer experience by allowing him or her to shop on his or her own terms at odd times of day, as well as lowers the need for salespeople, operators, and other staff.
Mobile device applications, commonly referred to as "apps," are present on many smart phones and other electronic mobile communication devices. Depending on a type of app or the type of data used by an app, an app may need to connect and synchronize with different enterprise computer systems. Many enterprise computer systems may be supported by different back-end computer systems, which can vary for the application and the type of data. As such, different back-end enterprise systems may use different communication protocols and mechanisms to communicate data to devices. As such, different mobile computing devices running a variety of apps may encounter challenges for communicating with different back-end computer systems supporting an enterprise computer system.
In addition to the challenges in enabling communication between an app and a specific enterprise computing systems, security may become a major concern in allowing access to an enterprise's internal computer system. The differences in communication protocols supported between the mobile computing devices and the enterprise computer systems may further complicate managing security access for communications between mobile computing devices and enterprise computer systems. Different mechanisms may be implemented to ensure authentication of an application to access a particular enterprise computer system according to a proprietary security protocol. Some have attempted to address such compatibility issues for security by connecting off-the-shelf consumer mobile devices with companies' back-end enterprise systems. These devices may be configured with applications or operating systems configured to connect to an enterprise's network through special portals dedicated to communicate with back-end computer systems supporting an enterprise computer system.
Manufacturers of mobile devices, application developers, and enterprises' may benefit from more flexible and robust techniques for connecting mobile devices to an enterprise's back-end computer systems.


An apparatus and method is disclosed for simultaneously electroplating at least two parts in a series electrical configuration in an electroplating system using a shared electrolyte with excellent consistency in thickness profiles, coating weights and coating microstructure. Parts in high volume and at low capital and operating cost are produced as coatings or in free-standing form.

Modern lightweight and durable articles require a variety of physical properties which frequently cannot be achieved with conventional coarse-grained metallic materials. Synthesis of fine-grained metallic materials using electrodeposition is described in the prior art. For structural applications these electroplated or electroformed parts require much greater thicknesses than used in coatings for wear, corrosion or aesthetic purposes, i.e., the required thickness of structural metallic layers range from 25 microns to 5 cm and, unlike prior art applications, the structural layers and coatings require weight and thickness tolerances not consistently achievable with conventional rack plating techniques where all parts to be plated are electrically connected in parallel. Unlike thin coatings, in these applications the weight of the electroplated material typically ranges from 5-100% of the total weight of the article.
As conventional rack and barrel plating, constituting "parallel plating" characterized by poor individual part thickness and weight control, does not provide sufficient part reproducibility and industrial settings do not permit plating one part at the time in a plating cell to achieve tight part weight and thickness specifications, plating methods are sought enabling the economic and simultaneous production of parts by a process which is readily scalable.
Methods for producing multiple parts in a single plating tank using DC are known.
Andricacos in U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,532 (1994) discloses a multi-compartment electroplating system for electroplating two or more disks simultaneously such that the electrodeposited material is substantially uniform in thickness and composition. Electroplating solution is circulated between a reservoir and a multi-compartment tank which has one cathode-paddle-anode (CPA) assembly for each compartment. Each CPA assembly has an anode, a cathode adapted for holding a wafer and employing a single thieving electrode which covers the entire floor of the compartment not covered by the wafer, and a paddle. Andricacos' plating process specifies the use of one power supply to provide current to every anode-cathode set and a second power supply to provide power to each anode and thieving electrode set.


The following invention represents a postcard, comprising a laminar body adapted to be decorated externally with at least one predefined illustration. Said body has an opening for access to an internal recess, said opening is normally closed by a removable cover. The recess accommodates at least one seed and a substrate, and that at least one seed is arranged on the top of the substrate and directed toward said opening, for the sprouting of a plant after the removal of the cover and the addition of water into the recess. The seed is normally being retained on the top of said substrate by a laminar containment element, which is made of water-soluble material and is interposed between the substrate and the cover.

It is something widely acknowledged that all around the world people use to send postcards to their friends and relatives. It consists generally in a rectangular-shaped thin cardboard, which carries an illustration on one side and a blank space where a brief message can be written on the other.
Usually, the sender buys and sends the postcard during holidays or whenever she/he's away from home in a way to dedicate a wish or a thought to a faraway person. In this context, the illustration of the postcard reproduces a more or less representative image of the place where the sender is.
More recently, due to the broad expansion of new means of communication, such as e-mails and/or smartphones, this main way of using postcards progressively decreased (even if it has not disappeared yet, for sure), even though it is still very easy to find postcards in souvenir, gadget and gift shops, with some of them showing new designs too.
In fact, postcards are being commercialized as a promotional object or illustrated souvenirs more and more often: they are not being sent anymore, but they are being kept or given to somebody instead, especially as a reminder of special places or events.
As they do not especially need to be sent, newly designed postcards often include a heterogeneity of shapes, materials, dimensions and new features in order to be more captivating for the clientele.


An improved method and apparatus for treating herniated discs involving the preliminary intra annular ultrasonic softening of the herniated disc portions to be removed with a discectomy instrument that suctions and cuts the softened portions of the herniated disc. An ultrasonic probe is inserted into the central region of the disc to soften the desired region. A discectomy instrument is subsequently inserted into the softened portion of the disc and tissue is removed by suctioning the softened tissue portion into the tip of the instrument needle and severing the suctioned portion of the disc within the tip of the needle. The cut material is then aspirated.

The present invention relates, generally, to an apparatus and method for treating herniated discs. More particularly, the present invention relates to an ultrasound method and apparatus for first softening a damaged disc region before removing the portion of the disc causing pain. The removal of the softened herniated disc material is preferably done with a Nucleotome.RTM. system as described herein.
A herniated disc causes the patient pain by applying pressure against spinal nerves. For over thirty years, the surgical approach has involved open surgical procedures. However, such procedures may be accompanied by complications, such as damage to ligaments, lamina, and the vertebral joints, irritation of the dural sac or nerve roots, as well as occasional post-operative hematoma even infection and formation of the scar tissue. Microsurgical techniques have been used since around 1975. Although microsurgical techniques reduce the overall surgical trauma suffered by the patient, highly specialized instruments must be used In combination with a microscope. Thus, microsurgical techniques are much more intricate, time-consuming, and stressful than open surgical procedures.
One open nonsurgical method of treating herniated discs is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,596 to Lax et al. This method uses radio frequency or other forms of energy to shrink collagen connective tissue. However, such methods have not proven to be very effective. Moreover, this method treats the disc at the dorsal exterior of the disc outside the annulus and, therefore, increases the risk of damaging the adjacent spinal cord or spinal nerves. It is not used or reported in any substantial series of cases.
Another nonsurgical method of treating herniated discs is the use of chymopapain and chemonucleolysis. However, injection of chymopapain into the lumbar nucleus pulposus may be accompanied by such complications as hypersensitivity to the drug (i.e., allergic reactions, which may result in anaphylaxis), transverse myelitis, subsequent paraplegia, and even death. A popular current method of treating lumbar disc herniation involves the use of a discectomy system manufactured by Surgical Dynamics and sold under the trademark Nucleotome.RTM. System. This system involves insertion of a guide pin trocar into the area to be treated, and subsequent insertion of a cannula with a tapered dilator over the guide pin. A trephine is placed over the guide pin and through the cannula and rotated to create an incision through the annulus into the disc. The trephine and guide pin are then removed, leaving the cannula in place. Next, a Nucleotome.RTM. probe is inserted into the cannula. The probe suctions a portion of the disc into the probe's hollow interior, where the disc is cut and suctioned away. Complications such as clogging of the probe and removal of an inadequate amount of disc material may occur.
While the use of ultrasonically vibrated tools for aspirating various tissues is known in the art, they have not been applied to the removal of herniated disc material within the annulus fibrosis. Current discectomy methods either disintegrate portions of the disc, or suction portions of the disc, which is often difficult because of the consistency of the disc material. With currently known procedures, a Dong tube (the Nucleotome.RTM.) is inserted within the annulus into a damaged disc region and small pieces of disc material are drawn out through the tube by a stream of fluid aspirated into the region and a vacuum applied to suction material out of the region. The vacuum sucks a small amount of disc material into the tube, where it is sliced off by a cutting blade with a guillotine-like action. Water running through the tube flushes the material out. The cycle is repeated until an adequate amount of disc is removed which reduces the pressure on the spinal nerve(s) or spinal cord, or both, depending on the area being treated.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,363 to Banko et al. shows the use of an ultrasonically vibrated instrument for disintegrating unwanted tissue, such as a cataracted lens, in an eye. A first passage in the instrument is provided for carrying treatment fluid to the region to be treated, and a second passage is provided for carrying a suspension of unwanted material in the treatment fluid away from the treated area. Additionally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,016,882 and 4,136,700 to Broadwin et al. also show the use of an ultrasonically vibrated tool for disintegrating or comminuting soft tissue which is then aspirated through the hollow tip of the device. The tube is vibrated transversely with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tip and to the direction of contact. Ultrasonic vibration is accompanied by simultaneous aspiration. The disclosed device may allegedly be used to excise spinal column tumors.
Another use of an ultrasonically vibrated instrument is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,619 to Wuchinich. The Wuchinich instrument is allegedly usable to melt cement in a bone without affecting the integrity of the bone. The melted cement material is said to be drawn into the tip by applied suction. The tip may also be rotated so that the cement is exposed to shearing as well as axial vibration.

Intra annular ultrasound disc apparatus and method


The embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a touch display panel and a touch display apparatus and relate to the technical field of display, which can realize the function of preventing the static damage without affecting the touch control function. The touch display panel in the present disclosure is arranged with driving electrodes and sensing electrodes, and is further arranged with an anti-static layer which is correspondingly distributed in regions of the touch display panel other than sensing regions including overlapped regions of the driving electrodes and the sensing electrodes; and a controllable switch through which the anti-static layer is grounded.

With a fast development of touch display screens, current mainstream products are all employed with a structure design of an Add-on touch screen. However, the conventional Add-on touch screen is very bulky and costly. With requirement for a thin display by consumers, a In-Cell liquid crystal screen has become an important development direction in the touch display field.
In-Cell refers to a method for incorporating the function of the touch panel into a pixel circuit of a liquid crystal pixel, that is, for incorporating the touch sensor function into a liquid crystal cell, which can make the screen thinner. The current In-Cell touch display screen generally employs a capacitor sensing technology. In particular, a touch driving electrode (a Tx electrode) and a sensing electrode (a Rx electrode) manufactured for achieving the touch function are arranged in the liquid crystal cell. The Tx electrode and the Rx electrode are vertical with each other, wherein the Tx electrode is controlled by a touch control chip and outputs a series of rectangular waves line by line sequentially, and the Rx electrode will be set up with a DC voltage value as a receiving terminal. When no finger is touching the liquid crystal screen and the Tx electrode is outputting a pulse, the capacitive coupling between the Rx electrode and the Tx electrode in an overlapped region of the Tx electrode and the Rx electrode as well as a region adjacent to the overlapped region will make a voltage of the Rx electrode fluctuate, and at this time, the touch control chip will consider the fluctuation as belonging to a case in which there is no touch. When a finger is touching the liquid crystal screen, a capacitor will be formed between the finger and the Tx electrode as well as between the finger and the Rx electrode. When the Tx electrode is outputting the pulse, the coupling situation between the Rx electrode and the Tx electrode will vary due to the above capacitor, so that the voltage fluctuation situation at the Rx electrode is different from that when there is no finger touching. The touch control chip determines such difference by an algorithm to achieve the purpose for detecting the touched location.
In the In-Cell touch display screen, in order to increase the sensitivity of the touch detection, the Rx electrode is generally arranged on a color filter substrate close to the liquid crystal screen, and the backside of the color filter substrate (a side away from the liquid crystal) is further arranged with a grounded transparent conductive layer (an anti-static layer) for decreasing the static effect on the display effect of the liquid crystal panel. The inventors found that the anti-static layer will prevent the touch function from being realized, and affect the sensitivity of the touch control. However, if the anti-static layer is removed, the capability of bearing the static by the liquid crystal panel will be decreased to a large extent.

Touch display panel and touch display apparatus