A power tool is provided with an adjustable handle assembly. The assembly has a housing and a handle connected to the housing. The handle may be movable between a plurality of positions and has a gripping portion. There may be a lock member associated with either of the movable handle or the housing. The other of the handle and the housing would have a mating member that cooperates with the lock member to lock the handle in position. The assembly may be provided with an actuator movable between a lock position to lock the handle and an unlock position to allow the handle to be moved. The handle may extend from a rear portion of the housing.

This invention relates generally to a power tool adjustable handle assembly and, more particularly, to an electrically-powered polisher capable of rotating a pad to polish a workpiece.
The tool industry offers a variety of power tools for performing work on various types of workpieces. These power tools, however, have a variety of shortcomings from both the consumer and the operator's perspective. From the consumer's perspective, one common shortcoming is that power tools do not offer a variety of effective positions with which an operator may grasp the power tool. For example, many power tools have stationary handles with which the operator is to grasp the power tool (e.g., one forward handle and one rearward handle, two side handles, etc.). Although the stationary handle configuration may make it comfortable to operate the tool in a particular position or to perform a specific task, it may also make it uncomfortable to operate the tool in another position or to perform a different task. Thus, by limiting the operator in this way, the power tool may become less comfortable to work with and more difficult to use for extended periods of operation.
Another consumer shortcoming is that current power tool configurations can force the operator to hold and actuate the power tool in a specific manner or with a specific hand arrangement, rather than provide the operator with the freedom to hold and actuate the tool as desired. For example, as mentioned above, some power tools may require the operator to hold a forward handle with one hand and a rearward handle with another. This configuration may force the operator to operate the power tool using a hand arrangement he or she does not feel comfortable using, or may force the operator to hold the tool in an uncomfortable manner so that the operator can operate the power tool with a hand arrangement that feels most comfortable.
Yet another consumer shortcoming is that existing power tools do not offer handles with enhanced gripping surfaces for an operator to use to grip the tool. For example, many power tools, such as polishers, are used outdoors in hot climates where operation of the tool often causes the operator to sweat, and possibly even involve operation of the tool in damp environments, such as, for example, near a recently washed vehicle. This often results in the operator having a difficult time in gripping and/or controlling the power tool due to a lack of enhanced gripping surfaces.
From a manufacturer's perspective, a common shortcoming with current power tools is that they are difficult to pack and ship from one location to another. For example, many tools have stationary handles that increase the size of the product and its packaging. This may result in a reduction of the number of units that can be shipped at one time which, in turn, can increase the cost of a tool due to the added costs associated with multiple shipments.
Thus, there is a need for a power tool adjustable handle assembly offering a variety of effective positions with which an operator may grasp the power tool, thereby providing freedom to hold and actuate the tool as desired, and providing a power tool which is easy to pack and ship.


A storage system caches logical-to-physical address table entries read in volatile memory. The logical-to-physical address table entries are stored in codewords. The storage system can vary a number or size of an entry in a codeword. Additionally or alternatively, each codeword can store both complete and partial logical-to-physical address table entries. In one example, a codeword having 62 bytes of data and two bytes of error correction code stores 15 complete logical-to-physical address table entries and one partial logical-to-physical address table entry, where the remainder of the partial entry is stored in another codeword. This configuration strikes a good balance between storage space efficiency and random-access write performance.

In some storage environments, a host provides a logical address for a read or write command to a storage system, and the storage system consults a logical-to-physical address translation table to identify a physical address of non-volatile memory associated with the logical address. The table is stored in the non-volatile memory, but some or all of the table can be cached in volatile memory for faster access. Error correction code can be generated based on the cached table and stored in the volatile memory.

Storage system and method for storing logical-to-physical address table entries in a codeword in volatile memory


A vapor-liquid separator is disclosed which is capable of improving a dischargeability of a separated liquid and of suppressing a reversed flow. The present vapor-liquid separator comprises a cylindrical separator main body, an introducing part for introducing the vapor-liquid mixed fluid into the separator main body in the tangential direction, a liquid discharging part for discharging a separated liquid, a gas exhausting part for exhausting the separated gas, a storing part for storing a liquid passed through the liquid discharging part, a stored-liquid discharging part provided in the storing part to discharge a stored liquid and a communicating part for communicating the storing part with an upstream side of a vapor-liquid separation region of the separator main body and/or the introducing part.

Conventionally, there has been known a vapor-liquid separator which centrifugally separates a blow-by gas leaking from a combustion chamber of an automotive engine into gas and oil, for example in JP-A 2005-146972 and JP-A 2003-49625.
JP-A 2005-146972 discloses a vapor-liquid separator which is provided with an oil storing tank (6) for improving oil dischargeability, and is provided in an oil discharging port (61) of the oil storing tank (6) with a check valve (7). This check valve closes the oil discharging port (61) during an operation of the engine and opens the oil discharging port (61) at a time of stopping the engine.
In addition, JP-A 2003-49625 discloses a vapor-liquid separator in which a oil discharging port (46) is disposed on a wall of the separator main body.
However, according to the vapor-liquid separator in JP-A 2005-146972, the structure is made such as to store the oil within the tank intermittently during the operation of the engine and a large capacity of tank is necessary. In addition, since the vapor-liquid separator has the check valve and the opening and closing mechanism thereof, and the structure is complicated. Further, there is a risk that a sticking of a valve body, a freezing or the like is generated due to an increase of an oil viscosity, an operation in a cold district or the like.
Moreover, according to the vapor-liquid separator in JP-A 2005-146972, when the hole diameter of the oil discharging hole is large, the oil separated from the oil discharging hole sometimes flows backward at the time of sucking the blow-by gas. On the other hand, when the hole diameter of the oil discharging hole is small, there is a problem that the oil dischargeability is lowered.


A peg hook staple is used in conjunction with at least one peg hook and a perforated wall board so that the at least one peg hook can be firmly secured to the perforated wall board through a first extremity and a second extremity of the peg hook staple. A handle portion of the peg hook staple allows the users to easily install and remove the peg hook staple. The peg hook staple eliminates lateral, upward, and outward movement of the at least one peg hook as a plurality of indentations of the peg hook staple secures the at least one peg hook to the perforated wall board.

A universal problem with current conventional peg board hooks is their looseness and tendency to detach and fall when an object is placed on or removed from the peg board hook. The S-shaped end of the peg board hook that is typically inserted into the peg board hole is usually the primary means of retaining method between the peg board hook and the peg board. Any slight upward or lateral movement often causes the S-shaped end of the peg board hook to dislodge from the peg board hole and fall. Many attempts and inventions have been made to remedy this problem, but the existing inventions do not perform effectively in all of these applications. All of or part of all existing inventions may or may not state the ability to prevent lateral movement of the peg board hook. While lateral movement does not cause disengagement of the peg board hook and only an upward and outward movement of the bottom portion of the peg board hook can cause disengagement, the lateral movement still causes the peg board hooks to misaligned with each other.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a peg hook staple that eliminates the lateral, upward, outward movement of the peg board hook. The present invention provides an improved component over all of the existing forms of securing devices that retain peg board hooks to the peg board. The present invention firmly secures a variety of shapes and sizes of wire hooks, loops, and other hanger shaped peg board hooks with a perforated composition board panel board, commonly known as peg board, to store or display tools, blister packs, envelopes, cards and a wide variety of other objects.


A method for compensating a baseline wander of a transmission signal and related circuit are provided. The transmission signal includes a plurality of first pulses and a plurality of second pulses for representing digital data coded in the transmission signal. The method includes generating an accumulation result according to a number of the first pulses and a number of the second pulses for estimating the baseline wander of the transmission signal, and compensating the baseline wander of the transmission line according to the accumulation result.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a compensation method and related circuits for baseline wander of a transmission signal, and more particularly, to a method and related circuits to compensate baseline wander of a transmission signal by an accumulation result according to numbers of a plurality of pulses for different digital data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the development of an Internet communication system, people all over the world are capable of delivering lots of information to each other in high speed, and which improve the spread of knowledge and technology. Therefore it is extremely rewarding to maintain a high quality data transmission through the Internet, and it is also an enormous challenge for current engineers to focus research on a highly reliable communication system.
A schematic diagram for two user systems 10A and 10B to communicate through a transmission line 18 is shown in FIG. 1. Either one of the user systems could be a data switching system such as a circuit switching or a package switching system, a router, or a terminal. The transmission line 18 could be a network transmission line such as an Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) 5 of Ethernet. The user systems 10A and 10B comprise transformers 16A and 16B, and resistors R0a and R0b respectively to match the impedance of the transmission line 18. A transmitter 14A of the user system 10A generates a transmission signal with differential mode, which means the differential transmission signal comprises a positive and a negative transmission signal out of phase with each other. The positive and the negative transmission signals of the differential transmission signal are correlated to achieve a distant transmission through two connecting wires. The positive and the negative transmission signals of the differential transmission signal from transmitter 14A are output to node P0A and node P1A respectively and are coupled to the transmission line 18 by a transformer 16A. The differential transmission signals are then transmitted to the user system 10B by way of two connecting wires. Thereafter, the transmission signals are coupled to nodes P0B and P1B respectively by a transformer 16B and are received by the differential inputs of a receiver 14B. As a result, the user system 10A is able to transfer data to the other user system 10B through the transmission line 18.
However, there are some problems to be solved in the above described signal transmission process. For instance, although the transformers 16A and 16B are utilized to match the impedance of the transmission line 18, the feature of high pass filtering of transformers will diminish low frequency components of the transmission signals, which thus cause the voltage levels of the transmission signals to drift. Take an Ethernet network for example; some coding process such as MLT-3 coding must be done on the transmission signal for data transmission to the other user system before the signal is coupled to the transmission line by the transformer. After coding, there is a long-term average composed of composed of the low frequency component of the transmission signal. The amplitudes of low frequency components are related to the digital data with different levels in the transmission signal. When the transmission signal passes through the transformer 16A to the transmission line 18, the low frequency component of the transmission signal will be filtered by the transformer 16A which functions as a high pass filter. That is, the long-term average will be removed from the transmission signal. Thus, the baseline wander occurs at the other user system receiving the transmission signal.
Please refer to FIG. 2, which has a horizontal axis representing time. FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of level drifting of a receiving waveform due to the baseline wander of a transmission signal. While transmitting digital data from one user system 10A to the other user system 10B, the waveform of the transmission signal at node P0A is shown to be the waveform S0 in FIG. 2. Different digital data in the transmission signal is signified by three different kinds of pulses with different levels. For instance, during the duration Tp, there are first pulses with a plurality of high level periods, and the first pulses represent a plurality of digital data "1" in the transmission signal. During the duration Tn, there are second pulses with low level which represents digital data "−1" in the transmission signal. During the duration Tz, there are third pulses with zero level periods, i.e. level L0, which represents digital data "0" in the transmission signal. Therefore the digital data of the transmission signal is generated by coding the transmission signal waveform S0 utilizing three different types of pulses representing "1", "0", and "−1". After transmitting to node P0B through the transmission line 18 and transformers 16A and 16B, the long-term average of waveform S0 is shown to be a waveform D in FIG. 2 with a reference zero level L0 shown as a horizontal dashed line. During the duration Ta, since the number of first pulses with the high level is far larger than the number of second pulses with the low level, the long-term average of waveform S0 is getting higher and the waveform D increases gradually with time. The increasing waveform can be expressed by a mathematic formula of (1−c·exp(t/T)) wherein c is a proportional constant, T is a time constant, and exp is exponential function. In another situation, during the duration Tb, since the number of first pulses with the high level is about the same as the number of second pulses with the low level, the long-term average of waveform S0 is getting lower and the waveform D decreases gradually with time, in contrast to the duration Ta with the higher longer-term average. The decreasing waveform can be expressed by a mathematic formula of exp(t/T). Similarly, during the duration Tc, since the number of first pulses with the high level is again far larger than the number of second pulses with the low level, the long-term average of waveform S0 is again getting higher and the waveform D increases gradually with time, in contrast to the duration Tb with the lower longer-term average. The increasing waveform can again be expressed by a mathematic formula of (1−c·exp(t/T)).
As described above, the low frequency components comprising the long-term average of the transmission signal is filtered out while the transmission signal passes through the transformer 16A in one user system 10A and the transformer 16B in the other user system 10B. Hence, the received waveform of the transmission signal at node P0B in the user system 10B is actually the same as the waveform S shown in FIG. 2. In other words, waveform S can be obtained by subtracting the waveform D from the waveform S0. Because of the filter effect, the waveform D composed of the low frequency component is removed from the waveform S0. For that reason, The levels of the pulses of waveform S drift as shown in FIG. 2. The received waveform S appears the waveform S0 carried by the waveform D. Therefore, the baseline wander occurs, and the digital data carried by the transmission signal cannot be retrieved correctly. Generally, the receiver 14B of the user system 12B retrieves the digital data from the series of pulses of waveform S based on criteria levels such as the levels of dashed line Lp and Ln shown in FIG. 2. Pulse levels higher than the voltage level Lp are represented by a digital "1" of a first pulse, and pulse levels lower than the voltage level Ln are represented by a digital "−1" of a second pulse. However, as the level wander of the pulses of waveform S occurs due to the baseline wander of the transmission signal at node P0B, the receiver 14B is not able to retrieve the digital data from the transmission signal correctly. For example, during the durations Te1 and Te2, due to the loss of low frequency components comprising the long-term average (i.e. waveform D), the downward offset of waveform S causes the levels of the first pulses to shift down below the voltage level Lp. For that reason, a wrong, interpretation of the first pulses, which are supposed to have higher pulse levels than voltage level Lp, occurs due to the baseline wander, and the data transmission is mistaken. Although the baseline wander phenomenon demonstrated in FIG. 2 is based on the positive transmission signal of the differential transmission signal transmitting from node P0A to node P0B, similar phenomenon happens to the negative transmission signal transmitting from node P1A to node P1B, as is well known to those skilled in the art.

Method for compensating baseline wander of a transmission signal and related circuit


The purpose of this invention is to provide a compound for preventing or treating an ocular disease and a pharmaceutical composition comprising the same. This invention provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound as defined by the formula (I′) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. The pharmaceutical composition is useful for preventing or treating an ocular disease such as retinochoroidal degeneration.

Prostaglandins play a major role in the inflammation process and the inhibition of prostaglandin production, especially production of PGG2, PGH2 and PGE2, has been a common target of antiinflammatory drug discovery. However, common non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that are active in reducing the prostaglandin-induced pain and swelling associated with the inflammation process are also active in affecting other prostaglandin-regulated processes not associated with the inflammation process. Thus, use of high doses of most common NSAIDs can produce severe side effects, including life threatening ulcers, which limit their therapeutic potential. An alternative to NSAIDs is the use of corticosteroids, which have even more drastic side effects, especially when long term therapy is involved.
NSAIDs prevent the production of prostaglandins by inhibiting enzymes in the human arachidonic acid/prostaglandin pathway. The expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is specifically induced in the pathological conditions such as inflammation, pain, and cancer, and is involved in the generation and maintenance of these conditions. According to the line, a series of drugs called coxibs such as celecoxib, rofecoxib, valdecoxib, parecoxib, and etoricoxib have been developed.
Coxib-drugs are useful for the treatment of diseases mediated by cyclooxygenase-2, such as inflammation, pain, cancer, fever, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, migraine, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, asthma, lupus and psoriasis, dysmenorrhea, premature labor, gout, ankylosing spondylitis, bursitis, heat burn, sprain, and contusion (non-patent literature 1).
The benzopyran, naphtopyran, dihydroquinoline, benzothiopyran and dihydronapthalene derivatives, represented by the formula (I) or formula (I′) in this invention are disclosed in the patent literature 1, and preferably selectively inhibit cyclooxygenase-2 over cyclooxygenase-1. Among them, the benzopyran derivative, for example, affords more potent analgesia and more rapid onset of effect than ibuprofen which is the first choice among the conventional drugs. Furthermore it has been confirmed in the preclinical studies that the benzopyran derivatives have lower renal problems which are a matter of concern in conventional COX-2 inhibitors and NSAIDs.


A method for creating an announcement stream for a geographic region is provided. The method receives, at a designated computer system, characterizing metadata for a first audio/video stream; analyzes a second audio/video stream to obtain characterizing metadata for the second video stream; compares, with the computer system, the characterizing metadata for the first video stream to the characterizing metadata for the second video stream to generate offset data; and calculates timing information corresponding to segment boundaries for the second video stream using the offset data.

Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) and personal video recorders (PVRs) allow viewers to record video in a digital format to a disk drive or other type of storage medium for later playback. DVRs are often incorporated into set-top boxes for satellite and cable television services. A television program stored on a set-top box allows a viewer to perform time shifting functions, and may additionally allow a viewer to skip over commercial breaks and other portions of the recording that the viewer does not desire to watch. However, the user performs this function manually, for example, using a fast forward button of a remote control associated with the DVR. This manual fast forwarding is an inconvenience for the user. Further, manual fast forwarding by a user often leads to inaccurate results, because the user may fast forward past portions of the recording they desire to watch, or may resume playback during the portion of the recording that they want to skip over.
A number of techniques for automatically skipping over commercial breaks have been investigated and developed. One known technique relies on markers or tags embedded within the video stream data itself. Other approaches rely on closed captioning data to identify segment boundaries of interest. Such conventional techniques, however, may not be suitable for deployment across multiple time zones and across multiple DMAs, because closed captioning timing may vary from one DMA to another, because the commercials may differ from one DMA to another, because the timing of commercial breaks may differ from one time zone to another.

Geographically independent determination of segment boundaries within a video stream


The object of the present invention is to form a low-concentration impurity region with good accuracy in a top gate type TFT. Phosphorus is added to a semiconductor layer by using a pattern made of a conductive film as a mask to form an N-type impurity region in a self-alignment manner. A positive photoresist is applied to a substrate so as to cover the pattern and then is exposed to light applied to the back of the substrate and then is developed, whereby a photoresist 110 is formed. The pattern is etched by using the photoresist pattern as an etching mask to form a gate electrode. A channel forming region, a source region, a drain region, and low-concentration impurity regions, are formed in the semiconductor layer in a self-alignment manner by using the gate electrode as a doping mask.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor and an active matrix substrate using the thin film transistor as a switching element.
2. Description of the Related Arts
A thin film transistor (hereinafter referred to as a TFT) is utilized for the switching element of a pixel electrode of an active matrix type liquid crystal display device. As the demand for a high-definition liquid crystal display grows, the semiconductor layer of the TFT is required to be formed of polycrystalline silicon instead of amorphous silicon.
If the semiconductor layer of a TFT is formed of polycrystalline silicon, it is possible to manufacture the TFT such that it has high mobility and a large on-current, and hence not only a pixel matrix circuit but also a driver circuit can be integrally formed on the same substrate. However, in the TFT using the polycrystalline silicon, a current leaking from a drain in an off state (that is, off current) is large, and hence, if it is used as the switching element of a matrix circuit, it can not hold the electric potential of the pixel electrode. Therefore, it has been a big problem to reduce the off current of the TFT.
In order to solve this problem, an attempt has been made to relieve voltage concentrated on the drain and to reduce the off current by making a TFT having an offset structure or a light doped drain structure (hereinafter referred to as an LDD structure). A method of manufacturing the TFT having the LDD structure will briefly be described by the use of FIG. 9.
An underlayer film 11 made of a silicon oxide film is formed on a glass substrate 10. An amorphous silicon film is formed on the underlayer film 11 and is polycrystallized by applying an excimer laser thereto. The polycrystallized silicon film is patterned in a shape of island to form a semiconductor layer 12. A gate insulating film 13 made of silicon oxide is formed such that it covers the semiconductor layer 12. A metal film made of aluminum, tantalum, or the like is formed on the gate insulating film 13. A photoresist mask 14 is formed and the metal film is patterned in a predetermined shape by using the photoresist mask 14 to form a gate electrode 15 (see FIG. 9 (A)).
The photoresist mask 14 is removed and then impurities to be donors or acceptors are added to the semiconductor layer 12 by ion doping or by ion implantation by using the gate electrode 15 as a doping mask, whereby impurity regions 16, 17 are formed in the semiconductor layer 12 in a self-alignment manner (see FIG. 9(B)).
A photoresist mask 18 is formed which is wider in the direction of length of channel than the gate electrode 15. The length of a low-concentration impurity region is determined by the shape of the photoresist pattern 18 (see FIG. (C)).
Impurities to be donors or acceptors are added to the semiconductor layer 12 by ion doping or by ion implantation by using the photoresist pattern 18 as a doping mask, whereby a source region 21, a drain region 22, and low-concentration impurity regions 24, 25 are formed in the semiconductor layer 12 (see FIG. 9(D)).
The photoresist pattern 18 is removed and then the impurities added to the semiconductor layer 12 are activated by applying laser light to the substrate or by heating the substrate. An interlayer insulating film 27 comprising silicon oxide film is formed. Contact holes, that lead to the source region 21, the drain region 22, or the terminal part (not shown) of the gate electrode 15, are made in the interlayer insulating film 27. A metal film made of titanium or the like is formed and is patterned to form a source electrode 28, a drain electrode 29 and the lead wiring (not shown) of the gate electrode 15 (see FIG. 9(E)).
In a conventional manufacturing method shown in FIG. 9, the photoresist pattern 18 is used as a doping mask so as to make an LDD structure. Therefore, in order to form the low-concentration impurity region with high accuracy, a photolithography mask is required to be aligned with high accuracy, but there is a problem that as an element becomes finer and a liquid crystal panel becomes larger in area, an alignment accuracy becomes lower.
Therefore, in order to solve the above problem, the present applicant discloses a technology for manufacturing a TFT having an LDD structure in a self-alignment manner in Japanese Patent No. 2759415. In the above Japanese Patent, aluminum is used as a gate electrode material and the LDD structure is formed in a self-alignment manner by using an anodic oxide (alumina) by an oxalic acid and an anodic oxide (alumina) by a tartaric acid as the doping masks.
In the above Japanese Patent, a photoresist is not used as the doping mask and hence the length of the low-concentration impurities region can be controlled with high accuracy, but there is a drawback that the gate electrode material is limited to aluminum. Also, there is another problem that the process temperature is limited to about 400° C. after an aluminum wiring is formed and that aluminum atoms are diffused into a gate insulating film to easily make a short circuit between a gate wiring and a channel, thereby reducing reliability.
Further, in an anodic oxidation process, each gate electrode/wiring makes a short circuit with a voltage supply line, but after an anodic oxidation, it is necessary to etch away the voltage supply and the connection potion of the voltage supply line and the gate wiring and to electrically separate all the gate wirings/electrodes. Therefore, it is necessary to arrange a circuit in consideration of the process margin of etching, which prevents a high-integration design.

Method of manufacturing thin film transistor

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A digital recording system for stereophonic audio signals is disclosed. Included is an MP3 encoder coupled to an ADC for encoding the two channels of digital audio signals into a compressed data stream. Before being directed into a flash memory for editing, the compressed data stream is split into the original two channels of audio data blocks. An editing device is coupled to the flash memory for block-by-block editing of the stored audio data blocks. On being subsequently retrieved from the flash memory, the two channels of audio data blocks are reformatted into an MP3 data stream preparatory to introduction into an MP3 decoder.

This invention belongs to the broad realm of information technology and pertains more particularly to a method of, and apparatus for, editing or rewriting data such as, typically, compressed audio data with little or no adverse effect upon the sound quality.
A variety of data compression techniques have been suggested, and some of them have won more or less widespread commercial acceptance, among such commercially accepted ones being Moving Picture Coding Experts Group's MPEG-3 or, more simply, MP3. Patent Cooperation Treaty Publication No. WO90/13182 is hereby cited as describing how to create MP3-encoded data streams by the Huffman code. The MP3 data stream takes the form of a repetition of frames each constituted of a header section, a side data section, and a main data section.
Difficulties have been encountered with the MP3 encoding of digitized audio data. MP3 encoders on the market today are inherently capable of creating data streams at 320 kilobits per second (kbps) at a maximum, but now commonly put to use at a deplorably lower rate of 128 kbps. The maximum possible bit rate was determined because digital audio frames and MP3 frames agree in time at that rate; that is, the complete audio data in each audio frame could be contained in one MP3 frame if the audio data were MP3 encoded at the maximum bit rate. But then storage media of inordinately large capacities were required for storing the MP3-encoded audio data. Hence the currently preferred MP3 encoder bit rate of 128 kbps.
The MP3 encoding of audio data at this low bit rate had its own weaknesses, however. Depending upon the bit number, the data from each audio frame was rearranged not necessarily just in one MP3 frame but over two or three consecutive ones at that low bit rate, so that the audio data was not wholly rewritable or editable in the form of the MP3 data stream. Conventionally, this difficulty was literally circumvented by converting the MP3 encoded audio data into the known WAVE file format. After being edited in that format, the data was reconverted back into the MP3 format. The audio data that was conventionally processed in this manner inevitably suffered losses in sound quality for conversion from MP3 to WAVE format and reconversion from WAVE to MP3 format.

Compressed audio data editing method and apparatus


In at least one embodiment, an apparatus for determining a location of a portable wireless device in relation to a vehicle is provided. The apparatus comprises a first base station that includes a first transceiver for being positioned about a vehicle. The first transceiver is configured to operate at a first operating frequency for transmitting and receiving at least one first signal to and from the portable wireless device to provide a first distance of the portable wireless device with respect to the vehicle. The first operating frequency generally corresponds to a distance accuracy value and the first distance generally corresponds to an actual distance of the portable wireless device from the vehicle that is adjusted by the distance accuracy value.

It is known to detect the location of a wireless device in relation to a vehicle. One implementation for detecting the location of the wireless device in relation to the vehicle is set forth directly below.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0076622 to Dickerhoof et al. provides a system for determining the location of a wireless device with respect to a vehicle. The system comprises a plurality of antennas positioned about the vehicle for receiving a wireless signal from the wireless device. The wireless signal corresponds to at least one of a command and status related to a predetermined vehicle operation. The system further comprises a controller operably coupled to each antenna. The controller is configured to generate a location signal indicative of the location of the wireless device based on the arrival time of the wireless signal at one or more antennas of the plurality of antennas and to control the operation of the predetermined vehicle operation based on the location signal.

Apparatus and method for detecting a location of a wireless device


A plurality of images, including a first image and a second image having a higher resolution than the first image, are aligned by generating an oversampled cross correlation image that corresponds to relative displacements of the first and second images, and, based on the oversampled cross correlation image, determining an offset value that corresponds to a misalignment of the first and second images. The first and second images are aligned to a precision greater than the resolution of the first image, based on the determined offset value. Enhanced results are achieved by performing another iteration of generating an oversampled cross correlation image and determining an offset value for the first and second images. Generating the oversampled cross correlation image may involve generating a cross correlation image that corresponds to relative displacements of the first and second images, and oversampling the cross correlation image to generate the oversampled cross correlation image.

The present application relates to sub-resolution alignment of images, for example, such as used in probing and editing integrated circuits.
An integrated circuit ("IC") integrates a large number of electronic circuit elements on a single semiconductor substrate with high density: today's technology allows a minimum feature size on the order of 0.1 micron. During designing, prototyping, and testing an IC, circuit elements can be probed and edited. To probe or edit an IC using, for example, laser voltage probing ("LVP") or focused ion beam ("FIB"), a circuit element first is located on the substrate of an IC under test. Typically, this step includes aligning corresponding features of two different images of the IC under test. The first image can be an acquired image that describes the actual position of the circuit. The second image can be derived from a computer-aided design ("CAD") image that lays out the complicated map of circuit elements. In general, a CAD image is ideal representation of the IC and typically is generated by a human operator using a CAD system. Once the acquired image is aligned, or registered, with the CAD image, a conventional system can navigate, that is, steer, an IC probing device to a circuit element to be probed.
To acquire an image for alignment, an IC can be imaged, for example, by infrared ("IR") light. Typically used for an IC with a flip-chip design, IR light can image the IC from the silicon side, i.e., through the substrate. To see through the substrate, which can be several hundred microns thick, silicon side imaging may use IR light with a wavelength of about one micron. Using an IR wavelength of about one micron, however, results in an acquired image of roughly the same resolution as the wavelength of the IR light used for imaging. That is, the resulting IR image has a resolution of about one micron. Such an IR image typically cannot adequately be used to resolve sub-resolution features, i.e., circuit elements that are smaller than the IR wavelength.
To locate sub-resolution features for IC probing or editing, an attempt can be made to align an IR image with the corresponding CAD image with sub-resolution accuracy. For example, a human operator can try to align an IR image with a CAD image visually. This method, however, typically gives an optimal accuracy of about one micron, which is essentially the same as the resolution of the IR image, and typically insufficient for LVP or FIB editing. For aligning IR and CAD images with sufficient accuracy, one can try standard alignment techniques, such as intensity correlation, edge detection or binary correlation algorithms. These techniques tend to give limited accuracy as well, because IR images may be distorted by light diffraction and other optical effects. Alignment of an IR and a CAD image may be further complicated by substantial intensity variations. Intensity on the IR image can depend on several parameters, including thickness and reflectivity of different layers. Furthermore, IR images may have optical ghosts that may cause an alignment method to produce incorrect results.


A game system includes a housing to be held by a player. The housing incorporates an XY-axis acceleration sensor to detect an acceleration in an X-axis and Y-axis direction and a Z-axis contact switch to detect an acceleration in an Z-axis direction. These sensor and switch detect at least one of an amount (e.g., tilt amount, movement amount, impact amount or the like) and a direction (e.g., tilt direction, movement direction, impact direction or the like) of a change applied to the housing. A simulation program provides simulation such that a state of a game space is changed related to at least one of the amount and direction of the change applied to the housing.

Field
Example embodiments of present technology described herein relate to a game system and game information storage medium used for same. More particularly, the present example embodiments relate to a game system and game information storage medium used for same, which detects a change amount and direction of a tilt, movement or impact applied to a housing of a portable game apparatus or to a controller of a video game apparatus.
Description of the Prior Art
In operating the conventional portable game apparatus, a player manipulates the operation switch, such as a direction instructing key joystick) or buttons while holding the video game machine's controller (controller housing) or portable game apparatus' housing by both hands. For example, if the player presses a direction instructing key at any one of up, down, left and right pressing points, a moving (player-controlled) character is moved in the pressed direction of up, down, left or right. If the action button is operated, the moving character is changed in its state of display, e.g. the moving character performs an action, such as jumping, as defined on the action button.
Also, in the conventional game apparatus or game software (game information storage medium), the player can operate the operation switch in order to change the motion of a moving (player-controlled) character acting as a player's other self on the screen. Consequently, it has been difficult for the player to change the game space (or background scene) freely through his or her manipulation.
In the conventional game operation method, the player has been required to remember the way to operate a game according to the suggestion given in the game-software instruction manuals. Furthermore, the use of a general-purpose operation switch has made it difficult to realize a change of the game space (or game scene) in a manner matching the player's feeling of manipulating the operation-switch, resulting in a mismatch between the player's feel of operation and the screen-display state. Under such situations, the player possibly encounters difficulty in concentrating on playing the game before mastering the way to manipulate the game, thus losing his or her interest.
Meanwhile, with the conventional game apparatus or game software, the game space (or background scene) could not have been changed by the player's operation, thus limiting the game space variation and hence amusement resulting therefrom.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Game system and game information storage medium used for same


In one general aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium can be configured to store instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform a process. The process can include defining a plurality of subsets from a representation of a circuit, and rank-ordering each subset from the plurality of subsets. The process can also include selecting at least one of the subsets for triplication based on the rank-ordering and a triplication condition.

Partial triple module redundancy (pTMR) of a circuit can be implemented to improve the reliability of portions of a circuit. Some known methods for implementing pTMR of portions of a circuit are manual, inefficient, and/or may not properly result in triplication of the portions of the circuit in a desirable fashion. Thus, a need exists for systems, methods, and apparatus to address the shortfalls of present technology, and to provide other new and innovative features.

Automated circuit triplication method and system


A method of etching exposed silicon-and-carbon-containing material on patterned heterogeneous structures is described and includes a remote plasma etch formed from a fluorine-containing precursor and an oxygen-containing precursor. Plasma effluents from the remote plasma are flowed into a substrate processing region where the plasma effluents react with the exposed regions of silicon-and-carbon-containing material. The plasmas effluents react with the patterned heterogeneous structures to selectively remove silicon-and-carbon-containing material from the exposed silicon-and-carbon-containing material regions while very slowly removing other exposed materials. The silicon-and-carbon-containing material selectivity results partly from the presence of an ion suppression element positioned between the remote plasma and the substrate processing region. The ion suppression element reduces or substantially eliminates the number of ionically-charged species that reach the substrate. The methods may be used to selectively remove silicon-and-carbon-containing material at more than twenty times the rate of silicon oxide.

Integrated circuits are made possible by processes which produce intricately patterned material layers on substrate surfaces. Producing patterned material on a substrate requires controlled methods for removal of exposed material. Chemical etching is used for a variety of purposes including transferring a pattern in photoresist into underlying layers, thinning layers or thinning lateral dimensions of features already present on the surface. Often it is desirable to have an etch process which etches one material faster than another helping e.g. a pattern transfer process proceed. Such an etch process is said to be selective to the first material. As a result of the diversity of materials, circuits and processes, etch processes have been developed with a selectivity towards a variety of materials. However, there are few options for selectively etching silicon carbide.
Dry etch processes are often desirable for selectively removing material from semiconductor substrates. The desirability stems from the ability to gently remove material from miniature structures with minimal physical disturbance. Dry etch processes also allow the etch rate to be abruptly stopped by removing the gas phase reagents. Some dry-etch processes involve the exposure of a substrate to remote plasma by-products formed from one or more precursors. For example, remote plasma excitation of ammonia and nitrogen trifluoride enables silicon oxide to be selectively removed from a patterned substrate when the plasma effluents are flowed into the substrate processing region. Remote plasma etch processes have also been developed to remove silicon carbide, however, the silicon carbide selectivity of these etch processes (relative to silicon oxide) has been limited to less than twenty and often much less. Some of these remote plasma etch processes produce solid by-products which grow on the surface of the substrate as substrate material is removed. The solid by-products are subsequently removed via sublimation when the temperature of the substrate is raised. As a consequence of the production of solid by-products, Siconi™ etch process can deform delicate remaining structures formed in or nearby exposed regions of silicon carbide.
Alternative methods are needed to improve silicon carbide selectively relatively to silicon oxide and it is also desirable to remove silicon carbide without producing solid by-products.

Dry-etch for silicon-and-carbon-containing films


An apparatus for inserting chipboard or cardboard spacers within a lapstream of paper sheets exiting a press on a lapstream conveyor includes a chipboard ejector for firing chipboards toward the lapstream conveyor in a direction which is opposite that of the conveyor. A plurality of vacuum feet are positioned over the conveyor and are responsive to a control pulse issued by a programmable counter to pick up the leading edge of selected sheets in the lapstream. Simultaneously, the chipboard ejector fires a chipboard, in response to another control pulse from the counter, toward the point on the conveyor over which the sheet is being picked up. The vacuum feet are then released, dropping the selected paper sheet and the chipboards are thus reliably inserted at regular intervals within the lapstream. Multiple chipboards can be inserted in a single location by varying the length of the chipboard ejector control pulse.

The invention relates to an apparatus for inserting chipboard or cardboard spacers at regular intervals between paper sheets being fed by a press onto a lapstream conveyor for making writing tablets or the like.
The insertion of chipboard or cardboard spacers in a stream of paper sheets on a lapstream conveyor issuing from a press without slowing or stopping the press and/or conveyor has long presented a problem within the industry. The term "lapstream" refers to the manner in which the sheets are arranged on the conveyor in an overlapped stream.
Many prior inserting devices have placed chipboard spacers after the paper sheets have been deposited in a vertical stack at the end of the conveyor. This has necessitated the insertion of a mechanical finger at appropriate points in the paper stack to lift the topmost sheets while a chipboard ejector injects a chipboard spacer under the mechanical finger. Such an operation can result in damage to the paper sheets by the mechanical finger or the chipboard injector and precise positioning of the mechanical finger in the stack is difficult. This can result in differing numbers of sheets in the tablets.
A different approach for relatively small production facilities has been to divert a plurality of sheets from the continuous lapstream to mark a point at which a chipboard spacer is to be inserted. This is a time consuming process which requires an operator to physically pick up the paper bundles between diversions and put the spacers in place. It is not suitable for large, high speed presses.
Yet another approach has been to insert chipboard spacers into a vertical stack as the paper sheets are being fed to the stack. Generally, the flow of sheets to the stack has been temporarily interrupted while the spacers are inserted, thus resulting in lost production time and inefficiency.
Prior art attempts to interleave chipboard spacers or covers within paper sheets on a lapstream conveyor belt before they are vertically stacked have generally included parallel feeders where the paper sheets and the spacers are on parallel tracks and are fed into the lapstream from the same direction. In such parallel operations, complex and precisely timed counters, rollers and injectors have been required, resulting in machines which are difficult to synchronize and maintain. Any imprecision in timing between the parallel feeders can result in machine jams and consequent down time and productivity loss. Furthermore, it has been impossible to add a parallel chipboard spacer inserter to an existing conveyor, i.e. such inserters must necessarily be integrated into the lapstream conveyor when it is manufactured.
It is clear then, that a relatively simple and inexpensive chipboard inserter which efficiently and reliably inserts chipboard spacers at precise points within a paper sheet lapstream is needed. It is also clear that such an inserter should be capable of being added to an existing lapstream conveyor and that it should work without requiring the press and/or the lapstream conveyor to be slowed or stopped. Such an inserter should be capable of automatic operation so that a single operator can supervise a plurality of inserters in a modern, high-speed printing shop.

Apparatus and method for inserting sheets into lapstream in a direction opposite to conveying direction


A vehicle seat, the seat cushion of which is divided into front and rear cushions in a fore-and-aft direction. The front cushion is rotatably mounted at its front-side lower end on a front end of a cushion frame of the vehicle seat to be tilted forward or backward. The rear cushion is placed behind the front cushion and supported by a lift mechanism mounted on a rear portion of the cushion frame. The lift mechanism is interlocked with the front cushion to raise the rear cushion to an upper position when the front cushion is tilted forward and to lower the rear cushion and place it behind the front cushion on the cushion frame in a horizontal condition when the front cushion is tilted backward and placed on the cushion frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle seat, and more particularly to a vehicle seat with a height adjustable seat cushion.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 52(1977)-71020, there has been proposed a vehicle seat, the seat cushion of which is composed of a cushion body mounted on a cushion frame and a movable cushion assembled within the cushion body and supported by a lift mechanism to be raised to an upper position for child use or moved down to a lower position where the seating surface of the movable cushion is placed at the same height as that of the cushion body for adult use.
Since in the vehicle seat, the movable cushion is completely separated from the cushion body when lifted to the upper position, an infant or child seated on the movable cushion may not be maintained in a stable manner as both of his legs are afloat in the air. It is, therefore, desirable that the infant or child can be supported at his legs in a stable manner.
In European Patent No. 0666194, there has been proposed a vehicle seat, the seat cushion of which is divided-into three cushions in a fore-and-aft direction. The front cushion of the vehicle seat is rotatably mounted on a front end of a cushion frame at its front-side lower end to be tilted forward or backward, and the intermediate cushion is rotatably connected at its rear-side lower end to a front-side lower end of the rear cushion supported by a lift mechanism. In the vehicle seat, the rear cushion is raised by the lift mechanism to provide a seat cushion for child use, and the front cushion is tilted forward to provide a foot rest for a child seated on the rear cushion. Thus, the child seated on the rear cushion can be supported in a stable manner as both of his legs and femurs are placed on the front and intermediate cushions.
In the vehicle seat, however, the rear cushion is shortened in the fore-and-aft direction since the seat cushion is divided into three portions. As a result, the rear cushion may not be a comfortable seat for child use. In addition, if the thickness of the seat cushion is increased to provide a comfortable seat for child use, a front-side upper edge of the rear cushion would be spaced a large distance from a tear-side upper edge of the intermediate cushion. This causes a sense of incongruity for a user. On the contrary, if the thickness of the seat cushion is reduced to eliminate such a space between the intermediate and rear cushions, the seating comfort of the rear cushion is deteriorated.

Vehicle seat with height adjustable seat cushion


A trap apparatus is optimum for trapping a material gas discharged from a vapor deposition apparatus for depositing in a vapor phase thin films of high-dielectric or ferroelectric such as barium/strontium titanates on substrates. The trap apparatus is disposed downstream of a vacuum process chamber. The vacuum process chamber is for processing a substrate. The trap apparatus is for trapping a component having a low vapor pressure contained in a gas discharged from the vacuum process chamber. The trap apparatus includes a trap container for introducing the gas discharged from the vacuum process chamber, and a cooling device provided in the trap container for cooling the gas to a temperature equal to or lower than a condensing temperature of a gas component which is contained in the gas and easily liquidized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a trap apparatus, and more particularly to a trap apparatus optimum for trapping a material gas discharged from a vapor deposition apparatus for depositing in a vapor phase thin films of high-dielectric or ferroelectric such as barium/strontium titanates on substrates.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, the integration of integrated circuits has been improved remarkably, and the research and development activities of DRAM are being intensively carried out in anticipation of gigabit order DRAMs which will replace current megabit order DRAMs. The capacitor element having a large capacity per unit area is needed to produce such DRAMs. As a dielectric thin-film material for producing elements having such a large capacity per unit area, in place of silicon oxide or silicon nitride having dielectric constant less than 10, a metallic oxide film material such as tantalum pentaoxide (Ta2O5) having dieelectric constant of approximately 20, or barium titanate (BaTiO3) or strontium titanate (SrTiO3) or barium strontium titanate having dielectric constant of approximately 300 is considered to be a promising thin-film material. Further, a ferroelectric material having a higher dielectric constant is also considered to be a promising thin-film material.
In addition to the above, as a wiring material, copper which has a value of resistance lower than aluminum and a superior resistance against electromigration is considered to be a promising material. As a material for gate insulating film, BiVO, Bi4Ti4O12, YMnO3, ZnO, ZnS, and CdS are considered to be a promising material. As an electrode material having a perofskite structure, SrRuO3, BaRuO3, IrO, and CaRuO3 are considered to be a promising material. As a material for a barrier layer or a buffer layer, MgO, Y2O3, YSZ, and TaN are considered to be a promising material. As a superconductivity material, Laxe2x80x94Baxe2x80x94Cuxe2x80x94O, Laxe2x80x94Srxe2x80x94Cuxe2x80x94O, Yxe2x80x94Baxe2x80x94Cuxe2x80x94O, Bixe2x80x94Srxe2x80x94Caxe2x80x94Cuxe2x80x94O, Tlxe2x80x94Baxe2x80x94Caxe2x80x94Cuxe2x80x94O, and Hgxe2x80x94Baxe2x80x94Caxe2x80x94Cuxe2x80x94O are considered to be a promising material.
As a process for depositing thin films of such material, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process is expected to have a good prospect.
FIG. 6 shows a chemical vapor deposition apparatus for depositing thin films of high-dielectric or ferroelectric such as barium/strontium titanates. The vapor deposition apparatus comprises a vaporizer 10 for vaporizing a liquid material, a hermetically sealable reaction chamber 14 disposed downstream of the vaporizer 10 and connected to the vaporizer 10 through a material gas passage 12, and a vacuum pump 18 disposed downstream of the reaction chamber 14 and provided in an evacuation passage 16. An oxidizer gas pipe 20 for supplying an oxidizer gas such as oxygen is connected to the reaction chamber 14.
In the vapor deposition apparatus having the above structure, a substrate W is placed on a stage 22 for holding and heating the substrate W, and a mixture of material gas and oxidizer gas is ejected over the substrate W from nozzles 26 of a gas supply head 24 while keeping the substrate W at a predetermined temperature, thereby depositing a thin film on a surface of the substrate W. In this case, it is necessary to supply the material gas stably to the substrate W in the reaction chamber 14. The material gas is produced by liquidizing Ba(DPM)2, Sr(DPM)2 or the like which is solid at room temperature, mixing the liquidized substance with organic solvent such as tetrahydrofuran (THF), and vaporizing the obtained mixture by the vaporizer 10.
Gases discharged from the reaction chamber 14 contain unconsumed material and reaction by-product having a high sublimation temperature, and hence the unconsumed material and the reaction by-product are solidified during pressure rise and deposited on the interior of the vacuum pump 18, resulting in a malfunction of the vacuum pump 18. In order to prevent this deposition on the interior of the vacuum pump, as shown in FIG. 6, a trap apparatus 30 is provided at the upstream side of the vacuum pump 18 in the evacuation passage 16 to remove components, in the discharged gases, having a high sublimation temperature and a low vapor pressure. The pipe interconnecting the reaction chamber 14 and the trap apparatus 30 is provided with a temperature adjusting device 28 comprising a mantle heater or the like in the same manner as the material gas supply passage 12.
Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 7, the trap apparatus 30 comprises a trap unit 34 having a spiral baffle plate 32 for forming a spiral fluid passage, a trap container 36 for housing the trap unit 34, an inlet pipe 38 connected to the upper end of the trap container 36, and an outlet pipe 40 connected to the bottom of the trap container 36. The trap apparatus 30 is connected to the evacuation passage 16 by quick couplings 42a and 42b. The trap apparatus 30 has a cooling medium flow passage 44, at the central part thereof, through which a cooling medium cooled to a temperature lower than the condensing temperature of the components, to be trapped, having a low vapor pressure flows. Thus, the components having a low vapor pressure in the discharged gases which have entered the trap container 36 through the inlet pipe 38 are trapped and removed by the trap unit 34 while the discharged gases flow along the baffle plate 32, and hence only the components having a high vapor pressure are led to the vacuum pump 18 through the outlet pipe 40 and the evacuation passage 16 (see FIG. 6).
However, in this trap apparatus, the components having a low vapor pressure such as the unconsumed material are condensed to become powdery substances in the trap container, and the produced powdery substances are gradually deposited on the surface of the trap unit. These deposited solid substances, if counterflow occurs, or the supply amount from the upstream side is abruptly decreased or is stopped under change of conditions in the evacuation system, form particles which will flow into the reaction chamber and deposit on the substrate, resulting in deteriorating quality of a produced film.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a trap apparatus which can reliably trap components having a low vapor pressure in gases discharged from a processing apparatus such as a chemical vapor deposition apparatus and prevent the trapped components from being scattered around.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a trap apparatus disposed downstream of a vacuum process chamber. The vacuum process chamber is for processing a substrate. The trap apparatus is for trapping a component having a low vapor pressure contained in a gas discharged from the vacuum process chamber. The trap apparatus comprises a trap container for introducing the gas discharged from the vacuum process chamber, and a cooling device provided in the trap container for cooling the gas to a temperature equal to or lower than a condensing temperature of a gas component which is contained in the gas and easily liquidized.
According to the present invention, the discharged gas introduced into the trap container is cooled by the cooling device, and a gas such as a solvent gas (gas generated from solvent by vaporization), which is contained in the material gas and easily liquidized, is condensed in the trap container, and thus the condensed substances are contained in deposited substances in the trap container. Therefore, the deposited substances in the trap container are moistened, and hence adhesion between the deposited substances and the inner surface of the trap container and cohesion of the deposited substances are heightened. Thus, the deposited substances are prevented from being removed from the inner surface of the trap container and the like, thus preventing generation of particles.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a trap apparatus disposed downstream of a vacuum process chamber. The vacuum process chamber is for processing a substrate. The trap apparatus is for trapping a component having a low vapor pressure contained in a gas discharged from the vacuum process chamber. The trap apparatus comprises a trap container for introducing the gas discharged from the vacuum process chamber, and a solvent supply device for supplying a solvent, which is hard to be volatilized, into the trap container.
According to the present invention, by supplying the solvent to the deposited substances in the trap container, the deposited substances in the trap container are moistened, and hence adhesion between the deposited substances and the inner surface of the trap container and cohesion of the deposited substances are heightened. Thus, the deposited substances are prevented from being removed from the inner surface of the trap container and the like, thus preventing generation of particles. As the solvent which is hard to be volatilized, such material as to be liquid under vacuum in the trap container and as to keep a desired degree of vacuum in the processing chamber is selected. By spraying the solvent or scattering the solvent in the trap container, absorption reaction between gas and liquid may be accelerated.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a trap apparatus wherein the solvent which is hard to be volatilized is selected from a solvent which is used as a solvent of material including butyl acetate, tetrahydrofrane, or lutidine, a solvent which is used as adduct of material including tetraglymes, toluenes, or tetraenes, or a solvent which is used as a ligand of material including dipivaloylmethane.
According to the present invention, a component having a low vapor pressure in the discharged gas introduced into the trap container is trapped in the liquid solvent stored in the solvent storage, and hence scattering of the trapped substances can be prevented.
In a preferred aspect, the solvent which is hard to be volatilized is selected from a solvent which is used as a solvent of material including butyl acetate, tetrahydrofrane, or lutidine, a solvent which is used as adduct of material including tetraglymes, toluenes, or tetraenes, or a solvent which is used as a ligand of material including dipivaloylmethane. Thus, even if the solvent flows back to the reaction chamber, it does not affect adversely quality of the deposited film.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thin-film vapor deposition apparatus comprising: a vaporizer for vaporizing a liquid material; a reaction chamber disposed downstream of the vaporizer; a vacuum pump disposed downstream of the reaction chamber; and a trap apparatus provided in an evacuation passage extending from the reaction chamber to the vacuum chamber, the trap apparatus comprising: a trap container for introducing the gas discharged from the vacuum process chamber; and a cooling device provided in the trap container for cooling the gas to a temperature equal to or lower than a condensing temperature of a gas component which is contained in the gas and easily liquidized.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thin-film vapor deposition apparatus comprising: a vaporizer for vaporizing a liquid material; a reaction chamber disposed downstream of the vaporizer; a vacuum pump disposed downstream of the reaction chamber; and a trap apparatus provided in an evacuation passage extending from the reaction chamber to the vacuum chamber, the trap apparatus comprising: a trap container for introducing the gas discharged from the vacuum process chamber; and a solvent supply device for supplying a solvent, which is hard to be volatilized, into the trap container.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thin-film vapor deposition apparatus comprising: a vaporizer for vaporizing a liquid material; a reaction chamber disposed downstream of the vaporizer; a vacuum pump disposed downstream of the reaction chamber; and a trap apparatus provided in an evacuation passage extending from the reaction chamber to the vacuum chamber, the trap apparatus comprising: a trap container for introducing the gas discharged from the vacuum process chamber; and a solvent storage provided in the trap container for storing a solvent, which is hard to be volatilized, in a liquid condition.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrates preferred embodiments of the present invention by way of example.


A bismuth yttrium titanate (BYT) film having the composition of formula (I) has enhanced residual polarization and electric fatigue properties with excellent ferroelectric property, and therefore, it can be advantageously used in an electric or electronic device including a FRAM device:Bi4-xYxTi3O12  (I)wherein x is an integer of 0.1 to 2.

FRAM (ferroelectric random access memory) devices have been widely used because of such desirable performance characteristics as non-volatility, high speed, large capacity and low power-consumption.
Bismuth titanate(BTO, Bi4Ti3O12) which undergoes phase-transition at its Curie temperature of 675° C. is a well-known ferroelectric material for the FRAM device. However, this material exhibits high electric fatigue, that is, the residual polarization value decreases after a number of depolarization cycles. Further, a strontium bismuth tanthalate (SBT, SrBi2Ta2O9) layer which is also known as a ferroelectric material requires a high crystallization temperature of 800° C. or higher although it has good electric fatigue property, and a lead zirconium titanate (PZT, PbZrxTi1-xO3(0<x<1)) layer having a relatively low crystallization temperature exhibits early fatigue only at 106 cycles.
Furthermore, it was recently reported by the present inventors that a bismuth lanthanium titanate (BLT, Bi4-xLaxTi3O12(0<x<4)) layer needs a relatively low crystallization temperature of around 700° C., and that it exhibits no sign of fatigue even after 1010 cycles (see [B. H. Park, et al., Nature, 401(14), 682(1999)]).
The present inventors have further studied to develop a novel ferroelectric thin film, and as a result, found that the doping with yttrium (Y) can improve the ferroelectric properties of the BTO composition because an oxide film of Y has a lower heat (-1815 kJ/mole) of formation than that (-1703.2 kJ/mol) of lanthanium (La).

Yttrium-doped bismuth titanate thin film and preparation thereof


A connectivity device includes a microcontroller, a network interface coupled to the microcontroller, and a non-transitory storage device coupled to the microcontroller. The non-transitory storage device includes a token usable for authentication and including executable code. The token includes a unique device identifier (UDID) that uniquely identifies the authentication device and a private key. The executable code is to cause the microcontroller to initiate a registration process with an internet-of-things (IoT) server to register the token with the IoT server. Token creation and activation procedures are also described.

The Internet-of-Things (IoT) is the interconnection of various embedded devices. Such devices (called "things") may or may not have user-accessible input/output capability. For example, a thing may be an embedded sensor inside of a product such as a refrigerator or washing machine. Such a thing may not have a mouse, keyboard, display or any other type of user-accessible device by which a person can digitally interact with the thing.
For a device to connect to other devices over the Internet, the device generally needs to be provisioned. Provisioning a device includes programming the device to specify how it is to communicate over the Internet and possibly specifying what sort of data is to have access to, what services the device can access, etc.
Provisioning a thing in the context of the IoT may be problematic because of the large number of things on the IoT and because the thing may lack a human-accessible input/output capability.

Auto-provisioning for internet-of-things devices


For filling an interconnect opening of an integrated circuit formed on a semiconductor substrate, an underlying material is formed at any exposed walls of the interconnect opening. A sacrificial layer of protective material is formed on the underlying material at the walls of the interconnect opening. The underlying material and the sacrificial layer of protective material are formed without a vacuum break. The protective material of the sacrificial layer is soluble in an acidic catalytic solution used for depositing a catalytic seed layer. The semiconductor substrate having the interconnect opening is placed within an acidic catalytic solution for depositing a catalytic seed layer. The sacrificial layer of protective material is dissolved away from the underlying material by the acidic catalytic solution such that the underlying material is exposed to the acidic catalytic solution. A catalytic seed layer formed from the acidic catalytic solution is deposited on the exposed underlying material at the walls of the interconnect opening. The conductive fill for filling the interconnect opening is grown from the catalytic seed layer by electroless deposition. The present invention may be used to particular advantage when the underlying material is comprised of tantalum as a diffusion barrier material, and when the protective material of the sacrificial layer is comprised of magnesium. In that case, the acidic catalytic solution includes palladium chloride and/or tin chloride with hydrochloric acid for dissolving the sacrificial layer of protective material.

The present invention relates generally to fabrication of interconnect structures within integrated circuits, and more particularly, to formation of a sacrificial layer on an underlying material within an interconnect opening without a vacuum break, with the sacrificial layer dissolving away in an acidic activation solution used for formation of a catalytic seed layer on the underlying material.
A long-recognized important objective in the constant advancement of monolithic IC (Integrated Circuit) technology is the scaling-down of IC dimensions. Such scaling-down of IC dimensions reduces area capacitance and is critical to obtaining higher speed performance of integrated circuits. Moreover, reducing the area of an IC die leads to higher yield in IC fabrication. Such advantages are a driving force to constantly scale down IC dimensions.
Thus far, aluminum has been prevalently used for metallization within integrated circuits. However, as the width of metal lines are scaled down to smaller submicron and even nanometer dimensions, aluminum metallization shows electromigration failure. Electromigration failure, which may lead to open and extruded of metal lines, is now a commonly recognized problem. Moreover, as dimensions of metal lines further decrease, metal line resistance increases substantially, and this increase in line resistance may adversely affect circuit performance.
Given the concerns of electromigration and line resistance with smaller metal lines and vias, copper is considered a more viable metal for smaller metallization dimensions. Copper has lower bulk resistivity and potentially higher electromigration tolerance than aluminum. Both the lower bulk resistivity and the higher electromigration tolerance improve circuit performance.
Referring to FIG. 1, a cross sectional view is shown of a copper interconnect 102 within a trench 104 formed in an insulating layer 106. The copper interconnect 102 within the insulating layer 106 is formed on a semiconductor wafer 108 such as a silicon substrate as part of an integrated circuit. Because copper is not a volatile metal, copper cannot be easily etched away in a deposition and etching process as typically used for aluminum metallization. Thus, the copper interconnect 102 is typically formed by etching the trench 104 as an opening within the insulating layer 106, and the trench 104 is then filled with copper typically by an electroplating process, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of integrated circuit fabrication.
Unfortunately, copper is a mid-bandgap impurity in silicon and silicon dioxide. Thus, copper may diffuse easily into these common integrated circuit materials. Referring to FIG. 1, the insulating layer 106 may be comprised of silicon dioxide or a low dielectric constant insulating material such as organic doped silica, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of integrated circuit fabrication. The low dielectric constant insulating material has a dielectric constant that is lower than that of pure silicon dioxide (SiO2) for lower capacitance of the interconnect, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of integrated circuit fabrication.
Copper may easily diffuse into such an insulating layer 106, and this diffusion of copper may degrade the performance of the integrated circuit. Thus, a diffusion barrier material 110 is deposited to surround the copper interconnect 102 within the insulating layer 106 on the sidewalls and the bottom wall of the copper interconnect 102, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of integrated circuit fabrication. The diffusion barrier material 110 is disposed between the copper interconnect 102 and the insulating layer 106 for preventing diffusion of copper from the copper interconnect 102 to the insulating layer 106 to preserve the integrity of the insulating layer 106.
Further referring to FIG. 1, an encapsulating layer 112 is deposited as a passivation layer to encapsulate the copper interconnect 102, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of integrated circuit fabrication. The encapsulating layer 112 is typically comprised of a dielectric such as silicon nitride, and copper from the copper interconnect 102 does not easily diffuse into such a dielectric of the encapsulating layer 112.
Referring to FIG. 2, typically for filling the trench 104 with copper, the diffusion barrier material 110 is deposited on the sidewalls and the bottom wall of the trench 104. When the diffusion barrier material 110 is exposed to oxygen, such as oxygen gas in air for example, the diffusion barrier material 110 may oxidize to form an undesired oxide layer 120. For example, when the diffusion barrier material 110 is comprised of tantalum, the undesired oxide layer 120 is comprised of tantalum oxide (Ta2O5) that is formed from oxidation of the exposed surfaces of the diffusion barrier material 110.
Referring to FIG. 3, before electroless deposition of copper for filling the trench 104, a catalytic seed layer 122 is deposited on any exposed surfaces. With formation of the undesired oxide layer 120, the catalytic seed layer 122 is deposited on the undesired oxide layer 120. Referring to FIG. 4, the copper fill 124 is electrolessly deposited from the catalytic seed layer 122 to fill the trench opening 104. Referring to FIG. 5, the portions of the copper fill 124, the catalytic seed layer 122, the undesired oxide layer 120, and the diffusion barrier material 110 disposed on the surrounding insulating layer 106 are polished away in a CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) process such that the copper fill 124, the catalytic seed layer 122, the undesired oxide layer 120, and the diffusion barrier material 110 are contained within the trench 104.
In the prior art interconnect structure as illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5, the undesired oxide layer 120 disposed between the diffusion barrier material 110 and the catalytic seed layer 122 degrades the performance of the interconnect structure. The catalytic seed layer 122 may have poor adhesion to the undesired oxide layer 120 to promote electromigration failure of the interconnect structure. In addition, the undesired oxide layer 120 may be non-conductive to insulate the conductive diffusion barrier material 110 from enhancing the conductivity of the interconnect structure. Such features are especially disadvantageous for interconnect structures having higher aspect ratio (defined as a ratio of the depth to the width of the interconnect structure).
Thus, as integrated circuit dimensions including the width of the interconnect structures are further scaled down, a mechanism is desired for eliminating the undesired oxide layer 120 from the interconnect structure. In addition, preservation of any dielectric material of the integrated circuit having the interconnect structure is desired while eliminating the undesired oxide layer 120 from the interconnect structure.
Accordingly, in a general aspect of the present invention, a sacrificial layer of protective material is formed on an underlying material, such as the diffusion barrier material, to prevent oxidation of the underlying material.
In one embodiment of the present invention, in a system and method for filling an interconnect opening of an integrated circuit formed on a semiconductor substrate, an underlying material is formed at any exposed walls of the interconnect opening. A sacrificial layer of protective material is formed on the underlying material at the walls of the interconnect opening. The underlying material and the sacrificial layer of protective material are formed without a vacuum break. The protective material of the sacrificial layer is soluble in an acidic catalytic solution used for depositing a catalytic seed layer. The semiconductor substrate having the interconnect opening is placed within an acidic catalytic solution for depositing a catalytic seed layer. The sacrificial layer of protective material is dissolved away from the underlying material by the acidic catalytic solution such that the underlying material is exposed to the acidic catalytic solution. A catalytic seed layer formed from the acidic catalytic solution is deposited on the exposed underlying material at the walls of the interconnect opening.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the semiconductor substrate having the interconnect opening is placed within an electroless deposition solution for filling the interconnect opening by growing a conductive fill material from the catalytic seed layer using the electroless deposition solution.
The present invention may be used to particular advantage when the underlying material is comprised of a diffusion barrier material, such as tantalum, and when the protective material of the sacrificial layer is comprised of magnesium. In that case, the acidic catalytic solution includes palladium chloride and/or tin chloride with hydrochloric acid for depositing the catalytic seed layer comprised of palladium and/or tin on the underlying material.
In this manner, the underlying material is covered by the sacrificial layer of protective material until the semiconductor substrate is immersed in the acidic catalytic solution for forming the catalytic seed layer. Thus, the underlying material is not exposed to oxygen such that an undesired oxide layer is not formed on the underlying material. The sacrificial layer of protective material dissolves away from the underlying material when the semiconductor substrate is immersed in the acidic catalytic solution such that the catalytic seed layer is deposited directly on the underlying material. The acidic catalytic solution does not deleteriously etch or otherwise degrade any dielectric material already formed for the integrated circuit on the semiconductor substrate.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by considering the following detailed description of the invention which is presented with the attached drawings.

Formation without vacuum break of sacrificial layer that dissolves in acidic activation solution within interconnect


The invention comprises a method of analyzing the results obtained from the mass analysis of an ensemble or population of multiply charged ions comprising large polyatomic molecules to each of which is attached a plurality of charges. These molecules can be charged either by the attachment of charged mass or by the loss of charged mass. The charged mass is referred to as the "adduct" ion mass. The measured mass spectrum for such a population of ions generally comprises a sequence of peaks for each distinct polyatomic molecular species, the ions of each peak differing from those of adjacent peaks in the sequence by only a single charge. The method of analysis taught by the invention produces a deconvoluted spectrum in which there is only one peak for each distinct molecular species, the magnitude of that single peak containing contributions from each of the multiplicity of peaks for that species in the measured spectrum. A unique feature of the method taught by the invention is that the deconvoluted spectrum becomes a three dimensional surface in which the three coordinates of the single peak for a particular species represent respectively the molecular weight Mr of the parent polyatomic molecular species, the effective mass ma of the adduct ion charges, and the relative abundance of the ions of the polyatomic molecular species in the population of ions that gave rise to the measured spectrum. Consequently, there is no need to assume a priori a particular value for the mass of the adduct ion.

Interest in mass analysis of multiply charged ions has mushroomed since the demonstration a few years ago that they could be readily produced by so-called Electrospray (ES) Ionization from large, complex and labile molecules in solution. This development has been described in several U.S. Pat. Nos. (Labowsky et al., 4,531,056; Yamashita et al., 4,542,293; Henion et.al. 4,861,988; and Smith et al. 4,842,701 and 4,887,706) and in several recent review articles [Fenn et al., Science 246, 64 (1989); Fenn et al., Mass Spectrometry Reviews 6, 37 (1990); Smith et al., Analytical Chemistry 2, 882 (1990]. Because of extensive multiple charging ES ions of large molecules almost always have mass/charge (m/z) ratios of less than about 2500 so they can be weighed with relatively simple and inexpensive conventional analyzers. Intact ions of polar species such as proteins and other biopolymers with molecular weights (Mr's) of 200,000 or more have been produced. ES ions have been produced from polyethylene glycols with Mr's up to 5,000,000. Because such ions have as many as 4000 charges they can be "weighed" with quadrupole mass filters having an upper limit for m/z of 1500! [T. Nohmi et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 114, 3241 (1992)].
ES ions always comprise species that are themselves anions or cations in solution, or are polar molecules to which solute anions or cations are attached by ion-dipole forces. While attachment of charge is the prevalent mode of ion formation, ionization may also occur in a "deduct" mode. In other words, a molecule may be charged by the loss of charged mass. For example, a neutral molecule may become negatively charged by losing a proton with each charge. The term "adduct ion" will be used here to refer to both modes of ion formation. For species large enough to produce ions with multiple charges, the mass spectra always comprise sequences of peaks. The sequence for any particular species is coherent in the sense that the ions of each peak differ only by one charge from those of the nearest peak of the same species (on either side). As discussed by Mann et.al.[(Anal. Chem. 61, 1702 (1989)]such coherence and multiplicity lead to improved precision in the determination of Mr because each peak constitutes an independent measure of the parent ion mass. Averaging over the m/z values of several peaks can substantially reduce random errors, thereby significantly increasing the confidence in, and precision of, mass assignments. However, such averaging has no affect on systematic errors, e.g. those due to errors in the calibration of the instrument mass scale. Thus, although peak multiplicity does make possible an increase in the precision of an Mr determination it does not necessarily provide an increase in its accuracy.
As mentioned above, the potential of peak multiplicity to improve the precision of mass assignment was first recognized by Mann et al. (11) They noted that there are three unknowns associated with the ions of a particular peak: the molecular weight Mr of the parent species, the number i of charges on the ion, and the mass ma of each adduct charge. Therefore, mass/charge (m/z) values for the ions of any three peaks of the same parent species would fix the values of each unknown. However, there is a relation between the peaks such that they form a coherent sequence in which the number of charges i varies by one from peak to peak. Consequently, the m/z values of any pair of peaks are sufficient to fix Mr for the parent species, provided that the masses of the adduct charges are the same for all ions of all the peaks in the sequence. Mann et.al. also described procedures for optimum averaging of the set of Mr values from the m/z values of the possible peak pairings. In addition, they introduced a somewhat different approach by which the measured spectrum with its sequence of peaks for a particular parent species could be transformed into the spectrum that would have been obtained if all the ions of the parent species had had a single massless charge. This single peak, obtained by deconvoluting the measured spectrum, reflects the sum of contributions from all the ions of that parent species, no matter what their charge state. Moreover, because random contributions are not similarly summed, the signal/noise ratio in the transformed spectrum is greater than in the original measured spectrum. The deconvolution procedure can be carried out by direct computer processing of the raw data from the mass spectrometer. Moreover, it can extract an Mr value for each species in a mixture by taking advantage of the coherence in the m/z values for the ions of a particular species. Such resolution of mixtures can be enhanced by so-called "entropy-based" computational procedures described, for example, in a recent paper by Reinhold and Reinhold [J. Am. Scc. Mass Spectrom. 3, 207 (1992)]. Indeed, resolution can be achieved even when some of the ions of different species have almost the same apparent m/z values. i.e. when some of the peaks in the measured spectrum comprise almost-exact superpositions of two or more peaks for ions of different species.
In spite of the effectiveness of this deconvolution procedure as originally described, and in spite of improvements that have since been incorporated by various users, it suffers from some disadvantages. It requires an a priori assumption that the mass of each adduct charge is the same for all ions of a particular species as well as an assumption of a particular value for that mass. If either of these assumptions is faulty, the resulting value of Mr for the parent species may be incorrect. Moreover, even if the assumptions are correct they neither eliminate nor reveal any errors due to faulty calibration of the analyzer's m/z scale. Nor does the deconvoluted spectrum provide any information on the magnitude or direction of the possible error.

Method for determining the molecular weights of polyatomic molecules by mass analysis of their multiply charged ions


Before a signal is recorded on an optical disk, irradiations are made with plural light irradiation conditions of variable irradiation power or pulse width, optical conditions of irradiated portions are detected by detecting changes in the reflectivity or transmissivity or errors, and the optimum irradiation conditions are determined by comparing the detected results and the light irradiation conditions. In particular, by determining the optimum irradiation conditions in reference to the point where the change in reflectivity or transmissivity is greatest with respect to changes in the irradiation power, the optimum light irradiation conditions can be determined in a short time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical data medium recording method which records a data signal by means of a laser beam or similar light source, and particularly to a method of obtaining optimum irradiation conditions according to changes in the recording medium and recording device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technologies for writing or reading a data signal to or from, respectively, an optical data recording medium using a laser beam are already commonly applied in optical disk devices. In the discussion hereinbelow, the data recording medium shall therefore be referred to as an optical disk. These technologies are widely available today as compact discs (hereinafter CDs) and laser video discs, and in write-once optical filing and retrieval systems, Rewritable optical devices have just recently become widely available, though they are still not common.
One available read/write (R/W) system is the so-called phase change disk which utilizes the reversible state capability of certain materials which change between an amorphous and crystalline state or between different crystalline states. The recording thin-films used in these devices assume either an amorphous or distinct crystalline state, and can be switched between these states, by specific heating and cooling conditions induced by a laser beam. In addition, the optical constants (refractive index, extinction coefficient) of these materials change with the amorphous and crystalline states. A data signal is written to the phase-change disk by selectively forming these two states in the recording thin-film according to the data signal, and the signal is read from the disk using the resulting optical changes (transmissivity or reflectivity).
A light irradiation method as shown in FIG. 9 has been proposed as one way to obtain these two states. Described in the Japanese Journal of Applied Physics (Vol. 1.26 (1987), Supplement 26-4, p. 61), this method emits to the recording thin-film on the optical disk a laser beam (b), the power of which is modulated between two power levels, a peak power Pp and a bias power Pb (Pp>Pb) according to the data signal (a). When d laser beam of this type is emitted to the recording thin-film, that part of the film which is radiated by the peak power Pp beam is set to the amorphous state, and that part radiated by the bias power Pb beam is set to the crystal state, regardless of whether the pre-radiation state was amorphous or crystalline. It is therefore possible to overwrite a single spot on the film.
Data is Written to the optical disk by laser beam irradiation 43 thus described. The power levels Pp and Pb which define the laser irradiation conditions are constant levels optimized according to the type of optical disk. However, the optimum irradiation conditions required for any given recording thin-film vary with the passage of time, even for optical disks manufactured under the same conditions, and with variations in the manufacturing conditions. In addition, the power of the laser beam actually reaching the recording thin-film of the optical disk will also vary with soiling of the optical disk surface, or with a change in the operating conditions or with a drop in the transmission efficiency of the optical system in the recording device.
Shown in FIG. 14 is the C/N irradiation power dependency as one example of the changes in an optical disk. The optical disk and irradiation conditions are the same as those described hereinbelow with reference to the first embodiment of the present invention, and only those points related to the changes in the optical disk are described here. Curve A represents the recording characteristics measured at an initial (clean) state, and curve 13 represents the recording characteristics measured after the same optical disk was soiled by exposure for a predetermined period to a dusty environment. In general, the laser power yielding the greatest C/N ratio may be considered to be the optimum conditions for optical disk recording. The results of evaluation during the optical disk manufacturing process correspond to the state represented by curve A where the optimum irradiation power is 10 mw. However, when a signal is recorded with a 10-mW laser power after exposure to the above environment, the C/N ratio drops to a low 30 dB, demonstrating an unacceptable irradiation condition. It should be noted that if the disk surface is similarly soiled an the drive operation changes as described above, the recording state will change even more.
Thus, even if a signal is recorded according to the optimum irradiation conditions measured during optical disk manufacture, the actual recording will differ according to the conditions prevailing when the recording is made. As a result, when the data signal is demodulated from the recording area, the signal may not be correctly demodulated or read errors may be generated.

Method for determining optimum irradiation conditions in optical data recording

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.