Ihi Aerospace Co., Ltd.

Air Trick Inc.

Hiroaki Asahi

Kazunori Kawasaki

Shoji Muramatsu

Tetsuya Takada

Hidehiko Tamaoki

A dropping model electrostatic levitation furnace which puts a charged sample in levitation state by an electric field generated between electrodes and subjects the sample to heat treatment, in which a drop tube evacuatable in vacuum is connected vertically at the lower side of a furnace body to allow the sample to drop through the drop tube with a beam irradiating optical system having a heating laser beam. This brings experimental results which the influence of an electric field and gravity is eliminated sufficiently by means of a furnace having comparatively simple constitution, and also enables to reduce the cost drastically with high experimental environment.

Dropping model electrostatic levitation furnace

The present invention is an image pickup device provided with a CMOS camera which is provided with a telecentric lens to photograph a sample put in a levitation state at the center inside an electrostatic levitation furnace, a metal halide light source which is positioned on the opposite side of the sample from the CMOS camera to irradiate light with a wavelength of 400 to 450 nm toward the sample, and a digital signal processor which performs image processing for enhancing an edge of an image captured by the CMOS camera in real time to output a position of center of gravity of the sample put in the levitation state, where a blue filter is attached to the CMOS camera. Even if the sample becomes incandescent due to a high temperature, contrast of the sample against a background can be obtained by the image pickup device. In addition, position information required for levitation control of a sample with a complicated shape is outputted by the image pickup device so that an instant at which the sample with a complicated shape changes to a spherical shape one can be specified visually.

Image pickup device

An electrostatic levitation furnace wherein main electrodes opposed to each other within a vacuum chamber are arranged at intervals to form interspaces between them. Auxiliary electrodes are arranged to correspond to each of the electrostatic field generating interspaces, and laser irradiators are arranged above the uppermost main electrode and under the lowermost main electrode, and the main electrode positioned midway between the uppermost and lowest one has a through-hole on an optical path of laser beam which a sample can be passed through. When two species of samples are fused together, regardless of whether or not the samples are conductors, the furnace has the function of melting the levitated samples and fusing them together while maintaining each of the temperatures of the samples, and consequently this permits realization of fusion in a state free of external interference.

Electrostatic suspension furnace and method for fusing samples using this

An electrostatic levitation furnace is improved by providing three pairs of electrodes opposed to each other respectively on three axes perpendicularly intercepting each other at a position where the sample is to be levitated in the vacuum chamber, and disposing a plurality of access ports, which are directed to the position of the sample, to the vacuum chamber tree-dimensionally, whereby the accessible direction against the sample is diversified, it becomes possible to improve the degree of freedom in distribution of various apparatuses and easily cope with increase of apparatuses.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Hiroaki Asahi