Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Fujifilm Corporation

Takatsugu Wada

Yasuto Kodera

Tadashi Mihara

Kenji Onuma

Yukio Hanyu

Hiroyasu Ishii

Osamu Taniguchi

Masanobu Asaoka

Hideaki Takao

Makoto Kojima

Katsutoshi Nakamura

Yoshio Hotta

Keiji Tsubota

Masatake Akaike

Yasunori Ohta

Masamichi Saito

Katsuya Yamamoto

Tomoki Inoue

Seishi Miura

Takehiko Kawasaki

Atsushi Osawa

Hidetoshi Nojiri

Kazuhiro Tsujita

Dai Murakoshi

Makoto Sugizaki

Rei Kurashima

Bunryo Sato

Kazuhiro Aoyama

Satoshi Nozu

Kouki Nukanobu

Mayumi Yoshioka

Kozo Hokayama

The laser device includes a laser crystal, a resonator including a pair of mirrors between which the laser crystal is interposed, a Q switch that is disposed on an optical path of the resonator and controls a Q value of the resonator, and a Brewster thin-film polarizer that is disposed on the optical path of the resonator and transmits selectively p-polarized light. The thin-film polarizer has wavelength selectivity in which a p-polarized light transmittance at a first wavelength exhibiting a maximum gain of the laser crystal is 5% or more to 25% or less, the p-polarized light transmittance monotonically increases as a wavelength becomes longer than the first wavelength, and a maximum transmittance is exhibited at a third wavelength. The laser device oscillates laser light at a second wavelength that is a wavelength longer than the first wavelength and shorter than or equal to the third wavelength.

Laser device, multi-wavelength laser device, and photoacoustic measurement apparatus

A solid-state laser device includes a resonator composed of a pair of mirrors, a laser rod disposed in the resonator, and a laser chamber. The resonator and the laser rod are disposed in a housing. The laser rod is inserted through a hole of the laser chamber and is supported in a state in which two end portions are exposed. An O-ring is disposed at an exposed root of at least one rod end portion exposed from the laser chamber. The solid-state laser device includes a cover member that is disposed on a rod side surface of the rod end portion between the O-ring and a rod end surface and that blocks incidence of stray light, which is generated in the housing, on the O-ring.

Solid-state laser device

A solid-state laser device includes a laser rod made of an alexandrite crystal; a flash lamp that outputs excitation light for exciting the laser rod, a glass tube for a lamp being made of quartz glass that at least blocks deep ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 200 nm to 300 nm, and transmits visible light having a wavelength of 400 nm or more; and a laser chamber that contains a tubular reflector that includes a hole part containing at least a portion of the laser rod or a portion of the flash lamp and is made of a porous material of polytetrafluoroethylene, an inner wall surface of the hole part being as a reflecting surface that reflects the excitation light.

Provided is a solid-state laser device in which a linear resonator including an output mirror and a rear mirror, a laser rod, and optical members are provided on a common base and are contained in a housing having the base as a portion. A holding part is provided to hold an excitation light source that extends parallel to the laser rod on a side of the laser rod opposite to the base. The optical members including a Q-switch are disposed between the laser rod and the rear mirror. An upper end position of the output mirror is at a position lower than a lower end position of the excitation light source held by the holding part, with the base as a reference. The holding part holds the excitation light source so as to be capable of being inserted and extracted with respect to the output mirror side in a longitudinal direction of the excitation light source.

Disclosed are a laser device which uses alexandrite crystal and is capable of suppressing abnormal oscillation even if the size thereof is reduced and suppressing damage to an AR coating on a Q switch or alexandrite crystal, and a photoacoustic measurement device. A laser rodincludes alexandrite crystal. A flash lampirradiates the laser rodwith excitation light. A resonator includes a pair of mirrorsandwith the laser rodsandwiched therebetween. A Q switchis inserted into the optical path of the resonator and controls the Q value of the resonator. A polarizeris inserted into the resonator and is a non-coated Brewster polarizer which selectively transmits light in a predetermined polarization direction among light emitted from the laser rod.

Laser device and photoacoustic measurement device

A unimorph-type ultrasound probe includes a substrate in which a plurality of openings each having a predetermined shape is formed, a plurality of vibration plates formed on the substrate so as to close one end of each of the plurality of openings, a plurality of piezoelectric element portions which is formed on a surface of the plurality of vibration plates and each has a piezoelectric substance layer and a pair of electrode layers formed on both surfaces of the piezoelectric substance layer, and a covering layer which is disposed on a surface of the substrate such that the plurality of piezoelectric element portions is embedded in the covering layer, and is formed of an organic resin having an acoustic impedance of 1.5&#xd7;10kg/ms to 4&#xd7;10kg/ms and a Shore A hardness of equal to or less than 75.

Unimorph-type ultrasound probe and method for manufacturing the same

An ultrasound probe comprises: a backing material; a plurality of inorganic piezoelectric elements arranged on a top surface of the backing material; a first acoustic matching layer separated into a plurality of pieces disposed on the plurality of inorganic piezoelectric elements; and a second acoustic matching layer separated into a plurality of pieces disposed on the first acoustic matching layer, wherein the second acoustic matching layer comprises an upper organic layer constituting a plurality of organic piezoelectric elements, and a lower organic layer for performing, together with the upper organic layer, acoustic matching for the plurality of inorganic piezoelectric elements.

Ultrasound probe and method of producing the same

An optimal value calculator calculates, based on angle information obtained from a first angle sensor provided in an ultrasound probe, the direction of transmission of an ultrasonic beam transmitted from the ultrasound probe, and the radiation source optimal angle of a radiation source at which the direction of radiation from the radiation source is substantially parallel to the calculated direction of transmission of the ultrasonic beam and the optimal detection angle of a radiographic image generator at which the normal of a detection surface of the radiographic image generator is substantially parallel to the calculated direction of transmission of the ultrasonic beam.

Complex diagnostic apparatus, complex diagnostic system, ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, X-ray diagnostic apparatus and complex diagnostic image-generating method

Acoustic waves and photoacoustic waves are detected efficiently in a photoacoustic imaging apparatus configured to obtain acoustic images as well, to enable obtainment of high quality acoustic images and photoacoustic images. A probe for a photoacoustic imaging apparatus is equipped with: first piezoelectric bodies that detect acoustic waves reflected by a subject after the acoustic waves are irradiated onto the subject; and second piezoelectric bodies that detect photoacoustic waves generated within the subject due to irradiation of light after the light is irradiated onto the subject. Piezoelectric bodies made from an inorganic material are employed as the first piezoelectric bodies, and piezoelectric bodies made from an organic material are employed as the second piezoelectric bodies.

Photoacoustic imaging apparatus, photoacoustic imaging method, and probe for photoacoustic imaging apparatus

In a method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head, liquid in a pressure generation chamber is pressurized by a piezoelectric driving force of a piezoelectric element, and is discharged from a nozzle communicated with the pressure generation chamber. The method is characterized by the steps of providing a flow passage substrate incorporating the pressure generation chamber, anodically joining a diaphragm to the flow passage substrate, forming electrode layers and a piezoelectric film of the piezoelectric element on the diaphragm, and crystallizing the piezoelectric film during or after the lamination at a crystallization temperature not higher than a strain point of the diaphragm.

Method of manufacturing liquid discharge head

A device is formed by transferring a film onto a substrate when the film requires but the substrate is not adapted to a high temperature heat treatment process. The film having layers and formed on a first substrate having layers is transferred onto a second substrate having layers. The method of transferring the film comprises a first step of forming a lift-off layer and the film to be transferred on the first substrate, a second step of bonding the film to be transferred to the second substrate and a third step of separating the film to be transferred from the first substrate by etching the lift-off layer and transferring it onto the second substrate.

Film transfer method

A liquid crystal device is formed by a pair of substrates each having thereon electrodes, and a liquid crystal disposed between the substrates so as to be movable along surfaces of the substrates. The liquid crystal is disposed over regions extending between the surfaces of the substrates including an effective optical modulation region, a first peripheral region outside the effective optical modulation region and a second peripheral region formed along a part or an entirety of outer periphery of the first peripheral region. The liquid crystal is disposed to have a higher liquid crystal molecular pretilt angle in the first peripheral region than in the effective optical modulation region. The liquid crystal is disposed in a random alignment state free from uniaxial alignment characteristic or in a layer structure in the second peripheral region. As a result, the liquid crystal molecular movement along the extension of substrates is suppressed in the effective optical modulation region and in the second peripheral region and relatively allowed in the first peripheral region, so that the impurities in the liquid crystal are confined in the second peripheral region while avoiding the liquid crystal thickness irregularity.

Liquid crystal device, image display apparatus and image forming

A ferroelectric liquid crystal device of a cell structure having a suppressed increase of cell thickness along a cell side is constituted by disposing a ferroelectric liquid crystal between a pair of electrode plates each sequentially provided with an electrode, an insulating film and an alignment film on a substrate. The alignment film is provided with a surface unevenness for suppressing a liquid crystal movement causing the increase in cell thickness. The surface unevenness is provided to the alignment film directly or to the insulating film below the alignment film, e.g., by wet forming the relevant film by using at least two solvents having different boiling points or dispersing fine particles within the relevant film, optionally followed by removal of the fine particles.

Method of making ferroelectric liquid crystal device using particles to

Ferroelectric liquid crystal device with uneven surface under alignment

A ferroelectric liquid crystal device of a cell structure having a suppressed increase of cell thickness along a cell side is constituted by disposing a ferroelectric liquid crystal between a pair of electrode plates each sequentially provided with an electrode, an insulating film and an alignment film on a substrate. The aligment film is provided with a surface unevenness for suppressing a liquid crystal movement causing the increase in cell thickness. The surface unevenness is provided to the aligment film directly or to the insulating film below the alignment film, e.g., by wet forming the relevant film by using at least two solvents having different boiling points or dispersing fine particles within the relevant film, optionally followed by removal of the fine particles.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Takatsugu Wada