Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Chuo Kenkyusho

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

University of Pennsylvania

Toyota Central Research and Development Laboratories, Inc.

Nikon Corporation

Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki

Yasuhiko Takeda

Tomoyoshi Motohiro

Tatsuo Fukano

Naohiko Kato

Hideo Iizuka

Shoji Noda

Nader Engheta

Hisayoshi Fujikawa

Yoshihide Watanabe

Akihiro Takeichi

Hiroshi Ito

Takeshi Morikawa

Tatsumi Hioki

Tatsuya Yamashita

Manabu Kagami

Hiroaki Wakayama

Norihito Takeuchi

Tomonori Nagashima

Daniel James Farrell

Yasuya Mita

Fumikazu Isogai

Mikio Okamoto

Eiki Niida

Hiroshi Niikura

Masahito Shiozawa

Nicholas John Ekins-Daukes

Shintaro Mizuno

Hideo Iizuki

Shunsuke Ogawa

Mitsutaro Umehara

An electrode set for chemical reaction includes a substrate, and electrodes for reduction and oxidation reactions alternately arranged on the same surface of the substrate.

Electrodes for chemical reaction, and cell for chemical reaction and chemical reactor using the same

Double groove diffraction gratings are used in combination with various types of photoelectrodes including dye-sensitized and organic photoelectrodes to increase absorption efficiency as well as to provide one or more of a variety of functions including transparency and reflectivity.

Solar cell with double groove diffraction grating

A photoelectric conversion device includes: a wavelength converting region that absorbs ambient light to generate electrons and holes, and recombines the generated electrons and holes to generate monochromatic light; and a photoelectric conversion region that has a p-n junction or p-i-n junction, absorbs the monochromatic light generated in the wavelength converting region to generate electrons and holes, and separates and moves the electrons and holes generated by absorption of the monochromatic light. The wavelength converting region includes: a carrier generating region that generates the electrons and holes; a light emitting region that generates the monochromatic light; and a carrier selective transfer region that is disposed between the carrier generating region and the light emitting region and that, of the electrons and holes generated in the carrier generating region, moves those electrons and holes having specific energies difference there between to the light emitting region.

Photoelectric conversion device

A grating structure and a solar cell assembly. In one aspect, the grating structure suppresses the zero order transmission to near 0%. In another aspect, the solar cell assembly has improved absorption due to coupling with a grating structure.

Grating structure for dividing light

A solar cell structure using either a dye-sensitized or organic absorber is provided with a diffraction grating on at least one side to enhance the travel of first order diffraction components through the photo sensitive material. A two-sided cell uses diffraction gratings both top and bottom wherein the periodic diffraction elements of one grating are shifted by one-quarter of the grating period relative to the other.

Solar cell assembly with diffraction gratings

The present invention is a method of manufacturing a quantum dot array having a plurality of columnar parts including a quantum dot on a substrate, the method comprising the steps of obliquely vapor-depositing a material constituting a first barrier layer to become an energy barrier against the quantum dot onto a surface of the substrate, so as to form a plurality of first barrier layers; obliquely vapor-depositing a material constituting the quantum dot with respect to the surface of the substrate, so as to form the quantum dots on the first barrier layers; and obliquely vapor-depositing a material constituting a second barrier layer to become an energy barrier against the quantum dot with respect to the surface of the substrate, so as to form the second barrier layers on the quantum dots.

Quantum dot array and production method therefor, and dot array element and production method therefor

A method of fabricating an optical waveguide structure includes the step of introducing light into a photo-curable liquid resin. The liquid resin can be a mixture of two types of photo-curable liquid resins having different curing initiation wavelengths and different refractive indexes. The method can include dipping one end of a fiber into the liquid mixture. Light having a wavelength &lgr; can be radiated from the tip end of the optical fiber in order to cure one of the photo-curable liquid resins thereby forming a waveguide. Light having a different wavelength &lgr; can be radiated from an area surrounding the waveguide so as to cure the liquid mixture and form a cladding portion around the waveguide.

Method of fabricating optical waveguide structure

A light guiding plate guides light from a light source to illuminate a liquid crystal cell. A reflector reflects light from the light source. A first surface and a second surface selectively transmits or reflects light. A first region is formed on the first surface at a location that is relatively near the light source. The first region includes a first inclined face and a second inclined face. The first inclined face reflects light from the light source to guide light to the reflector. The second inclined face reflects light from the light source to the second surface so that the second surface emits light. A second region is formed on the first surface at a location that is relatively far from the light source. The second region includes a third inclined face and a fourth inclined face. The third inclined face reflects light from the light source to the second surface so that the second surface emits light. The fourth inclined face reflects light reflected by the reflector to the second surface so that the second surface emits light.

Light guiding plate

A recording medium includes a first substance and a second substance at least in which the first and second substances undergo an oxidation-reduction reaction when an external energy is applied, thereby recording information by varying the optical characteristics. In the recording medium, the reaction of the first and second substances is suppressed, reaction which degrades the recording characteristics other than the case where the recording medium is subjected to recording. In an optical disk (i.e., the recording medium), a WO film (i.e., a second substance), a C film (i.e., a third substance) and an Sn-10 atomic % Sr film (i.e., a first substance) are formed successively on a substrate . When the recording medium is irradiated with a recording laser beam as an external energy, the WO forming the film is reduced to WO , and the Sn-10 atomic % Sr forming the film is oxidized to SrO and/or SnO mainly with the WO and the Sn-10 atomic % Sr passing through the C film and/or destroying the C film . When the recording medium is not irradiated with the recording laser beam, the presence of the C film suppresses the reaction between the WO film and the Sn-10 atomic % Sr film

Memory member

In an optical disk which includes a recording film having a laminated construction, and which records information by changing optical characteristics of the recording film by applying a laser beam, there are laminatedly formed a WO film as a second layer, the WO requiring energy by about 470 kJ when it dissociates 1 mol of oxygen molecules, an Sn&mdash;43 atomic % Bi film which includes Sn as a first layer, the Sn generating energy by about 610 kJ when it bonds with 1 mol of oxygen molecules and having a melting point of about 139&deg; C., and a resin film in this order on a guide groove forming surface of a substrate When a recording laser beam is applied, a part of Sn&mdash;43 atomic % Bi film is turned into a liquid phase, both of the films and react, and the optical characteristics of the recording film vary so that information is recorded. As a result, the retention characteristic of the recorded data is secured, and the reactivity of the recording film is enhanced.

Storage member

A recording medium which includes a first substance and a second substance, wherein an external energy is applied to at least one of the first and second substances to react them in order to change the optical characteristics of the substances for recording information, the recording medium including: a first layer composed of a first substance including at least one of S and Se, a second layer composed of a second substance including a metal, and a barrier layer being disposed between the first and second layers, which allows the reaction between the first and second layers when laser beam for recording is irradiated as an external energy, and suppresses the reaction between the first and second layers when laser beam for recording is not irradiated. Alternatively, the recording medium can be free from the barrier layer, and the second substance can be arranged to have two or more compositionally different portions or two or more phases with a different crystalline state. Thus, when the external energy is not applied, the reaction between the first substance and the second substance is suppressed. Hence, the recording characteristics of the recording medium is inhibited from degrading.

Recording medium

A recording medium is for recording information by varying optical characteristic thereof by application of an external energy thereto, and includes a first substance and a second substance. When the external energy is applied to the recording medium, the first and second substances react with each other to form a third substance having a tungsten-bronze crystalline structure, thereby varying the optical characteristic. The third substance absorbs the external energy and varies the reflectivity of the external energy. Thus, the recording medium records information thereon. The recording medium is good in environmental resistance and information retention, because the third substance is stable energetically.

By providing a normally deposited layer as a buffer layer between a substrate and an obliquely deposited layer, it is possible to prevent contaminants on the substrate from diffusing into the obliquely deposited layer. Also, by providing a normally deposited layer as a passivation layer on the uppermost obliquely deposited layer, absorption of water vapor in the air by the obliquely deposited layer is prevented. Further, by forming a laminated object comprising obliquely deposited layers and dense normally deposited layers, strength of each obliquely deposited layer itself is increased and relaxation of its columnar structure can be suppressed with certainty because both the diffusion of contaminants from the substrate and the absorption of water in the air is prevented. Thus, by removing factors to accelerate the relaxation of columnar structure in the obliquely deposited layer, clouding of the obliquely deposited film layer can be prevented.

Obliquely deposited film element

An anisotropic nanophase composite material and a method of producing same. The composite material comprises a nanophase composite structure containing a multiplicity of particulates of at least one material. The particulates of one material are spaced from each other three-dimensionally and anisotropically oriented in a given direction. The particulates have an average thickness of 1 to 10 nanometers and an average length of not less than 10 nanometers, the length being larger than the thickness. Since the particulates of dimensions on the order of nanometers are oriented only in a given direction, the composite material produces an intensified nonlinear optical effect and is excellent in polarizing characteristics, birefringent characteristics, or photovoltaic characteristics.

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Aichi, Japan

Yasuhiko Takeda