Other

Ebara Corporation

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.

Center for Advanced Science and Technology Incubation, Ltd.

Yotaro Hatamura

Masahiro Hatakeyama

Katsunori Ichiki

Masayuki Nakao

Kozo Ono

Takao Kato

Tadasuke Kobata

Tohru Satake

Takaaki Nagao

Takenori Okusa

Takami Kusaki

Masaaki Kajiyama

Ryuji Takada

Takashi Tsuzuki

An optical imprinting apparatus, and a method for producing a two-dimensional pattern, have line widths less than the wavelength of an exposure light. The evanescent (proximity) field effect is adopted to realize the apparatus and method. An optical imprinting apparatus comprises a container in which light is enclosed, an exposure-mask having a proximity field exposure pattern firmly fixed to a section of the container for exposing the exposure pattern on a photo-sensitive material through an evanescent field by the light enclosed therein; and a light source for supplying the light in the container.

Microfabrication of pattern imprinting

A slider prevent the phenomenon of sticking and reduce entrapping of foreign particles between sliding surfaces. A method for making micro-protrusions or micro-cavities on a surface of a substrate comprises placing the substrate in a process chamber, supporting a mask member having a micro shielding surface independent of and in front of the substrate, and irradiating fast atomic beams onto the surface of the substrate through the mask member.

Method of making substrate with micro-protrusions or micro-cavities

The object of the present invention IS to provide an optical imprinting apparatus and method for producing a two-dimensional pattern, having line widths less than the wavelength of an exposure light. The evarnescent (proximity) field effect is adopted to realize the apparatus and method. An optical imprinting apparatus comprises: a container in which light is enclosed therein; an exposure-mask having a proximity field exposure pattern firmly fixed to a section of said container for exposing said exposure pattern on a photo-sensitive material through an evanescent field by said light enclosed therein; and a light source for supplying said light in said container.

Biological precision screw pump

An ultra-fine microfabrication method using an energy beam is based on the use of shielding provided by nanometer or micrometer sized micro-particles to produce a variety of three-dimensional fine structures which have not been possible by the traditional photolithographic technique which is basically designed to produce two-dimensional structures. When the basis technique of radiation of an energy beam and shielding is combined with a shield positioning technique using a magnetic, electrical field or laser beam, with or without the additional chemical effects provided by reactive gas particle beams or solutions, fine structures of very high aspect ratios can be produced with precision. Applications of devices having the fine structures produced by the method include wavelength shifting in optical communications, quantum effect devices and intensive laser devices.

Ultra-fine microfabrication method using an energy beam

Three-dimensional ultra-fine micro-fabricated structures of the order of .mu.m and less are produced for use in advanced optical communication systems and quantum effect devices. Basic components are an energy beam source, a mask member and a specimen stage. The mask member is an independent component, and various combinations of relative movements of the mask member with respect to the beam axis and/or workpiece can be made with high precision to produce curved or slanted surfaces on a workpiece, thereby producing multiple lines or arrays of convex or concave micro-lenses. Other examples of fine-structures include deposition of thin films in a multiple line pattern or in an array pattern. Because of flexibility of fabrication and material, labyrinth seals having curved surfaces with grooved structures can be used as friction reduction devices for bearing components. Fine groove dimensions of the order of nm are possible. Energy beams can be any of fast atomic beams, ion beams, electron beam, laser beams, radiation beams, X-ray beams and radical particle beams. Parallel beams are often used, but when a focused bean is used, a technique of reduced projection imaging can be utilized to produce fine-structures of the order of nm.

Fabrication apparatus employing energy beam

An energy beam source is used in micro-fabrication tasks, such as fabrication of specific patterns, in-situ bonding, repair, connection and disconnection of electrical paths, applicable to semiconductor devices and other micro-sized circuits in integrated circuits. The beam source is made compact so that several sources can be located inside a vacuum vessel and in conjunction with micro-manipulators or micro-movement stages operated under light or an electron microscope. The beam source is provided with at least three electrodes, and by applying a selected voltage, i.e., high frequency voltage, direct current voltage and ground voltage, on each the three electrodes in association with film-forming substance(s), virtually any type of deposit can be formed at any location of a workpiece. Different types of particle beams, such as positive and negative ion beams, a highspeed neutral atomic beam, a radical particle beam, an electron beam can be produced from the beam source by judicious choice of operating-parameters and the film-forming material which may be a process gas or an applied coating. By using the beam source and the method of deposit forming presented, virtually any type of fabrication task can be carried out on any surface and any location of a workpiece in a three-dimensional space.

Fabrication method employing energy beam source

Fabrication method employing and energy beam source

An ultra-fine microfabrication method using an energy beam is based on the use of shielding provided by nanometer or micrometer sized micro-particles to produce a variety of three-dimensional fine structures which have not been possible by the traditional photolithographic technique which is basically designed to produce two-dimensional structures. When the basic technique of radiation of an energy beam and shielding is combined with a shield positioning technique using a magnetic, electrical field or laser beam, with or without the additional chemical effects provided by reactive gas particle beams or solutions, fine structures of very high aspect ratios can be produced with precision. The microfabrication method include radiating a Fast Atomic beam through a patterned photoresist Film to fabricate a pattern of 0.1 to 100 nm in a target object.

Ultra-fine microfabrication method using a fast atomic energy beam

Three-dimensional ultra-fine micro-fabricated structures of the order of .mu.m and less are produced for use in advanced optical communication systems and quantum effect devices. The basic components are an energy beam source, a mask member and a specimen stage. Because the mask member is an independent component, various combinations of relative movements of the mask member with respect to the beam axis and/or workpiece can be made with high precision to produce curved or slanted surfaces on a workpiece, thereby producing a multiple lines or arrays of convex or concave micro-lenses. Other examples of fine-structures include deposition of thin films in a multiple line pattern or in an array pattern. Because of the flexibility of fabrication method and material of fabrication, labyrinth seals having curved surfaces with grooved structures can be used as friction reduction means for bearing components. Fine groove dimensions of the order of nm are possible. Energy beams can be any of fast atomic beams, ion beams, electron beam, laser beams, radiation beams, X-ray beams and radical particle beams. Parallel beams are often used, but when a focused beam is used, a technique of reduced projection imaging can be utilized to produce a fine-structure of the order of nm.

Fabrication method with energy beam

A micro-working apparatus performs fabrication and assembly tasks for micron/nanometer sized objects while progress of operations is observed in real-time by at least a pair of optical or electron microscopes to provide simultaneous views from at least two directions. This offers spatial visual information regarding the working space which is particularly critical in micro-working. Micro-working is further facilitated by the use of a micro-pallet device specially designed for use in the apparatus, but also offering other application possibilities. Rotational and parallel translation movements provided by the micro-pallet combined with the micro-working capability of the apparatus are utilized to enable production of micron-sized parts for use in advanced applications of optical and electronic devices.

Micro-processing apparatus and method therefor

An energy beam is irradiated to a workpiece through a beam transmission hole defined in a mask. At that time, a relative position between an energy beam source and the mask or the mask and the workpiece is changed, so that machining depth of the workpiece is varied depending on machining portions of the workpiece, which correspond to amounts of irradiation of the energy beam. With this method, a machined product having locally different depths very easily can be made and further the product can be machined to desired depths with high accuracy by a single machining operation in a short time.

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Tokyo, Japan

Yotaro Hatamura