The invention provides a luminal binding protein promoter (PmBiPPro1), deletions thereof, and variants thereof. The promoter is useful for, among other things, directing the expression of transgenes.

Methods are disclosed for manufacturing masks (reticles) as used in charged-particle-beam (CPB) microlithography. The methods can include inspecting the masks for defects, and repairing the defects. First, a "parent" mask is prepared from circuit-design data. The resulting pattern elements on the parent mask are inspected and compared with the circuit-design data to determine whether the data have been converted accurately into corresponding pattern elements on the parent mask. This inspection c...

Charged-particle-beam microlithography apparatus and methods are disclosed that reduce spherical aberrations and other aberrations of the beam without increasing blurring from Coulomb effects or space-charge effects. The beam semi-angle of the beam as incident on the reticle and/or substrate is limited to a range greater than zero but less than an upper limit, so as to remove paraxial portions of the beam. Also, the substrate can be moved as required along the optical axis to place the substrate...

A cutter device has a cutter portion which is led by a depth gauge. The depth gauge is mounted on and extends upwardly from a substantially planar main body section. The depth gauge has a forward, or first section which extends upwardly from the main body, and when viewed from above is disposed at an angle relative to the central plane of the main body diverging therefrom on progressing rearwardly. The rear end of the first section is connected at a juncture section to a second section which pro...

Apparatus and methods are disclosed for inspecting semiconductor wafers and other types of specimens using parallel charged particle beams (e.g., electron beams). An emitter array, including multiple charged-particle-beam (CPB) emitters produces multiple beams that propagate along respective beam axes. The beams pass simultaneously through projection lenses and a deflector so as to cause the beams to be focused simultaneously onto respective loci on the surface of the specimen so as to cause eac...

Coalescing properties, methods and events is disclosed. One embodiment of the invention is a computerized system having an ActiveX control, a Java object, and an engine. The engine, which may be a computer program running on a computer, converts types of the ActiveX control to corresponding types of the Java object. In different embodiments of the invention, the engine may be compile-time or run-time.

The present invention is characterized by replacing solder balls with cylindrical terminals in an IC package where at least a chip is located on the same side of the substrate of the IC package as the solder balls are. Due to the larger length of the cylindrical terminals which are located on the same side of the substrate of the IC package as at least a chip is, at least a chip with relatively thick size can be accommodated in the IC package provided by the present invention, without need of in...

A screw pump includes a screw rotatably arranged in a housing, the threads of which are partially in engagement with a rotatable sealing device having radial sealing discs, whereby the screw area of the screw, including thread grooves and thread walls, are formed by a generatrix which is a part of a circle arc, the circle of which is rotatable around an eccentric rotation axis when the generatrix rotates around the axis of the screw and is displaced along this with a velocity being proportional ...

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for performing charged-particle-beam projection exposure of selected exposure units of a pattern, defined by a reticle, without compromising throughput or transfer accuracy. An illumination beam sequentially illuminates individual exposure units (e.g., subfields) of the reticle pattern to form a patterned beam. The patterned beam sequentially projects images of the illuminated exposure units on a sensitive substrate (e.g., resist-coated wafer). The images are ...

In the context of charged-particle-beam microlithography as used to transfer a pattern, defined by a segmented reticle, to a sensitive substrate, methods are disclosed for reducing the occurrence of defects caused by subfield-stitching errors and/or overlayer errors. The methods are especially useful in semiconductor-device fabrication situations in which multiple pattern layers are projection-transferred to a wafer. In defining the segmented reticle for a pattern layer, subfield boundaries are ...