Patents by Inventor Akio Koike

Akio Koike has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20110314868
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for producing a glass body containing: hydrolyzing a silicon compound and a compound containing a metal serving as a dopant, in a flame projected from a burner to form glass fine particles; and depositing and growing the formed glass fine particles on a base material, in which a raw material mixed gas containing a gas of the silicon compound, a gas of the compound containing a metal serving as a dopant, and either one of a combustible gas and a combustion supporting gas is fed into a central nozzle (A) positioning in the center of the burner; the other gas of the combustible gas and the combustion supporting gas is fed into a nozzle (B) different from the central nozzle (A) of the burner; a combustible gas or a combustion supporting gas is arbitrarily fed into a nozzle different from the nozzles (A) and (B); and a flow rate of the raw material mixed gas is 50% or more and not more than 90% of the largest flow rate among flow rate(s) of the combustible gas(ses) and the
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2011
    Publication date: December 29, 2011
    Applicant: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
    Inventors: Junko MIYASAKA, Akio KOIKE, Tomonori OGAWA, Masahiro KAWAGISHI
  • Publication number: 20110301015
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for producing a porous quarts glass body containing hydrolyzing a metal dopant precursor and an SiO2 precursor in a flame of a burner to form glass fine particles, and depositing and growing the formed glass fine particles on a base material, in which the burner has at least two nozzles, and in which a mixed gas containing (A) a metal dopant precursor gas, (B) an SiO2 precursor gas, (C) one gas of H2 and O2, and (D) one or more gases selected from the group consisting of a rare gas, N2, CO2, a hydrogen halide and H2O, with a proportion of the gas (D) being from 5 to 70 mol %; and (E) the other gas of H2 and O2 of (C), are fed into different nozzles of the burner from each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: ASAHI GLASS COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Takahiro MITSUMORI, Yasutomi Iwahashi, Akio Koike
  • Publication number: 20110256344
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a glass substrate having plural through-holes which is not likely to peel from a silicon wafer, even though laminated on and jointed to a the silicon wafer and then subjected to heat treatment. The above object is accomplished by a glass substrate having an average thermal expansion coefficient of from 10×10?7 to 50×10?7/K within a range of from 50° C. to 300° C., having plural through-holes with a taper angle of from 0.1 to 20° and having a thickness of from 0.01 to 5 mm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2011
    Publication date: October 20, 2011
    Inventors: Motoshi ONO, Akio KOIKE
  • Patent number: 8039409
    Abstract: The present invention provides a TiO2-containing silica glass from which a transparent extremely low thermal expansion glass having excellent transparency and having a temperature region in which the coefficient of thermal expansion is substantially zero can be obtained. The present invention relates to a TiO2-containing silica glass for optical member for EUV lithography, having a TiO2 concentration of from 3 to 14% by mass; an internal transmittance per 1-mm thickness in a wavelength region of from 400 to 700 nm, T400-700, of 97% or more; and an internal transmittance per 1-mm thickness in a wavelength region of from 400 to 3,000 nm, T400-3,000, of 70% or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
    Inventors: Kenta Saitou, Akio Koike, Mitsuhiro Kawata
  • Patent number: 8034731
    Abstract: The present invention is to provide a TiO2—SiO2 glass whose coefficient of linear thermal expansion at the time of irradiating with high EUV energy light becomes substantially zero when used as an optical member of an exposure tool for EUVL. The present invention relates to a TiO2-containing silica glass, having a fictive temperature of 1,000° C. or lower, a OH concentration of 600 ppm or higher, a temperature at which the coefficient of linear thermal expansion becomes 0 ppb/° C. of from 40 to 110° C., and an average coefficient of linear thermal expansion in the temperature range of 20 to 100° C., of 50 ppb/° C. or lower.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
    Inventors: Akio Koike, Yasutomi Iwahashi, Shinya Kikugawa
  • Publication number: 20110239707
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for production of a synthetic quartz glass having a fluorine concentration of 1,000 ppm by mass or higher, comprising the following steps (a) to (c): (a) depositing and growing quartz glass fine particles obtained by flame hydrolysis of a glass-forming material onto a substrate, to thereby form a porous glass body; (b) maintaining the porous glass body in a reaction vessel under an elemental fluorine (F2)-containing atmosphere of a pressure of Pb1 and a temperature of 400° C. or lower, and followed by maintaining in the reaction vessel under condition of a pressure Pb2 lower than the pressure Pb1 and a temperature of 400° C. or lower, to thereby obtain a fluorine-containing porous glass body; and (c) heating the fluorine-containing porous glass body in a vitrification furnace to a transparent vitrification temperature, to thereby obtain a fluorine-containing transparent glass body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2011
    Publication date: October 6, 2011
    Applicant: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
    Inventors: Chikaya Tamitsuji, Kunio Watanabe, Akio Koike
  • Publication number: 20110239706
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for production of a synthetic quartz glass having a fluorine concentration of 1,000 ppm by mass or higher, comprising the following processes steps (a) to (c): (a) depositing and growing quartz glass fine particles obtained by flame hydrolysis of a glass-forming material onto a substrate, to thereby form a porous glass body; (b) maintaining the porous glass body in a reaction vessel under an elemental fluorine (F2)-containing atmosphere of 400° C. or lower, to thereby obtain a fluorine-containing porous glass body; and (c) heating the fluorine-containing porous glass body in a vitrification furnace to a transparent vitrification temperature, to thereby obtain a fluorine-containing transparent glass body, wherein, in step (b), elemental fluorine (F2) is continuously or intermittently supplied to the reaction vessel and the gas in the reaction vessel is continuously or intermittently discharged from the reaction vessel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2011
    Publication date: October 6, 2011
    Applicant: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
    Inventors: Chikaya Tamitsuji, Kunio Watanabe, Akio Koike
  • Patent number: 8012653
    Abstract: A substrate that is suitable for an EUV mask or an EUV mask blank and excellent in flatness, is provided. A substrate for an EUV mask blank, which is made of a silica glass containing from 1 to 12 mass % of TiO2, wherein the surface roughness (rms) in a surface quality area of the substrate is at most 2 nm, and the maximum variation (PV) of the stress in the surface quality area of the substrate is at most 0.2 MPa.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2011
    Assignee: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
    Inventors: Akio Koike, Ken Ebihara
  • Patent number: 7998892
    Abstract: The present invention provides a TiO2—SiO2 glass whose coefficient of linear thermal expansion upon irradiation with high EUV energy light is substantially zero, which is suitable as an optical member of an exposure tool for EUVL. The present invention relates to a TiO2-containing silica glass having a halogen content of 100 ppm or more; a fictive temperature of 1,100° C. or lower; an average coefficient of linear thermal expansion in the range of from 20 to 100° C. of 30 ppb/° C. or lower; a temperature width ?T, in which a coefficient of linear thermal expansion is 0±5 ppb/° C., of 5° C. or greater; and a temperature, at which a coefficient of linear thermal expansion is 0 ppb/° C., falling within the range of from 30 to 150° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2011
    Assignee: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
    Inventors: Akio Koike, Yasutomi Iwahashi, Shinya Kikugawa
  • Patent number: 7989378
    Abstract: The present invention is to provide a TiO2—SiO2 glass having suitable thermal expansion properties as an optical member of an exposure tool for EUVL. The present invention relates to a TiO2-containing silica glass having a temperature, at which a coefficient of thermal expansion is 0 ppb/° C., falling within the range of 23±4° C. and a temperature width, in which a coefficient of thermal expansion is 0±5 ppb/° C., of 5° C. or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
    Inventors: Akio Koike, Yasutomi Iwahashi, Shinya Kikugawa
  • Publication number: 20110179827
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for production of a synthetic quartz glass having a fluorine concentration of 1,000 mass ppm or more, the process comprising: (a) a step of depositing and growing quartz glass fine particles obtained by flame hydrolysis of a glass forming raw material onto a substrate, to thereby form a porous glass body; (b) a step of keeping the porous glass body in a reaction vessel that is filled with elemental fluorine (F2) or a mixed gas comprising elemental fluorine (F2) diluted with an inert gas and contains a solid metal fluoride, to thereby obtain a fluorine-containing porous glass body; and (c) a step of heating the fluorine-containing porous glass body to a transparent vitrification temperature, to thereby obtain a fluorine-containing transparent glass body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2011
    Publication date: July 28, 2011
    Applicant: ASAHI GLASS COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Chikaya TAMITSUJI, Kunio Watanabe, Akio Koike
  • Publication number: 20110028299
    Abstract: The present invention provides a TiO2-containing silica glass from which a transparent extremely low thermal expansion glass having excellent transparency and having a temperature region in which the coefficient of thermal expansion is substantially zero can be obtained. The present invention relates to a TiO2-containing silica glass for optical member for EUV lithography, having a TiO2 concentration of from 3 to 14% by mass; an internal transmittance per 1-mm thickness in a wavelength region of from 400 to 700 nm, T400-700, of 97% or more; and an internal transmittance per 1-mm thickness in a wavelength region of from 400 to 3,000 nm, T400-3000, of 70% or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2010
    Publication date: February 3, 2011
    Applicant: ASAHI GLASS COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Kenta SAITOU, Akio Koike, Mitsuhiro Kawata
  • Publication number: 20100323871
    Abstract: The present invention provides a TiO2—SiO2 glass whose coefficient of linear thermal expansion in the range of the time of irradiation with EUV light is substantially zero when used as an optical member of an exposure tool for EUVL and which has extremely high surface smoothness. The present invention relates to a TiO2-containing silica glass having a TiO2 content of from 7.5 to 12% by mass, a temperature at which a coefficient of linear thermal expansion is 0 ppb/° C., falling within the range of from 40 to 110° C., and a standard deviation (?) of a stress level of striae of 0.03 MPa or lower within an area of 30 mm×30 mm in at least one plane.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2010
    Publication date: December 23, 2010
    Applicant: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
    Inventors: Akio Koike, Kenta Saito, Long Shao, Yasutomi Iwahashi, Shinya Kikugawa
  • Publication number: 20100323873
    Abstract: The present invention provides a TiO2—SiO2 glass whose coefficient of linear thermal expansion upon irradiation with high EUV energy light is substantially zero, which is suitable as an optical member of an exposure tool for EUVL. The present invention relates to a TiO2-containing silica glass having a halogen content of 100 ppm or more; a fictive temperature of 1,100° C. or lower; an average coefficient of linear thermal expansion in the range of from 20 to 100° C. of 30 ppb/° C. or lower; a temperature width ?T, in which a coefficient of linear thermal expansion is 0±5 ppb/° C., of 5° C. or greater; and a temperature, at which a coefficient of linear thermal expansion is 0 ppb/° C., falling within the range of from 30 to 150° C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2010
    Publication date: December 23, 2010
    Applicant: ASAHI GLASS COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Akio Koike, Yasutomi Iwahashi, Shinya Kikugawa
  • Publication number: 20100323872
    Abstract: The present invention provides a TiO2—SiO2 glass in which when used as an optical member for an exposure tool for EUVL, a thermal expansion coefficient is substantially zero at the time of irradiation with high-EUV energy light, and physical properties of a multilayer can be kept over a long period of time by releasing hydrogen from the glass. The present invention relates to a TiO2-containing silica glass having a fictive temperature of 1,100° C. or lower, a hydrogen molecule concentration of 1×1016 molecules/cm3 or more, and a temperature, at which a linear thermal expansion coefficient is 0 ppb/° C., falling within the range of from 40 to 110° C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2010
    Publication date: December 23, 2010
    Applicant: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
    Inventors: Akio KOIKE, Yasutomi IWAHASHI, Shinya KIKUGAWA, Yuko TACHIBANA
  • Publication number: 20100317505
    Abstract: The present invention is to provide a TiO2—SiO2 glass whose coefficient of linear thermal expansion at the time of irradiating with high EUV energy light becomes substantially zero when used as an optical member of an exposure tool for EUVL. The present invention relates to a TiO2-containing silica glass, having a fictive temperature of 1,000° C. or lower, a OH concentration of 600 ppm or higher, a temperature at which the coefficient of linear thermal expansion becomes 0 ppb/° C. of from 40 to 110° C., and an average coefficient of linear thermal expansion in the temperature range of 20 to 100° C., of 50 ppb/° C. or lower.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2010
    Publication date: December 16, 2010
    Applicant: ASAHI GLASS COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Akio KOIKE, Yasutomi Iwahashi, Shinya Kikugawa
  • Publication number: 20100261597
    Abstract: The present invention is to provide a TiO2—SiO2 glass having suitable thermal expansion properties as an optical member of an exposure tool for EUVL. The present invention relates to a TiO2-containing silica glass having a temperature, at which a coefficient of thermal expansion is 0 ppb/° C., falling within the range of 23±4° C. and a temperature width, in which a coefficient of thermal expansion is 0±5 ppb/° C., of 5° C. or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2010
    Publication date: October 14, 2010
    Applicant: ASAHI GLASS COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Akio KOIKE, Yasutomi Iwahashi, Shinya Kikugawa
  • Patent number: 7780616
    Abstract: In order to provide a walking assistance device capable of favorably providing an assisting force for maintaining the upright posture while reducing the sense of pressure when worn by the user, a hip support member (1) of the walking assisting device, which comprises an assisting force generator (hip joint actuator 10) disposed at least on a side of a hip joint to provide an assisting force to a movement of a lower limb, is provided with: a back support (4) equipped with pads (18, 19, 20) for respectively abutting an intermediate portion between right and left erector spinae muscles, lateral outer sides of the spinae muscles and right and left iliac crests; and a belt (5) connected to the back support for tightening a lower part of the rectus abdominis muscle. In this way, a supporting force can be provided to the lumbar vertebrae to steadily keep the upright posture while reducing a resistance to a bending movement of the waist caused by the support member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2010
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hisashi Katoh, Takashi Hirata, Akio Koike, Taiji Koyama, Takako Fujii, Yoshirou Koyama
  • Publication number: 20100179047
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an optical member including a TiO2-containing silica glass having: a TiO2 concentration of from 3 to 10% by mass; a Ti3+ concentration of 100 wt ppm or less; a thermal expansion coefficient at from 0 to 100° C., CTE0-100, of 0±150 ppb/° C.; and an internal transmittance in the wavelength range of 400 to 700 nm per a thickness of 1 mm, T400-700, of 80% or more, in which the optical member has a ratio of variation of Ti3+ concentration to an average value of the Ti3+ concentration, ?Ti3+/Ti3+, on an optical use surface, is 0.2 or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2010
    Publication date: July 15, 2010
    Applicant: ASAHI GLASS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akio KOIKE, Chikaya Tamitsuji, Kunio Watanabe, Tomonori Ogawa
  • Publication number: 20100028787
    Abstract: A substrate that is suitable for an EUV mask or an EUV mask blank and excellent in flatness, is provided. A substrate for an EUV mask blank, which is made of a silica glass containing from 1 to 12 mass % of TiO2, wherein the surface roughness (rms) in a surface quality area of the substrate is at most 2 nm, and the maximum variation (PV) of the stress in the surface quality area of the substrate is at most 0.2 MPa.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2009
    Publication date: February 4, 2010
    Applicant: ASAHI GLASS COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Akio KOIKE, Ken EBIHARA