Patents by Inventor Kazutoshi Watanabe

Kazutoshi Watanabe 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: 20200161533
    Abstract: There is provided a laminated substrate having a piezoelectric film, including: a substrate; and a piezoelectric film provided on the substrate interposing a base film, wherein the piezoelectric film has an alkali niobium oxide based perovskite structure represented by a composition formula of (K1-xNax)NbO3 (0<x<1) and preferentially oriented in (001) plane direction, and a sound speed of the piezoelectric film is 5100 m/s or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 2018
    Publication date: May 21, 2020
    Applicant: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Kenji SHIBATA, Kazutoshi WATANABE, Fumimasa HORIKIRI
  • Patent number: 10658569
    Abstract: This method for manufacturing a lead-free niobate-system ferroelectric thin film device includes: a lower electrode film formation step of forming a lower electrode film on a substrate; a ferroelectric thin film formation step of forming a niobate-system ferroelectric thin film on the lower electrode film; an etch mask pattern formation step of forming an etch mask in a desired pattern on the niobate-system ferroelectric thin film; and a ferroelectric thin film etching step of shaping the niobate-system ferroelectric thin film into a desired fine pattern by wet etching using an etchant comprising: a predetermined chelating agent including at least one selected from EDTMP, NTMP, CyDTA, HEDP, GBMP, DTPMP, and citric acid; an aqueous alkaline solution containing an aqueous ammonia solution; and an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignees: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED, KANTO KAGAKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Fumimasa Horikiri, Kenji Shibata, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Kazufumi Suenaga, Masaki Noguchi, Kenji Kuroiwa
  • Publication number: 20200028066
    Abstract: There is provided a piezoelectric laminate, including: a substrate; and a piezoelectric film formed on the substrate, wherein the piezoelectric film is a film containing an alkali niobium oxide of a perovskite structure represented by a composition formula of (K1-xNax)NbO3 (0<x<1), and having Young's modulus of less than 100 GPa.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2019
    Publication date: January 23, 2020
    Inventors: Kenji SHIBATA, Kazutoshi WATANABE, Fumimasa HORIKIRI
  • Patent number: 10497855
    Abstract: There is provided a ferroelectric thin-film laminated substrate, including a substrate, and further including a lower electrode layer, a ferroelectric thin-film layer, an upper electrode intermediate layer, and an upper electrode layer being sequentially stacked on the substrate, in which: the lower electrode layer is made of platinum or a platinum alloy; the ferroelectric thin-film layer is made of a sodium potassium niobate (typical chemical formula of (K1-xNax)NbO3, 0.4?x?0.7); the upper electrode layer is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy; the upper electrode intermediate layer is made of a metal that has less oxidizability than titanium and can generate an intermetallic compound with Aluminum; and a part of the upper electrode intermediate layer and a part of the upper electrode layer are alloyed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Fumimasa Horikiri, Kenji Shibata, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Kazufumi Suenaga, Hiroyuki Endo
  • Publication number: 20190293681
    Abstract: To avoid applying overload on both a probe and a sample surface, and to reduce time for measuring irregular shapes on the sample surface in performing an intermittent measurement method, provided is a scanning probe microscope including: a cantilever having a probe attached thereto, the scanning probe microscope being configured to scan a sample surface by intermittently bringing the probe into contact with the sample surface; and a control device configured to perform a first operation of bringing the probe and the sample surface into contact with each other, and a second operation of separating the probe and the sample surface from each other after the first operation. The control device executes the second operation by thermally deforming the cantilever.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Publication date: September 26, 2019
    Inventors: Masatsugu SHIGENO, Hiroyoshi YAMAMOTO, Kazutoshi WATANABE
  • Publication number: 20190288180
    Abstract: There is provided a piezoelectric laminate, including: a substrate; and a piezoelectric film formed on the substrate, wherein the piezoelectric film contains an alkali niobium oxide represented by a composition formula of (K1?xNax)NbO3 (0<x<1), having a perovskite structure, and contains a metallic element selected from a group consisting of Cu and Mn at a concentration of more than 0.6 at % and 2.0 at % or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2019
    Publication date: September 19, 2019
    Inventors: Kenji SHIBATA, Kazutoshi WATANABE, Fumimasa HORIKIRI
  • Patent number: 10345335
    Abstract: A scanning probe microscope has a cantilever having a probe at a tip of the cantilever, a driving unit that performs a separating operation for separating one of the sample and the probe from the other at a speed exceeding a response speed of the cantilever from a state where the probe is in contact with the surface of the sample, a determination unit that determines that the probe is separated from the surface of the sample when vibration of the cantilever at a predetermined amplitude is detected at a resonant frequency of the cantilever during the separating operation, and a driving control unit that stops the separating operation when the determination unit determines that the probe is separated from the surface of the sample and relatively moves the probe and the sample to a position where the probe is located on a next measuring point of the sample.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Science Corporation
    Inventors: Masatsugu Shigeno, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Hiroyoshi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 10276777
    Abstract: There is provided a ferroelectric thin-film laminated substrate, including a substrate, and further including a lower electrode layer, a ferroelectric thin-film layer, an upper electrode adhesive layer, and an upper electrode layer being sequentially stacked on the substrate, in which: the lower electrode layer is made of platinum or a platinum alloy; the ferroelectric thin-film layer is made of a sodium potassium niobate (typical chemical formula of (K1-xNax)NbO3, 0.4?x?0.7); the upper electrode layer is made of gold; the upper electrode adhesive layer is made of a metal that has less oxidizability than titanium and can make a solid solution alloy without generating an intermetallic compound with gold; and a part of the upper electrode adhesive layer and a part of the upper electrode layer are alloyed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignee: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Fumimasa Horikiri, Kenji Shibata, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Masaki Noguchi, Kazufumi Suenaga
  • Publication number: 20190115525
    Abstract: This method for manufacturing a lead-free niobate-system ferroelectric thin film device includes: a lower electrode film formation step of forming a lower electrode film on a substrate; a ferroelectric thin film formation step of forming a niobate-system ferroelectric thin film on the lower electrode film; an etch mask pattern formation step of forming an etch mask in a desired pattern on the niobate-system ferroelectric thin film; and a ferroelectric thin film etching step of shaping the niobate-system ferroelectric thin film into a desired fine pattern by wet etching using an etchant comprising: a predetermined chelating agent including at least one selected from EDTMP, NTMP, CyDTA, HEDP, GBMP, DTPMP, and citric acid; an aqueous alkaline solution containing an aqueous ammonia solution; and an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2018
    Publication date: April 18, 2019
    Applicants: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED, KANTO KAGAKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Fumimasa HORIKIRI, Kenji SHIBATA, Kazutoshi WATANABE, Kazufumi SUENAGA, Masaki NOGUCHI, Kenji KUROIWA
  • Patent number: 10211044
    Abstract: This method for manufacturing a ferroelectric thin film device includes: a lower electrode film formation step of forming a lower electrode film on a substrate; a ferroelectric thin film formation step of forming a ferroelectric thin film made of a sodium potassium niobate on the lower electrode film; an upper electrode film formation step of forming an upper electrode film on the ferroelectric thin film; and an upper electrode film etching step of shaping the upper electrode film into a desired micro-pattern by performing a reactive ion etching process on the upper electrode film. The upper electrode film etching step is a step of calculating a rate of change of sodium emission intensity in an ion plasma generated by the reactive ion etching process and determining that the etching process is completed when the rate of change falls below a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Fumimasa Horikiri, Kenji Shibata, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Kazufumi Suenaga
  • Patent number: 10199564
    Abstract: This method for manufacturing a lead-free niobate-system ferroelectric thin film device includes: a lower electrode film formation step of forming a lower electrode film on a substrate; a ferroelectric thin film formation step of forming a niobate-system ferroelectric thin film on the lower electrode film; an etch mask pattern formation step of forming an etch mask in a desired pattern on the niobate-system ferroelectric thin film; and a ferroelectric thin film etching step of shaping the niobate-system ferroelectric thin film into a desired fine pattern by wet etching using an etchant comprising: a predetermined chelating agent including at least one selected from EDTMP, NTMP, CyDTA, HEDP, GBMP, DTPMP, and citric acid; an aqueous alkaline solution containing an aqueous ammonia solution; and an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignees: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED, KANTO KAGAKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Fumimasa Horikiri, Kenji Shibata, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Kazufumi Suenaga, Masaki Noguchi, Kenji Kuroiwa
  • Patent number: 10186655
    Abstract: There is provided a method for manufacturing a ferroelectric thin film device including: a lower electrode film formation step of forming a lower electrode film on a substrate; a ferroelectric thin film formation step of forming a ferroelectric thin film made of a potassium sodium niobate on the lower electrode film; a ferroelectric thin film etching step of shaping the ferroelectric thin film into a desired micro-pattern by etching; and a thin film laminated substrate cleaning step of cleaning the substrate provided the ferroelectric thin film having a desired micro-pattern as a whole with a predetermined cleaning solution after the ferroelectric thin film etching step. The predetermined cleaning solution is a solution mixture containing hydrofluoric acid and ammonium fluoride, the hydrofluoric acid in the solution mixture having a molarity of 0.5 M or more and less than 5 M.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Fumimasa Horikiri, Kenji Shibata, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Kazufumi Suenaga
  • Patent number: 10181407
    Abstract: This method for manufacturing a niobate-system ferroelectric thin-film device includes: a lower electrode film formation step of forming a lower electrode film on a substrate; a ferroelectric thin film formation step of forming a niobate-system ferroelectric thin film on the lower electrode film; an etch mask pattern formation step of forming an etch mask in a desired pattern on the niobate-system ferroelectric thin film, the etch mask being an amorphous fluororesin film laminated via a noble metal film; and a ferroelectric thin film etching step of shaping the niobate-system ferroelectric thin film into a desired fine pattern by wet etching using an etchant comprising: a chelating agent; an aqueous alkaline solution containing an aqueous ammonia solution; and an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2019
    Assignee: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Fumimasa Horikiri, Kenji Shibata, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Kazufumi Suenaga, Masaki Noguchi, Kenji Kuroiwa
  • Patent number: 10161958
    Abstract: A three-dimensional fine movement device includes a moving body, a fixation member to which the moving body is fixed, a three-dimensional fine movement unit, to which the fixation member is fixed, and which allows for three-dimensional fine movement of the moving body with the fixation member interposed therebetween, a base member to which the three-dimensional fine movement unit is fixed, and movement amount detecting means that is fixed to the base member to detect a movement amount of the fixation member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Science Corporation
    Inventors: Masatsugu Shigeno, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Masafumi Watanabe
  • Patent number: 10151773
    Abstract: According to this invention, a scanning probe microscope for scanning a surface of a sample with a probe by bringing the probe into contact with the surface of the sample, comprises a cantilever having the probe at its tip; a displacement detection unit to detect both a bending amount and a torsion amount of the cantilever; and a contact determination unit to determine a primary contact of the probe with the surface of the sample, based on the bending amount and the torsion amount detected by the displacement detection unit in all directions from an undeformed condition of the cantilever.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2018
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Science Corporation
    Inventors: Masatsugu Shigeno, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Masafumi Watanabe, Hiroyoshi Yamamoto, Kazuo Chinone
  • Publication number: 20180301618
    Abstract: There is provided a laminated substrate with a piezoelectric thin film, comprising: a substrate; an electrode film formed on the substrate; and a piezoelectric thin film formed on the electrode film, wherein the piezoelectric thin film is made of an alkali niobium oxide represented by a composition formula of (K1?xNax) NbO 3 (0<x<1), having a perovskite structure, and oriented preferentially in (001) plane direction, and contains a metallic element selected from a group consisting of Mn and Cu at a concentration of 0.2 at % or more and 0.6 at % or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2016
    Publication date: October 18, 2018
    Inventors: Kenji Shibata, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Fumimasa Horikiri
  • Publication number: 20180284151
    Abstract: A scanning probe microscope has a cantilever having a probe at a tip of the cantilever, a driving unit that performs a separating operation for separating one of the sample and the probe from the other at a speed exceeding a response speed of the cantilever from a state where the probe is in contact with the surface of the sample, a determination unit that determines that the probe is separated from the surface of the sample when vibration of the cantilever at a predetermined amplitude is detected at a resonant frequency of the cantilever during the separating operation, and a driving control unit that stops the separating operation when the determination unit determines that the probe is separated from the surface of the sample and relatively moves the probe and the sample to a position where the probe is located on a next measuring point of the sample.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2018
    Publication date: October 4, 2018
    Applicant: Hitachi High-Tech Science Corporation
    Inventors: Masatsugu Shigeno, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Hiroyoshi Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20180114896
    Abstract: There is provided a ferroelectric thin-film laminated substrate, including a substrate, and further including a lower electrode layer, a ferroelectric thin-film layer, an upper electrode intermediate layer, and an upper electrode layer being sequentially stacked on the substrate, in which: the lower electrode layer is made of platinum or a platinum alloy; the ferroelectric thin-film layer is made of a sodium potassium niobate (typical chemical formula of (K1-xNax)NbO3, 0.4?x?0.7); the upper electrode layer is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy; the upper electrode intermediate layer is made of a metal that has less oxidizability than titanium and can generate an intermetallic compound with Aluminum; and a part of the upper electrode intermediate layer and a part of the upper electrode layer are alloyed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2016
    Publication date: April 26, 2018
    Applicant: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Fumimasa HORIKIRI, Kenji SHIBATA, Kazutoshi WATANABE, Kazufumi SUENAGA, Hiroyuki ENDO
  • Publication number: 20180108530
    Abstract: This method for manufacturing a niobate-system ferroelectric thin-film device includes: a lower electrode film formation step of forming a lower electrode film on a substrate; a ferroelectric thin film formation step of forming a niobate-system ferroelectric thin film on the lower electrode film; an etch mask pattern formation step of forming an etch mask in a desired pattern on the niobate-system ferroelectric thin film, the etch mask being an amorphous fluororesin film laminated via a noble metal film; and a ferroelectric thin film etching step of shaping the niobate-system ferroelectric thin film into a desired fine pattern by wet etching using an etchant comprising: a chelating agent; an aqueous alkaline solution containing an aqueous ammonia solution; and an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 17, 2016
    Publication date: April 19, 2018
    Applicant: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Fumimasa HORIKIRI, Kenji SHIBATA, Kazutoshi WATANABE, Kazufumi SUENAGA, Masaki NOGUCHI, Kenji KUROIWA
  • Publication number: 20180108828
    Abstract: There is provided a ferroelectric thin-film laminated substrate, including a substrate, and further including a lower electrode layer, a ferroelectric thin-film layer, an upper electrode adhesive layer, and an upper electrode layer being sequentially stacked on the substrate, in which: the lower electrode layer is made of platinum or a platinum alloy; the ferroelectric thin-film layer is made of a sodium potassium niobate (typical chemical formula of (K1-xNax)NbO3, 0.4?x?0.7); the upper electrode layer is made of gold; the upper electrode adhesive layer is made of a metal that has less oxidizability than titanium and can make a solid solution alloy without generating an intermetallic compound with gold; and a part of the upper electrode adhesive layer and a part of the upper electrode layer are alloyed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2016
    Publication date: April 19, 2018
    Applicant: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Fumimasa HORIKIRI, Kenji SHIBATA, Kazutoshi WATANABE, Masaki NOGUCHI, Kazufumi SUENAGA