Abstract: In a method of producing a metal structure by photoreducing metal ion, a substance capable of suppressing growth of metal crystal is added to a medium in which metal ion is dispersed to prevent growth of the metal crystal produced by photoreduction of the metal ion, thereby processing resolution of a metal structure formed of the metal crystal is improved.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a nonlinear fluorescent molecule that generates a nonlinear fluorescence reaction by incidence of excitation light. This nonlinear fluorescence molecule includes donors and, and an acceptor that is coupled to the donors and. As the donor is excited by the incidence of the excitation light, electric charge moves from the donor to the acceptor. Then, the donor and the acceptor form a charge separated state. In a state in which the charge separated state is maintained, the donor fluoresces when transiting from an excited state to a ground state.

Abstract: An image processing method includes the step of generating an error diffusion value; detecting an edge at a current pixel of an image; and adding the pixel value of the current pixel with the error diffusion value or an error diffusion seed according to the detecting result.

Abstract: Long-distance transfer of a super-resolution near field can be performed with a wavelength condition of high degree of freedom. Not only an image in same size can be merely transferred, but also a magnified image can be transferred. Thus the processing technique of a near-field image is improved. Small rods are erected at predetermined spacing with one another on a two-dimensional plane. At least the exterior surface of each small rod is made of a predetermined material having a dielectric constant ?m meeting the condition “?m???d” where ?d is the dielectric constant of the surrounding medium. The axes of the small rods can be extended to a predetermined direction with respect to the two-dimensional plane. An optical near-field is incidented to one end of each small rod.

Abstract: Provided is a nonlinear optical material, an optical recording material, an optical recording method, a photosensitive material, a photopolymerization initiator, and a photosensitizer. One exemplary aspect of the present invention is a photosensitive material used for photolithography for forming a pattern by irradiating a photoresist with excitation light which includes a donor molecule 11 that is excited by the excitation light, and an acceptor molecule 12 that is excited by energy transfer or charge transfer from the excited donor 11.

Abstract: To provide a pulse laser light timing adjusting device capable of easily adjusting pulse laser light timing, a timing adjusting method, and an optical microscope. An optical microscope in accordance with the present invention includes mirror pairs 21 and 31 to generates the first timing adjusting optical beam in which the first pulse laser light ?1 is delayed from the second pulse laser light ?2 and the second timing adjusting optical beam in which the second pulse laser light ?2 is delayed from the first pulse laser light having a first wavelength from the optical beam extracted at the beam samplers 15 and 16, a first detector 23 and a second detector 33 to output a first detection signal and a second detection signal based on a nonlinear optical effect, and timing adjusting means 42 to adjust the timing based on the first detection signal and the second detection signal.

Abstract: To increase spatial resolution by observing a sample based on saturated fluorescence components. A fluorescence microscope according to the present invention includes: a laser light source 10 emitting laser light as excitation light; an objective lens 13 focusing the laser light and applying the focused laser light to a sample 14; a detector 22 detecting fluorescence generated in the sample 14 with the laser light; and a stage 15 scanning the sample 14 while moving the sample 14 relative to the laser light, wherein the laser light is applied to the sample with varying intensities such that saturation of fluorescence occurs at the maximum intensity of the laser light, and fluorescence is detected with the detector in accordance with intensity of the laser light, and the sample is observed based on the saturation components of fluorescence.

Abstract: An optical pickup apparatus comprises an orbicular zone forming lens group 14 for forming the section of the laser beam, which is irradiated to an optical disc DK having plural recording layers, into an annular shape, a condenser lens 35 that converges the reflected beam from the optical disc DK, and a pinhole plate 36 having formed thereto a pinhole 36a with a size corresponding to a flux diameter of the reflected beam converged by the condenser lens 35. The orbicular zone forming lens group 14 refracts the laser beam irradiated to the optical disc DK so as to form the section of the laser beam into an annular shape in order that the internal diameter of the annular converged flux formed on the pinhole plate 36a by the reflected beam from the recording layers other than the recording layer having an optical spot formed thereon becomes greater than the diameter of the pinhole 36a.

Abstract: In order to make a reflection coefficient in boundary surface between materials to be zero and permeate 100% of a light independent of a polarization direction, an optical device made of an optical material composed of a metamaterial prepared by arranging a plurality of at least either of electrical resonators or magnetic resonators each being smaller than a wavelength of a light wave in only a predetermined plane, and at least either of the electrical resonators and the magnetic resonators arranged functioning with respect to s-polarization, wherein at least either of the dielectric constant or the magnetic permeability is controlled in response to the function to induce a Brewster phenomenon in the s-polarization.

Abstract: Long-distance transfer of a super-resolution near field can be performed with a wavelength condition of high degree of freedom. Not only an image in same size can be merely transferred, but also a magnified image can be transferred. Thus the processing technique of a near-field image is improved. Small rods are erected at predetermined spacing with one another on a two-dimensional plane. At least the exterior surface of each small rod is made of a predetermined material having a dielectric constant ?m meeting the condition “?m???d” where ?d is the dielectric constant of the surrounding medium. The axes of the small rods can be extended to a predetermined direction with respect to the two-dimensional plane. An optical near-field is incidented to one end of each small rod.

Abstract: To increase spatial resolution by observing a sample based on saturated fluorescence components. A fluorescence microscope according to the present invention includes: a laser light source 10 emitting laser light as excitation light; an objective lens 13 focusing the laser light and applying the focused laser light to a sample 14; a detector 22 detecting fluorescence generated in the sample 14 with the laser light; and a stage 15 scanning the sample 14 while moving the sample 14 relative to the laser light, wherein the laser light is applied to the sample with varying intensities such that saturation of fluorescence occurs at the maximum intensity of the laser light, and fluorescence is detected with the detector in accordance with intensity of the laser light, and the sample is observed based on the saturation components of fluorescence.

Abstract: An optical pickup apparatus comprises an orbicular zone forming lens group 14 for forming the section of the laser beam, which is irradiated to an optical disc DK having plural recording layers, into an annular shape, a condenser lens 35 that converges the reflected beam from the optical disc DK, and a pinhole plate 36 having formed thereto a pinhole 36a with a size corresponding to a flux diameter of the reflected beam converged by the condenser lens 35. The orbicular zone forming lens group 14 refracts the laser beam irradiated to the optical disc DK so as to form the section of the laser beam into an annular shape in order that the internal diameter of the annular converged flux formed on the pinhole plate 36a by the reflected beam from the recording layers other than the recording layer having an optical spot formed thereon becomes greater than the diameter of the pinhole 36a.

Abstract: A My Page management server is a server that provides a personal world wide web (WWW) page named My Page for a user who has been registered as a member. The My Page management server includes a product registration unit that acquires information of a product which the user purchased, a link generation unit that generates, on the My Page, a link indicator which is linked to a product questionnaire about the product which the user purchased, based on the acquired information of the product, and a product questionnaire management unit that presents the linked product questionnaire to the user upon receiving a request for the product questionnaire from the user.

Abstract: In a manufacture of a probe for a scattering type near-field microscope, there is provided a method of coating, with a high reproducibility, uniform metal particles efficiently inducing a surface enhanced Raman scattering. It has been adapted such that, in the probe for the scattering type near-field microscope, one part or all of the probe due to an interaction of at least an evanescent field is coated by metal particles which don't mutually adhere and have a particle diameter of 10 nm or larger and 50 nm or smaller in radius of curvature.

Abstract: Disclosed is a film comprising PMMA and a fluorescent substance having a xanthene skeleton and a lactone ring and/or a fluorescent substance having a xanthene skeleton and a group —COOR, where R represents a hydrogen atom or a substituent, capable of forming an intramolecular lactone ring, said fluorescent substances being dispersed in the PMMA. The film is useful as an optical memory.

Abstract: In order to make a reflection coefficient in boundary surface between materials to be zero and permeate 100% of a light independent of a polarization direction, an optical device made of an optical material composed of a metamaterial prepared by arranging a plurality of at least either of electrical resonators or magnetic resonators each being smaller than a wavelength of a light wave in only a predetermined plane, and at least either of the electrical resonators and the magnetic resonators arranged functioning with respect to s-polarization, whereby at least either of the dielectric constant or the magnetic permeability is controlled in response to the function to induce a Brewster phenomenon in the s-polarization wherein the incident plane of a light wave being set out at a Brewster's angle with respect to the p-polarization and further at least either of the dielectric constant and the magnetic permeability of the optical material being controlled with respect to the s-polarization of the optical material,

Abstract: The present invention provides a photoreduction method for metal complex ions by which strict controllability is not required in the control of its exposure amount, and a size of the metallic structure to be produced can be controlled, besides there is no fear of reducing spatial resolution of the size of the metallic structure to be produced. The photoreduction method for metal complex ions wherein a laser beam is beam-irradiated on a metal complex ion dispersion element dispersed in a material to photoreduce the metal complex ions thereby fabricating a metallic structure, includes the steps of adding a predetermined coloring matter to the material in which the metal complex ion dispersion element is dispersed, and beam-irradiating the laser beam to the material to which the predetermined coloring matter has been added.

Abstract: In order to perform positional control of a condensing spot of pulsed laser beam highly accurately when performing optical modeling, optical recording or the like in optical machining technology, optical recording technology or the like which uses various kinds of pulsed laser, which are ultra-short pulsed lasers such as a femtosecond laser and short pulsed laser such as a picosecond laser and a sub-picosecond laser, as a light source, a pulsed laser system detects an output beam from a pulsed laser, controls laser oscillation of the pulsed laser based on the detection result such the output beam contains CW laser beam together with pulsed laser beam, and allows the pulsed laser to output the pulsed laser beam and the CW laser beam simultaneously as the output beam from the pulsed laser.

Abstract: In a manufacture of a probe for a scattering type near-field microscope, there is provided a method of coating, with a high reproducibility, uniform metal particles efficiently inducing a surface enhanced Raman scattering. It has been adapted such that, in the probe for the scattering type near-field microscope, one part or all of the probe due to an interaction of at least an evanescent field is coated by metal particles which don't mutually adhere and have a particle diameter of 10 nm or larger and 50 nm or smaller in radius of curvature.

Abstract: An ultrasonic angioscope system which uses an imaging technique of sending ultrasonic waves to a portion ahead of a stricture of a blood vessel and visualizing a portion in the forward direction of the angioscope, and which uses a laser breakdown is provided.