Abstract: Provided is an antioxidant gas supply unit including: a base body (10) in a shape of a hollow plate having antioxidant gas flow paths (53) and (54) defined therein; an antioxidation gas inlet (20) for letting an antioxidant gas flow into the antioxidant gas flow paths (53) and (54); a through hole (30) penetrating through the base body (10) in a through-thickness direction so that a capillary (72) is allowed to be inserted into and removed from the hole, and communicating with the antioxidant gas flow paths (53) and (54) to let the antioxidant gas flow out; and a film heater (40) attached to an outer surface of the base body (10) around the through hole (30). The antioxidant gas supply unit has a compact structure and is capable of effectively heating a free air ball.

Abstract: Provided is a wire bonding apparatus including: a base (11); a bonding head (13) configured to move a capillary (15) in X, Y, and Z directions with respect to the base (11); and a wire-cleaning plasma unit (30). The wire-cleaning plasma unit (30) includes: hollow casings (31a), (31b) in which an inert gas is introduced so that an internal pressure is higher than an atmospheric pressure; holes (33a), (33b) respectively provided in the casings (31a), (31b) so that the wire (21) is inserted therebetween; and electrodes for plasma respectively disposed within the casings (31a), (31b) around circumferences of the holes (33a), (33b). The wire (21) is cleaned by having the wire (21) be inserted into plasma generated within the casings (31a), (31b) in a state in which air is not contained. With this, a surface of the wire used for wire bonding can be effectively cleaned.

Abstract: Provided is an antioxidant gas supply unit including: a base body (10) in a shape of a hollow plate having antioxidant gas flow paths (53) and (54) defined therein; an antioxidation gas inlet (20) for letting an antioxidant gas flow into the antioxidant gas flow paths (53) and (54); a through hole (30) penetrating through the base body (10) in a through-thickness direction so that a capillary (72) is allowed to be inserted into and removed from the hole, and communicating with the antioxidant gas flow paths (53) and (54) to let the antioxidant gas flow out; and a film heater (40) attached to an outer surface of the base body (10) around the through hole (30). The antioxidant gas supply unit has a compact structure and is capable of effectively heating a free air ball.

Abstract: A probe includes: light emitting and receiving sections; an attachment band including a first surface facing the living tissue and a second surface opposite to the first surface, a part of the first surface in which one of a hook portion and a loop portion is provided, a part of the second surface in which the other is provided, the attachment band to be wrapped around the living tissue to engage the hook and loop portions with each other; and a compressible member attached to the first surface, being in contact with the living tissue when the attachment band is attached to the living tissue, the compressible member which is larger in width than the attachment band and ends of which extend beyond ends of the attachment band.

Abstract: Provided is a soft magnetic powder used for obtaining a dust core having a low hysteresis loss, in particular, in a high temperature range. A soft magnetic powder includes an aggregate of composite magnetic particles, each including a soft magnetic particle containing Fe, Si, and Al, and an insulating coating film disposed on the surface thereof, and satisfies the expressions (1) and (2) below: Expression (1) . . . 27?2.5a+b?29 and Expression (2) . . . 6?b?9, where a represents the Si content (mass %) and b represents the Al content (mass %). The soft magnetic powder is capable of reducing the hysteresis loss, in a high-temperature environment, of a dust core obtained using the soft magnetic powder.

Abstract: A soft magnetic material includes a plurality of composite magnetic particles. Each of the plurality of composite magnetic particles has: a metal magnetic particle including iron; a lower film surrounding the surface of the metal magnetic particle and including a nonferrous metal; and an insulating upper film surrounding the surface of the lower film and including at least one of oxygen and carbon. The nonferrous metal has an affinity with the at least one of oxygen and carbon included in the upper film that is larger than such affinity of iron; or the nonferrous metal has a diffusion coefficient with respect to the at least one of oxygen and carbon included in the upper film that is smaller than such diffusion coefficient of iron. This configuration provides desirable magnetic properties.

Abstract: Provided is a plasma ignition technique allowing easy and reliable ignition and reignition of plasma without monitoring or manual handling. A plasma ignition system according to this technique is provided with a radio-frequency power supply configured to supply a predetermined high frequency signal to an applied electrode for generating plasma; a matching device configured to match impedance on a side of the radio-frequency power supply and impedance on a side of the applied electrode; a forward wave/reflected wave detector configured to detect a forward wave and a reflected wave of the high frequency signal; a high-voltage generator configured to generate a predetermined high voltage; and a controller configured to superimpose the high voltage on the high frequency signal when a ratio of the reflected wave to the forward wave is greater than a first threshold value.

Abstract: Provided are a method for producing powder for a magnet, and methods for producing a powder compact, a rare-earth-iron-based alloy material, and a rare-earth-iron-nitrogen-based alloy material. Magnetic particles constituting the powder each have a texture in which grains of a phase of a hydride of a rare-earth element are dispersed in a phase of an iron-containing material. The uniform presence of the phase of the iron-containing material in each magnetic particle results in powder having excellent formability, thereby providing a powder compact having high relative density. The powder is produced by heat-treating rare-earth-iron-based alloy powder in a hydrogen atmosphere to separate the rare-earth element and the iron-containing material and then forming a hydride of the rare-earth element. The powder is compacted. The powder compact is heat-treated in vacuum to form a rare-earth-iron-based alloy material.

Abstract: In wire bonding in which a bonding tool is cleaned through plasma irradiation, the plasma application to a wire and therefore the formation of an unexpectedly large-sized ball in the following bonding operation is prevented. The cleaning of the bonding tool through plasma irradiation is followed by dummy bonding, the bonding tool is cleaned with a ball formed thereon, or a prohibition period is provided during which ball forming is prohibited until the energy of plasma attenuates after the bonding tool is cleaned to prevent the plasma irradiation from having an impact on the bonding operation so that the ball cannot have an increased diameter.

Abstract: A connector includes: a card edge connector; a first cable drawn out from the card edge connector in a first direction; a first terminal disposed in the card edge connector and connected to the first cable; a receptacle into and from which the card edge connector is inserted and extracted; a second cable drawn out from the receptacle in a second direction; and a second terminal disposed in the receptacle and connected to the second cable. Insertion/extraction directions of the card edge connector are substantially perpendicular to at least one of the first direction and the second direction. The card edge connector includes a first end face which is substantially parallel to the insertion/extraction directions, and the receptacle includes a first wall face which is substantially parallel to the insertion/extraction directions. In a state where the card edge connector and the receptacle are coupled to each other, the first end face and the first wall face are in contact with each other.

Abstract: A reactor 1 of the present invention includes a coil 2 and a magnetic core 3 disposed inside and outside the coil 2 to form a closed magnetic path. At least part of the magnetic core 3 is made of a composite material containing a magnetic substance powder and a resin containing the powder being dispersed therein. The magnetic substance powder contains powders respectively made of a plurality of materials differing in the relative permeability, representatively, a pure iron powder and an iron alloy powder. Thanks to provision of the magnetic core 3 made of the composite material containing magnetic substance powders made of different types of materials, the reactor 1 achieves both a high saturation magnetic flux density and a low-loss characteristic.

Abstract: The invention offers a method for producing a soft magnetic material. The method effectively produces a soft magnetic material having soft magnetic metallic particles each coated with a plurality of insulating layers. A soft magnetic material to be used as the material for a dust core is produced through the following steps: a step of preparing a material powder having composite magnetic particles produced by forming an insulating film containing hydrated water on each of the surfaces of soft magnetic metallic particles, a step of preparing a resin material containing silicone that cures through a hydrolysis-polycondensation reaction, and a step of mixing the material powder and the resin material in a heated atmosphere at 80° C. to 150° C. to form a silicone film on the surface of the insulating film.

Abstract: A manufacturing method of a soft magnetic material has a step of preparing a metal magnetic particle containing iron as the main component, and a step of forming an insulating film surrounding the surface of the metal magnetic particle. The step of forming the insulating film includes a step of mixing and stirring the metal magnetic particle, aluminum alkoxide, silicon alkoxide, and phosphoric acid.

Abstract: A method is provided for producing magnetic green compacts. Material powder including a rare earth alloy and containing not less than 15 mass % of fine particles with particle diameter of not more than 2 ?m is filled into a compacting mold, then compacted and compressed, and subjected to magnetic fields to give a green compact. A powder compact having a packing density 1.05 to 1.2 times the bulk density is subjected to a weak magnetic field of 1 to 2 T to give a compact. The magnetic field strength is increased to not less than 3 T at an excitation rate of 0.01 to 0.15 T/sec, and the strong magnetic field of not less than 3 T is applied to the compact by a high-temperature superconducting coil. The magnetic field is applied by the high-temperature superconducting coil in a direction opposite to a direction applied by a normal conducting coil.

Abstract: The present invention provides a rare earth-iron-nitrogen-based alloy material which can produce a rare earth magnet having excellent magnetic characteristics and a method for producing the same, a rare earth-iron-based alloy material suitable as a raw material of the rare earth magnet and a method for producing the alloy material. A rare earth-iron-based alloy material is heat-treated in a hydrogen-containing atmosphere to produce a multi-phase powder 1 in which a phase 3 of a hydrogen compound of a rare earth element is dispersedly present in a phase 2 of an iron-containing material. A powder compact 4 produced by compression-molding the multi-phase powder 1 is heat-treated in a vacuum with a magnetic field of 3 T or more applied, thereby forming a rare earth-iron-based alloy material 5. The rare earth-iron-based alloy material 5 is heat-treated in a nitrogen atmosphere with a magnetic field of 3.5 T or more applied, thereby forming a rare earth-iron-nitrogen-based alloy material 6.

Abstract: Provided are a soft magnetic powder for obtaining a dust core having a low iron loss, the dust core, and a method for producing a dust core. The present invention relates to a soft magnetic powder including a plurality of soft magnetic particles, each having an insulating layer. The Vickers hardness HV0.1 of a material constituting the soft magnetic particles is 300 or more, and the insulating layer contains Si, O, and at least one of an alkali metal and Mg. As long as the soft magnetic powder has such features, a material having a high electric resistance, such as an iron-based alloy, can be used. The eddy current loss can be reduced, and it is possible to effectively obtain a dust core having a low iron loss.

Abstract: Metal nanoink for bonding an electrode of a semiconductor die and an electrode of a substrate and/or bonding an electrode of a semiconductor die and an electrode of another semiconductor die by sintering under pressure is produced by injecting oxygen into an organic solvent in the form of oxygen nanobubbles or oxygen bubbles either before or after metal nanoparticles whose surfaces are coated with a dispersant are mixed into the organic solvent. Bumps are formed on the electrode of the semiconductor die and the electrode of the substrate by ejecting microdroplets of the metal nanoink onto the electrodes, the semiconductor die is turned upside down and overlapped in alignment over the substrate, and then, the metal nanoparticles of the bumps are sintered under pressure by pressing and heating the bumps between the electrodes. As a result, generation of voids during sintering under pressure is minimized.

Abstract: Metal nanoink (100) for bonding an electrode of a semiconductor die and an electrode of a substrate and/or bonding an electrode of a semiconductor die and an electrode of another semiconductor die by sintering under pressure is produced by injecting oxygen into an organic solvent (105) in the form of oxygen nanobubbles (125) or oxygen bubbles (121) either before or after metal nanoparticles (101) whose surfaces are coated with a dispersant (102) are mixed into the organic solvent (105). Bumps are formed on the electrode of the semiconductor die and the electrode of the substrate by ejecting microdroplets of the metal nanoink (100) onto the electrodes, the semiconductor die is turned upside down and overlapped in alignment over the substrate, and then, the metal nanoparticles of the bumps are sintered under pressure by pressing and heating the bumps between the electrodes. As a result, generation of voids during sintering under pressure is minimized.

Abstract: A soft magnetic material is a soft magnetic material including a composite magnetic particle (30) having a metal magnetic particle (10) mainly composed of Fe and an insulating coating (20) covering metal magnetic particle (10), and insulating coating (20) contains an iron phosphate compound and an aluminum phosphate compound. The atomic ratio of Fe contained in a contact surface of insulating coating (20) in contact with metal magnetic particle (10) is larger than the atomic ratio of Fe contained in the surface of insulating coating (20). The atomic ratio of Al contained in the contact surface of insulating coating (20) in contact with metal magnetic particle (10) is smaller than the atomic ratio of Al contained in the surface of insulating coating (20). Thus, iron loss can be reduced.

Abstract: To provide a core for reactor capable of reducing the eddy current loss and improving the direct current superposition characteristics, a manufacturing method thereof, and a reactor. A core for reactor M is obtained by press molding metallic magnetic particles coated with an insulating coated film, and the metallic magnetic particles have the following compositions: (1) the mean particle size is 1 ?m or more and 70 ?m or less; (2) the variation coefficient Cv which is a ratio (?/?) of the standard deviation (?) of the particle size and the mean particle size (?) is 0.40 or less; and (3) the degree of circularity is 0.8 or more and 1.0 or less. On the outside of the insulating coated film, at least one of a heat-resistance imparting protective film and a flexible protective film is further provided as a outer coated film.