Abstract: For testing electrical properties of packaged IC devices, there is provided an apparatus which includes a test board which is located at a testing station and provided with a plural number of contacting sockets for connecting individual IC devices to an IC tester separately and independently of each other, a loader which is located at a loading station and adapted to feed untested IC devices toward the test board, an unloader which is located at an unloading station and adapted to discharge tested IC devices from the test board at the testing station, and a device transfer mechanism which is movable across the testing station to transfer untested IC devices from the loader to the test board and also to transfer tested IC devices from the test board to the unloader. Upon detecting completion of a test on one of IC devices in one socket of the test board, a fresh untested IC device is transferred to the testing station to replace the tested IC device.

Abstract: A defect detection optical system includes a light receiving system including n light receiving elements arranged in a direction perpendicular to a main scan direction, for focusing an image thereon such that the image becomes in the arranging direction of the light receiving elements, in which, when a width of the image focused thereon in the main scan direction is equal to or smaller than the width of the light receiving elements, light reflected from a recessed or protruded defect is swung in the width direction of the light receiving elements and a light receiving area of the light receiving elements is reduced. When the reflection light from the recessed or protruded defect is; swung in sloped portions of the defect, an amount of light received by the light receiving elements is at least reduced, so that two detection signals having levels lower than those when there is no defect are obtained.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for treating a surface of a substrate plate under irradiation of ultraviolet ray emitted from a dielectric barrier discharge lamp. Upon admission into a treating chamber, oxygen is removed from a treating surface and surrounding atmosphere of a substrate plate in order to suppress energy losses of ultraviolet ray to a minimum.

Abstract: A driver circuit integrated with a load current output circuit has a function as a driver for applying a predetermined test waveform to a device under test (DUT), and a function as a load current output for reproducing an actual use situation by receiving the load current to the DUT to judge a response waveform by receiving the response waveform from the DUT. Both functions are made up on a common circuit, operate as the driver circuit when applying the test waveform, and operate as the load current output circuit when judging the response waveform.

Abstract: For each of a plurality of media that are to be simultaneously subjected to a data striping process, a management region is provided where data can be saved separately from an existing substitute sector. When some defect or trouble is found in any one of the media and there is no available substitute sector in that trouble-plagued medium, the data striping process can be carried on, without suspension, by using the management region for data writing purposes. Such arrangements can supplement the capacity of data areas of the substitute sector, which thus allows the data striping process to be appropriately carried on even when the capacity of the substitute sector has been used up. Further, by setting the management region for each of media within a same volume and storing common management information redundantly in the individual management regions, it is possible to avoid unstableness of the media management that would be encountered due to use of non-fixed, transportable media.

Abstract: A magnetic disk read/write circuit comprises a core having a pair of coils wound such that signals supplied to the coils becomes opposite in phase and a read circuit having a first input terminal connected to one of terminals of a read head through one of the coils to receive a read signal from the read head and a second input terminal connected to the other terminal of the read head through the other coil to receive the read signal from the read head or a write circuit in which the read head is a write head, the signal at the first input terminal is a signal at the first output terminal and the signal at the second input terminal is a signal at a second input terminal.

Abstract: The present invention provides a recording media library apparatus that includes an inversion unit for inverting a desired or designated recording medium of the double-side recording type so as to correspond to a predetermined driving direction of a drive unit. The inversion unit is installed in any one of multiple of predetermined installing areas separate from a transport mechanism within the library apparatus. By the inversion unit performing necessary inversion of the double-side recording type medium, the same transport mechanism can be used for recording media of both the double-side recording type and the single-side recording type.

Abstract: A comparator (30) is connected through switches (13, 14 and 15) with two or more drive-only pins, and the comparator 30 is shared by two or more drive-only pins by changing the switches (13, 14 and 15). The switches are changed one by one and the signal judgment system deskew is carried out on the drive-only pin, which is connected with the comparator. Then, the switches are changed one by one similarly and the signal supply system deskew is carried out using the result of the signal judgment system deskew. Even if the semiconductor IC tester has the drive-only tester pins, the timing adjustment can be performed by carrying out the signal judgment system deskew and the signal supply system deskew.

Abstract: An IC tester includes a detection circuit for detecting a voltage level on a portion of a transmission line on a side thereof, which receives the output signal from an electronic device under test through the transmission line. A predetermined current is pulled in from the transmission line when the voltage level detected by the detection circuit is at a low level and a predetermined current equal to or different from the predetermined current to be pulled in is supplied to the transmission line when the detected voltage level detected by the detection circuit is at a high level.

Abstract: Tray supporting a recording medium is transferred horizontally to a designated destination component and stored in the destination component along with the recording medium. The tray has one end facing the destination component and this one end has a surface slanted with respect to a front wall surface of an entry/exit of the destination component. With the provision of such a slanted end surface, even when the tray being transferred comes into collision with the front wall, the tray is allowed to gradually slide along the wall surface into the destination component. As a consequence, the recording medium supported on the tray can be smoothly passed into the destination component.

Abstract: While being transferred in substantially horizontal state along a predetermined path of transfer by a conveyer means, a substrate plate is dried by a jet of compressed air which is spurted out from a slit-like mouth of an air knife nozzle crosswise of the entire width of the substrate plate and at a predetermined angle of incidence with respect to a drying surface of the substrate plate to scrape off a liquid. The angle of incidence of jet air is made shallower as soon as the substrate on the conveyer means comes to a point of entry to an air blasting zone and is made deeper at latest when the substrate plate comes to a position immediately before a point of disengagement from the air blasting zone.

Abstract: A diode element circuit uses a junction between the base and collector of a vertical type PNP transistor as a diode, and is further designed that a reverse bias voltage is applied between base and emitter of a parasitic PNP transistor in the vertical type PNP transistor, thereby, a diode having a small leakage current and a high break down voltage is realized without necessitating an additional manufacturing process.

Abstract: Thin substrate plates are transferred in a horizontal or tilted posture on and by a substrate transfer means. Provided by a substrate transfer path is an air knife nozzle for scraping and drying off a liquid successively from surfaces of the substrates on the substrate transfer means. The air knife nozzle is located substantially at a uniform distance across a drying surface of a substrate plate on the transfer means. The air knife nozzle is provided with a slit-like nozzle hole to spurt jet air to the drying surface from an angular direction relative to a direction perpendicular to the substrate transfer direction and to sweep the substrate across the entire width of the drying surface and with a predetermined angle of incidence relative to the substrate transfer direction.

Abstract: A testing apparatus of IC devices, comprising: a loader portion (10) for mounting a predetermined number of the IC devices (5) on each of test boards (1) transferred on a horizontal reference plane (H); a pre-heat portion (11) for receiving the test boards transferred on the horizontal plane from the loader portion and so as to bringing the IC devices mounted thereon into a predetermined temperature condition; a testing/measuring portion (12) having test heads (18) and for performing testing/measuring on the IC devices mounted on the test boards; a defroster portion (13) for receiving the test boards transferred from the testing/measuring portion and for bringing the IC devices completed with testing/measuring thereon into other predetermined temperature condition; and an unloader portion (14) for receiving the test boards transferred on the horizontal reference plane (H) from the defroster portion so as to unload the IC devices from the test boards depending on test results obtained in the testing/measuring

Abstract: The present invention provides a defect inspecting apparatus and a defect inspection method for inspecting an object of inspection for a defect such as a foreign particle existing on the object wherein, by using a high-efficiency illumination optical system for radiating an illumination beam to the object of inspection from a direction to reduce the intensity of a scattered light generated by a pattern on the object of inspection, it is possible to decrease the intensity of the scattered light from the pattern which causes a variation of a signal and, in addition, by using a means for setting a detection threshold value based on a variation of a signal computed for each area in a chip on the object of inspection, the detection threshold value can be made small and, thus, the sensitivity as well as the throughput can be raised.

Abstract: The improved sample loading sheet for loading an assay sample in specified lane positions in a gel electrolyte layer in an electrophoresis plate to be used in a gel electrophoretic apparatus is formed of cation-exchange chromatographic paper and has part or all of at least one of its principal surfaces coated with a water-resistant resin film. The sheet enables DNA samples to be positively absorbed and migrate to produce ladder patterns at high resolution.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for registering and bonding upper and lower substrate plates together through a sealer material and in such a way as to form a gap of a predetermined width between the two substrate plates. Registered substrate plates are provisionally pressed to form a joined substrate assembly, which is then pressed under heated conditions at a hot press station, thereby compressing the sealer material into a flattened form and at the same time thermally hardening the sealer material to form a predetermined gap space between the two substrate plates. In order to correct positional deviations which occur to the upper and lower substrate plates in the course of the hot pressing, on the basis detected positional deviations of upper and lower substrate plates of a hot-pressed substrate assembly, upper and lower substrates are set in offset positions instead of aligned positions when registering them at the provisional press station to cancel predicted positional deviations at the hot press station.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes fetching inspection chip information including information of a dust-particle/fault on an inspection chip by irradiating the inspection chip of a semiconductor wafer with an optical beam and by detecting the scattering/diffracting beam of the optical beam, fetching reference chip information as information of a reference chip without a dust-particle/fault, comparing the inspection chip information and the reference chip information to determine a dust-particle/fault, and determining whether the dust-particle/fault is located on a pattern or outside of the pattern by matching between the dust-particle/fault information and design pattern data as data of a prepared pattern. The dust-particle/fault is determined to be a fatal dust-particle/fault when the dust-particle fault is located on the pattern or to be a non-fatal dust-particle fault when the dust-particle/fault is located outside of the pattern.

Abstract: In a media library apparatus, common addresses are imparted to storage shelves of a plurality of storage columns in corresponding relation to respective predetermined physical locations of the storage shelves in such a manner that each group of the storage shelves of the storage columns lying at a same physical location within the library apparatus is uniquely identifiable by a specific one of the common addresses. In a data striping process, a data read/write operation is performed on the media transported from a group of the storage shelves to which is imparted a specific one of the common addresses. Thus, a plurality of the media to be subjected to the data striping process can be managed collectively through designation of only one address. Namely, the media designation can be greatly simplified by just performing control such that the media stored in the same-address storage shelves of the individual storage columns are transported to the respective drive devices.

Abstract: Light beam is irradiated onto a surface of a substrate to be inspected and scattered lights from the surface of the substrate are received at different light reception angles, so that first and second light detection signals corresponding to the different light reception angles are generated. Reference function defining a correlation in level value between the first and second light detection signals is set, a comparison is made between respective level values of the first and second light detection signals using the reference function as a comparison reference, and it is determined, on the basis of a result of the comparison, which of a plurality of different types of defects, such as a foreign substance and crystal-originated pit, a possible defect present on the surface of the substrate, which is represented by the light detection signals, corresponds to.