Abstract: When external input data is recorded on a HD and an optical disc, recording on both discs is executed in intermittent recording fashion or recording on the optical disc is executed in low speed continuous recording fashion. During recording on both the HD and the optical disc, the residual amount of optical disc becomes slight, recording on the HD is allowed to continue, recording on the optical disc is paused while holding a position indicating how far recording on the optical disc has proceeded and after exchange of the optical disc, dubbing to a replaced optical disc is started from the stop position. During mere dubbing, recording on the optical disc is paused while holding a position indicating how far recording on the optical disc has proceeded and after exchange of the optical disc, dubbing to a replaced optical disc is started from the stop position.

Abstract: A storage system has a pool which is made up of a plurality of storage regions supplied by physical disks, and allocates the storage regions within this pool to volumes supplied to host computers, and cancels such allocations. When a volume addition event has occurred, a management computer forecasts, for each volume, the capacity which is to be required at a certain time point in the future, based on usage capacities acquired for each volume, calculates a non-required capacity from this capacity which has been forecast and the capacities of the storage region groups which are already allocated to the volume, decides, based on one or more non-required capacities which have been calculated, whether or not there is a storage region enough to satisfy the capacity requested for a volume which is the object of addition, and, if a positive decision result is obtained, allocates storage regions equivalent to the non-required capacity to the volume which is the object of addition.

Abstract: A method of collecting information about data and data handling processes from different types of applications in the context of a storage system is described. The retrieved information is presented to the user to illustrate the relationships among the data, for example, in the form of a data view illustrating the relationship among files, a storage view, illustrating the physical location at which the stored data is located, or a path view illustrating a particular path through the topology of the overall computing system and storage system. Also described are techniques for assuring the accuracy of backed up files.

Abstract: Necessary resources are assigned to programs based on a program reservation information management table in which each of the programs is associated with a necessary resource quantity for execution of the program and execution scheduled time period as program reservation information. When the program reservation information is entered through a terminal, a free resource quantity management table in which available resource quantities are associated with respective time periods is referred to, and it is determined whether the available resource quantity for the execution scheduled time period is at or above the necessary resource quantity.

Abstract: According to the invention, techniques for automatically adjusting for astigmatism in a charged particle beam apparatus. Embodiments according to the present invention can provide a charged particle beam apparatus and an automatic astigmatism adjustment methods capable of automatically correcting astigmatism and a focal point in a relatively short period of time by finding a plurality of astigmatism correction quantities and a focal point correction quantity in a single operation from a relatively small number of 2 dimensional images. Specific embodiments can perform such automatic focusing while minimizing damages inflicted on subject samples. Embodiments include, among others, a charged particle optical system for carrying out an inspection, a measurement and a fabrication with a relatively high degree of accuracy by using a charged particle beam.

Abstract: When polycrystalline silicon germanium film is used for gate electrodes in a MOS transistor apparatus, there have been problems of reduced reliability in the gate insulating film, due to stress in the silicon germanium grains. Therefore, a polysilicon germanium film is formed, after forming silicon fine particles of particle size 10 nm or less on an oxide film. As a result, it is possible to achieve a high-speed MOS transistor apparatus using an ultra-thin oxide film having a film thickness of 1.5 nm or less, wherein the Ge concentration of the polycrystalline silicon germanium at its interface with the oxide film is uniform, thereby reducing the stress in the film, and improving the reliability of the gate electrode.

Abstract: A wide-dynamic range, high-resistivity and high-speed method of stably obtaining fluorescent images of two or more samples which may includes a fluorescent material, comprising the steps of: disposing each of said samples onto each of two or more compartments which an area on a substrate is split into; sequentially irradiating said compartments with an exciting light wherein each of said compartments is irradiated with said exciting light with the intensity changed; detecting one or more fluorescent lights as generated from each of said samples corresponding to said changed intensity of said exciting light every each of said samples; determining the true value of fluorescence as generated from each of said samples by using information on said one or more fluorescent lights as detected every each of said samples; and obtaining a fluorescent image of each of said samples by using said true value of fluorescence from each of said samples, and an apparatus for carrying out the same are provided.