Patents Assigned to Tohoku University
  • Patent number: 8754048
    Abstract: Disclosed is a Volvox carteri-derived light-receiving channel rhodopsin with an improved expression efficiency on a cell membrane. Specifically disclosed is a modified Volvox carteri-derived light-receiving channel rhodopsin protein. The protein is modified to contain an N-terminal region of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii-derived channel rhodopsin-1 at the N-terminal of the Volvox carteri-derived light-receiving channel rhodopsin protein, wherein the N-terminal region is involved in cell membrane-localized expression and contains no transmembrane domain of the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii-derived channel rhodopsin-1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Tohoku University
    Inventors: Hiroshi Tomita, Eriko Sugano
  • Publication number: 20140159177
    Abstract: A magnetoresistive element according to an embodiment includes: a base layer; a first magnetic layer formed on the base layer, and including a first magnetic film having an axis of easy magnetization in a direction perpendicular to a film plane, the first magnetic film including MnxGa100-x (45?x<64 atomic %); a first nonmagnetic layer formed on the first magnetic layer; and a second magnetic layer formed on the first nonmagnetic layer, and including a second magnetic film having an axis of easy magnetization In a direction perpendicular to a film plane, the second magnetic film including MnyGa100-y (45?y<64 atomic %). The first and second magnetic layers include different Mn composition rates from each other, a magnetization direction of the first magnetic layer is changeable by a current flowing between the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer via the first nonmagnetic layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 18, 2014
    Publication date: June 12, 2014
    Applicants: WPI-AIMR, Tohoku University, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Tadaomi DAIBOU, Junichi Ito, Tadashi Kai, Minoru Amano, Hiroaki Yoda, Terunobu Miyazaki, Shigemi Mizukami, Koji Ando, Kay Yakushiji, Shinji Yuasa, Hitoshi Kubota, Akio Fukushima, Taro Nagahama, Takahide Kubota
  • Patent number: 8751200
    Abstract: A certain component of an input time series signal (hereinafter referred to as input) is assumed as a cycle time-variable time series signal and a prediction model for predicting a value of the input after the predetermined time is produced, and the value of the input after the predetermined time is predicted and outputted using the prediction model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Tohoku University
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Takai, Noriyasu Homma, Masao Sakai
  • Publication number: 20140151853
    Abstract: In the plasma-based ion implantation for accelerating positive ions of a plasma and implanting the positive ions into a substrate to be processed on a holding stage in a processing chamber where the plasma has been excited, ion implantation is achieved in the following manner: an RF power having a frequency of 4 MHz or greater is applied to the holding stage to cause a self-bias voltage to generate on the surface of the substrate. The RF power is applied a plurality of times in the form of pulses.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2014
    Publication date: June 5, 2014
    Applicant: National University Corporation Tohoku University
    Inventors: Tadahiro OHMI, Tetsuya GOTO
  • Publication number: 20140145279
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a magnetoresistive element including a first magnetic layer, a second magnetic layer, a first nonmagnetic layer, a third magnetic layer. The first magnetic layer includes a magnetic film of MnxGey (77 atm %?x?82 atm %, 18 atm %?y?23 atm %, x+y=100 atm %). The first nonmagnetic layer is provided between the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer. The third magnetic layer is provided between the first magnetic layer and the first nonmagnetic layer or between the second magnetic layer and the first nonmagnetic layer, or is provided between the first magnetic layer and the first nonmagnetic layer and between the second magnetic layer and the first nonmagnetic layer. The third magnetic layer includes a Heusler alloy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2014
    Publication date: May 29, 2014
    Applicants: Tohoku University, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Yushi KATO, Tadaomi Daibou, Eiji Kitagawa, Takao Ochiai, Takahide Kubota, Shigemi Mizukami, Terunobu Miyazaki
  • Patent number: 8735905
    Abstract: Provided is a method for producing inexpensive and high-quality aluminum nitride crystals. Gas containing N atoms is introduced into a melt of a Ga—Al alloy, whereby aluminum nitride crystals are made to epitaxially grow on a seed crystal substrate in the melt of the Ga—Al alloy. A growth temperature of aluminum nitride crystals is set at not less than 1000 degrees C. and not more than 1500 degrees C., thereby allowing GaN to be decomposed into Ga metal and nitrogen gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2014
    Assignees: Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd., Tohoku University
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Fukuyama, Masayoshi Adachi, Akikazu Tanaka, Kazuo Maeda
  • Patent number: 8733281
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus includes: a processing chamber produced from a metal; a susceptor configured to mount a substrate; an electromagnetic wave source that supplies an electromagnetic wave; one or more dielectric member provided at an inner wall of the processing chamber, and configured to transmit the electromagnetic wave into an inside of the processing chamber; one or more metal electrode, wherein each metal electrode is installed on a bottom surface of each dielectric member such that a part of the each dielectric member is exposed to the inside of the processing chamber; and a surface wave propagating section which is a metal surface facing the susceptor, the surface wave propagating section being installed adjacent to the dielectric member and being exposed to the inside of the processing chamber. The surface wave propagating section and a bottom surface of the metal electrode are positioned on the same plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2014
    Assignees: Tokyo Electron Limited, Tohoku University
    Inventors: Masaki Hirayama, Tadahiro Ohmi, Takahiro Horiguchi
  • Patent number: 8728338
    Abstract: There is provided with an etching method using an etching apparatus. Four arms can be positioned in a direction substantially from a center of the stage toward a peripheral portion with an angle difference of about 90°. Etchant is supplied to a first position nearest to the center of the object which is rotating, from a first etchant supply nozzle placed on a first arm. Etchant is further supplied to a second position second nearest to the center of the object, from a second etchant supply nozzle placed on a second arm. The second arm is substantially symmetrically positioned with respect to the first arm and the second arm has an angle difference of about 180° with respect to the first arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: National University Corporation Tohoku University
    Inventors: Tadahiro Ohmi, Tomotsugu Ohashi, Kazuhiro Yoshikawa, Tetsuro Yoshida, Teppei Uchimura, Kazuki Soeda
  • Patent number: 8724974
    Abstract: A vaporizer, capable of stabilizing the behavior of pressure inside the vaporizer, includes a chamber having an inlet and an outlet, a heating device that heats the inside of the chamber, a partition wall structure 13 that is provided inside the vaporizer and partitions the liquid material inside the chamber into a plurality of sections, and liquid distribution portions 20 that are provided at the lower portion of the partition wall structure 13 and that allow liquid distribution among the sections partitioned by the partition wall structure 13, and the partition wall structure includes a grid-like, honeycomb-shaped, mesh-like, or pipe-shaped partition wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignees: Fujikin Incorporated, Tohoku University
    Inventors: Tadahiro Ohmi, Yasuyuki Shirai, Masaaki Nagase, Satoru Yamashita, Atsushi Hidaka, Ryousuke Dohi, Kouji Nishino, Nobukazu Ikeda, Keiji Hirao
  • Patent number: 8716114
    Abstract: A semiconductor device manufacturing method includes exciting plasma, applying RF power onto a target substrate to generate substrate bias and performing an ion implantation plural times by applying the RF power in the form of pulses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignees: National University Corporation Tohoku University, Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Tadahiro Ohmi, Tetsuya Goto, Akinobu Teramoto, Takaaki Matsuoka
  • Patent number: 8709816
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for diagnosing, and treating renal disease in a patient by having a test performed for detecting or quantifying one or more renal disease markers present in a test blood sample from the patient; and administering treatment to improve renal function. In particular embodiments, the test performed quantifies cis-aconitate, and the patient is identified as having the renal disease when a concentration of cis-aconitate present in the patient's test blood sample is higher than that of a control. Methods of the present invention can allow diagnosis and treatment of patients with early stage renal disease, such as early stage renal failure. Another aspect of the present invention relates to methods for screening for a prophylactic/therapeutic agent for treating renal disease using one or more renal disease markers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignees: Tohoku University, Keio University
    Inventors: Takaaki Abe, Tomoyoshi Soga
  • Patent number: 8709939
    Abstract: A multilevel interconnect structure in a semiconductor device and methods for fabricating the same are described. The multilevel interconnect structure in the semiconductor device includes a first insulating layer formed on a semiconductor wafer, a Cu interconnect layer formed on the first insulating layer, a second insulating layer formed on the Cu interconnect layer, and a metal oxide layer formed at an interface between the Cu interconnect layer and the second insulating layer. The metal oxide layer is formed by immersion-plating a metal, such as Sn or Zn, on the Cu interconnect layer and then heat-treating the plated layer in an oxidizing atmosphere.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignees: Semiconductor Technology Academic Research Center, National University Corporation Tohoku University
    Inventors: Junichi Koike, Yoshito Fujii, Jun Iijima, Noriyoshi Shimizu, Kazuyoshi Maekawa, Koji Arita, Ryotaro Yagi, Masaki Yoshimaru
  • Publication number: 20140103246
    Abstract: Disclosed are a method of producing fine particulate alkali metal niobate in a liquid phase system, wherein the size and shape of particles of the fine particulate alkali metal niobate can be controlled; and fine particulate alkali metal niobate having a controlled shape and size. Specifically disclosed are a method of producing particulate sodium-potassium niobate represented by the formula (1): NaxK(1-x)NbO3 (1), the method including four specific steps, wherein a high-concentration alkaline solution containing Na+ ion and K+ ion is used as an alkaline solution; and particulate sodium-potassium niobate having a controlled shape and size.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2013
    Publication date: April 17, 2014
    Applicants: Sakai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Fuji Ceramics Corporation, TOHOKU University
    Inventors: Atsushi MURAMATSU, Kiyoshi KANIE, Atsuki TERABE, Yasuhiro OKAMOTO, Hideto MIZUTANI, Satoru SUEDA, Hirofumi TAKAHASHI
  • Patent number: 8691017
    Abstract: A heat equalizer includes a container structure having a heating block in which a working fluid is held for heating and vaporizing a material to be heated, a heater placed at the bottom of the container structure, and a material feed pipe allowing the outside and the inside of the container structure to communicate with each other. In the heating block, as a flow path in which the material to be heated flows, a main header pipe connected to the material feed pipe and extending in the horizontally, and a riser pipe branching from the main header pipe and extending vertically are formed. As a condensation path in which the working fluid is cooled and condensed, condensation holes formed respectively on the opposite sides of the riser pipe and extending horizontally, and a condensation pit formed under the riser pipe are formed. Between the condensation holes and the condensation pit, the main header pipe is placed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignees: National University Corporation Tohoku University, Toshiba Mitsubishi—Electric Industrial Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Tadahiro Ohmi, Masafumi Kitano, Hisaaki Yamakage, Yoshihito Yamada
  • Patent number: 8691061
    Abstract: An electrode device for an electrochemical sensor chip includes an insulation sheet having an insulating property and including a top surface and a bottom surface opposite to each other in a thickness direction, and electrode members having a conductivity and held by the insulation sheet with the electrode members piercing the insulation sheet in a thickness direction, one ends of the electrode members located on the top surface side of the insulation sheet being connected to an analyte, the other ends located on the bottom surface side of the insulation sheet being connected to an electrodes of a transducer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignees: Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Limited, National University Corporation Tohoku University
    Inventors: Atsushi Suda, Tatsuo Kimura, Ryota Kunikata, Tomokazu Matsue
  • Patent number: 8691062
    Abstract: An electrode device for an electrochemical sensor chip includes an insulation sheet having an insulating property and including a top surface and a bottom surface opposite to each other in a thickness direction, and electrode members having a conductivity and held by the insulation sheet with the electrode members piercing the insulation sheet in a thickness direction, one ends of the electrode members located on the top surface side of the insulation sheet being connected to an analyte, the other ends located on the bottom surface side of the insulation sheet being connected to an electrodes of a transducer, at least the one ends of the electrode members being made of a mixture of conductive particles and an insulating material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignees: Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Limited, National University Corporation Tohoku University
    Inventors: Atsushi Suda, Tatsuo Kimura, Ryota Kunikata, Kumi Inoue, Tomokazu Matsue
  • Patent number: 8691402
    Abstract: A perpendicular magnetic recording medium according to which both the thermal stability of the magnetization is good and writing with a magnetic head is easy, and moreover the SNR is improved. In the case of a perpendicular magnetic recording medium comprising a nonmagnetic substrate (1), and at least a nonmagnetic underlayer (2), a magnetic recording layer (3), and a protective layer (4) formed in this order on the nonmagnetic substrate (1), the magnetic recording layer (3) comprises a low Ku region (31) layer having a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy constant (Ku value) of not more than 1×105 erg/cm3, and a high Ku region (32) layer having a Ku value of at least 1×106 erg/cm3. Moreover, the magnetic recording layer (3) is made to have therein nonmagnetic grain boundaries that contain a nonmagnetic oxide and magnetically isolate crystal grains, which are made of a ferromagnetic metal, from one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignees: Fuji Electric Co., Ltd., National University Corporation Tohoku University
    Inventors: Osamu Kitakami, Yutaka Shimada, Satoshi Okamoto, Takehito Shimatsu, Hajime Aoi, Hiroaki Muraoka, Yoshihisa Nakamura, Hiroyuki Uwazumi, Tadaaki Oikawa
  • Patent number: 8686049
    Abstract: Provided is a substance which is a safer and more commonly-consumed food ingredient that increase the testosterone level. The testosterone enhancer of the invention comprises vitamin K as an active ingredient. The vitamin is preferably menaquinone-4 and/or menaquinone-7. This enhancer is useful as pharmaceutical agents, supplements, health foods or functional foods for the prevention, amelioration and/or treatment of a condition or disease induced by the decreased testosterone level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignees: Tohoku University
    Inventors: Michio Komai, Hitoshi Shirakawa, Yusuke Ohsaki, Tadashi Takumi, Asagi Ito, Toshiro Sato, Rumi Ozaki
  • Patent number: 8685264
    Abstract: A slide member includes a substrate that is made of a metal material and has a sliding surface with a plurality of microdimples formed therein. Each of the microdimple has a circular opening, the microdimples are arranged in regular intervals in a hexagonal close-packed configuration, and the area ratio of the openings of all the microdimples to the entire sliding surface is in the range of 50 to 80%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Tohoku University
    Inventors: Masataka Kaido, Atsushi Suzuki, Masatsugu Shimomura, Hiroshi Yabu, Yuji Hirai
  • Patent number: 8679341
    Abstract: A method of concentrating nanoparticles, having the steps of: adding and mixing an extraction solvent with a nanoparticles-dispersion liquid that nanoparticles are dispersed in a dispersion solvent, thereby concentrating and extracting the nanoparticles into a phase of the extraction solvent, and removing the dispersion solvent by filter-filtrating a liquid of concentrated extract, in which the extraction solvent is substantially incompatible with the dispersion solvent, and the extract solvent can form an interface after the extraction solvent is mixed with the dispersion solvent and left the mixture still; further a method of deaggregating aggregated nanoparticles, having the steps of: applying two or more ultrasonic waves different in frequency to a liquid containing aggregated nanoparticles, and thereby fining and dispersing the aggregated nanoparticles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignees: FUJIFILM Corporation, Tohoku University
    Inventors: Yousuke Miyashita, Hachiro Nakanishi, Hitoshi Kasai, Akito Masuhara