Abstract: A functional multilayer film and a method for manufacturing the same is provided wherein the intervals of fine metallic bodies in the thickness direction of film and the arrangement thereof in the surface direction of film are regular, and the fine metallic bodies arranged on each layer in the surface direction of film are aligned in the thickness direction of film.

Abstract: There is disclosed a contactor which is used for testing electric characteristics of an object to be tested, the contactor comprising a contactor board, a plurality of conductive members formed through the contactor board, a plurality of beam members, and a contact terminal provided at the tip of each beam member. In this contactor, each beam member has a tip and a base end at its both ends, and has a step shape or an arch shape between the tip and the base end. The base end of each beam member is connected to each conductive member. The contact terminal member can be formed integrally with a conductive layer of the beam member.

Abstract: An object is to provide an accelerometer or a spherical sensor-type measurement device, able to control by means of an active restraining control system a spherical mass part or a spherical sensor part. The accelerometer or spherical sensor-type measurement device has a spherical mass part, which is levitated by electrostatic supporting forces, and electrodes positioned so as to surround the spherical mass part and which have spherical inner surfaces; the above electrodes include a plurality of electrostatic supporting electrodes, positioned symmetrically with respect to the spherical mass part, and a displacement detection electrode, positioned between the electrostatic supporting electrodes.

Abstract: An active slender tube as implemented as a catheter, guide wire, or any other medical or non-medical micro-mechanical or -system or system's active micro-component is disclosed that has a simple structure which facilitates the active slender tube to be reduced in diameter and with the capability of being multi-functionalized. The slender tube is provided in its distal, active end portion in the form of “J” with a bending, a torsionally rotating, an extending and retracting and/or a stiffness control mechanism. These mechanisms are adapted to bend, torsionally rotate, extend/retract and adjust stiffness of, the active end portion, respectively, with precision. Each mechanism comprises an outer skeleton including a liner coil spring, and an SMA (shape memory alloy) made coil actuator disposed inside of the liner coil coaxially therewith and fastened thereto.

Abstract: This invention provides a reliable blanking aperture array. An insulating layer and conductive layer are sequentially formed on the lower surface of a substrate. Then, a plurality of pairs of opposing trenches are formed in the substrate, and an insulating layer is formed on each of the side surfaces of the trenches by thermal oxidation. The conductive layer is exposed by etching the bottom of each trench. A conductive member is selectively grown in each trench using the conductive layer as a plating electrode to form a blanking electrode. An opening is formed between the opposing blanking electrodes.

Abstract: A capacitive vacuum sensor includes a non-conducting substrate, a plurality of fixed electrodes on the non-conducting substrate, and a diaphragm electrode formed by a plurality of elastic structures, each of the elastic structures being arranged to oppose a respective one of the fixed electrodes and having a different physical size (area) that is the same as that of each corresponding fixed electrode. More specifically, the areas of the elastic structures have a specific relationship between them, as defined by a specific ratio, and the areas may differ successively from each other according to the specific ratio. The capacitive vacuum sensor further includes compensation electrodes that are not sensitive to any change in the capacitance that may occur in response to any change in the pressure, but is only sensitive to any change in the capacitance that may occur in response to any change in the temperature.

Abstract: A gyroscope includes a tuning fork, which includes a plurality of tines formed of a conductive material and a supporting portion; an upper glass substrate and a lower glass substrate which sandwich the tuning fork; drive electrodes which are provided on each of the upper and the lower glass substrates in such a manner that parts of the drive electrodes oppose the tines and the remaining parts protrude from the tines, the drive electrodes being capacitively coupled to the tines and driving the tines in a direction parallel to the substrates; and detection electrodes which are capacitively coupled to the tines, and which detect displacements of the tines in a direction perpendicular to the vibrating direction of the tines.

Abstract: The micro-switch couples electrically a first terminal to a second terminal. The micro-switch includes: a first supporting member where the first terminal is provided; a moving unit where the second terminal corresponding to the first terminal is provided; a driving unit for bringing the second terminal into contact with the first terminal by driving the moving unit in a direction of the first terminal by supplying power; an electrode provided in the first supporting member, and for supplying power to the driving unit; an elastic terminal including the elastic unit having elasticity in a predetermined direction; and a pushing terminal contacting the elastic terminal by pushing the elastic unit, the pushing terminal being electrically coupled to the electrode.

Abstract: An active guide wire (1) that can be used in a narrow blood vessel in a complicate vascular system such as intracerebral is disclosed as well as a method of making the same. The active wire comprises a bias coil spring (3); an outer tube (4) having the bias coil spring (3) sheathed therewith and providing an external wall for the active wire guide (1); and a shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator (5) in the form of a flat sheet anchored in and securely connected to the outer tube (4), wherein the flat sheet SMA actuator (5) is shape memorized so as to bend in a direction of the thickness of the flat sheet and has a shape running zigzag longitudinally thereof. The actuator (5) is energized with an electric current and thereby heated to have its leading end bent.

Abstract: A method of working a piezoelectric substance, which comprises the steps of, forming, on one surface of a piezoelectric block, an etching mask having an aperture which defines a boundary region between a first piezoelectric segment to be removed, and a second piezoelectric segment to be left remained, forming, on the opposite surface of the piezoelectric block, a sacrificial layer which corresponds to the first piezoelectric segment to be removed and the boundary region, etching the piezoelectric block in the boundary region to reach the sacrificial layer, and eliminating the sacrificial layer to remove the first piezoelectric segment.

Abstract: A thermoelectric device that realizes miniaturization and densification, an optical module incorporating the thermoelectric device, and their production method. N-type thermoelectric elements 51 and p-type thermoelectric elements 52 are arranged orthogonally and alternately, on the XY-plane, in a matrix consisting of at least four elements in total in a row and at least four elements in total in a column. All the thermoelectric elements 51 and 52 have a size of at most 250 &mgr;m in the X and Y directions. At most four thermoelectric elements nearest to an n-type thermoelectric element 51 are of p type, and at most four thermoelectric elements nearest to a p-type thermoelectric element 52 are of n type. The thermoelectric elements 51 and 52 are bonded through metallic bonding materials to electrodes 53 having the shape of a rectangle or a rounded rectangle formed on an insulating substrate 54.

Abstract: The invention provides a capacitive micro sensor that suppresses electric noise generated around the electrodes and enhances the S/N ratio to thereby enhance the detection sensitivity. The gyroscope of the invention includes a tuning fork having three legs, driving electrodes and detecting electrodes provided on two glass substrates, driving field-throughs that supply the driving electrodes with a drive signal, and detecting fields-through that extract a detecting signal from the detecting electrodes. And, a shield member between the detecting and the driving, shield members between the detecting and the detecting, and shield members between the driving and the driving are provided, which makes electrostatic shielding between the adjacent field-throughs of the areas where the driving field-throughs and the detecting field-throughs are arrayed.

Abstract: A microactuator has a first substrate, a second substrate, a first comb electrode having a plurality of first comb elements formed on an inner surface of the first substrate, a second comb electrode having a plurality of second comb elements formed on an inner surface of the second substrate, and a connecting film formed by partially removing an interlayer formed on the inner face of any one of the first substrate and the second substrate. The first substrate and the second substrate face each other with a distance and are movable with respect to each other. The first comb elements and the second comb elements are alternately disposed. Any one of the first electrode and the second electrode is bonded to the connecting film. This microactuator is preferably used in magnetic head units and magnetic recording apparatuses.

Abstract: An inclinometer comprising a spherical mass, a spherical shell having a reference axis and surrounding said spherical mass and a plurality of electrodes mounted on the spherical inner surface of said spherical shell, said inclinometer applied to detect the inclination angle of said reference axis by the output signal of said electrodes.

Abstract: A gyroscope of the invention is provided with a tuning fork having three legs and a support, a top side glass substrate and a bottom side glass substrate between which the tuning fork is interposed, driving movable electrodes disposed on the top surface of each leg, driving fixed electrodes disposed on the bottom surface of the top side glass substrate so as to face to the driving movable electrodes, six detection movable electrodes connected to each other in parallel disposed on the top surface of the free end of each leg, and six detection fixed electrodes connected to each other in parallel disposed on the bottom surface of the top side glass substrate so as to face to the detection movable electrodes.

Abstract: A reflective movable diaphragm unit 2 having diaphragm portions 25 formed by a circular SiO2 film, a mesa portion 22 and light-reflecting mirror portion 23 of the SiO2 film disposed in the center, and a ring-shaped spacer 24a and bonding layer 24b formed of metal layers in the circumferential edge portion of the diaphragm portion 25, whereby a pressure sensor is formed.

Abstract: An ink jet head and a method of producing the same are disclosed. Use is made of a sufficiently thick single crystal at the time of anodic bonding, so that a vibration plate is free from deformation without resorting to any special short-circuit electrode.

Abstract: A microactuator has a first substrate, a second substrate, a first comb electrode having a plurality of first comb elements formed on an inner surface of the first substrate, a second comb electrode having a plurality of second comb elements formed on an inner surface of the second substrate, and a connecting film formed by partially removing an interlayer formed on the inner face of any one of the first substrate and the second substrate. The first substrate and the second substrate face each other with a distance and are movable with respect to each other. The first comb elements and the second comb elements are alternately disposed. Any one of the first electrode and the second electrode is bonded to the connecting film. This microactuator is preferably used in magnetic head units and magnetic recording apparatuses.

Abstract: The invention provides a gyroscope that brings about the miniaturization of a device, improvement of detection sensitivity, and reduction of driving voltage. A gyroscope of the present invention is provided with a tuning fork formed of conductive material having a plurality of legs and a support, a top glass substrate and a bottom glass substrate for holding the tuning fork in-between, a plurality of driving electrodes for driving the plurality of legs in capacitance coupling with the legs, and a plurality of detecting electrodes, each detecting electrode is disposed so as to face to the end face of each leg in the extending direction correspondingly to each leg.

Abstract: A pressure transducer designed to transform static pressure or dynamic pressure applied to a diaphragm into a corresponding electrical signal and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The transducer includes a fixed electrode formed in an upper surface of a substrate and a moving electrode provided in the diaphragm disposed above the fixed electrode through a cavity. The substrate has formed in the bottom thereof at least one hole which is used in a manufacturing process for removing a sacrificial layer formed between the diaphragm and the upper surface of the substrate in dry etching to form the cavity.