Tohoku Techno Arch Co., Ltd. List of Products and Services

Thin-film solar cells using SnS (tin sulfide) offer the following advantages: ・Free of toxic elements such as Cd and Te. ・Composed of abundant and inexpensive elements (Sn and S). ・Efficient light absorption at a thickness of just 2–3 μm (compared to ~500 μm for silicon). ・A conversion efficiency of 25.3% has been reported for homo p-n junctions. However, achieving high-efficiency SnS solar cells with a homo p-n junction requires n-type SnS thin films, which have been technically challenging to fabricate. In this invention, inventor successfully synthesized n-type SnS thin films for the first time using a novel sulfurization technique based on sulfur plasma. This breakthrough is expected to enable the realization of homojunction SnS solar cells in the future.

• Manufacturing Technology

Burkholderia gulmae and B. plantarii are pathogenic bacteria and cause rice seedling rot which is one of the most serious problems in the process of raising seedlings for rice cultivation. The main method for controlling plant diseases is application of chemical pesticides. However, risks for emergence of the drug-resistant bacteria and negative impact of chemicals on the environment should be minimized. The present invention proposes an environmentally friendly method, without chemical pesticides, of plant disease control using novel jumbo phage which is isolated from organically farmed soil.

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PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) particles are industrially important particles used for many purposes. 　They are often used with their surfaces coated with dispersants and dispersed in water. Fluorinated dispersants are used as dispersant, but there is a strong concern about its bioaccumulation and environmental persistence, and it is necessary to find an alternative agent that doesn’t use fluorine. 　This invention is about a non-fluorinated dispersant that can disperse PTFE in water.

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Ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) have attracted attention as an industrially acceptable nanofabrication technology from views of cost and throughput; However, the use of spincoated films of photo-curable resin on substrates causes the problems of burr generation arising from mold edges and unleveled residual layers arising from site-selective differences in pattern densities of mold surfaces. The problems make subsequent lithography processes impossible. This optical nanoimprinting method consists of micro-scale laser-drilled screen printing and nano-scale molding. High-viscosity photo-curable resins with 1-300 Pa･s can be placed by screen printing using a polyimide sheet having through poles which are fabricated by laser drilling using a picosecond pulsed laser. The minimum volume of a printed droplet is 5 fL (10-15L). The resist patterns and resultant silicon patterns with 45-nm-linewidths are fabricated.

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　Conventional Hall sensors (a type of magnetic-field sensors) rely on highly crystalline semiconductors such as GaAs and InSb that show the large ordinary Hall effect. However, the requirements for low carrier density and high mobility impose strong constraints on the fabrication processes and conditions. Also, their strong Tdependent electrical properties must be cancelled out with additional ICs to achieve Hall sensor operation over a wide practical T range. 　This invention describes a ferromagnetic Fe-Sn alloy, which can work as a superior Hall sensor material owing to the large anomalous Hall effect. This novel material offers many technological advantages including cheap and non-toxic ingredients, the roomtemperature growth on various substrates, and high sensitivity and thermal stability.

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As a acoustic speaker, a dynamic speaker using electromagnetic force (electrodynamic speaker) is used in many cases. In the dynamic speaker, as strong force is required, regarding a small speaker such as an earphone, in particular, the inertial force of the diaphragm is increased relatively, causing a problem of increased deviation between the electrical signal and the vibration. 　An electrostatic speaker has been used to solve the foregoing problem. However, in the conventional electrostatic speakers, one or a plurality of holes is required to be formed at each fixed electrode in order to transmit an acoustic wave generated by the vibration of the diaphragm to the outside.This causes a problem that dust, water, moisture, etc. are likely to come in. This invention solves mentioned problems by its new structure.

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Liquid quenching method and atomization method are known as conventional methods of producing amorphous particles. However, the amorphous particle size obtained by these methods is relatively large and it has been difficult to obtain nanometer order amorphous nanoparticles, including amorphous tissue. Although chemical and arc plasma discharge methods are known to produce metal nanoparticles, the application of those methods are not easy due to the formation of secondary particles and segregation. Furthermore, it is also difficult to obtain large quantities of nanoparticles. 　This invention is able to provide amorphous nanoparticles, its production method with excellent dispersibility at relatively low temperatures, and amorphous nanoparticle dispersions. This invention includes the process of obtaining a dispersion with a solid-state metal comprising an alloy and a reducing dispersant, and the process of irradiating the dispersion with ultrasound in order to obtain amorphous nanoparticles containing an amorphous structure from the solid-state metal.

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It happens that some food are mistaken by elders and then drop into their lungs. Some times it leads to serious pneumonia and thus becomes to be problematic for home/facility medical care for elders. 　This invention provides a non-contact quantitative analysis device to evaluate the swallowing function of elders by monitoring the movement of neck surface. Also, the device is useful to evaluate objectively if the food is delicious and if elders can swallow the food smoothly.

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　It has been reported that reduction or deletion of Langerhans β cells (hereafter β cells) in pancreatic islet occurs not only in type 1 diabetes but also in type 2 diabetes. Therefore, regeneration or promotion of β cells has been proposed as a promising treatment for diabetes. Recently, it has been shown that the transplantation of bone marrow cells promotes the proliferation of β cells. However, the mechanism is not clear.　 　The present invention relates to nucleic acid molecules that promote the proliferation of β cells. Said molecules increased insulin secretion and decreased blood glucose levels in animal model (right figure and related literature) in vivo. In combination with drug delivery systems, it is expected to establish a novel treatment for diabetes.

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Currently, molybdenum alloys are formed by extrusion of powder sintered bodies due to their high melting point. Therefore, cutting is required in order to form complex shapes, which increases the manufacturing cost. In addition, if a body is formed by the powder sintering, the strength is decreased.　 　In this invention, light / high strength / high heat resistance molybdenum alloys can be easily fabricated by the melting and casting method, which can be applied for complex shapes. New molybdenum alloys with melting point below 2000℃.

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