1. A method implemented on a server for facilitating purchases of variable priced items by a user, comprising:
(a) storing user characteristics information for a plurality of users in a plurality of user accounts;
(b) transmitting a first price request on behalf of a user to each of a plurality of sources of an item, the price request including a first set of user characteristics information obtained from the user’s user account;
(c) receiving at least one information request for additional user characteristics information from at least one of the plurality of sources;
(d) based on all of the at least one information request received from the at least one sources in step (c), dynamically generating a request to the user for additional user characteristics information, and transmitting the request to a client for display to the user;
(e) receiving additional user characteristics information from the client in response to the request transmitted in step (d);
(f) transmitting a second price request to each of the at least one sources from which an information request is received in step (c), the second price request including a second set of user characteristics information responsive to the information request received in step (c);
(g) receiving offered prices from the plurality of sources in response to the first price request or the second price request, at least some of the offered prices being dependent on the first or second set of user characteristics information;
(h) selecting one of the plurality of source based on the offered prices; and
(i) completing a transaction to purchase the item from the selected source.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user characteristics information includes one or more of an occupation of the user, an organizational membership of the user, name of the user, email address of the user, and a unique identification of the user.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the item is a copyrighted digital content.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising, before step (b), searching for the digital content in the plurality of sources.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein step (i) includes:
downloading the digital content from the selected source;
obtaining payment from the user; and
transmitting informing regarding the purchase to the selected source.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the first price request specifies a type of right being sought for the digital content, and wherein at least some of the offered prices are dependent on the type of right being sought.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the user characteristics information includes a group identifier for a group purchase.
8. A computer program product comprising a computer usable non-transitory medium having a computer readable program code embedded therein for controlling a data processing apparatus, the computer readable program code configured to cause the data processing apparatus to execute a process for facilitating purchases of variable priced items by a user, the process comprising:
(a) storing user characteristics information for a plurality of users in a plurality of user accounts;
(b) transmitting a first price request on behalf of a user to each of a plurality of sources of an item, the price request including a first set of user characteristics information obtained from the user’s user account;
(c) receiving at least one information request for additional user characteristics information from at least one of the plurality of sources;
(d) based on all of the at least one information request received from the at least one sources in step (c), dynamically generating a request to the user for additional user characteristics information, and transmitting the request to a client for display to the user;
(e) receiving additional user characteristics information from the client in response to the request transmitted in step (d);
(f) transmitting a second price request to each of the at least one sources from which an information request is received in step (c), the second price request including a second set of user characteristics information responsive to the information request received in step (c);
(g) receiving offered prices from the plurality of sources in response to the first price request or the second price request, at least some of the offered prices being dependent on the first or second set of user characteristics information;
(h) selecting one of the plurality of source based on the offered prices; and
(i) completing a transaction to purchase the item from the selected source.
9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the user characteristics information includes one or more of an occupation of the user, an organizational membership of the user, name of the user, email address of the user, and a unique identification of the user.
10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the item is a copyrighted digital content.
11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the process further comprises, before step (b), searching for the digital content in the plurality of sources.
12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein step (i) includes:
downloading the digital content from the selected source;
obtaining payment from the user; and
transmitting informing regarding the purchase to the selected source.
13. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the first price request specifies a type of right being sought for the digital content, and wherein at least some of the offered prices are dependent on the type of right being sought.
14. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the user characteristics information includes a group identifier for a group purchase.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A transistor, comprising:
(a) a silicon carbide crystal having a silicon terminated face;
(b) a semiconducting-type graphene layer bonded to the silicon terminated face;
(c) a first semimetallic-type graphene layer contiguous with a first portion of the semiconducting-type graphene layer;
(d) a second semimetallic-type graphene layer contiguous with a second portion of the semiconducting-type graphene layer that is spaced apart from the first portion;
(e) an insulator layer disposed on a portion of the semiconducting-type graphene layer; and
(f) a gate conductive layer disposed on the insulator layer and spaced apart from the semiconducting-type graphene layer.
2. The transistor of claim 1, wherein the semiconducting-type graphene layer comprises a layer 0-type graphene.
3. The transistor of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first semimetallic-type graphene layer and the second semimetallic-type graphene layer comprises a layer 1-type graphene.
4. The transistor of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first semimetallic-type graphene layer and the second semimetallic-type graphene layer is formed adjacent to a non-silicon terminated face of the silicon carbide crystal.
5. The transistor of claim 4, wherein the silicon terminated face comprises a horizontal surface of the silicon carbide crystal and wherein the non-silicon terminated face comprises a sidewall of the silicon carbide crystal.
6. The transistor of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first semimetallic-type graphene layer and the second semimetallic-type graphene layer is formed on a layer 0-type graphene layer.
7. The transistor of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first semimetallic-type graphene layer and the second semimetallic-type graphene layer comprises passivated graphene.
8. The transistor of claim 7, wherein passivated graphene is formed on passivated silicon carbide.
9. The transistor of claim 1, wherein the gate conductive layer comprises a metal.
10. The transistor of claim 1, further comprising:
(a) a metal source contact affixed to the first semimetallic-type graphene layer; and
(b) a metal drain contact affixed to the second semimetallic-type graphene layer.
11. A method of making a transistor, comprising the steps of:
(a) forming a semiconducting-type graphene layer on a silicon terminated face of a silicon carbide crystal;
(b) forming at least one semimetallic-type graphene layer adjacent to the silicon carbide crystal so that the semimetallic-type graphene layer is contiguous with the semiconducting-type graphene layer;
(c) applying an insulator layer on a portion of the semiconducting layer; and
(d) applying a conductor layer to the insulator layer.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of forming a semiconducting-type graphene layer comprises evaporating silicon from the silicon carbide crystal.
13. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of forming a raised portion on the silicon carbide crystal so that the raised portion has a silicon terminated face and at least one sidewall extending transversely therefrom so that the sidewall is not silicon terminated, wherein the semimetallic-type graphene is disposed on the sidewall.
14. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of forming at least one semimetallic-type graphene layer comprises forming a plurality of graphene layers on the silicon carbide crystal and wherein the step of forming a semiconducting-type graphene layer comprises removing a region of the plurality of graphene layers so as to expose an exposed silicon terminated face portion and then forming the semiconducting-type graphene layer on the exposed silicon terminated face portion.
15. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of forming a semimetallic-type graphene layer comprises the steps of:
(a) evaporating silicon from a selected surface of the silicon carbide crystal thereby forming a graphene layer; and
(b) passivating a portion of the selected surface of the silicon carbide crystal, thereby breaking chemical bonds between the portion of the selected surface and the silicon carbide crystal so that the selected surface becomes semimetallic-type graphene.
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of forming a raised portion on the silicon carbide crystal so that the raised portion has a silicon terminated face and at least one sidewall extending transversely therefrom so that the sidewall is not silicon terminated.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of passivating a portion of the selected surface of the silicon carbide crystal comprises the step of subjecting the selected surface to a hydrogen-rich environment at a preselected selected temperature for a preselected amount of time.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the hydrogen-rich environment includes a one atmosphere partial pressure of hydrogen.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the preselected temperature is about 550\xb0 C. and wherein the preselected amount of time is about 75 minutes.
20. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of heating a selected portion of the semimetallic-type graphene in a hydrogen-poor environment at a temperature and for an amount of time sufficient to cause hydrogen to be removed from the selected portion, thereby causing the selected portion to become semiconducting.