Author: claimsbot

1. A sensing method comprising:
providing at least one carbon nanotube;
biasing the at least one carbon nanotube;
exposing the at least one carbon nanotube to an environment where gas is adapted to be detected, whereby, in presence of the gas, heat is removed by the gas from the at least one carbon nanotube;
varying pressure inside the environment with the gas, whereby temperature of the at least one carbon nanotube changes with variation of pressure; and
detecting variation in temperature of the at least one carbon nanotube as an electrical response.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is a gas sensing method.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is a chemical species sensing method to differentiate chemical species.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein each one of the at least one carbon nanotube is a single-walled carbon nanotube.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein biasing the at least one carbon nanotube occurs by connecting electrodes at end regions of the at least one carbon nanotube.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one carbon nanotube and the electrodes are suspended and devoid of a substrate.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein suspension occurs through critical point drying.
8. The method of claim 5, wherein the electrodes comprise metals selected from the group consisting of Al, Ti, Nb, Mo, Pd, Pt, Sc, Ta, W, Hf, Zr, Au, Cr and combinations thereof.
9. The method of claim 5, wherein the electrodes comprise metals selected from the group consisting of Au, Cr and combinations thereof.
10. The method of claim 6, wherein the electrodes comprise electrodes made of Cr.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein varying the pressure inside the environment with the gas comprises varying the pressure from a substantially ambient pressure to a substantially vacuum pressure.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the variation in the temperature of the at least one carbon nanotube causes a resistance change in the at least one carbon nanotube, the resistance change being detected as a current response.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the environment is a chamber containing the gas and the carbon nanotube.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one carbon nanotube is an array of carbon nanotubes.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one carbon nanotube is a bundle of carbon nanotubes.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one carbon nanotube is voltage biased and the electrical response is a current response.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the electrical response is a voltage response.
18. A method of sensing comprising:
i) exposing a sensor to an environment where gas is adapted to be detected, the sensor comprising
two terminals;
a biasing source to the terminals;
a single-walled carbon nanotube in electrical communication between the terminals;
a calibration of measured electrical conductance of the single-walled carbon nanotube to magnitudes of vacuum about the single-walled carbon nanotube;
a current meter in electrical communication with the source of constant voltage, wherein, in presence of the gas, heat is removed by the gas from the sensor; and

ii) detecting variation in temperature of the single-walled carbon nanotube as an electrical response.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the method is a method of sensing gas.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein the method is a method of sensing a chemical species to differentiate chemical species.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein the sensor further comprises a substrate supporting the two terminals, the single-walled carbon nanotube being displaced from the substrate between the terminals.
22. The method of claim 18, wherein the electrical response is a current response or a voltage response.
23. The method of claim 18, wherein the biasing source is a source of constant voltage.

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. An article comprising:
a wafer having a surface;
a layer of photoresist material over the wafer surface;
a top coat on the photoresist layer operative to substantially cancel a reflected portion of radiation having a wavelength .
2. The article of claim 1, wherein the top coat has a thickness approximately equal to
2
4

n
1
–
(

NA
n

)

2
,
where n is
the refractive index of the top coat and NA is a numerical aperture of an optical system.
3. The article of claim 2, wherein the NA is greater than about 0.7.
4. The article of claim 1, wherein the top coat comprises a substantially low absorption, low refractive index material.
5. The article of claim 4, wherein the top coat comprises a material having a refractive index of about 1.5 or less.
6. The article of claim 4, wherein the top coat has a thickness of about 500 or less.
7. The article of claim 1, wherein the top coat is operative to couple radiation into the photoresist material such that the magnitude of the Transverse Electric (TE) polarization mode of the radiation is substantially equal to the Transverse Magnetic (TM) polarization mode of the radiation over the range of NA from 0 to 1.
8. The article of claim 1, wherein the top coat is operative to couple radiation into the photoresist material such that the magnitude of the Transverse Electric (TE) polarization mode of the radiation is substantially equal to the Transverse Magnetic (TM) polarization mode of the radiation at an NA of about 0.80 and higher.
9. The article of claim 1, wherein the top coat is operative to couple greater than about 75% of a Transverse Electric (TE) polarization mode of an incident radiation at an NA of about 0.93.
10. The article of claim 1, wherein the top coat is operative to couple greater than about 90% of a Transverse Electric (TE) polarization mode of an incident radiation at an NA of about 0.93.
11. An article comprising:
a wafer having a surface;
a layer of photoresist material over the wafer surface;
a bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC) between the wafer and the layer of photoresist material; and
a top coat on the photoresist layer operative to substantially cancel a reflected portion of radiation having a wavelength .
12. The article of claim 11, wherein the top coat has a thickness approximately equal to
3
4

n
1
–
(

NA
n

)

2
,
wherein n
is a refractive index of the top coat and NA is a numerical aperture of an optical system.
13. The article of claim 12, wherein the NA is greater than about 0.7.
14. The article of claim 11, wherein the top coat comprises a substantially low absorption, low refractive index material.
15. The article of claim 14, wherein the top coat comprises a material having a refractive index of about 1.5 or less.
16. The article of claim 15, wherein the top coat has a thickness of about 500 or less.
17. The article of claim 11, wherein the top coat is operative to couple radiation into the photoresist material such that the magnitude of the Transverse Electric (TE) polarization mode of the radiation is substantially equal to the Transverse Magnetic (TM) polarization mode of the radiation over the range of NA from 0 to 1.
18. The article of claim 11, wherein the top coat is operative to couple radiation into the photoresist material such that the magnitude of the Transverse Electric (TE) polarization mode of the radiation is substantially equal to the Transverse Magnetic (TM) polarization mode of the radiation at an NA of about 0.8 and higher.
19. The article of claim 11, wherein the top coat is operative to couple greater than about 65% of a Transverse Electric (TE) polarization mode of an incident radiation at an NA of about 0.93.
20. The article of claim 11, wherein the top coat is operative to couple greater than about 90% of a Transverse Electric (TE) polarization mode of an incident radiation at an NA of about 0.93.
21. A method comprising:
depositing a top coat on a layer of photoresist material over a substrate;
exposing the top coat to light in a lithography system having a numerical aperture (NA) of about 0.8 or higher, said light including a Transverse Electric (TE) polarization mode energy; and
coupling greater than about 80% of the TE polarization mode energy into the photoresist material.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:
depositing a bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC) on the substrate; and
depositing the layer of photoresist material on the BARC.
23. The method of claim 21, wherein said exposing comprises exposing the top coat to light in a lithography system having a numerical aperture (NA) of about 0.9 or higher.
24. The method of claim 21, wherein said depositing comprises depositing the top coat at a thickness approximately equal to
4
4

n
1
–
(

NA
n

)

2
.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein the thickness is deposited to a thickness of about 500 or less.
26. The method of claim 21, wherein said depositing comprises depositing a substantially low absorption, low refractive index material.
27. The method of claim 26, wherein the material has a refractive index of about 1.5 or less.

1. A stacked photodiode image sensor pixel in an image sensor array formed in a semiconductor substrate, comprising:
a first photodiode formed using a first p-type doped region and a first n-type doped region;
a second photodiode formed using a second p-type doped region and a second n-type doped region, wherein the first photodiode is stacked vertically above the second photodiode;
a vertical charge transfer region transfer gate; and
a vertical charge transfer region that is located below the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate and that is adjacent to the first and second photodiodes, wherein the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate assists in transferring charge collected in the second n-type doped region to the first n-type doped region through the vertical charge transfer region.
2. The stacked photodiode image sensor pixel defined in claim 1, further comprising:
a floating diffusion region formed in the substrate; and
a floating diffusion region transfer gate that assists in transferring charge collected in the first n-type doped region to the floating diffusion region.
3. The stacked photodiode image sensor pixel defined in claim 2, further comprising a given n-type doped region in the vertical charge transfer region, wherein the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate is turned on to transfer the charge collected in the second n-type doped region to the given n-type doped region for temporary storage and wherein the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate is turned off to transfer the charge temporarily stored in the given n-type doped region through the first n-type doped region to the floating diffusion region.
4. The stacked photodiode image sensor pixel defined in claim 2, further comprising pixel circuitry connected to the floating diffusion region, wherein the pixel circuitry resets the floating diffusion region and reads data out of the image sensor pixel.
5. The stacked photodiode image sensor pixel defined in claim 1, further comprising a given n-type doped region in the vertical charge transfer region, wherein the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate is turned on to transfer the charge collected in the second n-type doped region to the given n-type doped region for temporary storage and wherein the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate is turned off to transfer the charge temporarily stored in the given n-type doped region through the first n-type doped region to the floating diffusion region.
6. The stacked photodiode image sensor pixel defined in claim 1, further comprising a p+ doped potential barrier region formed between the first photodiode and the second photodiode.
7. The stacked photodiode image sensor pixel defined in claim 1, further comprising a p+ doped passivation layer formed over the first photodiode that minimizes dark current generation at the surface of the substrate.
8. The stacked photodiode image sensor pixel defined in claim 1, further comprising p-type implant regions that partially surround the first and second photodiodes and prevent pixel crosstalk.
9. An image sensor, comprising:
a plurality of image sensor pixels; and
a color filter array formed over the plurality of image sensor pixels, wherein the color filter array includes non-clear color filters and clear color filters.
10. The image sensor defined in claim 9, wherein each non-clear color filter comprises a selected one of: a cyan color filter, a magenta color filter, a green color filter, and a red color filter.
11. The image sensor defined in claim 9, wherein each image sensor pixel comprises:
a first photodiode formed from a first p-type doped region and a first n-type doped region; and
a second photodiode formed from a second p-type doped region and a second n-type doped region, wherein the first photodiode is stacked vertically above the second photodiode.
12. The image sensor defined in claim 11, wherein the image sensor pixels formed under the clear color filters are configured to detect blue light using their respective first photodiodes and wherein the image sensor pixels formed under the clear color filters are configured to detect red and green light using their respective second photodiodes.
13. The image sensor defined in claim 11, wherein the image sensor pixels formed under the non-clear color filters are configured to detect blue light using their respective first photodiodes and wherein the image sensor pixels formed under the non-clear color filters are configured to detect red or green light using their respective second photodiodes.
14. The image sensor defined in claim 11, wherein the image sensor pixels formed under the non-clear color filters are configured to detect red or green light using their respective second photodiodes.
15. The image sensor defined in claim 11, wherein each image sensor pixel further comprises:
a vertical charge transfer region transfer gate; and
a vertical charge transfer region that is located below the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate and that is adjacent to the first and second photodiodes, wherein the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate is used to transfer charge collected in the second n-type doped region to the first n-type doped region through the vertical charge transfer region.
16. A method of operating a stacked photodiode image sensor pixel having first and second photodiodes, a floating diffusion region transfer gate, a floating diffusion region, a vertical charge transfer region transfer gate, and a vertical charge transfer region that is located below the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate and that is adjacent to the first and second photodiodes, wherein the first photodiode is stacked vertically above the second photodiode, the method comprising:
transferring charge collected in a shallow implant region in the first photodiode to the floating diffusion region by turning on the floating diffusion region transfer gate; and
transferring charge collected in a deep implant region in the second photodiode to the floating diffusion region via the vertical charge transfer region using the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate.
17. The method defined in claim 16, wherein the image sensor pixel further comprises a given n-type doped region in the vertical charge transfer region, wherein transferring the charge collected in the deep implant region in the second photodiode to the floating diffusion region comprises:
turning on the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate to transfer the charge collected in the deep implant region to the given n-type doped region in the vertical charge transfer region; and
turning off the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate to transfer the charge stored in the given n-type doped region to the floating diffusion region.
18. The method defined in claim 17, wherein the image sensor pixel further includes image sensor pixel circuitry connected to the floating diffusion, the method further comprising:
with the image sensor pixel circuitry, resetting the floating diffusion region by writing a reset data value into the image sensor pixel; and
with the image sensor pixel circuitry, reading data out of the image sensor pixel, wherein the data corresponds to part of a captured image.
19. The method defined in claim 16, wherein the image sensor pixel further comprises a potential barrier formed between the shallow implant region of the first photodiode and the deep implant region of the second photodiode, the method further comprising:
with the potential barrier, blocking direct charge transfer between the shallow implant region and the deep implant region while the vertical charge transfer region transfer gate is turned off.
20. The method defined in claim 16, wherein a non-clear color filter is formed over the image sensor pixel, the method further comprising:
with the second photodiode, collecting charge generated by a selected one of: green light and red light.
21. The method defined in claim 16, wherein a clear color filter is formed over the image sensor pixel, the method further comprising:
with the first photodiode, collecting charge generated by blue light; and
with the second photodiode, collecting charge generated by red and green light.

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 method for identifying an agent that modulates an activity of TM7XN1 in an adenocarcinoma cell expressing TM7XN1, the method comprising:
contacting a candidate agent with an adenocarcinoma cell expressing a TM7XN1 polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID No:2; and
determining whether there is an effect on the cell, indicating that the agent modulates an activity of TM7XN1.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the agent downregulates or upregulates expression of TM7XN1.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the agent inhibits or increases an activity of TM7XN1.
4. A method for identifying an agent that modulates an activity of TM7XN1 in a non-melanoma skin cancer cell expressing TM7XN1, the method comprising:
contacting a candidate agent with a non-melanoma skin cancer cell expressing a TM7XN1 polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID No:2; and
determining whether there is an effect on the cell, indicating that the agent modulates an activity of TM7XN.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the agent downregulates or upregulates expression of TM7XN1.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the agent inhibits or increases activity of TM7XN1.
7. A method for identifying an agent that modulates activity of TM7XN1 in a renal carcinoma cell expressing TM7XN1, the method comprising:
contacting a candidate agent with a renal carcinoma cell expressing a TM7XN1 polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID No:2; and
determining whether there is an effect on the cell, indicating that the agent modulates an activity of TM7XN.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the agent downregulates or upregulates expression of TM7XN1.
9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the agent inhibits or increases an activity of TM7XN1.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by a change in intracellular calcium mobilization in said cell in an in vitro assay.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by a said change in concentration of cAMP.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by the ability of the cell to move through a matrix in an in vitro assay.
13. The method according to claim 1, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by inhibition of apoptosis of said cells.
14. The method according to claim 1, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by the expression of enzymes involved in matrix degradation in an in vitro assay.
15. The method of claim 4, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by a change in intracellular calcium mobilization in said cell in an in vitro assay.
16. The method of claim 4, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by a change in concentration of cAMP.
17. The method of claim 4, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by the ability of the cell to move through a matrix in an in vitro invasion assay.
18. The method according to claim 4, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by inhibition of apoptosis of the cell.
19. The method according to claim 4, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by the expression of enzymes involved in matrix degradation in an in vitro assay.
20. The method of claim 7, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by a change in intracellular calcium mobilization in said cell in an in vitro assay.
21. The method of claim 7, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by a change in concentration of cAMP.
22. The method according to claim 7, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by a change in the ability of the cell to move through a matrix in an in vitro invasion assay.
23. The method according to claim 7, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by inhibition of apoptosis of said cells.
24. The method according to claim 7, wherein modulation of TM7XN1 is measured by the expression of enzymes involved in matrix degradation in an in vitro assay.