All The Claims

1. A solid state imaging apparatus comprising:
a photoelectric conversion section formed in an imaging area of a silicon substrate, the photoelectric conversion section including:
a surface layer having a first conductivity type provided on a top portion of the silicon substrate,
a first semiconductor layer made of silicon having a second conductivity type, serving as a charge accumulation region, and provided under the surface layer, and
a second semiconductor layer made of silicon having the first conductivity type provided under the first semiconductor layer;
an isolation region formed in at least one part of the silicon substrate located around the photoelectric conversion section, the isolation region being made of a silicon film which fills an isolation trench formed on the semiconductor substrate;
a first silicon layer made of silicon having the first conductivity type formed in a region of the silicon substrate, and forming the bottom and sidewalls of the isolation trench; and
a second silicon layer made of silicon having the first conductivity type in contact with a bottom side of the first silicon layer, wherein an impurity concentration of the second silicon layer is less than that of the first silicon layer,
wherein the photoelectric conversion section is in contact with the isolation region, the first silicon layer, and the second silicon layer, and
the second silicon layer is in physical contact with a side surface of the first semiconductor layer.
2. The solid state imaging apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an insulating film covering the bottom and sidewalls of the isolation trench.
3. The solid state imaging apparatus of claim l, further comprising a MOS transistor formed in the imaging area,
wherein the silicon film contains an impurity of the opposite conductivity type to source and drain regions of the MOS transistor.
4. The solid state imaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the silicon film is made of amorphous silicon, polycrystalline silicon or porous silicon.
5. The solid state imaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein a depth of the first semiconductor layer is substantially the same as that of the second silicon layer.
6. The solid state imaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the isolation region is grounded.
7. The solid state imaging apparatus of claim 1 wherein the isolation region is biased.
8. A camera comprising the solid state imaging apparatus according to claim 1.

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 of culturing embryonic stem (ES) cells of avian, comprising the steps of:
a) suspending ES cells originating from the blastoderm disk of fertilized un-incubated avian egg(s) in a basal culture medium supplemented with:
insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF); and
animal serum; and
optionally, at least one growth factors selected in the group comprising interleukin 6 (Il-6), interleukin 6 receptor (Il-6R), stem cell factor (SCF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF), interleukin 11 (Il-11), oncostatin and cardiotrophin;

b) seeding the suspension of ES cells obtained in step a) on a layer of feeder cells and further culturing the ES cells for at least between 2 to 10 passages;
c) optionally removing at least one growth factors selected SCF, FGF, Il-6, Il-6R, LIF, oncostatin and cardiotrophin and Il-11 from the culture medium;
d) further culturing the ES cells in the medium of step c) on a layer of feeder cells.
2. The method of culturing embryonic stem (ES) cells of avian according to claim 1, comprising the steps of:
a) suspending ES cells originating from the blastoderm disk of fertilized un-incubated avian egg(s) in a basal culture medium supplemented with insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), interleukin 6 (Il-6), interleukin 6 receptor (Il-6R), stem cell factor (SCF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and animal serum;
b) seeding the suspension of ES cells obtained in step a) on a layer of feeder cells and further culturing the ES cells for at least between 2 to 10 passages;
c) optionally removing at least one growth factor selected from the group comprising SCF, FGF, Il-6 and Il-6R from the culture medium;
d) further culturing the ES cells in the medium of step c) on a layer of feeder cells.
3. The method of culturing embryonic stem (ES) cells of avian according to claim 1, comprising the steps of:
a) suspending ES cells originating from the blastoderm disk of fertilized un-incubated avian egg(s) in a basal culture medium supplemented with insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), interleukin 6 (Il-6), interleukin 6 receptor (Il-6R), stem cell factor (SCF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and animal serum;
b) seeding the suspension of ES cells obtained in step a) on a layer of feeder cells and further culturing the ES cells for at least between 2 to 10 passages;
c) optionally removing at least one growth factor selected from the group comprising SCF and FGF from the culture medium;
d) further culturing the ES cells in the medium of step c) on a layer of feeder cells.
4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the avian is a chicken.
5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the avian is a duck.
6-33. (canceled)
34. A culture medium for avian embryonic stem cells comprising at least insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and optionally at least one compound selected in the group comprising interleukin 6 (Il-6), interleukin 6 receptor (Il-6R), stem cell factor (SCF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF) wherein said medium is sufficient for the maintenance of said avian embryonic stem cells into culture for at least 7 days, preferably for at least 100 days.
35. The culture medium of claim 34 further comprising a layer of feeder cells.
36-39. (canceled)

1. A method of forming a tobacco solutes-rich liquor in an apparatus, the method comprising:
i) extracting tobacco solutes from tobacco by flowing an extraction solvent through a first vessel containing tobacco to form a mixture of tobacco and tobacco solutes-containing extraction solvent, and
ii) removing the tobacco solutes from the extraction solvent by flowing the tobacco solutes-containing extraction solvent through a second vessel containing an entrapment solvent, wherein the tobacco solutes comprise nicotine and at least one tobacco flavor compound or at least one tobacco aroma compound, and the entrapment solvent is selected from the group consisting of propylene glycol, triacetin, glycerin and mixtures thereof.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the extraction solvent comprises a supercritical fluid and the supercritical fluid is maintained in a supercritical state during steps i) and ii).
3. The method of claim 1, wherein nicotine and the at least one tobacco flavor compound or the at least one tobacco aroma compound are simultaneously extracted from the tobacco.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least 50% by weight or at least 80% by weight of the tobacco solutes in the tobacco are extracted from the tobacco.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the supercritical fluid comprises carbon dioxide.
6. The method of claim 2, wherein the supercritical fluid further comprises a co-solvent selected from the group consisting of water; ethanol; methanol; acetone; propane; 2-propanol; chloroform; 1,1,1-trichloroethane; 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol; triethylamine; 1,2-dibromoethane and mixtures thereof.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the ratio of the total mass of extraction solvent flowed through the first vessel to the mass of tobacco contained in the first vessel is from about 75 to 500.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the moisture content of the tobacco during step i) is up to about 30% by weight.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising treating the tobacco with an acid or a base prior to step i).
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the entrapment solvent consists essentially of propylene glycol.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the ratio of the mass of entrapment solvent contained in the second vessel to the mass of tobacco contained in the first vessel is less than about 2 or less than about 1.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the second vessel further contains a packing material that can improve the exchange efficiency of tobacco solutes from the extraction solvent to the entrapment solvent.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the liquor comprises substantially all of the tobacco solutes extracted from the tobacco.
14. The method of claim 1, comprising alternately repeating steps i) and ii).
15. The method of claim 1, comprising repeating step i) andor repeating step ii).
16. The method of claim 1, comprising simultaneously performing steps i) and ii).
17. The method of claim 1, further comprising reducing the concentration of nicotine andor reducing the concentration of the at least one tobacco flavor compound or the at least one tobacco aroma compound in the solutes-rich liquor.
18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
adding fresh extraction solvent to the apparatus, and
simultaneously removing from the apparatus extraction solvent used to extract tobacco solutes from the tobacco, wherein the volume of the fresh extraction solvent added is substantially equal to the volume of the extraction solvent removed.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein during the steps of simultaneously adding and removing, the temperature and pressure within the first and second vessels remain substantially constant.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein the volume of the fresh extraction solvent is at least twice the total volume of the first and second vessels.
21. A flavor-modified cigarette component comprising the tobacco solutes-rich liquor made according to the method of claim 1, wherein the cigarette component is selected from the group consisting of tobacco cut filler, cigarette paper, cigarette filter, web and matt.
22. A cigarette comprising the tobacco solutes-rich liquor made according to the method of claim 1.
23. A tobacco flavored product comprising the tobacco solutes-rich liquor made according to the method of claim 1.
24. A method of making a cigarette comprising the tobacco solutes-rich liquor made according to the method of claim 1 comprising i) spray-coating or dip-coating the liquor on tobacco cut filler andor cigarette paper; ii) providing the tobacco cut filler to a cigarette making machine to form a tobacco column; iii) placing the cigarette paper around the tobacco column to form a tobacco rod of a cigarette; and iv) optionally attaching a cigarette filter to the tobacco rod using tipping paper.
25. A flavor-modified tobacco cut filler comprising the tobacco solutes-tobacco made according to the method of claim 1.
26. A cigarette comprising a tobacco solutes-rich tobacco and the tobacco solutes-poor tobacco made according to the method of claim 1.
27. A method of forming a tobacco solutes-rich liquor comprising tobacco solutes, the method comprising:
i) providing an extraction solvent having dissolved therein one or more tobacco solutes;
ii) removing the tobacco solutes from the extraction solvent by flowing the tobacco solutes-containing extraction solvent through a vessel containing a polar solvent; and
iii) removing a substantially tobacco solutes-free extraction solvent from the vessel, wherein the tobacco solutes comprise nicotine and at least one tobacco flavor compound or at least one tobacco aroma compound and the polar solvent is selected from the group consisting of propylene glycol, triacetin, glycerin and mixtures thereof.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein the extraction solvent comprises a supercritical fluid and the supercritical fluid comprises supercritical carbon dioxide.
29. The method of claim 27, further comprising reducing the concentration of nicotine andor reducing the concentration of the at least one tobacco flavor compound or the at least one tobacco aroma compound in the solutes-rich liquor.
30. The method of claim 27, wherein the vessel further contains a packing material that can improve the exchange efficiency of removing tobacco solutes from the extraction solvent to the polar solvent.
31. A tobacco solutes-rich liquor adapted to be incorporated in a component of a tobacco-flavored product, wherein the liquor comprises nicotine and at least one tobacco flavor compound or at least one tobacco aroma compound dissolved in a solvent selected from the group consisting of propylene glycol, triacetin, glycerin and mixtures thereof.
32. The tobacco solutes-rich liquor of claim 31, wherein the liquor is the form of a bulk liquid, encapsulated liquid, microbead, fiber or film.

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 to form a photovoltaic assembly, the method comprising:
doping a first surface of a semiconductor donor body by diffusion doping to a first conductivity type to form a doped first surface;
defining a cleave plane in the semiconductor donor body;
affixing the doped first surface to a receiver element;
cleaving a lamina from the semiconductor donor body at the cleave plane, wherein the lamina remains affixed to the receiver element, wherein a second surface of the lamina is created by the cleaving step;
depositing amorphous silicon directly on the second surface, wherein at least a part of the amorphous silicon is heavily doped; and
fabricating a photovoltaic cell with an emitter and a base, wherein the heavily doped amorphous silicon comprises the emitter of the photovoltaic cell, and the lamina comprises the base of the photovoltaic cell.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein in the completed photovoltaic cell, a conductive material is disposed between the lamina and the receiver element.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein, in the completed photovolta cell, a dielectric layer is disposed between the conductive material and the receiver element.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the heavily doped amorphous silicon is doped to a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the conductive material is cobalt.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein at least a part of the amorphous silicon is intrinsic amorphous silicon.