Oki 2010 Annual Report Download - page 23

Annual Report 2010 19
Nanoscale planing Formation of DLC thin film Intermolecular forces bonding
Substrate
Base substrate
Single-crystal
thin film LED
Peel off
MANUFACTURING PROCESS
OKI and the YRP Ubiquitous
Networking Laboratory con-
ducted an experiment in
Tokyo’s Ginza district as part
of the Tokyo Ubiquitous
Technology Project sponsored
by the Tokyo Metropolitan
Government and the Ministry of
Land, Infrastructure, Transport
and Tourism. The experiment,
which called for private sectors’
participation, was held to test
an autonomous mobility sup-
port for the visually impaired.
For the experiment, OKI’s “eSound Positioning” was
incorporated in an Ubiquitous Communicator*1developed
by the laboratory to test the effectiveness of ubiquitous
navigation using only sound. In real environments, there is
subtle difference in the characteristic of sound that
reaches the right and left ears depending on the direction
of the source. We are able to detect the direction of the
source by this difference. “eSound Positioning” virtually
reproduces this directionality of sound (sound localization)
based on minute differences in characteristics using signal
processing so that voices of multiple speakers are heard
from different directions. In the experiment, a participant
carrying an Ubiquitous Communicator received ucodes*2
sent from active tags on wireless markers and infrared
markers placed around Ginza. The ucodes gave the
Ubiquitous Communicator information on the current loca-
tion of the user. Direction sensors attached to the
Ubiquitous Communicator then calculated the direction
from the user’s current location to their destination using
the direction in which the user was facing and the latitude
and longitude of the destination. Next, using this data, the
user received navigation audio message via bone-conduction
headphones connected to the Ubiquitous Communicator,
which was heard from the direction of destination.
People who took part in the experiment said the naviga-
tion audio provided by “eSound Positioning” gave them a
sense of direction, which enabled them to instinctively rec-
ognize the direction in which they were walking.
*1 Ubiquitous Communicator: Terminal that allows people to communi-
cate with an ubiquitous computing environment
*2 ucode: A unique ID given to identify each “object” and “place”
OKI Digital Imaging, YOUTEC CO., Ltd., and CRYSTAL
OPTICS INC. have developed a next-generation LED print-
head that bonds a high-heat-dissipation substrate
and an LED by using intermolecular forces. This develop-
ment was part of a NEDO*1project entitled “R&D on
Commercialization of Nanotech and Leading-Edge
Materials,” carried out from 2007 through 2009.
Conventional LED printheads have the drawback of ther-
mal conduction because the LED array is mounted on the
substrate using an adhesive paste. In the case of the new
printhead, an insulative, highly heat-conductive DLC*2is
used to form a nanoscale smooth surface on a highly heat-
conductive substrate with a surface that has been planed
to a tolerance of 1 nanometer. The LED array is bonded
directly to the substrate using the intermolecular forces
that act on the surface of the DLC. The process is
expected to significantly improve heat dissipation com-
pared with conventional structures.
The rise in temperature is reduced to less than one-fifth
and luminescent output is more than twice that of con-
ventional LED arrays. The result is an A4 1200dpi
printhead with twice the integration density of conven-
tional structures.
In the joint-development process, OKI Digital Imaging
was in charge of the intermolecular force bonding technol-
ogy that bonds the DLC thin-film and the single-crystal thin
film, as well as the LED printhead technology.
*1 NEDO: New Energy and Industrial Technology Development
Organization
*2 DLC: Diamond Like Carbon
Autonomous Mobility Support Experiment Held Using “eSoundTM Positioning”
LED Printhead Developed Using Intermolecular Forces Bonding of DLC Layer and
Semiconductor Single-crystal Thin Film
Ubiquitous Communicator