14th HORIBA Group IP World Cup
The HORIBA Group IP World Cup was established to celebrate and encourage the creation of technology and intellectual property (IP) that drives business growth. HORIBA Group's unique technologies and IP are fundamental to the HORIBA brand. The 14th HORIBA Group IP World Cup received 20 entries from HORIBA Group development sites worldwide. This initiative fosters a spirit of One Company, recognizing IP that leads business and encouraging the creation of new technologies and IP for future growth.
Figure 1: HORIBA Group IP World Cup graphic, featuring the IP World Cup logo and text 'Best of Our Premium IP will be selected. Enhance Our Competitive Force.'
Figure 2: Award winners. From left: Tatsuya Nakahara, Atsushi Horiba, Kazunori Habu, Takuya Okida.
Gold Award Winner: Chemical Solution Monitoring System based on Sensor Integration Technology
The Gold Award was presented to HORIBA Advanced Techno's "Chemical Solution Monitoring System based on Sensor Integration Technology." This IP enables the rapid and high-precision measurement of trace component concentrations in multi-component chemical solutions, even at ppm levels, without pre-treatment. It utilizes multivariate analysis based on absorbance, conductivity, and pH.
The system addresses the increasing complexity and stringent quality control requirements for chemical solutions used in semiconductor manufacturing, driven by advancements in miniaturization.
Traditional measurement methods, such as Liquid Chromatography (Figure 3) and Absorbance methods (Figure 4), had limitations. Liquid Chromatography required pre-treatment and reagents, making it time-consuming (Figure 3). Absorbance methods offered fast, inline response but struggled with accurate concentration measurement when absorption spectra overlapped (Figure 4).
Figure 3: Diagram illustrating Liquid Chromatography. It shows a setup with a Lamp, Column, Detector, and Reagent. A graph shows Absorbance over Time, with peaks at 10min and 30min, indicating separation of components.
Figure 4: Diagram illustrating the Absorbance method. It shows a setup with a Lamp, Cell, and Detector, connected to a Grating and Wavelength axis. A graph shows Absorbance versus Wavelength, with a peak indicating absorption at a specific wavelength.
The winning IP (Patent Application: Special Application 2023-561498) uses the formula shown in Figure 5 to calculate concentration: Concentration = (a,b,c) • ∑ Absorbance. By combining measurements from different principles like absorbance, conductivity, and pH, the system can accurately measure trace components even when spectra overlap, overcoming limitations of absorbance-only methods.
Figure 5: Formula for concentration calculation: Concentration = (a,b,c) • ∑ Absorbance, where a, b, c represent different measurement principles like Conductivity and pH.
Figure 6: System configuration for the Chemical Solution Monitoring System. It shows a main unit with displays for Absorbance, Conductivity, and pH, connected to a Spectrometer, Conductivity Meter, and pH Monitor.
The award recipients for this IP are Tatsuya Nakahara, Takuya Okida, and Kazunori Habu from HORIBA Advanced Techno (Japan).
Other Awarded IP
Silver Award / Silver Award Cooperation Award: Testing System for xEV Thermal Management System
This IP (Patent Application: Special Application 2023-535256) is a testing system for xEV (Electric Vehicle) thermal management systems. It evaluates the thermal management system of an electric vehicle before its completion. As electric vehicles generate less heat than combustion engine vehicles, efficient heat management is crucial. The system calculates the heat generated by vehicle components using simulation models and replicates this heat in a chamber using a heat emulator. This allows for the evaluation of the thermal management system's performance prior to vehicle assembly, significantly shortening the development process for electric vehicles.
Silver Award recipients: Seiji Hirai (HORIBA, Ltd./Japan). Silver Award Cooperation Award recipients: Dr. David BRIDGE, Dr. Osoko SHONDA (HORIBA MIRA/UK).
Bronze Award: High speed scanning system for confocal microscopy (Qscan 2)
This IP (Patent EP3899460) relates to a high-speed scanning system for confocal microscopy. Key to this innovation is the optical configuration involving a 2D fast steering mirror and a toroidal mirror with a concave mirror. The 2D fast steering mirror directs the laser beam's focus, manipulated by the toroidal mirror and concave mirror. This system utilizes the 2D fast steering mirror as the sole movable mirror, driven at high speed using voice coil technology. This optical design enables high-speed scanning, enhancing the capabilities of HORIBA Raman microscopes for various applications.
Award recipient: Mr. Emmanuel FROIGNEUX (HORIBA FRANCE/France).
Figure 7: Award ceremony photo showing recipients of the Silver and Bronze Awards.
*Editor's Note: Unless otherwise stated, the information provided is based on internal research conducted at the time of the award.
