Abstract: A boat, carrying wafers to be processed, is pushed into a furnace by a substantially elongated and cantilevered actuator arm having a lug that pushes by first rotating the arm, to cause the lug to traverse a vertical rod attached to against a plate affixed to the boat. The boat is later pulled out of the furnace the boat, and thereafter pulling on the arm to enable the lug to pull against the vertical rod to withdraw the boat. Reliable operation is attained regardless of sagging of the actuator arm relative to the boat.

Abstract: The present invention provides a device for preventing the venting of fuel vapor to the atmosphere and liquid fuel spillage on military aircraft having vent/dump outlets thereon. On the F-15 fighter aircraft, for example, a dump mast is located on the trailing edge of a wing. The dump mast, externally, consists of a oblong walled outlet which is slanted consistent with the trailing edge. An adaptor is placed over the walled outlet and may be held in place by straps or clips. The adaptor has a reducer further attached thereon for the purpose of connecting to a standard hose. The hose therefrom may be returned to the fuel truck for collection of vapor or dumped fuel.

Abstract: Method is provided for preparing a stabilized rechargeable cell having a negative electrode and a molten salt electrolyte (MSE) while avoiding problems of chloroaluminate cell system which are not air stable. The cell of the present invention thus employs an LiBF.sub.4 /EMI.sub.BF4 MSE and a negative electrode of an inert substrate. On charging such cell, Li metal plates out on the electrode, which metal would immediately be attacked by such MSE. However a small amount of water is added to the MSE which, forms a lithium salt on the surface of such metal and protects it from attack by the MSE. However such protective film is permeable to Li.sup.+ ions. This means that on continuing to charge such cell, the Li.sup.+ ions flow from the MSE through the protective film and build up as more Li metal on the negative electrode, under the protective film. On discharge of such cell, the Li metal becomes Li.sup.+ ions which can pass through the protective lithium salt film.

Abstract: New single crystals of ZnGeP.sub.2 are grown by a chemical vapor transport process from bulk synthesized polycrystalline ZnGeP.sub.2 using the LEK process with a controlled injection of phosphorus. The synthesis of the bulk is based on direct injection of phosphorus through a B.sub.2 O.sub.3 encapsulant and reaction with the zinc germanium melt, resulting in synthesis of a large melt (350 g) of ZnGeP.sub.2. When crystallization is followed by cooling the congruent melt down through the .alpha.-.beta. transition temperature (952.degree. C.) as is typical for bulk growth processes, the result is the growth of partially disordered material. This material is placed in a two zone heated furnace where iodine is used to transport the intermediate product to the growth zone where the single crystals grow, at a temperature below the .alpha.-.beta. phase transition. The resulting crystals produced contained a second cubic phase, which has not been reported previously.

Abstract: The edge-defined, film-fed growth technique process is modified to produce a thin ribbon of bi-crystalline sapphire wherein the grain boundary is an essentially straight boundary and the angle is predetermined by selective cutting of the two seeds which are placed closely together during growth. The angle selection is optimized based on the superconducting material to be deposited and the application intended. After the ribbon is pulled, the ribbon is processed by cutting an appropriate section therefrom with the grain boundary. The substrate is polished and the high Tc superconducting material is deposited thereon to produce devices which rely on weak link Josephson junctions.

Abstract: A novelty filter utilizes self-nulling and self-aligning of reflection and transmission phase conjugate beams. A photorefractive crystal is arranged so that the contributions to the phase conjugate are equal and opposite in the steady state to produce destructive interference when the input image is stationary, and thus no output image is displayed. If the image moves, then the gratings will rewrite and erase themselves, each with their own response times, total destructive interference will not occur, and transient enhancement and surpression of the phase conjugate output signal will indicate the direction of motion of the input image.

Abstract: An SLM rotates linearly polarized incident light, produced by a first polarizer, through a continuous range of angles up to a maximum angle, eg. seventy degrees. The second output polarizer is oriented orthogonally with respect to the angular thirty-five degrees bisector between the first polarization state at zero degrees rotation and the maximum possible angular rotation at seventy degrees and accordingly, a single SLM can be operated in an amplitude coupled binary phase mode.

Abstract: A high power, closed cycle photolytic atomic iodine laser system having a high molecular weight gas as a laser fuel and which requires a high velocity flow of the laser fuel, the laser fuel to be in a selected low pressure range, and the laser fuel to be of very high purity. The laser system has a turbo-molecular blower for circulating the laser fuel. The turbo-molecular blower provides the high velocity flow, the selected low pressure through the laser gain cell, and a high compression ratio. The velocity is in a range of about 1 m/s to 100 m/s, the compression ratio being in a range from about 10:1 to 1000:1, the selected low pressure in a range of about 5 to 60 Torr, and the turbo-molecular blower not contaminating the laser fuel of the closed cycle fuel system by the use of ferrofluidic rotary seals. The turbo-molecular blower has a blower assembly that provides a continuous, high velocity and pressurized gas flow.

Abstract: A gas sensor including an electrochemical sensor cell which has a anion-eange solid polymer electrolyte membrane with three attached electrodes is provided. The sensor cell contains no liquid electrolyte and is operated in the potentiostatic as well as the potentiodynamic modes to detect alkaline reactive gases, including vapors, such as hydrazines and derivatives thereof and ammonia. These sensor cells together with electronic circuitry, a pump and a power supply, fit into a compact, pocket-sized container to define the gas sensor of the invention which can detect traces of the above gases including 10 ppb of hydrazine and its derivatives and 10 ppm of ammonia. The invention includes the above gas sensor and the methods of operating same.

Abstract: Method and apparatus are provided for NLO switching by first providing an amorphous waveguide (wg) encoded with gratings which produce phase-matched SHG in at least two wg modes. Then two input pulsed laser beams (preferably beams split from the same source) are directed into and propagate in the wg, one beam in each of the two modes so as to generate two phase-matched SHG beams in one mode by the use of gratings of the invention. The fundamental beams produce SHG beams which are about 180.degree. out of phase with each other. The two input beams are adjusted such that some of the pulses in their respective pulse trains overlap spatially and temporally, interfere and are cancelled to output a data signal in a resultant pulse train. A detector then reads and processes the output signals. Such NLO switch will allow integrated circuitry to operate at faster rates and to allow, e.g.

Abstract: A prism coupling mount is provided for readily substituting various prisms and planar slab waveguides therein without damage to these components. For maximum coupling efficiency, the spacing between the coupling prism base and the waveguide can be adjusted, along with the mode selection angle and the prism surface incident tilt angle. A rotatable support stage supports the prism coupling mount and the center of rotation thereof is adjustable to ensure that it lies directly beneath the prism input surface.

Abstract: A joint transform correlator has modulators for temporally modulating a first optical input signal at a first frequency and a second optical input signal at a second frequency. An image sensor in the Fourier plane forms a product signal modulated by temporal sum and difference frequencies of the first and second frequencies. The product signal is thereafter demodulated at the temporal sum or difference frequency and the resulting optical signal is inverse Fourier transformed to recover the desired cross correlation signals.

Abstract: A reactant monitoring system for monitoring certain properties of, e.g. a BHP reactant solution is provided. Such system incudes a diagnostic conduit loop having one or more sensors in the conduit to measure, e.g. pH and/or ORP of such solution. The solution is pumped through the conduit loop by a pump and the sensors are preferably mounted in the loop, upstream of such pump. The sensors are made of inert materials relative to the monitored solution in the loop, which solution is returned to its source after testing.

Abstract: A method for preparing a metal matrix composite (MMC) monotape from a monofilament, is provided. The monofilament is first coated with a primary coating having metal particles uniformly distributed therein to form a primary monofilament. The primary monofilament is then clad with a secondary coating of a resin binder that does not resolvate the primary coating and thus interrupt the distribution of the metal particles therein, to form a doubly coated monofilament. The doubly coated monofilament is then wound in adjacent coils on a mandrel while the secondary coating is still wet so that the coils are bound together by the secondary coating. The end of the monofilament is then cut on the mandrel and secured to a coil adjacent thereto and the so-wound monofilament is then dried on the mandrel. Then the so-wound secondary monofilament is cut across its coils on the mandrel and removed to obtain the resulting MMC monotape.

Abstract: Optical frequency doubling apparatus is disclosed having a system output portion and a source of coherent radiation together with a plurality of discreet nonlinear light transmissive devices positioned in series between the source of coherent radiation and the system output portion, and further including a phase shifter positioned in series with the nonlinear light transmissive devices for altering the phase of light wavefronts passing therethrough. A harmonic beamsplitter is used to separate the frequency doubled output from the coherent light inputted into the system by the source of coherent radiation.

Abstract: The present invention is a process and apparatus for the synthesis and growth of single crystals of phosphorus compounds starting with the elemental materials in a single furnace without external exposure. The apparatus of the present invention is a crystal growth furnace heated by RF coils. Inside the furnace is a susceptor for holding a crucible. Above the crucible is selectively positioned a phosphorus improved injector. The non-phosphorus materials are placed in the crucible and melted to a desired temperature. The phosphorus material previously placed within the injector is heated by the radiant heat from the crucible to drive the phosphorus vapor into the melt through a tube. This is closely controlled by noting the temperature within the injector and adjusting the height of the injector above the melt to control the temperature within the phosphorus material. After the formation of the stoichiometric melt, the seed is inserted into the melt for crystal growth if so desired.

Abstract: An all-optical nonlinear joint transform correlator has been implemented for the first time without using a spatial light modulator and digital processing in the Fourier plane. The correlator utilizes energy transfer from two-beam coupling in the Fourier plane. A compressional nonlinearity in the hard-clipped regime is implemented by pumping a weak plane wave with the intense joint spectrum of the reference and signal images. Operation of this device rivals or exceeds that of the phase-only filter for detecting objects in cluttered noise. Experimental results are compared with both plane wave and beam propagation simulations.

Abstract: The invention consists of four components: a diverter assembly, a blocking plate assembly, a blast deflector and an exhaust duct. The diverter attaches to the gun barrel clamp and rotates and recoils with the gun; as gases leave the gun barrels and enter the diverter they are redirected by it from axial flow to radial and tangential flow, thereby imparting a forward force and a torque to the barrel cluster. The blocking plate assembly does not rotate within the diverter and acts to limit the egress gas and the gas that flows into the non-firing gun barrels. The blast deflector has a collector that surrounds the diverter and collects the diverted gases. The duct receives the collected gases and conducts them to the desired exhaust ports.

Abstract: A method of verifying the authenticity of an object is disclosed preferrably employing a joint transform coherent optical processor. An unreadable and hence non-counterfeitable phase mask is coupled to the object and the optical processor compares the phase mask with a reference phase mask having the same phase code thereon. The processor produces a correlation spot having an intensity which exceeds a given level if the phase mask is genuine. A highly secure ID or credit card also carries a fingerprint bonded to the phase mask, and the fingerprint on the card is compared to a reference fingerprint of the card holder for added security.

Abstract: A semiconductor laser diode is optically coupled to an electro-optic phase modulator and an electrical control signal is applied to the phase modulator to modify its optical gain or loss and its real refractive index, to in turn alter the optical length of the modulator and shift its resonant wavelengths. The result is to tune the laser diode. A facet of the laser diode is anti-reflection coated to minimize interface loss between the laser diode and the phase modulator.