Abstract: An apparatus comprising a rack having a row of shelves, each shelf supporting an electronics circuit board, each one of the circuit boards being manually removable from the shelve supporting the one of the circuit boards and having a local heat source thereon. The apparatus also comprises a cooler attached to the rack and being able to circulate a cooling fluid around a channel forming a closed loop. The apparatus further comprises a plurality of heat conduits, each heat conduit being located over a corresponding one of the circuit boards and forming a path to transport heat from the local heat source of the corresponding one of the circuit boards to the cooler. Each heat conduit is configured to be manually detachable from the cooler or the circuit board, without breaking a circulation pathway of the fluid through the cooler.

Abstract: An apparatus comprising a rack having a row of shelves, each shelf supporting an electronics circuit board, each one of the circuit boards being manually removable from the shelve supporting the one of the circuit boards and having a local heat source thereon. The apparatus also comprises a cooler attached to the rack and being able to circulate a cooling fluid around a channel forming a closed loop. The apparatus further comprises a plurality of heat conduits, each heat conduit being located over a corresponding one of the circuit boards and forming a path to transport heat from the local heat source of the corresponding one of the circuit boards to the cooler. Each heat conduit is configured to be manually detachable from the cooler or the circuit board, without breaking a circulation pathway of the fluid through the cooler.

Abstract: An apparatus comprising a rack having one or more shelves, a plurality of electronics circuit boards and heat conduits and a cooler. Each board is held by one of the one or more shelves, some of the boards having a localized heat source thereon. Each heat conduit forms a heat conducting path over and adjacent to a particular one of the boards from a region adjacent to the heat source thereon to a connection zone, the zone being remote from the heat source. The cooler is located on a side of the rack and coupled to the zones such that heat is transferable from the paths to the cooler. The cooler is configured to flow a cooling fluid therein to cool localized thermal interfaces at the cooler, each interface being adjacent to and at a corresponding one of the zones.

Abstract: An electronics module designed to efficiently remove heat from enclosed circuit boards via one or more configurable heat conduits. Each heat conduit is custom-configured to provide good thermal contact between the corresponding heat-generating electronic device of an enclosed circuit board and the clamshell housing that encloses the circuit board. Good thermal contact between the clamshell housing and the outer case of the electronic module facilitates efficient heat transfer to the finned exterior surface of the outer case, where the heat is dissipated into the ambient environment via thermal conduction, natural convection, forced convection, and/or thermal radiation. Depending on the topology of the circuit board and the individual characteristics of the electronic device to be cooled, the corresponding configurable heat conduit might be based on a nested heat-sink coupler, a fitted movable plug, or a flexible ribbon-shaped heat pipe.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for measuring the temperature profile of a surface exhibiting spatial and/or temporal variations in temperature, e.g., the surface of a machine or of a biological system, is disclosed. The inventive method involves forming a layer of fluorescent material, less than about 10 .mu.m in thickness, in thermal contact with the surface. The fluorescent material is subjected to fluorescence-inducing energy, and the resulting fluorescence, which varies as the temperature of the surface varies, is detected.

Abstract: A method for lithographically fabricating devices is disclosed. In accordance with the method, a sacrificial coating material (SCM), e.g., a resist, mixed with a fluorescent material is deposited onto a substrate and then etched. SCM etching is monitored by subjecting the fluorescent material within the SCM to fluorescence-inducing energy, and detecting the resulting fluorescence. Because the fluorescent material is etched away as the SCM is etched, fluorescence intensity decreases as SCM thickness is reduced. Thus, SCM etch end point is accurately determined because etch end point corresponds to the point in time when the detected fluorescence ceases.

Abstract: Solid state electronic devices are optically monitored during fabrication to detect hot spots which are indicative of faulty operation. The surface temperatures of such a device are measured by applying a fluorescent material to the device, and subsequently monitoring the temperature dependent fluorescence of the material, which is reflective of the temperature of the underlying device. Devices are accepted, rejected, or further processed in response to the monitored fluorescence.