Abstract: Disclosed herein are compositions which are exothermic upon contact with oxygen and are self-steaming. The various described embodiments include compositions comprising: (a) a fuel component; (b) a water manager component; and (c) water. In one embodiment, the water manager component, has a mean particle size distribution of greater than about 250 microns. Alternatively or additionally, the ratio of the water manager component to the water is from about 0.001:1 to about 0.2:1, by weight. Alternatively or additionally, the fuel component comprises sponge iron. Alternatively or additionally, the composition comprises a volatile component. In yet another embodiment, articles comprising the compositions are described. Further, methods of making the compositions are described.

Abstract: A high power light source having an array, bundle or separate plurality of laser diodes coupled to a same number of multimode waveguides to collect beams of light emitted from the of laser diodes is provided. An optical combiner receives the beams of light and combines the beams of light into a single forward propagating beam of light so that substantially all optical radiation within each beam of light overlaps the optical radiation each other beam to form the single beam. A reflective element is located to receive the single forward propagating beam of light and transmits greater than 60% of the single forward propagating beam of light therethrough. The reflective element reflects between 3-40% of the single forward propagating beam back to the laser diodes as feedback to stabilize said laser diodes.

Abstract: A plasma processing system is provided. The plasma processing system includes a processing chamber having a gas inlet for introducing cleaning gases. The cleaning gas is optimized to remove byproducts deposited on inner surfaces of the processing chamber. The processing chamber includes a top electrode for creating a plasma from the cleaning gas to perform the cleaning process. A variable conductance meter for controlling a pressure inside the processing chamber independently of a flow rate of process gases is included. The variable conductance meter is positioned on an outlet of the chamber. An optical emission spectrometer (OES) for detecting an endpoint of the cleaning process performed in the processing chamber is included. The OES is located to detect an emission intensity in the processing chamber from the plasma. The OES is configured to trace the emission intensity. A pumping system for evacuating the processing chamber between processing operations is included.

Abstract: A method for determining an endpoint of an in-situ cleaning process of a semiconductor processing chamber is provided. The method initiates with providing an optical emission spectrometer (OES) configured to monitor selected wavelength signals. Then, baseline OES threshold signal intensities are determined for each of the selected wavelength signals. Next, an endpoint time of each step of the in-situ cleaning process is determined. Determining an endpoint time includes executing a process recipe to process a semiconductor substrate within the processing chamber. Executing the in-situ cleaning process and recording the endpoint time for each step of the in-situ cleaning process are also included in determining the endpoint time. Then, nominal operating times are established for each step of the in-situ cleaning process. A plasma processing system for executing a two step in-situ cleaning process is also provided.

Abstract: A method involving plasma cleaning of deposit residues in process chamber using duo-step wafer-less auto clean method is detailed. Specifically, the method involves cleaning the processing chamber by flowing a first gaseous composition with at least about 75% of fluorine-containing compound of the formula XyFz, into a processing chamber and then forming a first etchant plasma which removes silicon and silicon based byproducts from the interior surfaces of the processing chamber. The method then involves flowing a second gaseous composition into the processing chamber with a composition of at least about 50% O2 and forming a plasma from the second gaseous composition to provide a second etchant plasma which removes carbon and carbon based byproducts from the interior surfaces of the processing chamber. A system configured to execute the two step cleaning process is also provided.

Abstract: A semiconductor laser with single longitudinal mode includes active region(s) and phase shift region(s). An optical cavity such as a passive waveguide extends through the active region(s) and the phase shift region(s). A diffraction grating in the active region(s) has a refractive index. An active layer in the active regions is located between the diffraction grating and the passive waveguide. The phase shift region(s) have a refractive index difference &Dgr;n with respect to the index of the active region(s). The phase shift region(s) are located adjacent to and/or between the active region(s). An optical mode is shifted in the phase shift region. An eletro-optical circuit tunes a lasing wavelength of the laser by varying &Dgr;n. The electro-optical circuit reverse or forward biases a tuning junction to change the refractive index difference &Dgr;n using field effects or carrier effects.