Abstract: The core of a honeycomb panel consists of a set of corrugated strips each of which alternate abut the immediately adjacent strips. Interlocking protrusions are formed in the abutting portions of the strips. The protrusions provide automatic registration of the strips without jigging or fixturing. Preferably the protrusions are somewhat undercut to provide a detent or snapping action upon assembly to provide mechanical integrity prior to bonding. The snapping action also holds the abutting surface together for uniform bonding. Lateral registration of the strips can be provided by, for example, forming a lance and window or mating dimples in the abutting surfaces. Bonding of the abutting surfaces can be done by soldering, brazing, or gluing. This honeycomb core structure is suitable for the continuous fabrication of panels of arbitrary length, width, and thickness.

Abstract: Each access attempt transmitted to an authentication agency causes the agency to produce a request identifier unique to that request. The request identifier is transmitted back to the authentication code generator of the user initiating the access attempt, and to an authentication code generator in the agency. The agency also retrieves a user identifier from a database and sends it to its authentication code generator. Both the user's authentication code generator and the agency's authentication code generator independently combine, through identical or complementary transformations, the user identifier and the request identifier to form a user authentication code and an agency authentication code. The two authentication codes are presented by a comparator, which issues a permit signal only if the comparison indicates a match between the two authentication codes. The permit signal is transmitted to a transaction control device to permit the transaction to proceed.

Abstract: A solid electrolyte fuel cell capable of operating with a mixture of an oxidizer and a fuel includes a permeable catalytic electrode and an impermeable catalytic electrode separated by an electron insulating, ion conducting, gas permeable solid electrolyte. The device produces charge flow in an external circuit when the permeable electrode is exposed to a mixture including an oxidizer and a fuel such as hydrogen, methane or methanol.The solid electrolyte can be a hydrated aluminum oxide, primarily of the pseudoboehmite structure and either electrode can be Pt or Pd. The solid electrolyte can be produced by exposing a bulk aluminum surface or a deposited layer of aluminum to water or water vapor or by exposing an anodically oxidized layer of aluminum oxide to water vapor. The device is produced in thin film form and can be produced by techniques compatible with thin film device fabrication.

Abstract: The endpoints of plasma discharge processing operations (e.g., plasma stripping of photoresists and plasma etching) are determined by monitoring the light produced in the space surrounding the object being processed. The optical monitor includes a wavelength selective device which is adjusted to transmit light from a selected excited species, which includes particles from the surface being processed. The surface includes a layer of one material overlaying a second material. If the selected excited species includes particles of the first material, then the endpoint of the removal operation occurs when the monitored intensity falls below a predetermined threshold level. When the selected excited species includes particles of the second material, then the endpoint occurs when the monitored intensity rises above a preselected threshold level.

Abstract: The disclosed device is an electromechanical parametric amplifier. It utilizes, as the required nonlinear mixing element, the square law force of an electric field on the surface of a conductor. In an exemplary device, a wire grid (10) is placed adjacent to a conducting diaphragm (11). The diaphragm (11) is mechanically resonant at the local oscillator (LO) frequency. When a signal from the local oscillator (15) is applied to the grid (10), the diaphragm (11) experiences both the electrostatic force from the grid (10) and electrostatic force from the electric field to be measured. The amplitude of the vibration of the diaphragm (11) at the LO frequency is a measure of the electric field of interest. In an exemplary embodiment the vibration was measured by an electret microphone (12) and a lock-in amplifier (14). The measurement of electric field is important, for example, in industrial environments in which the buildup of static electricity is a problem.

Abstract: The disclosed device fabrication method makes use of a multicomponent polymer material comprising a mixture of radiation curable material and thermally curable material. The multicomponent polymer is dispensed onto a substrate and irradiated with actinic radiation. A heat cure is then performed. This method provides an initial gelling of the multicomponent polymer material so that the desired shape of the dispensed material may be retained while the heat cure is performed. This method has been applied successfully to a class of opto-electronic devices known as opto-isolators or optically coupled isolators.

Abstract: The magnitude and sign of the Hall angle of the material of a wafer (13) are measured by a combined capacitive and inductive coupling technique which does not require physically contacting the wafer (13). Contacting methods in common use introduce surface damage or contamination which may reduce the yield of microelectronic circuits on semiconductor wafers and normally in addition require special sample geometries. In this technique an rf signal is applied to a pair of concentric planar electrodes (11,12) adjacent to the wafer (13), thus capacitively coupling a radial rf current into the wafer. A magnetic field applied perpendicular to the wafer produces a circular component of rf current because of the Hall effect. This circular rf current produces an axial rf magnetic field which couples to a pickup coil (15). The pickup signal is amplified and detected to produce an output signal related to the sign and magnitude of the Hall angle of the wafer material.

Abstract: The disclosed magnetic devices, including a magnetically coupled conducting path, incorporate amorphous, low magnetostriction alloys of the general formula (Co.sub.a Fe.sub.b T.sub.c).sub.i X.sub.j, the "metallic" constituents thereof being within the parenthetical expression. T, in the formulation, is selected from among Ni, Cr, Mn, V, Ti, Mo, W, Nb, Zr, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag and Au, X being at least one "glass former" selected from among P, Si, B, C, As, Ge, Al, Ga, In, Sb, Bi and Sn. The "metallic" constituents comprise from 70-90 atomic percent of the alloy with cobalt being present in an amount of at least 70 atomic percent of the "metallic" constituents. The described material has been prepared by rapid cooling from the liquid, directly to the shape needed for fabrication of the device (e.g., tape to be wound to form an inductor core).

Abstract: A semiconductor device with a low resistance ohmic contact, strongly adherent to the n-type surface of a body (11) of Group III-V compound semiconductor is obtained by a process including the sequential deposition of gold (13), tin (14) and gold (15) at a surface temperature of less than 200 degrees C followed by a heat treatment in a nonoxidizing atmosphere. This process has shown particular advantage when applied to aluminum containing compound semiconductors (e.g., gallium aluminum arsenide). For such use an initial deposition of aluminum (16) has proven particularly successful in producing consistently low resistance ohmic contacts. The invention has been used in the production of light emitting diodes.

Abstract: Electrical equipment, such as telephone station apparatus, exposed to occasional, destructively high, voltage surges (e.g., lightning strikes), is protected by a device placed in parallel with the equipment, including two metal electrodes and an insulating housing. The electrodes define a fixed narrow spark gap which breaks down (arcs over) to short the voltage surge to ground. The width of the spark gap is critical, since it determines the protective breakdown voltage. In the disclosed devices the gap is closely defined although tolerances on the piece parts from which the device is made may be loose. At least one electrode consists of a flanged support member soldered to an electrode cap. The piece parts are assembled with the electrode faces in contact and raised to the soldering temperature. The gap forms as the temperature is reduced from the liquidus temperature of the soldering alloy to ambient temperature because of differential contraction between the insulator material and the metal parts.

Abstract: Crystals are grown from solution by the introduction of a first fluid into a second fluid by permeation through a porous partition. Introduction of the first fluid produces supersaturation of the desired material in the combined fluid in the vicinity of the partition. Supersaturation results in the production of crystals. The crystals grow from the partition into the solution. The supersaturation is produced by one of several mechanisms including: chemical reaction producing a less soluble element or compound; decomplexation produced by dilution or pH change; and introduction of solution into a solvent in which the material is less soluble.

Abstract: The temperature variation of the bubble collapse field of a class of garnet magnetic bubble layer materials is selected by selection of the ratio PbO to B.sub.2 O.sub.3 in the flux from which the layer is grown. This permits the growth of layers, whose temperature dependence of critical magnetic properties more closely match the temperature dependence of bias magnet materials, resulting in extended operating temperature range and/or wider operating margins (with attendant improvement in manufacturing yield). Layer growth at higher ratios of PbO to B.sub.2 O.sub.3 produces films of higher rate of change of bubble collapse field with temperature.

Abstract: A container for a liquid includes a gas venting closure device. The closure device includes a body of a porous material that is not wetted by the contained liquid. The nonwetting relationship between the liquid and the solid prevents droplets of the liquid from being forced through the solid. One use for such devices is for lead-acid storage batteries, which must vent internally generated gases, while preventing leakage of battery acid. An exemplary battery plug also includes a sealing gasket of an elastomer formulated for long term stability against attack by battery acid.

Abstract: Much electrical equipment, such as telephone station apparatus, exposed to occasional, destructively high, voltage surges (e.g., lightning strikes) is protected by a device, placed in parallel with the equipment. This device includes two electrodes defining a fixed narrow spark gap. Such a device is designed to arc over with each surge, shorting the destructive energy to ground, and to recover afterward, restoring the line to its original condition. The predominant failure mode of such devices is the occurrence of a permanant short across the narrow gap, due to electrode damage produced during the protective arcing mode. In the disclosed devices, the electrodes bound an annular narrow gap region, determining the protective breakdown voltage, and a central wider gap region, sustaining the major part of the electrode damage.

Abstract: Optical signal processing devices, primarily intended for use in integrated optical communication systems, include 3 dB coupled strip guide directional couplers. Each coupler is formed in a body of electrooptic material and includes electrodes bracketing at least one of the guides in the coupled region. Each coupler is fabricated so as to be overcoupled (i.e., greater than 3 dB coupling) when the coupling is synchronous. Voltage bias, supplied to the electrodes of each coupler, produces sufficient asynchronism to independently adjust each coupler to the desired 3 dB coupling condition. Permutation switches are produced by including a switchable phase shifter between two couplers. Channel drop filters are produced by including reflection gratings between two couplers. Differential phase detectors, for a pulse code modulation system, are produced by including a selected path length difference between the two strip guides connecting two couplers.

Abstract: The disclosed device is an analog computer for analyzing data from measurements of physical phenomena or manufacturing processes involving random quantities. The computer includes noise generators whose amplitudes and spectra can be controlled to represent the random variables of the physical system or process under investigation. The random signals, and any periodic signals which may be involved, are fed into the circuit analog of the physical system. The output of the circuit analog is fed into a probability density circuit. The output represents the response of the physical system to the input variables. When the input amplitudes are adjusted to match the output to the measured data, the input levels indicate the relative importance of the input variables to the behavior of the physical system. The computer has been used to analyze the spin resonance line shapes of impurities in glasses.

Abstract: The disclosed optically coupled device includes one or more light emitting input semiconductor devices coupled by a transparent and electrically insulating medium to one or more output semiconductor devices which produce an electrical signal in response to the light received from the input device. Some such devices are known as opto-isolators or optically coupled isolators. In the disclosed devices the transparent medium is surrounded by a diffusely reflecting enclosure, which tends to make the device characteristics less sensitive to variations in fabrication. Efficient planar opto-isolator structures are disclosed.

Abstract: A consistently low resistance ohmic contact is made to an aluminum-containing compound semiconductor by a multilayer deposition and heat treatment process. The process includes the deposition of a transition layer on the semiconductor surface to be contacted and an overlying gold layer to provide external contact. The transition layer consists of aluminum and a shallow dopant element which may be deposited as successive layers or together. After the transition layer and the gold overlay are deposited, the composite is raised to a temperature at which the transition layer is liquid. In cases in which the gold-dopant binary system has a polyphase region, it is preferable to select the thickness of the gold layer such that the gold-dopant alloy is in the solid solution region of the phase diagram of that binary system, to prevent enhanced diffusion to the upper gold surface along grain boundaries. In an exemplary realization, an Al-Sn layer was used to contact n-type GaAlAs.

Abstract: The anode of an electroplating apparatus is incorporated in a sparging plenum. The plenum has an insulating partition separating the anodically biased electrode from the workpieces being plated. The partition has a regular array of orifices. Electrolyte is pumped into the plenum and flows out of the partition, providing a spacially uniform supply of fresh solution to the workpieces. In a soluble anode process, the solution is replenished in the plenum. In an exemplary apparatus, one major surface of the plenum is a titanium tray, which holds pieces of nickel, which dissolve during the nickel plating process.

Abstract: A permanent magnet structure provides high fields (e.g., .about. 4500 Gauss) with excellent uniformity (e.g., .+-. 3 Gauss) over a moderately large volume of the gap (e.g., approximately 20 percent of the gap diameter and gap width). This is accomplished by grinding away a portion of the permanent magnet material at the center of each face of the gap to form a depression, deepest at the center of the face. The magnet may include means for varying the gap width and a modulating coil for low frequency minor variation of the magnetic field. The magnet structure is used in conjunction with a 12 GHz self-excited spin resonance cavity to form a compact, portable electron spin resonance spectrometer.