Abstract: A heat pipe has its evaporator at its upper end and its condenser at its lower end and an adiabatic section separating the two so that capillary wicks or grooves do not extend through the heat pipe. A central liquid return tube extends between the evaporator and condenser. A vapor bubble generator is placed at the condenser section in the reservoir where the liquid state of the working fluid collects. When the vapor bubble generator is operated, bubbles form which, because of their buoyancy, will rise to the top of the central tube. As they rise, small amounts of working fluid in its liquid state will be carried with the bubbles and spill over the top of the tube and onto the evaporator wick. As a consequence, the heat pipe is insensitive to its vertical height and can operate against gravitational forces.

Abstract: A micro-electronic package which is capable of operating with power densities extending at least to 10 kilowatts per square centimeter comprises a sealed enclosure coupled to an external heat sink and electronic devices and circuitry within the enclosure. Electrical leads extend from the electronic devices and circuitry to the outside of the enclosure to couple the devices and circuitry into a larger electrical function. A dielectric powder is adhered as a complete and conformal coating substantially to all interior surfaces of the enclosure and to all exposed surfaces of the electronic devices and circuitry, and functions as a heat pipe wick. A dielectric working fluid within the enclosure, therefore, can intimately contact all the interior and exposed surfaces to minimize the occurrence of local hot spots on the electronic devices and circuitry and to maximize heat transfer therefrom to the external heat sink.

Abstract: Tantalum and like metals, when added to a water/ferrous metal heat pipe in the form of a foil, gauze or wire, acts as a hydrogen getter in order to counteract the otherwise incompatability of the heat pipe enclosure material with the water working fluid.

Abstract: The heat exchanger utilizes variable conductance heat pipes to control the temperature of a cooled liquid or condensate, such as in dry cooling towers, chemical processes, air conditioning, and pollution control. Heat pipes, connected to common or separate gas reservoirs, extend between two separate ducts, one of which is for flow of air and the other is for cooling or condensation of a fluid. The fluid gives up heat to the heat pipes and cooled fluid is collected thereafter. In the air duct, heat is removed from the heat pipes, with the gas reservoir controlling the temperature of the heat pipes, as well as maintaining a constant temperature in the cooling side of the heat exchanger to control the cooling process, to maintain the gas front of the working fluid in the heat pipe solely within the air flow chamber, and to prevent solidification of fluids in the cooling side of the heat exchanger.

Abstract: Water, with chemical additives and metallic salts therein, is injected into an internal combustion engine, such as for automobiles, to reduce production of carbon monoxide and by reducing the amounts of oxides of nitrogen. Metallic salts may be added to tap water by use of an electrolysis cell connected to the engine's battery or alternator.

Abstract: Alignment of a mask and a semiconductor wafer to be processed is effected by orthogonal and angular movements of the mask singly and in combination. A carrier for the mask is supported on four orthogonally positioned transducers which, when actuated to elongate or contract, produce carrier translational movement in either or both orthogonal directions and/or rotational movement by selective elongation and contraction of one or more transducers. Actuation of the transducers and the alignment are obtained by signals from a feedback system including photon detection and multiple frequency oscillation utilizing alignment marks on the mask and the wafer.

Abstract: The heat pipe assembly is formed into an H-shape or a Y-shape. The H-shaped configuration comprises two heat pipes, each having condenser and evaporator sections with wicking therein coupled by a tube with wick at their evaporator sections. The Y-shaped configuration utilizes a common evaporator section in place of the two evaporator sections of the H-shaped configuration. In both configurations, the connection between the vapor spaces of the two heat pipes equalizes vapor pressure within the heat pipes. Although both heat pipes have wicks, they have sufficient fluid only to saturate a single pipe. If heat is applied to the condenser section of one of the pipes, this heat pipe becomes inoperative since all the fluid is transferred to the second pipe which can operate with a lower thermal load.

Abstract: A plug-in module, for supporting such electronic devices as an LSI circuit wafer, hybrid electronics, and/or discrete components, includes a ceramic base, the electronic devices mounted on one side of the base, a corrugated cooling fin bonded to the other side of the base, a printed circuit board secured to the far side of the cooling fin, a terminal strip connector at the base edge, a crossover electrically interconnecting the two module sides, and a supporting slotted frame onto which the ceramic base and printed wiring board are bonded. The terminal strip connector is secured to the frame with screws. Circuit leads from the ceramic base are soldered directly to the terminal strip connector and also are interconnected to the terminal strip by means of soldered crossover leads and vertical conductor lines on the printed circuit board. If the module's electronic function so requires, further electronic devices may be placed on the printed circuit board.

Abstract: Vias or feedthroughs in the order of 0.5 mil diameter or less, for interlayer communication in multilevel interconnected microelectronics, such as large scale integration of active devices and circuits on a wafer, are formed by pyrolytically deposited silicon dioxide covered by RF-sputtered silicon dioxide, or vice-versa. The pyrolytically deposited silicon dioxide can be made sufficiently thin to enable the formation of 0.5 mil diameter or smaller vias therein by conventional etching techniques. The RF-sputtered silicon dioxide is deposited at several times the thickness of the pyrolytically deposited silicon dioxide to bear the main burden of isolation between layers and the vias therein are formed by the use of mushroommasks, such as by the techniques disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,510 to form a beveled edge around the via opening to assure continuity of subsequently deposited metal. Two or more small vias may be grouped within a single large via of convenient size and shape.

Abstract: Millimeter-wave electronic devices are produced first by micromachining an epitaxial layer on a substrate wafer to a precise thickness by directing an ion beam over the epitaxial layer. Any bombardment damage is removed by a light chemical etch. Thereafter, an insulative layer with a mask is placed over the micromachined epitaxial layer and the ion beam is broadly directed onto the masked wafer to micromachine precise holes through unmasked portions of the insulative layer. Micromachining may proceed until approximately 500 A thickness of the insulative layer remains, this remaining layer being removed by a brief chemical etch to expose the underlying epitaxial layer. Alternatively, in cases where a slight recess into the semiconductor is desired to alter the electric field lines at the interface between the oxide and the semiconductor, the ion beam may be permitted to etch completely through the oxide film and into the epitaxial layer to the desired depth.

Abstract: A mesh article, such as a reflector for radio frequencies, comprises glassy base fibers of high tensile strength, low elongation properties and low coefficient of expansion, the fibers being coated with a thin layer of metal. In a typical embodiment, the fibers are quartz coated with aluminum. The fibers are not interwoven and are bonded together at their intersections and to a peripheral ring support. These articles are lightweight, flexible and foldable and possess a "shape memory.

Abstract: An assembly and method for mounting a transistor chip on a carrier with lead attachment allows a circuit to approach the limitations of the transistor chip rather than to be limited by the transistor package and attached leads. The carrier is provided with a groove into which the transistor chip is placed so that the surface thereof defining the emitter is flush with a surface of the carrier. A wide but short ribbon lead is bonded from the emitter to the adjustment flush surface of the carrier so that both the characteristic impedance and the wire length are decreased to minimize the value of emitter inductance.

Abstract: Two electrical connectors are coupled by inserting a contact protecting slotted split shroud of one connector over a mating contact body housing of the other connector. As the split shroud engages the mating housing, an enlarged ring section on the mating housing outwardly deflects the split shroud and allows the enlarged ring area of the mating housing to engage an inwardly directed relief area inside the split shroud to latch the two connectors together. A coupling ring on one connector is movable to cover the split shroud, thus locking the two connectors in their mated position by preventing the split shroud from opening if a force in the unmating direction is applied. The coupling ring is held in its locks position by detent fingers residing within a forward retaining groove in the connector.

Abstract: Triangularly shaped iron rings are alternated with axially magnetized rings on both a rotor and a stator in which like poles on and between the rotor and stator face one another to smooth out nonuniformity of individual magnetic flux distributions, to provide repulsion between the stator and the rotor, to minimize energy losses due to rotor rotation, to minimize the exposed high permeability surface for back leakage flux, to maximize the flux collection effectiveness of the iron rings, to fill the entire volume with a useful material, and to distribute the iron volume so that it has a uniformly high flux density throughout.

Abstract: A multicontact connector intended primarily for geophysical surveying work is totally hermaphroditic to enable connection to its identical counterpart. The hermaphroditic connection also physically protects the electrical contacts and permits the connectors to be mated in only one preselected orientation thereof. Also disclosed are wire sealing means and a latching-sealing mechanism between a shell and its insert.

Abstract: Large, strain free, single crystals of high optical quality selected from the IB-VB-VIB and IIIB-VB-VIB ternary chalcogenide groups, having a single stable solid phase from room temperature to the melting point of the crystal and vice-versa, are synthesized by (1) placing stoichiometric quantities of the compound constituents with 3% excess VIB constituent in a two part, sublimation-reaction fused silica tube, the VB constituents being placed in sublimation part, and the remaining constituents being placed in the reaction part, and evacuating and sealing the tube, (2) subliming and purifying the VB constituent and condensing it in the reaction part, which is then cooled and sealed from the sublimation part, (3) reacting, uniting and slowly cooling the reaction part constituents, (4) placing the reacted constituents in fused silica growth tube, which is evacuated, backfilled with helium, and sealed, (5) forming a melt in the upper part of a two part furnace and lowering at about 1.8 mm/hr.