Abstract: An electroless copper plating bath uses a series of tetradentate nitrogen ligands. The components of the bath may be substituted without extensive re-optimization of the bath. The Cu-tetra-aza ligand baths operates over a pH range between 7 and 12. Stable bath formulations employing various buffers, reducing agents and ligands have been developed. The process can be used for metal deposition at lower pH and provides the capability to use additive processing for metallization in the presence of polyimide, positive photoresist and other alkali sensitive substrates.

Abstract: Open defects in thin film conductor lines on a substrate are repaired by diffusion bonding a selected conductive repair line from a support sheet positioned over the open defect. The diffusion bonding is performed by the application of ultrasonic energy and laser energy.

Abstract: Geometric features in image data are extracted by correlation of local information contained in multiple neighborhoods or windows comprising the image. Features of interest are extracted from data contained in the neighborhoods. Nodes are created for each feature. Support values are assigned to each node as well as a list of neighborhoods containing the feature parameters. Inhibitory links are built between the nodes based upon the list of neighborhoods and the geometric properties of the feature. Competitive integration is performed until the surviving nodes are no longer connected by inhibitory links. The result is a complete segmentation of the image in terms of the features.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for monitoring process fluids used in the manufacture of semiconductor components and other microelectronic devices relies upon detection of the phase shift of a pair of optical energy beams encountering a bubble or particle in the fluid. The system distinguishes between bubbles and particles having indices of refraction greater than the surrounding fluid and between different types and sizes of particles.

Abstract: An electroless copper plating bath uses a series of tetradentate nitrogen ligands. The components of the bath may be substituted without extensive re-optimization of the bath. The Cu-tetra-aza ligand baths operates over a pH range between 7 and 12. Stable bath formulations employing various buffers, reducing agents and ligands have been developed. The process can be used for metal deposition at lower pH and provides the capability to use additive processing for metallization in the presence of polyimide, positive photoresist and other alkali sensitive substrates.

Abstract: Two-dimensional mesh architecture in an array processor of myriad processing elements allows relative ease in manufacturing, using planar integrated circuits and predominant X, Y connections. There is a need, in any array processor, to connect a selected processing element to another processing element. Rather than to supply the large number of connectors required for dedicated connection of processing element to processing element, implementation is by a very limited number of connecting conductors (NESW) in a two-dimensional mesh. The connecting conductors are coplanar, making construction compatible with present-day, essentially planar and predominantly XY, packaging of integrated circuits and printed circuit boards. Flexibility of interconnection by means of this limited and inflexible set of conductors is accomplished by equipping each processing element with a hopping circuit.

Abstract: Laser etching of a substrate in a liquid is accomplished by laser induced sonic cavitation at the substrate surface. The preferred substrate is laser energy absorbing and has a finite melting temperature. The preferred liquid is an organic or inorganic inert liquid which does not chemically react with the substrate at room temperature. The laser is preferably a copper vapor laser but a chopped beam cw argon ion laser or a YAG laser adjusted to a low power output sufficient to avoid the formation of a recast layer can also be used. The laser parameters are adjusted for causing the growth and collapse of bubbles at the substrate surface. The laser etching has particular application in the fabrication of rails in magnetic head sliders and dicing of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 --TiC, TiC, SiC, Si/SiO.sub.2, and laser energy absorbing metal and metal oxides.

Abstract: A magnetic storage medium is composed of a non-wettable substrate upon which a transient liquid metal layer is deposited and maintained as a distribution of discontinuous liquid features. A magnetic film layer is deposited on the transient liquid metal layer resulting in a reaction of the liquid metal with the magnetic film. The topology of the magnetic film is controllable by adjusting the thickness of the transient liquid metal layer.

Abstract: A distance-controlled tunneling transducer comprises a plurality of tunnel tips arranged in an array at a tunneling distance from an electrically conductive surface of a storage medium. Each tip is attached to a respective cantilever beam permitting the distance between each tip and the surface to be individually pre-adjusted electrostatically. Arranged in juxtaposition with each cantilever beam is an active control circuit for adjusting the tip-to-surface distance during operation of the storage unit, thus preventing crashes of the associated tip into possible asperities on the surface of the recording medium. Each control circuit is designed such that its operating voltage concurrently serves to pre-adjust its associated cantilever beam and to maintain the tip-to-surface distance essentially constant.

Abstract: Polymorphic mesh uses physical mesh connection to form twelve useful connection patterns for each of the processing elements making up an image procssor of cellular automata under software control. Each processing element includes a limited mesh of interconnections to related processing elements. This provides for programmable choice of network configuration. The limited mesh of network interconnection is controlled by information stored in a register within the affected processing element. The interconnection pattern controlled by this information is invoked by programming, or by the combination of programming and process data, so as to configure the network of processing elements dynamically in the desired mesh. Representative configurations are:string; mesh; tree; cube; pyramid.

Abstract: A method for detecting character string regions in a document image containing figures and illustrations includes storing image data of the document, generating position data of a run of black pixels in each line by accessing the stored image data, comparing runs of black pixels for each pair of two adjoining lines and determining whether a run is a boundary candidate, and generating a rectangle whose boundaries include at least a pair of boundary candidates determined to be a character string region.

Abstract: A Japanese language sentence containing a word not registered in an electronic dictionary is divided by following a series of predetermined rules. When more than one division of such a sentence is possible, an evaluation is made in order to determine the best division of the sentence containing a word not registered in the dictionary.

Abstract: A nulling optical bridge is disclosed herein for the measurement of the difference in the relative power of more than one light beam. The bridge can be used to precisely measure the change in reflectivity and/or transmissivity of a semiconductor device or metal. The bridge operates by splitting at least one illumination source into a number of beams wherein one of said beams is made to traverse the sample whose change in transmissivity and reflection characteristics is to be measured. A rotating polarizer is used to equate the intensity of the variable and nonvariable beams under feedback servo control from a photodetector. The incremental quantity of rotation of the polarizer can be calibrated to correspond to a number of characteristics of the sample.

Abstract: Stable compliance control at a high speed is achieved by cooperation between a manipulator and a wrist body which is located at the end of the manipulator arm.

Abstract: Magnetic structures of a sample are imaged by measuring Lorentz force-induced deflection of the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope. While scanning the sample, an a.c. voltage signal at a first predetermined frequency equal to the resonance frequency of the tip is applied to the tip for generating a current between the tip and the surface of the sample for causing the tip to undergo vibratory motion relative to the sample. The tip motion, indicative of the presence of a magnetic field, is optically detected. In an alternative embodiment for providing improved resolution the tip is made to undergo motion at a second predetermined frequency in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tip and normal to the surface of the sample. The tip motion is optically detected at the sum or difference frequency of the first and second predetermined frequencies for providing improved lateral resolution of the magnetic field measurements using a scanning tunneling microscope.

Abstract: In a scanning tunneling microscope, the tunnel tip comprises an optically transparent body coated with a semiconductor layer, such as a GaAs layer. A sample being investigated comprises a magnetic material. Tunnel microscope operation permits investigation of the magnetic properties at or near the surface of the sample where a spin-polarized beam of light impinges upon the sample surface, through the transparent body of the tunnel tip, or after traveling through the sample, or when made to impinge upon the surface at an angle of incidence from an axis normal to the sample surface. In addition to conventional scanning tunneling microscope electronics, an oscillator-controlled phase-sensitive detector or gating means and a display unit are provided for direct viewing of the magnetic properties and the topography of the sample.

Abstract: A method of assembling a multilayer laminate interconnection board, particularly boards in which each layer preferably includes copper conductors on polyimide film layers, involves adhesively joining individual layers of wired film initially onto an auxiliary pin carrier substrate and then onto a previously laminated layer. After each layer is aligned and adhesively joined to the immediately preceeding layer, holes are formed through the layer. Metal is deposited into the holes for electrically connecting conductors on the top surface of the last layer to a via located on the immediately preceeding layer. The process is repeated for each layer of the multilayer laminate interconnection board until the entire board is completely assembled. Alternatively, layers containing preformed and metalized holes at the location of a respective via in a particular layer are aligned and adhesively laminated.

Abstract: Component leads are bonded to pads disposed on a non-rigid substrate by the application of a combination of laser energy and ultrasonic energy. The pads preferably are bare copper pads, without a noble metal coating or a chemical pretreatment, and the non-rigid substrate is preferably an epoxy printed circuit board.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for automatic inspection of periodic patterns typically found on patterned silicon wafers, printed circuit board, and the like is disclosed herein. The method comprises an inspection algorithm of two parts: a low-level algorithm and a higher level algorithm. The low-level algorithm utilizes the known periodically of the pattern to find defects by comparing identical cells in the periodic array. The high-level algorithm applies the low-level algorithm, some number of times (N) in succession on the image; accumulates defective pixels to form a separate image; and then applies a threshold-sort operation on a neighborhood to determine center pixel defectiveness.The apparatus for implementing the above method comprises a parallel/pipeline architecture for high speed processing and RAM LUT's to implement a plurality of subtract and compare functions.

Abstract: A near field optical microscopy method and apparatus eliminates the necessity of an aperture for scanning a sample surface and greatly reduces the detected background signal. A small dimension tip, on the order of atomic dimension, is disposed in close proximity to the sample surface. A dither motion is applied to the tip at a first frequency in a direction substantially normal to the plane of the sample surface. Dither motion is simultaneously applied to the sample at a second frequency in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the sample surface. The amplitude of the motions are chosen to be comparable to the desired measurement resolution. The end of the tip is illuminated by optical energy. The scattered light from the tip and surface is detected at the difference frequency for imaging the sample surface at sub-wavelength resolution without the use of an aperture. Alternatively, the tip is maintained stationary and the sample undergoes motion in the two directions.