Patents by Inventor David Michael French

David Michael French has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20220404208
    Abstract: In some examples, an array sensor temperature control system is provided. The system may include an array sensor for generating a two-dimensional image, the two-dimensional image including a plurality of pixels or cells indicative of a temperature of a monitored component; a controller for controlling a heating or cooling device to adjust the temperature of the monitored component; and an array sensor controller activated by a power source and being in communication with the array sensor and controller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 11, 2020
    Publication date: December 22, 2022
    Inventors: David Michael French, Christopher-James Parker, Keith Joseph Batryn, Dirk Rudolph
  • Publication number: 20220361298
    Abstract: An electrode is embedded in a piece of ceramic material having a population of conduction band electrons. Applying a voltage bias to the electrode causes electrons to flow towards or away from the electrode to form a positively charged sheath either a distance apart from or adjacent the electrode, depending the polarity of the bias. The electron flow also forms a negatively charged sheath lying opposite the positively charged sheath, and an electrically neutral region lying between the two sheaths. Electromagnetic radiation impinging the ceramic material heats the ceramic where the radiation is absorbed by the electron population. As the incident radiation is absorbed in proportion to the electron density, heating is increased in the negatively charged sheath, relative to the other parts of the ceramic material. The location of heating is controlled by controlling the magnitude and polarity of the voltage bias.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2022
    Publication date: November 10, 2022
    Inventors: Brad Winston Hoff, David Michael French
  • Patent number: 11470693
    Abstract: An electrode is embedded in a piece of ceramic material having a population of conduction band electrons. Applying a voltage bias to the electrode causes electrons to flow towards or away from the electrode to form a positively charged sheath either a distance apart from or adjacent the electrode, depending the polarity of the bias. The electron flow also forms a negatively charged sheath lying opposite the positively charged sheath, and an electrically neutral region lying between the two sheaths. Electromagnetic radiation impinging the ceramic material heats the ceramic where the radiation is absorbed by the electron population. As the incident radiation is absorbed in proportion to the electron density, heating is increased in the negatively charged sheath, relative to the other parts of the ceramic material. The location of heating is controlled by controlling the magnitude and polarity of the voltage bias.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: Government of the United States as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
    Inventors: Brad Winston Hoff, David Michael French
  • Publication number: 20220238312
    Abstract: In some examples, a shaped insert above a showerhead in a wafer processing chamber is used to alter the electric fields near the wafer processing area and in some examples to correct or improve asymmetry in a QSM processing module. In some embodiments, the insert may comprise an annular body, the annular body having at least one surface thereon that comprises a material for supporting electromagnetic coupling when energized by an RF power source, and an annulus in the annular body sized to accommodate a stem of the showerhead. In some examples, a configuration of the insert is selected to affect or correct an asymmetry of an electromagnetic field or plasma generated within the processing chamber in use.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2020
    Publication date: July 28, 2022
    Inventor: David Michael French
  • Publication number: 20220230802
    Abstract: In some examples, a variable inductor device includes a first planar loop comprising a first planar face and a material that supports electromagnetic coupling and a second planar loop comprising a second planar face and a material that supports electromagnetic coupling. The first planar loop is separable from the second planar loop to vary the inductance of the variable inductance device. In some examples, the first and second planar faces overlapping each other in a closed configuration of the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 5, 2020
    Publication date: July 21, 2022
    Inventor: David Michael French
  • Patent number: 9685296
    Abstract: An apparatus for modulating the density of an electron beam as it is emitted from a cathode, comprised of connecting a source of pulsed input power to the input end of a nonlinear transmission line and connecting the output end directly to the cathode of an electron beam diode by a direct electrical connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignee: THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE
    Inventors: Brad Winston Hoff, David Michael French, Donald A. Shiffler, Susan L. Heidger, Wilkin W. Tang
  • Patent number: 9281809
    Abstract: A dielectric-based nonlinear transmission line (NLTL) coupled to an adjacent waveguide. Energy in an input pulse to the nonlinear transmission line is concentrated into an electromagnetic shock or a series of soliton-like oscillations by the nonlinear properties of the NLTL. Energy from the electromagnetic shock or the soliton-like oscillations are transferred into the waveguide. A plate of the NLTL coupled to the waveguide can include an aperture or a series of apertures. Energy from the electromagnetic shock or the soliton-like oscillations can then be transferred into waveguide via an aperture or apertures in such a way that forward and/or backward guided electromagnetic waves are generated in the waveguide. The waveguide can contain at a nonlinear magnetic material, a dielectric material, a slow wave structure, or a metamaterial. The NLTL can include nonlinear dielectric elements such as a periodic array interspersed with linear dielectric elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE
    Inventors: Brad W. Hoff, David Michael French, Susan L. Heidger