Abstract: Provided herein is a xylophone bar magnetometer (XBM) with automatic resonance control, the XBM having a voltage input, a current drive input and a sensor output, having a voltage input switch for switching between a positive drive voltage and a negative drive voltage; a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) for controlling the voltage input switch; and a feedback loop, connected between the sensor output and a input of the VCO.

Abstract: A Lorentz force assisted microelectromechanical switch is provided which is configured to have a capacitive switch and an electrical conductor placed in transversely extending electric and magnetic fields to generate the Lorentz force sufficient to operate the capacitive switch.

Abstract: A Lorentz force-driven mechanical resonator apparatus that utilizes a high-Q resonant structure as both a mixing device and a high-Q bandpass filter. Specifically, an external time varying, but quasistatic, magnetic field is applied to the resonating device while simultaneously running a time varying electrical current through the device. The resulting Lorentz force (I×B) is proportional to the vector product of the electrical current in the bar (I) and the external magnetic field (B). Integrating such a resonant device with a magnetic field coil produces the functionality of an ideal radio frequency (RF) mixer coupled with a high-Q intermediate frequency (IF) filter. Wide tunability provides the capability to scan, or even step, an array of filters having very narrow bandwidths via a common local oscillator to a desired frequency range.

Abstract: A Lorentz force-driven mechanical resonator apparatus that utilizes a high-Q resonant structure as both a mixing device and a high-Q bandpass filter. Specifically, an external time varying, but quasistatic, magnetic field is applied to the resonating device while simultaneously running a time varying electrical current through the device. The resulting Lorentz force (I×B) is proportional to the vector product of the electrical current in the bar (I) and the external magnetic field (B). Integrating such a resonant device with a magnetic field coil produces the functionality of an ideal radio frequency (RF) mixer coupled with a high-Q intermediate frequency (IF) filter. Wide tunability provides the capability to scan, or even step, an array of filters having very narrow bandwidths via a common local oscillator to a desired frequency range.

Abstract: A Lorentz force assisted microelectromechanical switch is provided which is configured to have a capacitive switch and an electrical conductor placed in transversely extending electric and magnetic fields to generate the Lorentz force sufficient to operate the capacitive switch.

Abstract: A sensor array system for detecting the position of an object or energy source. The system includes a plurality of sensors, each sensor having a limited field of view and being capable of detecting an object or energy source that is positioned within its field of view. The fields of view of at least some of the sensors overlap the fields of view of other sensors, and the overlapping fields of view define unique spatial regions. A data acquisition system is operatively connected to the plurality of sensors and is used to determine which sensors simultaneously detect an object or energy source, thereby determining the unique spatial region in which the object or energy source is located.

Abstract: A sensor array system for detecting the position of an object or energy source. The system includes a plurality of sensors, each sensor having a limited field of view and being capable of detecting an object or energy source that is positioned within its field of view. The fields of view of at least some of the sensors overlap the fields of view of other sensors, and the overlapping fields of view define unique spatial regions. A data acquisition system is operatively connected to the plurality of sensors and is used to determine which sensors simultaneously detect an object or energy source, thereby determining the unique spatial region in which the object or energy source is located.

Abstract: A microelectromechanical-based magnetostrictive magnetometer that uses, as an active element, a commercial (001) silicon microcantilever coated with an amorphous thin film of the giant magnetostrictive alloy Terfenol-D and a compact optical beam deflection transduction scheme. A set of Helmholtz coils is used to create an ac magnetic excitation field for driving the mechanical resonance of the coated microcantilever. When the coated microcantilever is placed in a dc magnetic field, the dc field will change the amplitude at the mechanical resonance of the coated microcantilever thereby causing a deflection that can be measured. The magnetometer has been demonstrated with a sensitivity near 1 .mu.T.

Abstract: The invention consists, in one embodiment, of a resonator such as a conductive bar supported by two wires placed at the nodal points of the fundamental resonance frequency. The wires also supply current of this frequency to the resonator. In the presence of a magnetic field, the Lorentz force causes the resonator to vibrate. The amplitude of this vibration is proportional to a vector component of the magnetic field. The motion of the resonator is detected using one of a number of possible methods including optical beam deflection. The invention has a sensitivity of at least 1 nT, comparable to that of a commercial fluxgate magnetometer, and a dynamic range exceeding 80 dB.

Abstract: An apparatus for depositing materials on a substrate includes a manifold having a plurality of inlet valves located equidistantly from the manifold outlet. Preferably the inlet valves are mounted in radial configuration to minimize any "dead space" between the valves and the manifold outlet. The manifold connects a plurality of gas sources through its inlets to a process chamber at its outlet. The valves within the manifold switch continuous reactive gas flows from the sources back and forth between the process chamber and a vent chamber during the deposition process. A purging gas flow is also provided at each valve to purge the "dead space" within the manifold of reactive gases that can linger once the reactive gas flow has been switched to the vent. The method employed by the apparatus maintains a predetermined constant gas flow through the process chamber to produce uniform deposition on the substrate.

Abstract: In a temperature sensor of the kind comprising a bipolar transistor (1) having an adjustable constant current source (3) connected between its collector and base regions (7 and 9) and its emitter region (11) connected to the output of a high gain amplifier (5) whose input is derived from the current source (3), the junction between the emitter and base regions (11 and 9) of the transistor is a heterojunction and each of the emitter and base regions (11 and 9) is provided with a metal contact (17 or 19) separated from the associated region by a barrier layer (21 or 23) of an amorphous tantalum iridium alloy. The use of a heterojunction for the transistor emitter-base junction increases the temperature range of the sensor while the barrier layers ensure metallic stability at the high temperature end of the sensor temperature range.

Abstract: In the manufacture of a monolithic LED array, in particular a matrix array, in which portions of the array are electrically isolated from one another by channels cut or etched through the slice of n-type material, the channels are formed in two stages, relatively wide channels first being formed from the back surface of the slice to within 50 microns of the front surface, and filled with a glass frit which is bonded to the semiconductor material on each side of the channel, then narrower channels are formed from the front surface of the slice to meet the glass in the initial channels, and are similarly filled with glass frit. A glass powder suspension is introduced into each set of channels by spreading or spinning over the surface of the slice, or by electrophoretic deposition and/or capillary action, then the liquid suspension medium is removed and the glass powder is sintered.

Abstract: In the manufacture of a monolithic light-emitting diode array, electrical isolation between the n-type regions of portions of the array, for example the columns of a matrix array, is effected by mechanically cutting channels between the portions, through the n-type region and the common electrode. This method of forming the isolation channels makes it possible to produce much narrower channels than can be achieved by chemical etching, thus providing a high resolution array.