Abstract: An aging barrel such as for wine, whiskey and the like may include a sensor assembly disposed in the bung for sensing parameters from within the barrel. A transceiver sends the signals to a computer system which analyzes the signals and determines if the parameters of the barrel have reached or are trending toward an abnormal barrel profile. Alerts may be sent to end users, e.g. via SMS or email, to enable corrective action to be taken. In one example, a temperature profile of multiple barrels within a storage facility may be obtained and barrels may be moved to achieve desired temperature characteristics.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a sputtering target assembly that is used with a sputtering deposition machine. A molten target material is deposited onto a substrate or backing plate to form a target assembly. The target assembly is heated to approximately the melting point temperature of the target material in order to form an alloy interface layer between the substrate and the target material that improves the bond strength of the target assembly. In one embodiment, the thickness of the alloy interface layer can be controlled by cooling the substrate during the formation of the alloy interface layer.