Abstract: Low-profile garden hose storage apparatus comprises a housing adapted for mounting onto an exterior wall of a building to store a garden hose having first and second ends and an outer diameter ‘d’. A reel, rotatable in the housing, has a central hub and a pair of plates spaced apart at a distance of 1, 2 or 3d. In the preferred embodiment the plates are spaced apart at a distance slightly greater than d such that a single layer of hose may be wound thereon in a ‘pancake’ configuration. A water inlet is coupled to the hub through a swivel fitting, enabling the reel to rotate as water is delivered. The first end of the garden hose is coupled to the hub of the reel between the plates, with the second end of the garden hose extending through an opening in the housing. The apparatus further includes a mechanism for automatically winding the garden hose onto the reel between the plates, thereby retracting the hose into the housing through the opening thereof.

Abstract: Low-profile garden hose storage apparatus comprises a housing adapted for mounting onto an exterior wall of a building to store a garden house having first and second ends and an outer diameter ‘d’. A reel, rotatable in the housing, has a central hub and a pair of plates spaced apart at a distance of 1, 2 or 3 d. In the preferred embodiment the plates are spaced apart at a distance slightly greater than d such that a single layer of hose may be wound thereon in a ‘pancake’ configuration. A water inlet is coupled to the hub through a swivel fitting, enabling the reel to rotate as water is delivered. The first end of the garden hose is coupled to the hub of the reel between the plates, with the second end of the garden hose extending through an opening in the housing. The apparatus further includes a mechanism for automatically winding the garden hose onto the reel between the plates, thereby retracting the hose into the housing through the opening thereof.

Abstract: A power amplifier (517) for amplifying an operating signal includes an amplifier (538), an amplifier (540), and a power combiner (518) with harmonic selectivity. The power combiner (518) includes a transmission line section (541), a transmission line section (545), and a resistor (554). The transmission line section (541) is coupled to an amplifier output of the amplifier (538), and the transmission line section (545) is coupled to an amplifier output of the amplifier (540) and to the transmission line section (541). A capacitor (546) is coupled in parallel to a transmission line section (542) of the transmission line section (541), and a capacitor (548) is coupled in parallel to a transmission line section (544) of the transmission line section (545).

Abstract: A method of reclaiming a substrate wafer and a reclaimed substrate wafer. A semiconductor wafer having external layers from previous processing is reclaimed by etching the external layers and cup-wheel grinding an active surface of the wafer to remove semiconductor components such as diffused regions. Either the active surface or the backside of the wafer is then polished to a mirror finish to provide a highly crystalline surface. The cup-wheel grinding produces a pinwheel surface roughness pattern and is accomplished by grinding the wafer with a cup-shaped grinding wheel having an axis of rotation parallel to but offset from an axis of rotation of the wafer. Preferably, the rim of the cup-shaped grinding wheel always passes over the axis of rotation of the wafer.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for transforming a rejected semiconductor product wafer, originally having epitaxial silicon on a low resistivity substrate, into a recycled EPI-on-silicon wafer targeted for reuse as a lower cost higher quality material suitable for new semiconductor product fabrication. The method comprises the steps of removing the old semiconductor product layers, rounding the edges of the wafer if necessary, polishing the wafer surface, thermally treating the wafer to drive lattice imperfections from the surface to create fresh inpurity getter sites in the wafer body, and introducing a new epitaxial silicon layer. The low cost feature is provided by the reuse of the original substrate wafer. The high quality feature is provided by the targeted redistribution of oxygen induced defects from the recycled substrate wafer surface.

Abstract: An improved textured surface of a photovoltaic device is provided by an anisotropic etching process in which pyramidal structures are formed on a silicon surface having a (100) crystallographic orientation. An aqueous solution of an alkali metal hydroxide is heated to approximately 85.degree. C. whereupon isopropyl alcohol is added. Separated silicon wafers are immersed in the solution for approximately 45 minutes. The wafers can be agitated for a limited time in the solution, and preferably the wafers and solution are covered during the etching step. The resulting pyramids are on the order of 14 microns high and 20 microns on each side of the base. The overlap of the pyramids provides desired random locations for the pyramids.

Abstract: A method for refinishing rigid data storage discs for recoating including the steps of removing a magnetically alterable coating and its sub-interfacing material from rigid data storage discs to expose disc substrates, inspecting the substrate for surface discontinuities, measuring the thickness and flatness of the substrates, resurfacing the surfaces of the substrates to remove surface unevenness and surface discontinuities, polishing the surfaces of the substrates to produce a visually mar-free flat substrates, and rinsing and drying the substrate before recoating.

Abstract: A process for manufacturing a solar cell from a reject semiconductor wafer comprising stripping all external layers from the wafer, etching the surfaces of the wafer so as to effectively remove all P/N junctions without pitting the wafer surface, introducing a layer of dopant to form a P/N junction in the front wafer surface, forming a first patterned conductive electrode over the dopant layer, and forming a second conductive electrode on the back surface of the wafer. In the preferred embodiment a sputtering operation is used to form the conductive electrodes.