Abstract: A coating process to infill high aspect-ratio vias and trenches in semiconductor substrates with dense boron for the production of neutron detectors and other devices uses a vacuum cathodic arc or other source of fully ionized boron plasma. Biasing of the substrate is used to impart energies to the plasma ions directing them toward the substrate, while repulsing the electrons. The full ionization produced by the source allows control of the energies of the boron ions by means of the bias voltage. The bias is alternated between coating deposition at low ion energies and sputtering of already coated material by energetic ions. Most of the sputtered material comes off the substrate top surface and between the trenches or vias and much of it is redeposited, thereby contributing to the infill. The process is suitable for carbon, boron or similar light elements, and is of particular interest for 10B, an element having exceptionally high thermal neutron cross-section.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for depositing a ceramic film on a substrate by vacuum arc deposition, includes a vacuum chamber, a cathode comprised of an electrically conductive ceramic material to be deposited on a substrate, an electrically insulating member about the cathode, a heater for preheating the cathode to a predetermined temperature, an anode positioned downstream of the cathode and including an opening to allow ions of the ceramic material from the cathode to flow therethrough, a substrate support positioned downstream of the anode, and a plurality of magnetic members disposed around the vacuum chamber for guiding the ions from the cathode in a predetermined direction.

Abstract: A diagnostic method and apparatus includes a pressure gauge member having an enclosed housing, an anode plate, a pair of cathode plates sandwiching the anode plate, an anode connector at an external surface of the gauge, and a lead connecting the anode plate to the anode connector. Each of the anode plate, pair of cathode plates, and lead are confined within the gauge housing. A power supply is provided for supplying power to the anode connector, the power supply including a positive terminal and a negative terminal. A resistor is connected to each of the positive terminal of the power supply and the anode connector of the gauge member. A pair of electromagnets are positioned adjacent the gauge member, each electromagnet having a pole piece formed therein for completing a magnetic circuit outside of the gauge.

Abstract: A portable real-time monitoring system for field testing and troubleshooting a cellular telephone network, paging network, or mobile radio system employs a user friendly interface between a user and a scanning radio receiver which displays, monitors and stores parameters related to real-time performance. A portable all-band radio receiver capable of receiving cellular and paging frequencies is connected to a computer, such as, for example, a lap-top computer suitable for mobile operation at remote sites, personal computer (PC) or workstation. An interface circuit is installed within the radio receiver which taps available signals within the receiver as well as allows the computer to control the receiver frequency selection, band designation and demodulation setting. The interface hardware and microcode cooperate to process and decode received signals according to cellular and paging network industry standards.

Abstract: A communications stimulation system allows a user to perform a quantitative or subjective test of digital baseband devices over wireless channels using actual measured or modeled propagation data. The digital wireless communication simulation system is capable of simulating the transient nature of channels and radio hardware so that loss of synchronization can be included in the simulation. The simulator is a combination of computer software and hardware that computes a convolution, in the time domain, of a sequence of binary digits or data symbols (i.e., the data stream) with a computer model of a radio transmitter, a propagation channel or channels and a receiver. The transmitter typically comprises a coder, a pulse shaper, a modulator, and a spreader. The propagation channel or channels may include impulsive and average noise levels, co-channel interference and adjacent interference levels, fading and multipath propagation events, and non-linear channel and radio system effects.