Abstract: Pillared particles of silicon or silicon-comprising material and a method of fabricating the same are disclosed. These particles may be used to create both a composite anode structure with a polymer binder, a conductive additive and a metal foil current collector, and an electrode structure. The structure of the particles overcomes the problems of charge/discharge capacity loss.

Abstract: A method of fabricating fibres of silicon or silicon-based material comprises the steps of etching pillars on a substrate and detaching them. A battery anode can then be created by using the fibres as the active material in a composite anode electrode.

Abstract: A silicon/lithium battery can be fabricated from a substrate. This allows the battery to be produced as an integrated unit on a chip. The battery includes an anode formed from an array of submicron structures including silicon fabricated on a substrate and a cathode including lithium.

Abstract: A transmissive element and a method for production thereof is provided, the element comprising a perforated layer (22) of conductive material (20). Applications include electrochromic windows, energy efficient architectural windows, and touch screen panels, for example.

Abstract: A silicon/lithium battery can be fabricated from a substrate. This allows the battery to be produced as an integrated unit on a chip. The battery includes an anode formed from an array of submicron structures including silicon fabricated on a substrate and a cathode including lithium.

Abstract: A silicon/lithium battery can be fabricated from a silicon substrate. This allows the battery to be produced as an integrated unit on a chip. The battery includes a silicon anode formed from submicron diameter pillars of silicon fabricated on an n-type silicon wafer. The battery also includes a cathode including lithium.

Abstract: A method of fabricating electronic, optical or magnetic devices requiring an array of large numbers of small feature in which regions defining individual features of the array are foamed by the steps of: (a) depositing a very thin film of a highly soluble solid onto a flat hydrophilic substrate; (b) exposing he film to solvent vapor under controlled conditions so that the film reorganizes into an array of discrete hemispherical islands on the surface; (c) depositing a film of a suitable resist material over the whole surface; (d) removing the hemispherical structures together with their coating of resist leaving a resist layer with an array of holes corresponding to the islands; and (e) subjecting the resulting structure to a suitable etching process so as to form a well at the position of each hole.

Abstract: A silicon/lithium battery can be fabricated from a silicon substrate. This allows the battery to be produced as an integrated unit on a chip. The battery includes a silicon anode formed from sub-micron diameter pillars of silicon fabricated on an n-type silicon wafer. The battery also includes a cathode including lithium.

Abstract: A method of fabricating electronic, optical or magnetic device; requiring an array of large numbers of small feature in which regions defining individual features of the array are foamed by the steps of: (a) depositing a very thin film of a highly soluble solid onto a flat hydrophilic substrate (b) exposing he film to solvent vapour under controlled conditions so that the film reorganises into an array of discrete hemispherical islands on the surface, (c) depositing a film of a suitable resist material over the whole surface; (d) removing the hemispherical structures together with their coating of resist leaving a resist layer with an array of holes corresponding to the islands; and (c) subjecting the resulting structure to a suitable etching process so as to form a well at the position of each hole.

Abstract: A silicon/lithium battery can be fabricated from a silicon substrate. This allows the battery to be produced as an integrated unit on a chip. The battery includes a silicon anode formed from submicron diameter pillars of silicon fabricated on an end-type silicon wafer.

Abstract: A method of fabricating electronic, optical or magnetic devices requiring an array of large numbers of small features in which regions defining individual features of the array are formed by the steps of: (a) depositing a very thin film of a highly soluble solid onto a flat hydrophilic substrate; (b) exposing the film to solvent vapor under controlled conditions so that the film reorganizes into an array of discrete hemispherical islands on the surface; (c) depositing a film of a suitable resist material over the whole surface; (d) removing the hemispherical structures together with their coating of resist leaving a resist layer with an array of holes corresponding to the islands; and (e) subjecting the resulting structure to a suitable etching process so as to form a well at the position of each hole.

Abstract: A method of forming an array of electrically addressable cells includes the steps of (a) forming a set of parallel conductor strips extending in a first direction on an insulating substrate; (b) forming an insulating layer superimposed on the first series of parallel strips; and (c) forming a second set of parallel conductor strips extending in a direction at right angles to the first direction superimposed on the insulating layer so as to form crossover regions between the strips. Thereafter, (d) wells are formed in the structure which extend through the conductor strips so that the wells at the crossover regions can be addressed electrically in the conductor strips. The addressable array of cells can then be used for selectively reacting a substance with a series of different reagents by a method which involves addressing selected groups of cells with electrical signals using the matrix of conductor strips.

Abstract: Mesoscopic magnetic field sensors which can detect weak magnetic fields (typically 0.05 Tesla) over areas as small as tens of thousands of square nanometers (e.g. 40 nm×400 nm). The combination of enhanced magneto-resistance in an inhomogeneous high mobility semiconductor, having special electrode arrangements, with the use of island lithography, enables the production of special semiconductor/metal nano-composite structures, and has made possible the fabrication of an entirely new type of magnetic field sensor which exhibits very superior magneto-resistive behavior.

Abstract: An apparatus for the control of an electrochromic window having a three-electrode structure (2, 8, 5) comprises a comparator (12) to maintain within safe limits the potential difference of the electrode (2) and the reference electrode (5), and a shunt unit (16) to switch off the power supply when the current falls below a lower limit and a unit for controlling the coloring density on the basis of the quantity of charge supplied or the optical density of the coloring (FIG. 2).

Abstract: An electrochromic glass of a size suitable to be used with advantage in automobile or building applications, made from two sheets of glass and as external walls, two transparent conductor layers and two electrodes as the system's active elements and an electrolyte polymer. The active electrode is made of tungsten oxide, whereas the active electrode is made of vanadium oxide or a suitable mixture of vanadium oxide and molybdenum oxide. The electrolyte polymer is obtained by dissolving lithium perchlorate in a suitable solution of propylene carbonate and polymethylmethacrylate. A suitable reference electrode keeps the system under control. The complex formed as above is capable of rapidly becoming dark or transparent under the action of an electric field.

Abstract: Thin layers forming an active coloring electrode in an electrochromic cell, in particular in electrochromic glass for use in buildings and vehicles, are produced by vacuum evaporation of metal oxides in an apparatus in which the flow of the vapour to the substrate to be coated follows a path that avoids any direct contact with the electrical resistances providing the heat required for evaporation, so as to obtain said thin layers in a stoichiometric composition with respect to the ideal formula of the evaporated oxide; this gives the highest coloring efficiency in the cell (FIG. 1 ).

Abstract: Solid polymer electrolytes for electrochromic devices are produced by dissolving lithium perchlorate and polymethylmethacrylate in propylene carbonate, all dried to below 10 ppm water, and screen printing or casting a film of the resulting solution followed by removal of solvent to leave a final polymer concentration of about 40% by weight based on the combined weight of polymer and solvent. Screen printability is conferred by a resin modifier such as MODAFLOW (TM).

Abstract: This invention describes a method of manufacturing silica waveguide optical components in which silica glass films are laminated on a substrate by repeating a unit operation in which a sol material, a precursor of glass particles, is coated and then the coated layer is heated in an oxygen atmosphere. wherein the heating temperature is controlled in such a manner that the radius of curvature of warping of the substrate is 2 m or more after the coated layer is heated, thereby preventing cracking in the formed silica glass film and/or peeling of the coated layer. At locations where a difference in height is present, at least when sol is coated first time, the thickness of the coated layer is less than that of one of the subsequent coated layers.

Abstract: A variable transmission window comprises outer panes of glass 17 and 19 and a multi layer electrochromic device allowing variation in the optical transmission properties of the window. The device comprises a transparent electrically conductive layer 12 such as indium tin oxide, an electrochromic material 13 such as a transition metal oxide bronze, a solid electrolyte 14 which is a fast ion conductor of ions of the metal which dissolves in the electrochromic material, a second electrochromic material 15, and a second transparent electrically conductive layer 16. The electrochromic material may be MoO.sub.3 or WO.sub.3. The solid electrolyte 14 may be a Bordeaux glass of LiCl, Li.sub.2 O, B.sub.2 O.sub.3. A quantity of metal colouration atoms, for example lithium, may be transferred reversibly between the electrochromic layers 13 and 15 by applying potentials to contacts 21 and 22.

Abstract: An electrochromic data recording device such as a disc including at least one electrochromic zone (4) in and as a part of an electrical cell (2, 4, 5, 6, 7) for selectively supplying and withdrawing guest atoms to and from the zone to produce an optical change in the zone, the cell being substantially inoperable at a first temperature but being operable at a temperature elevated with respect to the first temperature by virtue of the mobility of current carrying ions in a component of the cell which are appropriately temperature dependent. The device can be written on by laser heating the device locally to allow current to pass to produce a local optical effect and can be read by a laser and photodector in combination. Further, the device can be erased by being heated sufficiently to become conductive.