Abstract: An electronic device with a force sensing device is disclosed. The electronic device comprises a user input surface defining an exterior surface of the electronic device, a first capacitive sensing element, and a second capacitive sensing element capacitively coupled to the first capacitive sensing element. The electronic device also comprises a first spacing layer between the first and second capacitive sensing elements, and a second spacing layer between the first and second capacitive sensing elements. The first and second spacing layers have different compositions. The electronic device also comprises sensing circuitry coupled to the first and second capacitive sensing elements configured to determine an amount of applied force on the user input surface. The first spacing layer is configured to collapse if the applied force is below a force threshold, and the second spacing layer is configured to collapse if the applied force is above the force threshold.

Abstract: An electronic device with a force sensing device is disclosed. The electronic device comprises a user input surface defining an exterior surface of the electronic device, a first capacitive sensing element, and a second capacitive sensing element capacitively coupled to the first capacitive sensing element. The electronic device also comprises a first spacing layer between the first and second capacitive sensing elements, and a second spacing layer between the first and second capacitive sensing elements. The first and second spacing layers have different compositions. The electronic device also comprises sensing circuitry coupled to the first and second capacitive sensing elements configured to determine an amount of applied force on the user input surface. The first spacing layer is configured to collapse if the applied force is below a force threshold, and the second spacing layer is configured to collapse if the applied force is above the force threshold.

Abstract: Transparent conductors including a silver layer with high transparency and low sheet resistance are described. In some examples, the silver layer can be located between two transparent conductive oxide layers. The transparent conductor can further include additional transparent conductive oxide layers, optical layers, and/or additional conductive layers (e.g., layers including ITO or another fully or partially transparent conductive material), for example. In some examples, transparent conductors including a silver layer can be included in a touch screen device. For example, one or more shielding layers or one or more touch electrodes can include transparent conductors with a silver layer. In some examples, the silver layer can improve transparency, sheet resistance, and/or infrared reflection characteristics of the transparent conductor.

Abstract: An electronic device with a force sensing device is disclosed. The electronic device comprises a user input surface defining an exterior surface of the electronic device, a first capacitive sensing element, and a second capacitive sensing element capacitively coupled to the first capacitive sensing element. The electronic device also comprises a first spacing layer between the first and second capacitive sensing elements, and a second spacing layer between the first and second capacitive sensing elements. The first and second spacing layers have different compositions. The electronic device also comprises sensing circuitry coupled to the first and second capacitive sensing elements configured to determine an amount of applied force on the user input surface. The first spacing layer is configured to collapse if the applied force is below a force threshold, and the second spacing layer is configured to collapse if the applied force is above the force threshold.

Abstract: This application relates to a combination vapor deposition process chamber. In, some embodiments, a combination vapor deposition process chamber can be used to apply an optical coating to a substrate such as glass, as well as an anti-smudge coating to the same substrate. The combination vapor deposition process chamber can include a sputter target, reactive gas and plasma source, and an anti-smudge coating source. Both sputter deposition and evaporation deposition can be performed with the combination vapor deposition process chamber without exposing the substrate to open air and contaminants between deposition processes. In some embodiments, the combination vapor deposition process chamber uses multiple sub-process chambers connected by a low pressure passageway for transferring substrates between deposition processes.

Abstract: SrBi2Nb2O9 (SBN) thin films are deposited on Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si substrates using off-axis pulsed laser deposition technique. Off-axis laser ablation avoids plasma damaging of the surface of SBN thin films and is favorable to grow films along the polarization axis (a–b plane). SBN thin films are grown at 350° C. substrate temperature, with 5 mm away from the plasma focus, and annealed at 750° C. for 1 hour in oxygen ambient. These SBN thin films exhibited giant remnant polarization (Pr) of 50 ?C/cm2 with coercive field of 190 kV/cm. The fatigue endurance of these SBN thin films was measured at 400 kV/cm and showed minimal (<20%) polarization degradation of up to 1010 switching cycles. The leakage current density of SBN thin films was found to be about 2×107 up to an applied field of 100 kV/cm. The above-mentioned properties of off-axis deposited SBN thin films, makes it a good material for NVRAM devices.

Abstract: A stable, wide-bandgap (approximately 6 eV) ZnO/MgO multilayer thin film is fabricated using pulsed-laser deposition on c-plane Al2O3 substrates. Layers of ZnO alternate with layers of MgO. The thickness of MgO is a constant of approximately 1 nm; the thicknesses of ZnO layers vary from approximately 0.75 to 2.5 nm. Abrupt structural transitions from hexagonal to cubic phase follow a decrease in the thickness of ZnO sublayers within this range. The band gap of the thin films is also influenced by the crystalline structure of multilayer stacks. Thin films with hexagonal and cubic structure have band-gap values of 3.5 and 6 eV, respectively. In the hexagonal phase, Mg content of the films is approximately 40%; in the cubic phase Mg content is approximately 60%. The thin films are stable and their structural and optical properties are unaffected by annealing at 750° C.