Abstract: A system and method for effecting a substantially real-time financial transaction between at least one secure account linked to a computer device, such as a checking account that ultimately has a delayed-settlement of financial transactions, and one other financial account, such as another secure account linked to another computer device. A financial services system allows remote computer devices, such as mobile computer devices, to store access codes, such as debit card numbers, for secure accounts and the financial services system can then effect a desired transaction over an existing electronic transaction network, such as an ATM/Debit network, thereby causing the financial transaction to occur substantially in real-time between secure accounts.

Abstract: A valved sheath introducer for venous cannulation, including a valve, sheath, handle and cap. The valve is configured to permit safe introduction and removal of medical instruments through the sheath introducer. The valve may have one or more anchoring members and a thickened central portion through which a slit is formed. The central portion may have one or more concave surfaces and the slit can be angled with respect to the top surface of the valve. The cap is attached to the handle, compressing a portion of the valve therebetween.

Abstract: A method is provided for forming a porous metal catalyst (44) on a substrate (42) for nanotube (84) growth in an emissive display. The method comprises depositing a metal (44) onto a surface of a substrate (12) at an angle (?) to the surface, depositing a metal catalyst (72) onto the metal (44), and forming nanotubes (84) on the metal catalyst (72).

Abstract: An apparatus and method is provided for removing smudges (506, 706, 806, 906) including oils and dust from portable electronic displays. The apparatus comprises a display device (110, 150, 500, 700, 800, 900, 1000) positioned within a housing (102, 104, 808), comprising a transparent cover (302, 502, 702, 802, 902, 1002) having a surface (508, 908) viewable through an opening in the housing (102, 104, 808) and a susceptibility to receiving contaminants (506, 706, 806, 906). A vibration device (504, 704, 804, 904, 1004) is positioned against the transparent cover (302, 502, 702, 802, 902, 1002) to provide motion (510) in a direction parallel to the surface, thereby causing the contaminants to move (708) across the surface (508, 908). The contaminants (506, 706, 806, 906) may then be hidden by the housing (102, 104, 808) or ejected by a motion (912) perpendicular to the surface by another vibrating device (911).

Abstract: A method is provided for forming a monolithically integrated optical filter, for example, a Fabry-Perot filter, over a substrate (10). The method comprises forming a first mirror (16) over the substrate (10). A plurality of etalon material layers (32, 34, 36, 38) are formed over the mirror (16), and a plurality of etch stop layers (42, 44, 46) are formed, one each between adjacent etalon material layers (32, 34, 36, 38). A photoresist is patterned to create an opening (54) over the top etalon material layer (38) and an etch (56) is performed down to the top etch stop layer (46). An oxygen plasma (58) may be applied to convert the etch stop layer (46) within the opening (54) to silicon dioxide (57). The photoresist patterning, etching, and applying of an oxygen plasma may be repeated as desired to obtain the desired number of levels (82, 84, 86, 88). A second mirror (72) is then formed on each of the levels (82, 84, 86, 88).

Abstract: A method for preparing a semiconductor substrate surface (28) for semiconductor device fabrication, includes providing a semiconductor substrate (20) having a pure Ge surface layer (28) or a Ge-containing surface layer (12), such as SiGe. The semiconductor substrate (20) is cleaned using a first oxygen plasma process (14) to remove foreign matter (30) from the surface (28) of the substrate (20). The substrate surface (28) is next immersed in a hydrochloric acid solution (16) to remove additional foreign matter (30) from the surface (28) of the substrate (20). The immersion step is followed by a second oxygen plasma etch process (18), passivate the surface with a passivation layer (34), and provide for an atomically smooth surface for subsequent epitaxial or gate dielectric growth.

Abstract: A novel device, such as a semiconductor device, a microfluidic device, a surface acoustic wave device an imprint template, or the like, including an amorphous carbon layer for improved adhesion of organic layers and method of fabrication. The device includes a substrate having a surface, an amorphous carbon layer, formed overlying the surface of the substrate, and a low surface energy material layer overlying the surface of the substrate. The device is formed by providing a substrate having a surface, depositing a low surface energy material layer and an amorphous carbon layer overlying the surface of the substrate adjacent the low surface energy material layer using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) or sputtering.

Abstract: A method is provided for making a MEMS structure (69). In accordance with the method, a CMOS substrate (51) is provided which has interconnect metal (53) deposited thereon. A MEMS structure is created on the substrate through the plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD) of a material selected from the group consisting of silicon and silicon-germanium alloys. The low deposition temperatures attendant to the use of PACVD allow these materials to be used for MEMS fabrication at the back end of an integrated CMOS process.

Abstract: High quality epitaxial layers of monocrystalline piezoelectric materials and compound semiconductor materials can be grown overlying monocrystalline substrates (22) such as large silicon wafers by forming a compliant substrate for growing the monocrystalline layers. An accommodating buffer layer (24) comprises a layer of monocrystalline oxide spaced apart from a silicon wafer by an amorphous interface layer (28) of silicon oxide. An integrated circuit including at least one surface acoustic wave device can be formed in and over the high quality epitaxial layers.

Abstract: A method is provided for making a MEMS structure (69). In accordance with the method, a CMOS substrate (51) is provided which has interconnect metal (53) deposited thereon. A MEMS structure is created on the substrate through the plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD) of a material selected from the group consisting of silicon and silicon-germanium alloys. The low deposition temperatures attendant to the use of PACVD allow these materials to be used for MEMS fabrication at the back end of an integrated CMOS process.

Abstract: An improved and novel semiconductor device including an amorphous carbon layer for improved adhesion of photoresist and method of fabrication. The device includes a substrate having a surface, a carbon layer, formed on the surface of the substrate, and a resist layer formed on a surface of the carbon layer. The device is formed by providing a substrate having a surface, depositing a carbon layer on the surface of the substrate using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) or sputtering, and forming a resist layer on a surface of the carbon layer.

Abstract: A method of fabricating a MRAM device with a taper comprising the steps of providing a substrate, forming a dielectric region with positioned on the substrate, patterning and isotropically etching through the dielectric region to the substrate to form a trench, depositing the MRAM device within the trench wherein the MRAM device includes a first ferromagnetic region with a width positioned on the substrate, a non-ferromagnetic spacer layer with a width positioned on the first ferromagnetic region, and a second ferromagnetic region with a width positioned on the non-ferromagnetic spacer layer wherein the taper is formed by making the width of the first ferromagnetic region greater than the width of the non-ferromagnetic spacer layer, and the width of the non-ferromagnetic spacer layer greater than the width of the second ferromagnetic region so that the first ferromagnetic region is separated from the second ferromagnetic region.

Abstract: A splash shield for use in wound irrigation comprises a three-dimensional shield member having a peripheral edge and a surface extending from the peripheral edge, the shield member being formed at least in part of flexible and pliant material for selectively shaping the peripheral edge to fit the shape or dimension of a wound, and an adjustable hub extending from the surface of the shield member configured to be circumferentially adjustable to adapt to the fluid end portion of any number and variety of irrigation fluid delivery devices. An attachable drain tube and a splash shield having an attached drain tube for removing fluid from the wound site is also disclosed.

Abstract: An improved and novel semiconductor device including an amorphous carbon layer for improved adhesion of photoresist and method of fabrication. The device includes a substrate having a surface, a carbon layer, formed on the surface of the substrate, and a resist layer formed on a surface of the carbon layer. The device is formed by providing a substrate having a surface, depositing a carbon layer on the surface of the substrate using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) or sputtering, and forming a resist layer on a surface of the carbon layer.

Abstract: An improved and novel semiconductor device including an amorphous carbon layer for improved adhesion of photoresist and method of fabrication. The device includes a substrate having a surface, a carbon layer formed on the surface of the substrate, and a resist layer formed on a surface of the carbon layer. The device is formed by providing a substrate having a surface, depositing a carbon layer on the surface of the substrate using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) or sputtering, and forming a resist layer on a surface of the carbon layer.

Abstract: A method for fabricating a field emission display (100) includes the steps of providing a cathode plate (102), providing an anode plate (104), providing a spacer substrate (160) made from a bulk spacer material (109), cutting the spacer substrate (160) to define a spacer (108) having a surface (107), passivating the surface (107) of the spacer (108) using the bulk spacer material (109) to form a passivation layer, and disposing the spacer (108) between the cathode plate (102) and the anode plate (104). A field emission display (100) which includes a cathode plate (102) having a plurality of electron emitters (124), an anode plate (104) opposing the cathode plate (102), and a spacer (108) extending between the cathode plate (102) and anode plate (104). The spacer (108) has a passivation layer made from bulk spacer material (109).

Abstract: A wound irrigation apparatus comprising a fillable fluid delivery member, a fluid channel, and a splash shield for use in wound irrigation is disclosed. The splash shield is a three-dimensional shield positionable about a wound to protect medical personnel from the back splash resulting from wound irrigation and is at least partially flexible and compliant for shaping the shield to fit the unique shape or dimension of a wound. The flexible peripheral edge of the splash shield also prevents damage to the wound if the shield should come in contact with the wound. The shield may also be structured to provide selective angular adjustment of fluid delivery to the wound. The shield of the present invention generally comprises a shield member and a hub positioned through the surface of the shield member to direct fluid to a wound. The shield member may be structured to provide selective angular positioning of the hub to selectively direct fluid to the wound site.

Abstract: In a communication system a method for selecting a set of preferences for use during transmission of information to a particular destination anticipates selecting a list of one or more destinations, each destination having a key and a set of preferences, each preference further having a value. A historical database is indexed via the key to retrieve a set of database entries, each entry having a set of preferences, each preference further having a value. The retrieved database entries are filtered in order to identify those entries exhibiting a predefined set of criteria. After filtering, the preference values within the identified database entries are applied during transmission and subsequent processing of the information.

Abstract: A system that allows a user to apply image processing functions to localized regions of a photographic or negative image supplied by a photographer. The image is displayed on a touch sensitive display and the user can, by touching the display, maneuver a window to pan, zoom-in and zoom-out on particular portions of the image to designate a region to be processed. The operator can precisely indicate where the artifact to be removed is located and will know precisely the area of the image that will be processed. Only the portion of image seen by the user in the window is processed when the user indicates a function should be applied to the image. That is, what the user sees is what is processed. The processed image can be printed or otherwise reproduced.

Abstract: A device for enabling sequential dilation of a percutaneous tissue opening to seccessively larger opening sizes. The device includes a first-elongated dilator element having a forward end, an intermediate dilator body and a tail section extending from shoulder structure at the junction of the intermediate body and tail section. At least one additional elongated tubular dilator is adapted for telescopic mounting over the first dilator element and includes a forward end, intermediate body, rearward end and blocking member. This dilator is tubular in construction and sized to fit snugly around the first dilator element in telescoping manner. The blocking member positioned at a rearward end of the dilator allows it to be seated in a forward-most position, in contact with the shoulder structure of the first dilator element. Additional dilators of successively larger diameters can be added to increase the extent of tissue dilation.