Patents by Inventor Thomas H. Metcalf
Thomas H. Metcalf has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 11384421Abstract: A method for producing a sputtered stoichiometric a-Al2O3 thin film. A substrate is placed into a chamber containing an Al target to be sputtered. The chamber is evacuated to a base pressure of about 7×10?8 Torr or lower and the temperature of the substrate is maintained. With a sputtering shutter in the chamber closed, Ar gas is flowed into the chamber to backsputter the Al target and Ar and O2 gases are flowed into the chamber to presputter the target. The shutter is opened and Al is sputtered onto the substrate in the presence of the Ar and O2 gases to obtain a sputtered a-Al2O3 film on the substrate.Type: GrantFiled: February 14, 2019Date of Patent: July 12, 2022Assignee: The Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the NavyInventors: Xiao Liu, Battogtokh Jugdersuren, Matthew R. Abernathy, Thomas H. Metcalf
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Publication number: 20190284677Abstract: A method for producing a sputtered stoichiometric a-Al2O3 thin film. A substrate is placed into a chamber containing an Al target to be sputtered. The chamber is evacuated to a base pressure of about 7×10?8 Torr or lower and the temperature of the substrate is maintained. With a sputtering shutter in the chamber closed, Ar gas is flowed into the chamber to backsputter the Al target and Ar and O2 gases are flowed into the chamber to presputter the target. The shutter is opened and Al is sputtered onto the substrate in the presence of the Ar and O2 gases to obtain a sputtered a-Al2O3 film on the substrate.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 14, 2019Publication date: September 19, 2019Applicant: The Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the NavyInventors: Xiao Liu, Battogtokh Jugdersuren, Matthew R. Abernathy, Thomas H. Metcalf
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Patent number: 9741921Abstract: A hydrogen-free amorphous dielectric insulating film having a high material density and a low density of tunneling states. The film is prepared by deposition of a dielectric material on a substrate having a high substrate temperature Tsub under high vacuum and at a controlled low deposition rate. In one embodiment, the film is amorphous silicon while in another embodiment the film is amorphous germanium.Type: GrantFiled: November 16, 2016Date of Patent: August 22, 2017Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the NavyInventors: Xiao Liu, Daniel R. Queen, Frances Hellman, Thomas H. Metcalf, Matthew R. Abernathy, Glenn G. Jernigan
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Publication number: 20170069819Abstract: A hydrogen-free amorphous dielectric insulating film having a high material density and a low density of tunneling states. The film is prepared by deposition of a dielectric material on a substrate having a high substrate temperature Tsub under high vacuum and at a controlled low deposition rate. In one embodiment, the film is amorphous silicon while in another embodiment the film is amorphous germanium.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 16, 2016Publication date: March 9, 2017Applicant: The Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the NavyInventors: Xiao Liu, Daniel R. Queen, Frances Hellman, Thomas H. Metcalf, Matthew R. Abernathy, Glenn G. Jernigan
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Patent number: 9577174Abstract: A process for forming a doped nc-Si thin film thermoelectric material. A nc-Si thin film is slowly deposited on a substrate, either by hot-wire CVD (HWCVD) with a controlled H2:SiH4 ratio R=6-10 or by plasma-enhanced (PECVD) with a controlled R=80-100, followed by ion implantation of an n- or p-type dopant and a final annealing step to activate the implanted dopants and to remove amorphous regions. A doped nc-Si thin film thermoelectric material so formed has both a controllable grain size of from a few tens of nm to 3 nm and a controllable dopant distribution and thus can be configured to provide a thermoelectric material having predetermined desired thermal and/or electrical properties. A final annealing step is used to activate the dopants and remove any residual amorphous regions.Type: GrantFiled: September 6, 2016Date of Patent: February 21, 2017Assignee: The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the NavyInventors: Xiao Liu, Thomas H. Metcalf, Daniel R. Queen, Battogtokh Jugdersuren, Qi Wang, William Nemeth
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Publication number: 20160372651Abstract: A process for forming a doped nc-Si thin film thermoelectric material. A nc-Si thin film is slowly deposited on a substrate, either by hot-wire CVD (HWCVD) with a controlled H2:SiH4 ratio R=6-10 or by plasma-enhanced (PECVD) with a controlled R=80-100, followed by ion implantation of an n- or p-type dopant and a final annealing step to activate the implanted dopants and to remove amorphous regions. A doped nc-Si thin film thermoelectric material so formed has both a controllable grain size of from a few tens of nm to 3 nm and a controllable dopant distribution and thus can be configured to provide a thermoelectric material having predetermined desired thermal and/or electrical properties. A final annealing step is used to activate the dopants and remove any residual amorphous regions.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 6, 2016Publication date: December 22, 2016Applicant: The Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the NavyInventors: Xiao Liu, Thomas H. Metcalf, Daniel R. Queen, Battogtokh Jugdersuren, Qi Wang, William Nemeth
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Patent number: 9472745Abstract: A process for forming a doped nc-Si thin film thermoelectric material. A nc-Si thin film is slowly deposited on a substrate, either by hot-wire CVD (HWCVD) with a controlled H2:SiH4 ratio R=6-10 or by plasma-enhanced (PECVD) with a controlled R=80-100, followed by ion implantation of an n- or p-type dopant and a final annealing step to activate the implanted dopants and to remove amorphous regions. A doped nc-Si thin film thermoelectric material so formed has both a controllable grain size of from a few tens of nm to 3 nm and a controllable dopant distribution and thus can be configured to provide a thermoelectric material having predetermined desired thermal and/or electrical properties. A final annealing step is used to activate the dopants and remove any residual amorphous regions.Type: GrantFiled: February 19, 2016Date of Patent: October 18, 2016Assignee: The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the NavyInventors: Xiao Liu, Thomas H. Metcalf, Daniel R. Queen, Battogtokh Jugdersuren, Qi Wang, William Nemeth
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Publication number: 20160247997Abstract: A process for forming a doped nc-Si thin film thermoelectric material. A nc-Si thin film is slowly deposited on a substrate, either by hot-wire CVD (HWCVD) with a controlled H2:SiH4 ratio R=6-10 or by plasma-enhanced (PECVD) with a controlled R=80-100, followed by ion implantation of an n- or p-type dopant and a final annealing step to activate the implanted dopants and to remove amorphous regions. A doped nc-Si thin film thermoelectric material so formed has both a controllable grain size of from a few tens of nm to 3 nm and a controllable dopant distribution and thus can be configured to provide a thermoelectric material having predetermined desired thermal and/or electrical properties. A final annealing step is used to activate the dopants and remove any residual amorphous regions.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 19, 2016Publication date: August 25, 2016Applicant: The Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the NavyInventors: Xiao Liu, Thomas H. Metcalf, Daniel R. Queen, Battogtokh Jugdersuren, Qi Wang, William Nemeth
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Patent number: 9054640Abstract: This invention provides an extremely accurate way to characterize the Young's modulus of thin film materials with thicknesses in the nanometer range. It takes advantage of a recently developed high Q silicon Young's modulus resonator (YMR), which has a record high quality factor of about fifty million in operation at temperatures below 10 degrees Kelvin (10K). Because of the high Q of the YMR, the temperature stability of the YMR's resonance frequency below 1K, and the extremely high degree of vibration isolation inherent in the inventive design, the relative resolution of the resonant frequency is typically in 2×10?7. This is enough to resolve a resonant frequency shift after a deposition of a thin film onto the sensitive part of the resonator, and to compute the Young's modulus of thin film materials of even a few monolayers thickness.Type: GrantFiled: June 27, 2013Date of Patent: June 9, 2015Assignee: The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the NavyInventors: Xiao Liu, Thomas H. Metcalf
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Publication number: 20140002203Abstract: This invention provides an extremely accurate way to characterize the Young's modulus of thin film materials with thicknesses in the nanometer range. It takes advantage of a recently developed high Q silicon Young's modulus resonator (YMR), which has a record high quality factor of about fifty million in operation at temperatures below 10 degrees Kelvin (10K). Because of the high Q of the YMR, the temperature stability of the YMR's resonance frequency below 1K, and the extremely high degree of vibration isolation inherent in the inventive design, the relative resolution of the resonant frequency is typically in 2×10?7. This is enough to resolve a resonant frequency shift after a deposition of a thin film onto the sensitive part of the resonator, and to compute the Young's modulus of thin film materials of even a few monolayers thickness.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 27, 2013Publication date: January 2, 2014Applicant: US Gov't Represented by Secretary of the Navy Chief of Naval Research Office of Counsel ONR/NRLInventors: Xiao Liu, Thomas H. Metcalf