International Business Machines Corporation

Daniel Francis O'Kane

Hugo Alberto Santini

Michael R Poponiak

Theodore William Kwap

Johannes Grandia

Louis Gulitz

Walter Irving Lisle

An apparatus and a method for rotary electroplating a thin metallic film having a uniform thickness and composition throughout. The apparatus includes a flow-through jet plate having nozzles of increasing size and uniformly spaced radially therethrough, or the same sized nozzles with varying radial spacing therethrough so as to provide a differential flow distribution of the plating solution that impinges on the wafer-cathode where the film is deposited. The spacing and size of the nozzles are critical to obtaining a uniform thickness. The electrical currents to the wafer and to the thieving ring are controlled by variable resistors so as to keep the electrical current to the cathode constant throughout the plating process. In a preferred embodiment the flow-through jet plate has an anode associated therewith in which the exposed area of the anode is maintained at a constant amount during the deposition. This method can simultaneously deposit with a uniform thickness and composition elements having a minimum gap or part size of 1 micrometer or less.

Rotary electroplating cell with controlled current distribution

A real time monitoring and control system for single or multi-fired combustion systems which permits adjustment of the air fuel ratio in the system for optimized efficiency and minimized pollution content in the exhaust gas, while providing safety control of the combustion process. The system includes a high sensitivity light sensor which is utilized to monitor the combustion flame and provide an electrical output proportional to flame temperature, that is utilized to control the air fuel ratio of the system. The wavelength sensitivity of the sensor is capable of selection, for example by selection of sensor type and/or use of appropriate filters, to monitor a predetermined range or region of the flame emission spectrum in order to enable correlation of the intensity of the emission spectrum of the type of fuel being utilized, i.e., oil or natural gas, with temperature and combustion efficiency. A sensor having a defined field of view is utilized and means are provided to sample signals from selected portions of the field of view of the sensor to enable temperature monitoring of a multi-flame system. The output of the sensor is provided to a computer which in turn is electrically connected to control a valve that individually adjusts the air fuel ratio of each flame of the system to permit real time adjustment of the combustion process. The system enables control of combustion at or near optimum burning efficiency, i.e., in the range of 1/2 to 1 percent excess oxygen.

Combustion monitoring and control system

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Morgan Hill, CA, United States of America

Daniel Francis O'Kane