Palo Alto Research Center Inc.

Neotek Energy, Inc.

Xerox Corporation

Leidos, Inc.

Dirk De Bruyker

Eugene Michael Chow

David Kirtland Fork

Christopher L Chua

Thomas Hantschel

Jurgen Hans Daniel

Michel A Rosa

Michal V Wolkin

Sean Roark Garner

Bowen Cheng

Francisco Eduardo Torres

Alan G Bell

Eric Peeters

Armin R Volkel

Timothy D Stowe

Gregory Lewis Whiting

David Eric Schwartz

Richard H Bruce

Jengping Lu

Michael I Recht

Scott J H Limb

JengPing Lu

Ricardo Santos Roque

Raj B Apte

Jeng Ping Lu

Joseph R Johnson

Philipp Helmut Schmaelzle

Brent Shawhan Krusor

Miroslav Petro

Matthew Dixon Eisaman

Gregory B Anderson

Scott J Limb

Kirt Williams

Richard C Eden

Jürgen H Daniel

Chinnwen Shih

Daniel O'Brien

Ali Asgar Saleem Bhagat

Marcelo Piotti

Douglas B Weiner

A stressed substrate for transient electronic systems (i.e., electronic systems that visually disappear when triggered to do so) that includes one or more stress-engineered layers that store potential energy in the form of a significant internal stress. An associated trigger mechanism is also provided that, when triggered, causes an initial fracture in the stressed substrate, whereby the fracture energy nearly instantaneously travels throughout the stressed substrate, causing the stressed substrate to shatter into multiple small (e.g., micron-sized) pieces that are difficult to detect. The internal stress is incorporated into the stressed substrate through strategies similar to glass tempering (for example through heat or chemical treatment), or by depositing thin-film layers with large amounts of stress. Patterned fracture features are optionally provided to control the final fractured particle size. Electronic systems built on the substrate are entirely destroyed and dispersed during the transience event.

Stressed substrates for transient electronic systems

A sensor apparatus includes a substrate, a plurality of parallel interdigitated sensor electrode fingers disposed over the substrate, a peripheral shield disposed over at least some of a periphery of the substrate, and a sensing material disposed in gaps formed by surfaces of the sensor electrode fingers and the peripheral shield. In some embodiments, an area shield is also disposed over the electrode fingers.

System and method for shielded chemical sensing using a fine-line shielded sensing structure

A heat switch has a first contact, a plug of thermally conductive material, and a mechanical actuator attached to the plug of thermally conductive material, the mechanical actuator arranged to move the plug into contact with the first contact in a first position and to move the plug out of contact with the first contact in a second position responsive to an input signal.

Mechanically acuated heat switch

Improved electric field (steered-electron electric-field, or SEEF) sensors and methods of manufacturing the same are provided. The SEEF sensors described herein may have increased sensitivity to low-frequency electric fields while being smaller than previously known sensors, and may allow for low-power electric field detection. The invention described herein allows for sensitive, long-term electric field monitoring for applications ranging from personnel detection to underground facility monitoring, as well as extraordinarily small vector sensing (full Poynting vector) for compact direction-finding of emitters of interest. Exemplary electric field sensors may accurately sense, measure, characterize and/or transmit electric field data over a wide frequency range. Importantly, such sensing, measuring, and/or characterizing do not require any physical or resistive contact between the sensor and a source of an electric field.

Steered-electron electric-field (SEEF) sensor program

A subsystem is disclosed providing a steerable-beam light source. An array of micromechanical reflectors may be disposed to selectively direct portions of light from a light source to selected targets in a scene, such as for providing composed illumination for still or video photography. The array of reflectors may be continuously steerable, thereby achieving more than the mere inefficient patterning of illumination light available from prior art projection approaches, but instead efficiently redirecting light to the desired regions of the scene. The subsystem may be sufficiently compact so as to permit integration with a compact camera into a cellular telephone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a digital still-image camera, a digital video-image camera, and so on. The array may be operated in conjunction with a camera controller to selectively illuminate one or more targets of focus or zoom, omit illumination of undesirable image regions, etc.

Steerable illumination source for a compact camera

A thermal switch has a first substrate, a thermally conductive region on the first substrate, a thermally insulative region on the first substrate adjacent the thermally conductive region, a second substrate arranged adjacent the first substrate, a droplet of thermally conductive liquid between the first and second substrate adjacent the thermally conductive region and the thermally insulative region, and an actuator arranged on one of the first or second substrates to cause the droplet to move between the thermally conductive region and the thermally insulative region on the first substrate.

Thermal switch using moving droplets

A system performs methods for well and reservoir management for optimized production of fluids in a reservoir. The system includes a knowledge engine configured to receive a plurality of field inputs, process and analyze the field inputs, and provide a plurality of outputs for presentation to an operator. The system also includes a user data interface configured to display the plurality of data outputs. The plurality of field inputs comprises chemical sensing data and at least one of: temperature, pressure, flow rate and concentration of production components from one or more individual wells located within the reservoir, seismic surveys of the reservoir, permeability, geochemistry and lithology of rock formations, and geographic information system (GIS) data associated with the reservoir.

System and method for production reservoir and well management using continuous chemical measurement

An apparatus for merging and mixing two droplets using electrostatic forces includes a substrate on which are disposed a first originating electrode, a center electrode, and a second originating electrode. The electrodes are disposed such that a first gap is formed between the first originating electrode and the center electrode and a second gap is formed between the second originating electrode and the center electrode. A dielectric material surrounds the electrodes on the substrate. A first droplet is deposited asymmetrically across the first gap, and a second droplet is deposited asymmetrically across the second gap. Voltage potentials are placed across the first gap and second gap, respectively, whereby each droplet is moved toward the other such that they collide together, causing the droplets to merge and mix, and causing oscillations within the collided droplet.

Apparatus and method for improved electrostatic drop merging and mixing

A method includes providing a pad chip having contact pads, providing a spring chip having micro-springs, applying a chemical activator to one of either the pad chip or the spring chip, applying an adhesive responsive to the chemical activator on the other of the pad chip or the spring chip, aligning the pad chip to the spring chip such that the micro-springs will contact the contact pads, and pressing the pad chip and the spring chip together such that the chemical activator at least partially cures the adhesive.

Stress-engineered interconnect packages with activator-assisted molds

A method and device for merging and mixing at least two separate and distinct fluid drops on a substrate, includes a drop merging area on the surface, where a first magnetic material is placed at a first location. A first drop of fluid is then placed at the first location on the surface, resulting in the first magnetic material being at least partially positioned within the first drop of fluid. A second drop of fluid is then placed at a second location on the surface of the drop merging area. A magnetic field is applied by a varying magnetic field generator to at least a portion of the drop merge area of the substrate, which includes at least the first location on the substrate. The varying magnetic field will act on the first magnetic material to move the first magnetic material within the first drop of fluid, causing a stirring of the fluid. A drop merging force from a drop merging mechanism is applied to at least one of the first drop of fluid and the second drop of fluid within the drop merge area. This causes at least one of the first drop of fluid and the second drop of fluid to move toward the other and make contact. The internal stirring of the fluid in the first drop of fluid by the movement of the magnetic material enhances the mixing of the constituents of the first drop of fluid and the constituents of the second drop of fluid.

Enhanced drop mixing using magnetic actuation

A pan/tilt apparatus for a camera includes a base, a stage mounted on the base to rotate around a vertical pan axis, an optical apparatus mounted on the stage, a pan actuating mechanism, and a tilt actuating mechanism. The optical apparatus includes a frame that supports a magnetic structure and a mirror such that they are pivotable around a horizontal tilt axis. The mirror receives an image directed along an incident axis, and redirects the image along the pan axis, e.g., to a camera that is disposed on or below the base. The pan actuating mechanism engages and rotates the stage into a desired pan direction. The tilt actuating mechanism modulates (alters) a magnetic field applied to the mirror/magnetic structure by, for example, moving a permanent magnet that is mounted on the base.

Miniature low cost pan/tilt magnetic actuation for portable and stationary video cameras

A printing plate has a substrate, an array of cells on the substrate, wherein each cell corresponds to an element of a print image, a deformable polymer material localized into the cells such that each cell is at least partially formed from the deformable polymer material, a reservoir corresponding to each cell to collect the deformable polymer material as needed when the deformable polymer material is one of either melted or softened, and a heater to cause the deformable polymer material to either melt or soften. A method of forming a printing plate provides an array of cells, first heats the array of cells such that the deformable polymer material does one of either melts or softens, actuates the cells in the array to assume a deformed state, cools the array of cells to solidify the cells in the deformed state, second heats the cells such that the deformable polymer material in selected ones of the cells does one of either soften or melt and return to a less deformed state to form a printing pattern, and cools the surface to solidify the deformable polymer material in the printing pattern. A method of forming a printing plate provides an array of cells, heats the array of cells such that the deformable polymer material softens, actuates selected ones of the cells to deform surfaces of the selected ones to form a printing pattern, and cools the array of cells to solidify the printing pattern into a printing plate.

Printing system employing deformable polymer printing plates

A package has a pad chip having contact pads, a spring chip having micro-springs in contact with the contact pads to form interconnects, the area in which the micro-springs contact the contact pads forming an interconnect area, a chemical activator in the interconnect area, and an adhesive responsive to the chemical activator in the interconnect area. A package has a pad chip having contact pads, a spring chip having micro-springs in contact with the contact pads to form interconnects, a chemical activator on one of either the pad chip or the spring chip, and an adhesive responsive to the chemical activator on the other of either the pad chip or the spring chip. A method includes providing a pad chip having contact pads, providing a spring chip having micro-springs, applying a chemical activator to one of either the pad chip or the spring chip, applying an adhesive responsive to the chemical activator on the other of the pad chip or the spring chip, aligning the pad chip to the spring chip such that the micro-springs will contact the contact pads, and pressing the pad chip and the spring chip together such that the chemical activator at least partially cures the adhesive.

A method of assembling a package includes aligning a pad chip with a spring chip to form at least one interconnect in an interconnect area, adhering the pad chip to the spring chip so that there is a gap between the pad chip and the spring chip, dispensing underfill material into the gap to seal the interconnect area from an environment external to the package, and curing the underfill material to form a solid mold.

Airgap micro-spring interconnect with bonded underfill seal

Growing community of inventors

Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Dirk De Bruyker