Reflectivity, Inc.

Other

Texas Instruments Corporation

Icu Medical Inc.

Douglas B MacDonald

Satyadev R Patel

Gregory P Schaadt

Hongqin Shi

Niles MacDonald

Andrew Gerritt Huibers

Peter Heureux

James L Dennison

Kwok-Kwong Wong

Kelsey Brendon Winward

Medical cable authentication apparatuses and methods are disclosed. Some embodiments herein provide a medical cable assembly for use in a patient monitoring system including authentication circuit. The authentication circuit can provide a signal indicative of whether the medical cable assembly is compatible, or desirable for use with a particular patient monitor and/or sensor. The authentication circuit can include a substantially constant current source that drives a capacitor, wherein a voltage signal provided by a patient monitor drives the current source, and the voltage across the capacitor is used to generate an authentication output signal.

Medical cable including authentication circuit

Processes for the removal of a layer or region from a workpiece material by contact with a process gas in the manufacture of a microstructure are enhanced by the ability to accurately determine the endpoint of the removal step. A vapor phase etchant is used to remove a material that has been deposited on a substrate, with or without other deposited structure thereon. By creating an impedance at the exit of an etching chamber (or downstream thereof), as the vapor phase etchant passes from the etching chamber, a gaseous product of the etching reaction is monitored, and the endpoint of the removal process can be determined. The vapor phase etching process can be flow through, a combination of flow through and pulse, or recirculated back to the etching chamber.

Apparatus and method for detecting an endpoint in a vapor phase etch

The etching of a material in a vapor phase etchant is disclosed where a vapor phase etchant is provided to an etching chamber at a total gas pressure of 10 Torr or more, preferably 20 Torr or even 200 Torr or more. The vapor phase etchant can be gaseous acid etchant, a noble gas halide or an interhalogen. The sample/workpiece that is etched can be, for example, a semiconductor device or MEMS device, etc. The material that is etched/removed by the vapor phase etchant is preferably silicon and the vapor phase etchant is preferably provided along with one or more diluents. Another feature of the etching system includes the ability to accurately determine the end point of the etch step, such as by creating an impedance at the exit of the etching chamber (or downstream thereof) so that when the vapor phase etchant passes from the etching chamber, a gaseous product of the etching reaction is monitored, and the end point of the removal process can be determined. The vapor phase etching process can be flow through, a combination of flow through and pulse, or recirculated back to the etching chamber. A first plasma or wet chemical etch (or both) can be performed prior to the vapor phase etch.

Method for vapor phase etching of silicon

Processes for the addition or removal of a layer or region from a workpiece material by contact with a process gas in the manufacture of a microstructure are enhanced by the use of recirculation of the process gas. Recirculation is effected by a pump that has no sliding or abrading parts that contact the process gas, nor any wet (such as oil) seals or purge gas in the pump. Improved processing can be achieved by a process chamber that contains a baffle, a perforated plate, or both, appropriately situated in the chamber to deflect the incoming process gas and distribute it over the workpiece surface. In certain embodiments, a diluent gas is added to the recirculation loop and continuously circulated therein, followed by the bleeding of the process gas (such as an etchant gas) into the recirculation loop. Also, cooling of the process gas, etching chamber and/or sample platen can aid the etching process. The method is particularly useful for adding to or removing material from a sample of microscopic dimensions.

Apparatus and method for flow of process gas in an ultra-clean environment

The etching of a sacrificial silicon portion in a microstructure such as a microelectromechanical structure by the use of etchant gases that are noble gas fluorides or halogen fluorides is performed with greater selectivity toward the silicon portion relative to other portions of the microstructure by slowing the etch rate. The etch rate is preferably 30 um/hr or less, and can be 3 um/hr or even less. The selectivity is also improved by the addition of non-etchant gaseous additives to the etchant gas. Preferably the non-etchant gaseous additives that have a molar-averaged formula weight that is below that of molecular nitrogen offer significant advantages over gaseous additives of higher formula weights by causing completion of the etch in a shorter period of time while still achieving the same improvement in selectivity. The etch process is also enhanced by the ability to accurately determine the end point of the removal step. A vapor phase etchant is used to remove a material that has been deposited on a substrate, with or without other deposited structure thereon. By creating an impedance at the exit of an etching chamber (or downstream thereof), as the vapor phase etchant passes from the etching chamber, a gaseous product of the etching reaction is monitored, and the end point of the removal process can be determined. The vapor phase etching process can be flow through, a combination of flow through and pulse, or recirculated back to the etching chamber. Also, the etch selectivity can be improved by doping the sacrificial material.

Method for achieving improved selectivity in an etching process

The etching of a sacrificial silicon portion in a microstructure such as a microelectromechanical structure by the use of etchant gases that are noble gas fluorides or halogen fluorides is performed with greater selectivity toward the silicon portion relative to other portions of the microstructure by the addition of non-etchant gaseous additives to the etchant gas. An additional discovery is that non-etchant gaseous additives that have a molar averaged formula weight that is below that of molecular nitrogen offer significant advantages over gaseous additives of higher formula weights by causing completion of the etch in a shorter period of time while still achieving the same improvement in selectivity.

Fluoride gas etching of silicon with improved selectivity

An induction loop vehicle detection system and method of making and installing such a system are disclosed wherein the conduit sections containing the induction loop are preformed and prewired integrally with all interconnects by using removable expansion joints to assemble sections of prewired and sealed conduit in any desired configuration. The expansion joints can be removed after assembly to enable the induction loop to be folded down for shipment. The expansion joints also enable longitudinal displacement of the induction loop conduit due to thermal differential expansion during installation and during extreme changes in temperature over the lifetime of the system, thereby preserving the integrity of the roadway and fault free operation of the induction loop. The wires forming the induction loop are completely sealed within the conduit with an asphalt rubber material thereby precluding any moisture penetration. The induction loop vehicle detector is installed by a method of dry routing of pavement which eliminates labor intensive slurry clean-up. The conduit is sealed in the routed slot in a roadway with a pressure withstanding asphalt rubber material which tenaciously adheres to the side surfaces of the routed slot.

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Los Gatos, CA, United States of America

Douglas B MacDonald