USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Isaac Lagnado

Paul R De La Houssaye

Ronald Eugene Reedy

Harper J Whitehouse

Graham A Garcia

James W Bond

Jeffrey M Speiser

Wadad B Dubbelday

James M Alsup

Shannon D Kasa

Patrick A Shoemaker

Gene L Haviland

A high precision microelectromechanical capacitor with programmable voltage source includes a monolithic MEMS device having a capacitance actuator, a trim capacitor, and a high precision, programmable voltage source. The trim capacitor has a variable capacitance value, preferably for making fine adjustments in capacitance. The capacitance actuator is preferably mechanically coupled to and electrically isolated from the trim capacitor and is used to control the capacitance value of the trim capacitor. The capacitance adjustment of the trim capacitor is non-destructive and may be repeated indefinitely. The trim capacitor may be adjusted by mechanically changing the distance between its electrodes. The programmable voltage source provides a highly accurate and stable output voltage potential corresponding to control signals for controlling the capacitance actuator. The programmable voltage source may optionally include a floating-gate transistor coupled to an amplifier for storing charge and therefore, providing a non-volatile, stable, and adjustable output voltage potential.

High precision microelectromechanical capacitor with programmable voltage source

A Method of Making a High Precision Microelectromechanical Capacitor with Programmable Voltage Source includes steps for forming a monolithic MEMS device having a capacitance actuator, a trim capacitor, and a high precision, programmable voltage source. The trim capacitor has a variable capacitance value, preferably for making fine adjustments in capacitance. The capacitance actuator is preferably mechanically coupled to and electrically isolated from the trim capacitor and is used to control the capacitance value of the trim capacitor. The capacitance adjustment of the trim capacitor is non-destructive and may be repeated indefinitely. The trim capacitor may be adjusted by mechanically changing the distance between its electrodes. The programmable voltage source provides a highly accurate and stable output voltage potential corresponding to control signals for controlling the capacitance actuator. The programmable voltage source may optionally include a floating-gate transistor coupled to an amplifier for storing charge and therefore, providing a non-volatile, stable, and adjustable output voltage potential.

Method of making a high precision microelectromechanical capacitor with programmable voltage source

A method for fabricating silicon-germanium alloy on a sapphire substrate of the present invention comprises the steps of passivating a surface of a sapphire substrate, maintaining a deposition temperature of about 900 degrees C., exposing the passivated surface to a flow of about 1 slm of about 2 percent silane in a hydrogen carrier and a flow of at least 200 sccm of about 10 percent germane in a hydrogen carrier to form a layer of single crystal silicon germanium alloy on the passivated surface of the sapphire substrate, and ramping the temperature down to about 650 degrees C. during the step of exposing the passivated surface to the germane gas.

Method for making silicon germanium alloy and electric device structures

A process for developing conductive interconnect regions between integrated circuit semiconductor devices formed on an insulating substrate utilizes the semiconductor material itself for formation of device interconnect regions. A patterned layer of semiconductor material is formed directly on the surface of an insulating substrate. The patterned layer includes regions where semiconductor devices are to be formed and regions which are to be used to interconnect terminals of predetermined ones of the semiconductor devices. After forming the semiconductor devices in selected regions of the semiconductor material, the regions of the semiconductor material patterned for becoming interconnects are converted to a metallic compound of the semiconductor material.

Semiconductor-on-insulator device interconnects

Process for making semiconductor-on-insulator device interconnects

A four-quadrant analog multiplier circuit provides an output which is proportional to two voltage inputs. The circuit includes a pair of depletion mode transistors having gain constants equal in magnitude and threshold voltages equal in magnitude. The gates of the transistors are coupled in common. One input is applied to the common gates. The other input and its inverse are separately applied to source/drain terminals of the two transistors.

CMOS analog four-quadrant multiplier

A charge-coupled device (CCD) analog and digital correlator comprises identical modules, each of which is a simple analog CCD correlator with digital input and output. Circuits are included:

CCD Analog and digital correlators

A device for implementing the arithmetic operations of addition and multication utilizing CCD concepts and MOSFET properties. First and second CCD channels convert first and second input voltages into first and second charge quantities, respectively. The first and second charge quantities are added in a third CCD channel to provide a third charge quantity linearly proportional to the sum of the first and second input voltages. The three charge quantities are sensed by three floating gate amplifiers operated in the saturation region. The outputs of the floating gate amplifiers are subsequently combined by a differential amplifier, the output of which is linearly proportional to the product of the first and second input voltages.

High-frequency CCD adder and multiplier

A signal processing sensor which utilizes a combination of charge transfer devices and signal processing concepts which simultaneously measures the incident optical signal and performs a linear transformation upon that signal. Two CCD registers are arranged on either side of a photodiode array. Independent control of the transfer gates which control the flow of information stored in the depletion region of the photodiodes results in independent functioning of the two CCD registers. The difference between the charge in the two registers is taken at the output in order to provide both positive and negative weight for the data pattern that is to be convolved or correlated.

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San Diego, CA, United States of America

Isaac Lagnado