International Business Machines Corporation

Scott D Strand

Matthew Stephen Doyle

Jeffrey N Judd

Joseph Paul Kuczynski

Timothy Jerome Tofil

Thai Quoc Ngo

William Hemena

Randhir Singh Malik

Richard John Fishbune

Timothy Charles Daun-Lindberg

A fusible via is disclosed. The fusible via includes an upper contact. The fusible via further includes a handle portion having a first end and a second end. The upper contact is disposed on the first end of the handle portion. The handle portion comprises an alloy and a blowing agent. The alloy melts above a predefined solder reflow temperature but below a thermal degradation temperature of the blowing agent. The fusible via further includes a lower contact disposed on the second end of the handle portion.

Modified PCB vias to prevent burn events

A triggering condition is applied to a conductive polymer positioned in a drilled hole in a printed circuit board. The applied triggering condition causes the polymer to vertically expand within the drilled hole such that the expanded polymer creates an electrically conductive path between contact pads located in different layers of the printed circuit board.

Conductive polymers within drilled holes of printed circuit boards

An apparatus is disclosed that comprises a first security arrangement that overlaps a plurality of electronic components arranged within one or more layers. The first security arrangement comprises a first conductive layer patterned as a first array of a plurality of first conductive elements, and a second conductive layer separated from the first conductive layer by a dielectric layer. The second conductive layer patterned as a second array of a plurality of second conductive elements, and the first array and the second array collectively form a plurality of capacitive elements. The apparatus further comprises monitoring circuitry coupled with the first security arrangement and configured to detect a change in a capacitance of a first capacitive element of the plurality of capacitive elements, and determine, based on a location of the first capacitive element within the first array, whether to perform a predefined security action.

Security arrangement for integrated circuits using arrays of capacitive elements

A process includes utilizing a pin array that includes multiple segmented pins for forming selectively plated through holes. The process includes forming a PCB laminate structure that includes multiple spinel-doped core layers and multiple through holes. Each spinel-doped core layer includes a heat-activated spinel material incorporated into a dielectric material. The process includes aligning individual segmented pins of a pin array with corresponding through holes of the PCB laminate structure, where each segmented pin includes heated segment(s) and insulating segment(s). The process includes inserting the segmented pins of the pin array into the corresponding through holes and generating heat within each heated pin segment that is sufficient to form metal nuclei sites in selected regions of the spinel-doped core layers adjacent to portions of the through holes that contain the heated pin segments. The metal nuclei sites function as seed layers to enable formation of selectively plated through holes.

Pin array including segmented pins for forming selectively plated through holes

A process of utilizing a heat-activated conductive spinel material for PCB via overcurrent protection includes forming a PCB laminate structure that includes a spinel-doped insulator layer having a heat-activated conductive spinel material incorporated into a dielectric material as a spinel-based electrically non-conductive metal oxide. A sensing via is formed in the PCB laminate structure at a location that is proximate to a power via in the PCB laminate structure. The sensing via is electrically isolated from the power via by a region of the spinel-doped insulator layer and is electrically connected to a monitoring component configured to detect current flow through the sensing via that results from an overcurrent event in the power via that generates sufficient heat to cause the spinel-based electrically conductive metal oxide to release metal nuclei into the region to provide a conductive pathway through the region from the power via to the sensing via.

Heat-activated conductive spinel materials for printed circuit board via overcurrent protection

Embodiments of the disclosure generally provide compositions and methods involving textiles that repel insects by vibrations and oscillations. The random and chaotic oscillations are caused by molecular bond isomerizations in the textile material driven by visible light, such as sunlight.

Materials incorporating light actuated fluoroazobenzenes

An apparatus includes an electro-active polymer (EAP) structure configured to move, responsive to an electrical field, between a first position and a second position. The apparatus also includes a conductive particle interconnect (CPI) including an elastomeric carrier and conductive particles dispersed therein. The CPI is positioned proximate to at least a portion of the EAP structure and is configured to exhibit a first electrical resistance when the EAP structure is in the first position and to exhibit a second electrical resistance when the EAP structure is in the second position, where the first electrical resistance is different from the second electrical resistance.

Apparatus and method using electro-active polymers and conducting particle interconnects

A method includes printing a first magnetic material onto a substrate. The first magnetic material has a first magnetic characteristic and encodes first information based on the first magnetic characteristic. The method further includes printing a second magnetic material onto the substrate. The second magnetic material encodes second information and has a second magnetic characteristic different from the first magnetic characteristic. The second information is encoded based on the second magnetic characteristic.

Coded tags encoded using different magnetic materials and systems and methods of detecting coded tags

A method includes transmitting a first magnetic detection signal at a first magnetic frequency and transmitting a second magnetic detection signal at a second magnetic frequency. The method also includes detecting a first response from a first magnetic material to the first magnetic detection signal and detecting a second response from the second magnetic material to the second magnetic detection signal. Each of the first magnetic material and the second magnetic material is associated with a substrate of the coded tag. The method further includes determining that the coded tag encodes first information based on detecting the first response and determining that the coded tag encodes second information based on detecting the second response.

Coded tags encoded using different magnetic materials and methods of detecting coded tags

A coded tag includes a substrate. The coded tag includes a first magnetic material associated with the substrate. The first magnetic material has a first magnetic characteristic and encodes first information. The coded tag includes a second magnetic material associated with the substrate. The second magnetic material encodes second information and has a second magnetic characteristic that is different from the first magnetic characteristic.

Coded tags encoded using different magnetic materials and systems of detecting coded tags

A flexible electronic circuit includes a shape memory material disposed within a flexible dielectric material.

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Rochester, MN, United States of America

Scott D Strand