The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 19, 1998
Filed:
Nov. 14, 1996
Douglas M Smith, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Gregory P Johnston, Albuquerque, NM (US);
William C Ackerman, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Shin-Puu Jeng, Plano, TX (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
This invention pertains generally to aging methods suited to aerogel thin film fabrication, and particularly to techniques for improving gel strength and/or aerogel dielectric constant by a rapid aging technique, which avoid damage or premature drying of wet gel thin films during aging. A substrate having a wet gel thin film deposited thereon is contacted with a saturated water vapor atmosphere, preferably at an elevated pressure and a temperature greater than 100.degree. C. The method may comprise a vapor-phase exchange step to remove low boiling point pore liquids such as ethanol prior to or during aging. The method may also comprise a vapor-phase exchange step to replace water in the wet gel with another pore liquid such as acetone to stop the aging process and prepare the wet gel for drying. A vapor-phase aging catalyst (e.g. ammonia) may also be used to enhance the aging process. The present invention allows aging of wet gel thin films to be completed in a few minutes instead of the days generally required for conventional bulk gel aging.