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:
Jun. 02, 2009
Filed:
May. 24, 2006
A David Johnson, San Leandro, CA (US);
A David Johnson, San Leandro, CA (US);
TiNi Alloy Company, San Leandro, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of forming a single crystal in a thin film by progressively rapidly heating (and cooling) a narrow band of amorphous material. The amorphous thin film may be of shape memory alloy such as TiNi or CuAlNi. Heating may be accomplished by a line-focused laser beam. The thin film may be formed by sputter deposition on a substrate such as silicon. The thin film crystal that is formed has non-isotropic stress/strain characteristics, and very large recoverable strain in a preferred direction. The single crystal SMA exhibits greater strain recovery; Constant force deflection; Wider transition temperature range; Very narrow loading hysteresis; and Recovery that is repeatable & complete. Single Crystal SMA is manufactured by pulling a single crystal from melt, a method similar to that used by the semiconductor industry to fabricate silicon boules. This process enables manufacture of materials that approach theoretical limits.