Microfab Technologies (United States)

We describe a self-contained energy harvester using vibration energy harvesting sources. The power generation module is segmented such that it can be expanded to provide a power based on an expected need, and back-up power can be provided to allow for periods of inactivity. Design innovations improve performance and energy obtained from the module by more closely matching the energy source frequency and the harvester resonant frequency and by using optimized harvesting techniques from the chosen harvesters.

The explosive vapor trace detectors deployed in the field require frequent verification and calibration to guarantee their accurate operation. In this paper we describe the latest advancements in the use of precision micro-dispensing technology for explosive vapor generation. The portable explosive vapor generator uses digitally controlled ink-jet dispensing to precisely eject minute amounts of dilute explosive solutions and convert them into vapor by placing them on a heater. The amount of explosive delivered to the detectors can be controlled by the number of drops (dose mode-specified number of drops is generated) and the frequency of the droplet generation continuous mode-droplets are generated continuously at fixed frequency. The control for the heater temperature allows setting specific temperatures, but also permits specification of temperature profiles. By using a small thermal capacitance heater it is possible to achieve very sharp temperature increases. The ability to precisely control the heater temperature over a wide range permits the generation of vapors for all common explosives.

In the last decade, ink-jet has come to be viewed as a precision microdispensing tool, in addition to its huge success in color printing. Today, this tool is being used in a wide range of applications, including electrical & optical interconnects, sensors, medical diagnostics, drug delivery, MEMS packaging, and nanostructure materials deposition. Ink-jet microdispensing is data-driven, non-contact, and is capable of precise deposition of picoliter volumes at high rates, even onto non-planar surfaces. Being data-driven, ink-jet dispensing is highly flexible and can be readily automated into manufacturing lines. This paper will illustrate a few of the applications of ink-jet technology that are either BioMEMS packaging applications, or specific Biomedical Device manufacturing applications.

Distributed read-out imaging detectors (DROIDs) combine a good energy resolution with a high position resolving power. Therefore they are promising candidates to build cameras with a huge detection area. A new method is proposed to determine the photon energy and impact position from the two signals of a one-dimensional DROID. For this purpose the diffusion equation was solved for asymmetric devices with arbitrarily trapping. The new method is then applied to fit the experimental data obtained from the illumination with soft X-ray of a 400 μm long Ta absorber strip with one Ta/Al read-out STJ at each end.

We are in the early stages of a worldwide transition in television broadcasting from analog to digital. In a few places in the world, analog broadcasts have already been switched off; however, most of the world will still require support for legacy broadcasts through 2009, 2012, and even 2015. During this transition period, it is necessary to support both the legacy analog TV standards – NTSC, PAL, and SECAM – as well as the new digital TV standards – DVB-T, ISDB-T, and ATSC. Because of this transition, there will be a multi-year increase in the unit volume shipments both for digital TVs that incorporate both digital and analog reception and also for converter boxes that accept a digital TV input and convert it to an analog TV output for display on a legacy analog TV. The technical challenges for receiving analog or digital TV broadcasts are different, and the challenges increase when both must co-exist. In addition to the technical challenges, the cost of the solution must also be made very low for wide market adoption. Today, almost all TV sets and off-air set-top converter boxes still use surprisingly low-cost tuner modules consisting of hundreds of discrete components and requiring manual tuning (frequency alignment). The first three papers in this session present highly integrated TV tuners to meet both the technical and commercial challenges of the digital TV transition around the world.

The study of protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions is critical to understand biological processes. This article presents the methodology to create peptide microarrays in situ for the high-throughput screening of complex biomolecules. The in situ ink-jet peptide synthesis results in a conservation of costly reagent and amino acids, whereas providing a means to produce denser peptide arrays. A smaller amount of test sample is required to observe interaction when using these high-density peptide arrays.

ABSTRACT In the last decade, ink-jet has come to be viewed as a precision microdispensing tool, in addition to its huge success in color printing. Today, this tool is being used in a wide range of applications, including electrical & optical interconnects, sensors, medical diagnostics, drug delivery, MEMS packaging, and nanostructure materials deposition. Ink-jet microdispensing is data-driven, non-contact, and is capable of precise deposition of picoliter volumes at high rates, even onto non-planar surfaces. Being data-driven, ink-jet dispensing is highly flexible and can be readily automated into manufacturing lines. This paper will illustrate a few of the applications of ink-jet technology that are either MEMS manufacturing applications, or relevant to potential MEMS manufacturing applications.

We report a new method of optoelectronic (OE) devices (e.g., vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) and photodiode (PD)) packaging which uses an inkjet printed microlens array, self-aligning (alignment accuracies 80%) and OE interconnects.

This paper presents a novel low-loss (1.74 dB) 3-pole Butterworth distributed filter operating in the Ka-band with a center frequency of 29 GHz. The filter has a compact 6 mm square footprint and is designed using 3-dimensional (3D) micromachined integrated coax. The integrated coax transmission lines are made of forty-one nickel layers and fabricated using a selective electrochemical metal deposition process (EFAB/spl trade/). Full-wave simulations of the filter using Ansoft HFSS show very good agreement on insertion loss compared with measured results. Using the EFAB/spl trade/, we have been able to produce low-loss, all-metal, completely shielded transmission lines with small bend radii and no inter-line coupling.