Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100108132 | NANO-DEVICES AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURE THEREOF - Disclosed herein is a nanodevice. Disclosed herein too is a method of manufacturing a nanodevice. In one embodiment the nanodevice includes a first substrate; a second substrate; a nanowire; the nanowire contacting the first substrate and the second substrate; the nanowire comprising a metal, a semi-conductor or a combination thereof. | 05-06-2010 |
20110075142 | OPTICAL DETECTION SYSTEM - Optical detection systems and optical spectrometric systems are presented. One embodiment is a parallelized optical detection system. The detection system includes collector optics configured to receive an input optical signal, a plurality of optical filters and a plurality of tunable cavities. The collector optics includes at least one collector lens and at least one fiber multiplexer. The plurality of optical filters are configured to receive the input optical signal from the fiber multiplexer, and have serially varying pass band configured to filter the input optical signal at respective bandwidths. Each of the plurality of tunable cavities is optically coupled to each filter of the respective plurality of optical filters to receive a respective filtered output signal. The plurality of tunable cavities have band-pass frequencies with center frequencies staggered. At least one fiber demultiplexer is configured to receive respective filtered signals from the plurality of tunable cavities, and at least one detector is configured to receive and detect an output optical signal from the demultiplexer. | 03-31-2011 |
20130277217 | THIN FILM MICROMACHINED GAS SENSOR - A thin film/MEMS electrochemical gas sensor includes a body having first and second joined subassemblies to form an interior portion of the body, and is composed of a semiconductor material. The body includes at least one opening configured to allow air to pass into the interior portion of the body. A membrane stack is located in the interior of the body, producing an electrical signal that represents a concentration of target gas in the air at the membrane stack. Conductive contacts are configured to provide electrical connection to the membrane stack to access the electrical signal produced by the membrane stack. | 10-24-2013 |
20140014793 | MOUNTING ASSEMBLY WITH AUTOMATIC ACTIVATION FOR ALARM UNITS - A mounting assembly and method for installing an alarm unit are provided. The mounting assembly includes a backplate having a front face and one or more keys extending from the front face, with the backplate being configured to be secured to a wall. The mounting assembly also includes a receptacle including one or more triggers electrically connected to a power source of the alarm unit, and defining one or more hanger recesses. The receptacle is configured to receive the one or more keys of the backplate in the one or more hanger recesses such that the one or more triggers are actuated by engagement with the one or more keys and relative movement between the backplate and the receptacle. The receptacle is physically secured to the backplate via engagement with the one or more keys. | 01-16-2014 |
20140015678 | LOW NUISANCE FAST RESPONSE HAZARD ALARM - Embodiments relate to systems for, and methods of, providing low nuisance, fast response hazard notification. Advantageously, the disclosed techniques avoid sounding an alarm in response to typical nuisance events, such as burnt food. | 01-16-2014 |
20140183947 | Methods And Apparatus For Managing And Utilizing Harvested Energy - An apparatus and a method are provided for managing energy harvested from one or more environmental sources and using the harvested energy to power an electronic device. An apparatus includes a primary power source and an energy harvester onboard the apparatus for converting energy from the environmental sources into harvested energy. The apparatus further includes an energy controller connected to the primary power source and the energy harvester, where the energy controller uses the harvested energy to power an electronic device onboard the apparatus. The electronic device can include a hazard detector or an access control device. The apparatus can also provide backup power using the harvested energy to power the electronic device when the primary power source fails. | 07-03-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080204743 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVED SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO IN RAMAN SIGNAL DETECTION FOR MEMS BASED SPECTROMETERS - A method of Raman detection for a portable, integrated spectrometer instrument includes directing Raman scattered photons by a sample to an avalanche photodiode (APD), the APD configured to generate an output signal responsive to the intensity of the Raman scattered photons incident thereon. The output signal of the APD is amplified and passed through a discriminator so as to reject at least one or more of amplifier noise and dark noise. A number of discrete output pulses within a set operational range of the discriminator is counted so as to determine a number of photons detected by the APD. | 08-28-2008 |
20080239306 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPTICAL POWER MANAGEMENT - A system and method for managing optical power for controlling thermal alteration of a sample undergoing spectroscopic analysis is provided. The system includes a moveable laser beam generator for irradiating the sample and a beam shaping device for moving and shaping the laser beam to prevent thermal overload or build up in the sample. The moveable laser beam generator includes at least one beam shaping device selected from the group consisting of at least one optical lens, at least one optical diffractor, at least one optical path difference modulator, at least one moveable mirror, at least one Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) integrated circuit (IC), and/or a liquid droplet. The system also includes an at least two degree of freedom (2 DOF) moveable substrate platform and a controller for controlling the laser beam generator and the substrate platform, and for analyzing light reflected from the sample. | 10-02-2008 |
20090201497 | OPTOFLUIDIC DEVICES AND METHODS OF USING THE SAME - An optofluidic device is provided. The device includes a cladding region having a first refractive index, and a channel defined by the cladding region such that the cladding region forms an inner surface or an interface of the channel. The channel is configured to house one or more of a liquid, a solid, a gas, a colloidal, or a suspension sample, wherein the sample has a second refractive index, where the channel is configured to guide radiation, and where the first refractive index is lower than the second refractive index. | 08-13-2009 |
20090257055 | HOLLOW-CORE WAVEGUIDE-BASED RAMAN SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Embodiments of the invention include a system for sensing homonuclear diatomic molecules, such as, for example, nitrogen. Other embodiments include a method for sensing homonuclear diatomic molecules. The system may include a light source, a hollow-core wave-guiding device that exhibits a low attenuation at predetermined operating optical frequencies and is in optical communication with the light source, a gas introduction system for introducing a gaseous medium between the light source and the hollow-core wave-guiding device, and a detector in optical communication with the hollow-core wave-guiding device. | 10-15-2009 |
20100007876 | HOLLOW-CORE WAVEGUIDE-BASED RAMAN SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Embodiments of the invention include a method for sensing. Other embodiments include a method for sensing molecules, for example, homonuclear diatomic molecules. The method may include transmitting light from a light source through a hollow-core wave-guiding device that exhibits a low attenuation at predetermined operating optical frequencies; introducing a gaseous medium between the light source and the hollow-core wave-guiding device; and detecting molecules within the gas. | 01-14-2010 |
20100182608 | IRREGULARLY SHAPED ACTUATOR FINGERS FOR A MICRO-ELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEM FABRY-PEROT FILTER - According to one embodiment, a micro-electrical mechanical system apparatus includes (i) a comb drive actuator having at least one irregularly shaped finger and (ii) a movable Fabry-Perot filter cavity mirror coupled to the comb drive actuator. According to some embodiments, a relationship between a voltage applied to the comb drive actuator and an amount of displacement associated with the movable mirror is substantially linear. | 07-22-2010 |
20100220331 | Micro-electromechanical system fabry-perot filter cavity - According to some embodiments, a micro-electrical mechanical system apparatus includes an actuator within a plane and at least one movable mirror oriented substantially normal to the plane. The actuator may move the movable mirror with respect to a fixed mirror oriented substantially normal to the plane and substantially parallel to the movable mirror. The space between the fixed and movable mirrors might comprise, for example, a Fabry-Perot filter cavity for a spectrometer. | 09-02-2010 |