Claims
- 1-13. (cancelled)
- 14. The method of achieving a vacuum seal of a closure member to a planar ceramic surface bounded by an outward peripheral lateral ceramic lip and an inwardly disposed aperture, comprising the steps of
metallizing said planar ceramic surface with a metallization for which a selected low melting point metal exhibits a relatively high wettability, applying a preformed gasket of said low melting point metal to said metallized planar surface surrounding said aperture where a seal is desired and wetting said surface with said metal in the fluid state thereof, urging said closure member against said metal with sufficient force in a range to cause cold flow of said metal outwardly around said outer lip and to limit said cold flow inwardly to said aperture, whereby a parallel relation of said planar surface with said closure member is facilitated, and relaxing said force.
- 15-19. (cancelled)
- 20. A method in accordance with claim 14 in which said gasket of metal comprises indium.
- 21. A method in accordance with claim 14 in which said closure member is urged against said metal with a pressure in the range of between 1000 to 8000 psi.
- 22. A method in accordance with claim 20 in which said closure member is urged against said indium gasket with a pressure in the range of between 1000 to 8000 psi.
- 23. A method in accordance with claim 14 in which an assembled but open package is sealed by pressing said closure member against said indium gasket while said assembled and open package is maintained in a vacuum chamber.
- 24. A method in accordance with claim 23 in which said vacuum chamber is maintained under ultra high vacuum conditions.
- 25. A method in accordance with claim 23 in which said assembled but open package is sealed in a chamber of about 10−10 Torr.
- 26. The method of creating a unitary vacuum microelectronic imaging device comprising:
laminating a structure comprising first and second planar end plates and a plurality of insulating intermediate planar plates disposed therebetween, one of said end plates comprising a transparent wall with a photocathode on a surface, forming a cavity in said laminated structure by positioning at least three of said intermediate plates against each other, each of said intermediate plates being selected as to have an aperture therein as to form a cavity in said laminated structure when said plates are positioned against each other, said at least three plates having apertures that vary non-monotonically when positioned in series with one another, positioning and bonding said transparent end plate onto an intermediate plate by flowing an indium seal between said end plate and said intermediate plate with said photocathode surface on said end plate facing said cavity, positioning and bonding a microelectronic device at the other said end plate opposite to said end plate with a transparent wall, and creating a vacuum pocket within said cavity, said indium seal being pressed into said bonding relationship sealing said vacuum device while the assembly of said device is maintained in an ultra high vacuum environment.
- 27. The method of creating a unitary vacuum microelectronic imaging device in accordance with claim 26 in which the surface of said intermediate plate is first metallized with a titanium-tungsten and nickel gold deposition prior to flowing said indium seal between said end plate and said intermediate plate.
Government Interests
[0001] This invention was made with United States Government support under the cooperative agreement number 70NANB9H3015 awarded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Divisions (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10340386 |
Jan 2003 |
US |
Child |
10879904 |
Jun 2004 |
US |
Parent |
09652516 |
Aug 2000 |
US |
Child |
10340386 |
Jan 2003 |
US |