1. A plasma processing system, comprising:
a vacuum chamber defining a sidewall;
a vacuum seal coupling the sidewall of the vacuum chamber to a heat sink; and
a thermally conductive bridge coupled between the sidewall and the heat sink;
wherein the thermally conductive bridge is positioned relative to the vacuum seal such that the thermally conductive bridge redirects a conductive heat path from a heat source to the heat sink so that the heat path bypasses the vacuum seal.
2. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the bridge is flexible and conformable to the shape of the vacuum seal and vacuum chamber.
3. The plasma processing system of claim 2, wherein the bridge is elastic so that a contact to the heat source and to the heat sink can be made by compressing the bridge in at least one direction.
4. The plasma processing system of claim 3, wherein the bridge comprises a first component for making contact with the heat source and a second component for making contact with the heat sink.
5. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the bridge comprises a heat conducting component and elastic component coupled to the heat conducting component.
6. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the heat path conducts through at least a portion of the sidewall.
7. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the thermally conductive bridge is positioned so that the heat path bypasses a portion of the sidewall abutting the vacuum seal.
8. The plasma processing system of claim 1, where the sidewall is mechanically connected to the top cap of the vacuum chamber by the vacuum seal and the bridge.
9. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the heat sink is a top cap of the plasma chamber.
10. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the heat sink is a top plate of a plasma processing chamber in communication with the vacuum chamber.
11. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the sidewall comprises a quartz material.
12. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the plasma processing system comprises a plasma screen proximate to the vacuum seal.
13. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the plasma processing system comprises an inductive coil located about the sidewall of the plasma chamber.
14. The plasma processing system of claim 13, wherein the bridge is located between the inductive coil and the vacuum seal.
15. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the bridge is separated from the vacuum seal by a washer.
16. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the bridge is made of metal or graphite foam.
17. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the bridge comprises a heat conducting component and a flexible component coupled to the heat conducting component.
18. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the bridge comprises a spiral gasket.
19. The plasma processing system of claim 1, Wherein the bridge comprises a metal sleeve with an O-ring disposed inside the metal sleeve.
20. The plasma processing system of claim 1, wherein the bridge comprises a spring loaded C-clamp.
21. The plasma processing system of claim 20, wherein the spring loaded C-clamp has a plurality of cuts.
22. A plasma processing system, comprising:
a vacuum chamber comprising a sidewall;
an inductive coil wrapped around at least a portion of the sidewall;
a top cap coupled to the sidewall via a first vacuum seal;
a first thermally conductive bridge coupled between the sidewall and the top cap;
wherein the thermally conductive bridge is located between the inductive coil and the first vacuum seal such that the thermally conductive bridge redirects a heat path from the portion of the sidewall adjacent to the inductive coil to the top cap so that the heat path bypasses the first vacuum seal.
23. The plasma processing system of claim 22, wherein the sidewall of the vacuum chamber is coupled to a top plate of a plasma processing chamber via a second vacuum seal.
24. The plasma processing system of claim 23, wherein the system further comprises a second thermally conductive bridge coupled between the sidewall and the top plate of the plasma processing chamber, wherein the second thermally conductive bridge is located between the inductive coil and the second vacuum seal such that the thermally conductive bridge redirects a heat path from the portion of the sidewall adjacent to the inductive coil so that the heat path bypasses the second vacuum seal.
25. A method of protecting a seal from overheating in a plasma processing system, comprising:
coupling a sidewall of the plasma processing system to a heat sink using a vacuum seal; and
separating the vacuum seal from a heat source with a thermally conductive bridge that redirects a conductive heat path from the heat source to the heat sink such that the heat path bypasses the vacuum seal.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An optoelectronic device comprising:
a casing;
a laser assembly disposed within said casing;
a temperature control device communicating with said laser assembly, said temperature control device operating in either a cooling mode or a heating mode; and
a processor having microcode that, when executed, causes the processor to at least indirectly control the operating temperature of a laser diode included in the laser assembly so as to maintain current draw of the laser assembly within a predetermined range.
2. The optoelectronic device of claim 1, wherein said laser assembly comprises a Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexed Gigabit Interface Converter (DWDM GBIC) transceiver module.
3. The optoelectronic device of claim 2, wherein said DWDM GBIC is an XFP module.
4. The optoelectronic device of claim 1, wherein said casing temperature is maintained in a range from about 45\xb0 C. to about 80\xb0 C.
5. The optoelectronic device of claim 1, wherein said optoelectronic device draws less than about 400 mA of current when said casing temperature is about 85\xb0 C.
6. The optoelectronic device of claim 1, wherein a maximum current flow is less than 300 mA when said casing temperature is in a range from about 0\xb0 C. to about 75\xb0 C.
7. An optoelectronic device comprising:
a casing adapted to mount to a communication panel;
a laser assembly disposed within said casing and capable of drawing current from said communication panel;
a temperature control device communicating with said laser assembly; said temperature control device controlling a temperature of said casing; and
means for setting an optimized temperature of a laser diode of the laser assembly based upon a predetermined maximum current draw for the laser assembly, the optimized temperature being selected so as to prevent the current draw for the laser assembly to exceed the predetermined maximum current draw.
8. The optoelectronic device of claim 7, wherein said laser assembly comprises a Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexed Gigabit Interface Converter (DWDM GBIC) transceiver module.
9. The optoelectronic device of claim 8, wherein said DWDM GBIC is an XFP module.
10. The optoelectronic device of claim 7, wherein said casing temperature is maintained in a range from about 45\xb00 C. to about 80\xb0 C.
11. The optoelectronic device of claim 7, wherein, when said casing temperature is about 85\xb0 C., said optoelectronic device draws less than about 400 mA of current.
12. The optoelectronic device of claim 7, wherein a maximum current flow does not exceed 300 mA when said casing temperature is in a range from about 0\xb0 C. to about 75\xb0 C.
13. A method for balancing the current drawn by a laser over a range of operating temperatures for the laser, said method comprising the steps of:
determining a maximum current draw for a laser over an operating laser temperature range; and
determining an optimized temperature for the laser based upon the operating laser temperature range, the optimized temperature being selected so that when the operating laser temperature is increased to a maximum temperature of the temperature range the laser draws less than said maximum current, and, when said laser operating temperature is decreased to a minimum temperature for the operating laser temperature range the laser draws less than said maximum current.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein said laser operating temperature is maintained in C range from about \u22125\xb0 C. to about 80\xb0 C.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein said module draws less than about 400 mA of cut-rent when said laser operating temperature is about 85\xb0 C.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein a maximum current draw is less than 300 mA when said laser operating temperature is in a range from about \u22125\xb0 C. to about 75\xb0 C.
17. The method of claim 13, wherein said temperature range is from about \u22125\xb0 C. to about 75\xb0 C.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein said optimized temperature is about 50\xb0 C.
19. The method of claim 13, wherein said laser is part of a transceiver module.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein said transceiver module is an XFP module.
21. The method of claim 19, wherein said transceiver module is a dense wavelength division multiplexing gigabit interface converter (DWDM GBIC).
22. The method of claim 21, wherein said DWDM GBIC is an XFP module.
23. The optoelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to limit the amount of time the temperature control device is in the cooling mode.
24. The optoelectronic device of claim 7, wherein the means for setting is a microprocessor in communication with the laser assembly and disposed within the casing.