X-ray obscuration film and related techniques

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9515030-B2
Application number	US-201615014160-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 3, 2016
Priority date	Mar 14, 2013
Publication date	Dec 6, 2016
Grant date	Dec 6, 2016

Abstract

An X-ray obscuration (XRO) film comprising one or more metallic wire mesh layers and an adjacent layer of indium foil having portions which extend into openings of the wire mesh and in contact with metallic portions thereof. The XRO film can be capable of absorbing at least a portion of X-ray energy thereby creating an interference pattern when the XRO film is coupled with an electronic circuit and placed between an X-ray source and an X-ray detector and subjected to radiographic inspection. The interference pattern can create sufficient visual static to effectively obscure circuit lines in the electronic circuit when subjected to radiographic inspection techniques. The XRO film can be substantially thinner than existing solutions for preventing X-ray inspection with an exemplary embodiment being no more than 5 mils thick. The metallic XRO film can also provide electromagnetic shielding and/or heat dissipation for electronic circuits.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An obscured electronic device comprising:
an electronic circuit including a plurality of circuit lines; and
an obscuration film,
the obscuration film being configured to absorb at least a portion of electromagnetic radiation energy and to create an optically created interference pattern obscuring the plurality of circuit lines of the electronic circuit when the device is placed between an electromagnetic radiation source and an electromagnetic radiation detector.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the obscuration film comprises:
a first wire mesh, and
a second wire mesh.

3. The device of claim 2 , wherein said obscuration film further comprises:
a layer of material having portions which extend into openings of the first and second wire meshes and in contact with portions thereof.

4. The device of claim 2 , wherein said obscuration film further comprises:
a layer of material configured between the first and second wire meshes and in contact with portions thereof.

5. The device of claim 2 , wherein said first wire mesh has a first mesh size and said second wire mesh has a second mesh size, said first mesh size being different from said second mesh size.

6. The device of claim 3 , wherein said material comprises indium, said first wire mesh comprises copper, and said second wire mesh comprises copper.

7. The device of claim 3 , wherein said obscuration film is less than 10 mils thick.

8. The device of claim 2 , wherein said interference pattern is a moiré interference pattern.

9. An electronic circuit comprising:
a non-frangible obscuration layer integral to the electronic circuit, the obscuration layer comprising:
a layer of material; and
wire,
wherein the non-frangible obscuration layer is configured to absorb at least a portion of electromagnetic radiation energy and to create an interference pattern when the electronic circuit is placed between an electromagnetic radiation source and an electromagnetic radiation detector.

10. The electronic circuit of claim 9 , wherein the electronic circuit is an electronic device, a wiring circuit, a printed wiring board, an antenna pattern, or an electronic hybrid.

11. The electronic circuit of claim 9 , wherein the layer of material has portions which extend into openings formed by the wire and in contact with portions thereof.

12. The electronic circuit of claim 10 , wherein the wire comprises copper wire.

13. The electronic circuit of claim 9 , wherein the interference pattern is a moiré interference pattern.

14. The electronic circuit of claim 9 , wherein the wire comprises first wire having a first wire size and second wire having a second wire size, the first wire size being different than the second wire size.

15. An electronic circuit comprising:
an obscuration layer integral to the electronic circuit, the obscuration layer comprising:
a wire mesh, and
an adjacent layer of material having portions which extend into openings of the wire mesh and in contact with portions thereof,

the obscuration layer being configured to absorb at least a portion of electromagnetic radiation energy and to create an interference pattern when the electronic circuit is placed between an electromagnetic radiation source and an electromagnetic radiation detector.

16. The electronic circuit of claim 15 , wherein the electronic circuit is an electronic device, a wiring circuit, a printed wiring board, an antenna pattern, or an electronic hybrid.

17. The obscuration film of claim 15 , wherein the layer of material has portions which extend into openings formed by the wire mesh and in contact with portions thereof.

18. The obscuration film of claim 6 , wherein the wire mesh comprises copper wire.

19. The obscuration film of claim 15 , wherein the interference pattern is a moiré interference pattern.

20. The obscuration film of claim 15 , wherein the obscuration layer comprises first wire having a first wire size and second wire having a second wire size, the first wire size being different than the second wire size.

Assignees

• Lockheed Corp

Inventors

• Gonya Stephen
• Iannon Jesse

Classifications

• H10W42/40

  protecting against tampering, e.g. unauthorised inspection or reverse engineering · CPC title

• H10W42/20

  protecting against electromagnetic or particle radiation, e.g. light, X-rays, gamma-rays or electrons · CPC title

• H05K2201/0715

  provided by an outer layer of PCB · CPC title

• H05K1/0275

  Security details, e.g. tampering prevention or detection · CPC title

• H01L2924/00

  Electricity · mapped topic