X-ray obscuration film and related techniques

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9812228-B2
Application number	US-201615367642-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 2, 2016
Priority date	Mar 14, 2013
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

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. A method of obscuring circuit lines in a radiographic inspection, comprising:
placing an obscuration film between an electromagnetic radiation source and an electromagnetic radiation detector, the obscuration film being coupled to an electronic device including the circuit lines; and
obscuring the circuit lines using an optical interference pattern of the obscuration film,
wherein the obscuration film includes a plurality of wire mesh each having different sizes with respect to each other, and
wherein the optical interference pattern is created by the plurality of wire mesh.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obscuring the circuit lines includes partially shielding electromagnetic radiation energy from the electromagnetic radiation source using the obscuration film.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein
the obscuration film includes a plurality of metallic alloy wire mesh and,
the partially shielding electromagnetic radiation energy includes at least one of the plurality of metallic alloy wire mesh absorbing at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation energy.

4. A method of obscuring circuit lines in a radiographic inspection, comprising:
placing an obscuration film between an electromagnetic radiation source and an electromagnetic radiation detector, the obscuration film being coupled to an electronic device including the circuit lines; and
obscuring the circuit lines using an optical interference pattern of the obscuration film,
wherein the obscuration film includes a foil sheet interposed between a plurality of wire mesh, and
the optical interference pattern is created by an orientation of the foil sheet interposed between a plurality of wire mesh.

5. An obscuration film, comprising:
at least one metallic wire mesh;
a foil sheet in contact with metallic portions of the at least one metallic wire mesh,
wherein the obscuration film is configured to create an optical interference pattern when the obscuration film is placed between an electromagnetic radiation source and an electromagnetic radiation detector, and
wherein the at least one metallic wire mesh overlays the foil sheet.

6. The obscuration film of claim 5 , wherein the obscuration film is configured to create the optical interference pattern by using the at least one metallic wire mesh to absorb at least a portion of electromagnetic radiation energy from the electromagnetic radiation source.

7. The obscuration film of claim 5 , wherein the foil sheet extends into openings of at least one metallic wire mesh.

8. The obscuration film of claim 5 , wherein the foil sheet is comprised of indium or an indium alloy, and the at least one metallic wire mesh is comprised of copper or a copper alloy.

9. The obscuration film of claim 5 , further comprising:
a first wire mesh and a second wire mesh from among the at least one metallic wire mesh,
wherein the foil sheet is between the first wire mesh and the second wire mesh.

10. The obscuration film of claim 9 , wherein the first wire mesh has a thickness different than the second wire mesh.

11. The obscuration film of claim 5 , being moldable to conform to an electronic device.

12. An electronic device, comprising:
an obscuration film including a plurality of metallic wire mesh having different sizes with respect to each another; and
an electronic circuit coupled to the obscuration film,
wherein the obscuration film is configured to create an optical interference pattern obscuring circuit lines in the electronic circuit, when the obscuration film is placed between an electromagnetic radiation detector and an electromagnetic radiation source during an radiographic inspection.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of metallic wire mesh are welded together.

14. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the obscuration film is integral with the electronic circuit.

15. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of metallic wire mesh are comprised of copper or a copper alloy.

16. The electronic device of claim 12 , further comprising:
a metallic layer in contact with metallic portions of the plurality of metallic wire mesh.

17. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein
the metallic layer is a foil sheet, and
the obscuration film has a thickness of no more than 5 mils.

18. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the metallic layer comprises indium or an indium alloy.

19. The method of claim 4 , wherein the obscuring the circuit lines includes partially shielding electromagnetic radiation energy from the electromagnetic radiation source using the obscuration film, and
the partially shielding electromagnetic radiation energy includes at least one of the plurality of metallic alloy wire mesh absorbing at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation energy.

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

• H01L2924/00

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H05K1/0209

  External configuration of printed circuit board adapted for heat dissipation, e.g. lay-out of conductors, coatings · CPC title

• G21F3/00 Primary

  Shielding characterised by its physical form, e.g. granules, or shape of the material · CPC title