The present invention includes a method of creating high Q empty substrate integrated waveguide devices and/or system with low loss, mechanically and thermally stabilized in photodefinable glass ceramic substrate. The photodefinable glass ceramic process enables high performance, high quality, and/or low-cost structures. Compact low loss RF empty substrate integrated waveguide devices are a cornerstone technological requirement for RF systems, in particular, for portable systems.

A tempered glass sheet (G4) includes a compressive stress layer having a compressive stress on a main surface, and a tensile stress layer having a tensile stress in an inside. The tempered glass sheet (G4) includes: a highly anisotropic stress region (Qa) which is arranged in at least part of an end edge portion, and which has a stress showing anisotropy in a plane parallel to the main surface; and a low anisotropic stress region (Qb) which is arranged on a center side in a main surface direction so as to be adjacent to the highly anisotropic stress region (Qa), and which has a stress showing lower anisotropy than the highly anisotropic stress region (Qa) in the same plane parallel to the main surface.

A method for structuring a decorative or technical pattern in the thickness of an object made of an at least partially transparent amorphous, semi-crystalline or crystalline material, wherein the object is made of an at least partially transparent material including a top surface and a bottom surface which extends away from the top surface. The top or bottom surfaces is provided with a mask defining an opening whose outline corresponds to the profile of the pattern to be structured, the mask covering the top or bottom surface at the positions which are not to be structured. The pattern is structured with a mono- or multicharged ion beam through the opening of the mask, wherein the mechanical properties of the mask are sufficient to prevent the ions of the ion beam from etching the top or bottom surface at the positions where this top or bottom surface is covered by the mask.

Plasma etching processes for forming patterns in high refractive index glass substrates, such as for use as waveguides, are provided herein. The substrates may be formed of glass having a refractive index of greater than or equal to about 1.65 and having less than about 50 wt % SiO.sub.2. The plasma etching processes may include both chemical and physical etching components. In some embodiments, the plasma etching processes can include forming a patterned mask layer on at least a portion of the high refractive index glass substrate and exposing the mask layer and high refractive index glass substrate to a plasma to remove high refractive index glass from the exposed portions of the substrate. Any remaining mask layer is subsequently removed from the high refractive index glass substrate. The removal of the glass forms a desired patterned structure, such as a diffractive grating, in the high refractive index glass substrate.

Methods of forming vias in substrates having at least one damage region extending from a first surface etching the at least one damage region of the substrate to form a via in the substrate, wherein the via extends through the thickness T of the substrate while the first surface of the substrate is masked. The mask is removed from the first surface of the substrate after etching and upon removal of the mask the first surface of the substrate has a surface roughness (Rq) of about less than 1.0 nm.

Methods for coating a glass-based article, for example a cover glass, with a coating layer that is not deposited on the perimeter edge of the glass-based article. The methods may include direct patterning of a sacrificial material over a first region on a top surface the glass-based article but not a second region on the top surface of the glass-based article. The first region includes at least a portion of a perimeter edge of the glass-based article that is to be protected from deposition of the coating layer. After direct patterning of a sacrificial material and deposition of a coating layer, the sacrificial material may be removed such that the coating layer is disposed on the second region on the top surface of the glass-based article and not the first region. These methods may be used to make a glass-based article with non-edge-to-edge coating layers.

Methods for coating a glass-based article, for example a cover glass, with a coating layer that is not deposited on the perimeter edge of the glass-based article. The methods may include disposing a mask having an eave over a glass-based article to protect perimeter portions of the glass-based article from coating of the coating layer during a deposition process. The eave may be dimensioned to form a coating layer having non-uniform coating thickness region around the edge of the coating layer that is not visible to the naked eye on the surface of a glass-based article. The methods may be used to make a glass-based article with non-edge-to-edge coating layers.

The present invention relates to xylanase variants. The present invention also relates to polynucleotides encoding the variants; nucleic acid constructs, vectors, and host cells comprising the polynucleotides; and methods of using the variants.

A glass substrate includes a thin portion having a first surface and a second surface opposed to the first surface, a thick portion having a first surface and a second surface opposed to the first surface and having a sheet thickness t.sub.3 that is larger than a sheet thickness t.sub.2 of the thin portion, a connection portion having a first connection surface and a second connection surface, the first connection surface connecting the first surface of the thin portion to the first surface of the thick portion, the second connection surface connecting the second surface of the thin portion to the second surface of the thick portion. The first connection surface has a curvature radius of more than or equal to 400 ?m.

The problem of the present invention is to provide a substrate with high versatility, a method for producing the substrate, and a method for producing a unit cell using the substrate. The problem is solved by providing a substrate comprising a plurality of alkali metal azide spots on a substantially flat surface.