Award Data

As semiconductors heat up, thermal expansion induces mechanical stresses and these stresses can either cause failure, or a change in the performance due to changes in electron transport. Understanding these e ects is challenging due to the coupled physics nature of the problem. General statement of how this problem is being addressed This problem is being addressed by solving for each of the separ ...

In order for Moores law (exponential growth of compute capability) to continue to hold, the bandwidths of interconnects will need to be increased by 10x or moreto well beyond 100Gbs. This represents a formidable challenge to Integrated Circuit (IC) manufacturers because higher frequency will exacerbate already strained power dissipation of traditional copper interconnects. As a result, server and ...

Larger, taller wind turbines could significantly reduce the cost of wind energy and enable much broader deployment, but traditional tower designs cannot cost-effectively scale up due to the size constraints associated with road and rail transportation. Wind turbine towers face a critical bottleneck in the form of the 14-foot diameter limit imposed by over-road transport. With current designs, to ...

Eden Park Illumination, Inc. is pursuing the development and commercialization of large arrays of microcavity plasmas capable of generating light in the vacuum ultraviolet and deep ultraviolet wavelength ranges (VUV and UVC espectively), but in a slim and flat form factor. Ultraviolet is well known to be efficient in enabling a number of chemical processes, and is particularly effective for disinf ...

There is a need for condition monitoring sensors capable of functioning in the harshest environments associated with advanced power systems that will: directly contribute to improving system control, protect capital equipment investment, and promote safety through prevention of catastrophic equipment failure. These harsh environments include extreme temperatures (800-1800C), high press ...

The electricity produced from fossil fuels is essential to the worlds prosperity and security. On the other hand, increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration caused by the fossil fuel combustion are causing concerns regarding global warming. Although there are several methods for separating CO2 from the flue gases at existing coal-fired power plants, all of them have significant drawbacks, includin ...

Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) offers to tap almost unlimited sources of inexpensive energy. While ICF has been demonstrated at the Department of Energy (DOE) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), its commercialization to inertial fusion energy (IFE) is impeded by the lack of an efficient and economical laser driver. Drivers for todays ICF facilities generate only a few pulses per day ...

To dramatically reduce CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants, and mitigate their impact on global climate change, DOE has called for technologies that can capture at least 90% of CO2 emissions from an existing coal-fired power plant with no more than a 35% increase in the cost of electricity. One process design approach with the potential to achieve these goals is through the use of advanced ...

Advancements are needed to improve and optimize the performance of existing and future nuclear power plants and nuclear power systems by developing and improving the reliability of advanced instrumentation. A need has been identified for an improved control rod position sensor for fault-free confirmation of control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) function, improving long term reliability, maximizing SC ...

Use of liquid lithium as a plasmafacing component for fusion reactors is ideal due to its low atomic number (Z=3) vs. tungsten (Z=74), keeping plasma hot with low radiative emission and minimal density depletion, and ability to flow over surfaces to remove hydrogen/impurities and keep a surface cool with bulk liquid flow and highheat transfer properties. The primary challenge is handling, control, ...