Award Data

Advances in soft X-ray detector technology have enabled higher count rates while maintaining high spectral resolution. These new superconducting detectors share the common form of a pixilated active area that must be operated in the milli-Kelvin temperature range below the boiling temperature of liquid helium. Because the cryogenic detectors are under high vacuum and must be able to sense ambien ...

The performance and productivity of DOE synchrotron systems is hindered due to focusing limitations from imperfections in the mirror surfaces. The ability to manufacture higher quality mirrors is directly limited by the accuracy and efficiency of the systems used to measure them. Currently available measurement methods do not provide the manufacturing feedback or quality control to allow efficien ...

Improvements in performance of the components are needed for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, which is one of the key technologies for DOEs hydrogen production plan. In particular, high- performance ion-exchange membranes are needed that can withstand significantly higher mechanical loads due to high-pressure operation, while having significantly reduce hydrogen permeability and i ...

There is a clear requirement for gathering greater quantity and quality of atmospheric data in the Arctic regions. The harsh nature of the environment combined with remote location creates the need for technological solutions. Current efforts have successfully used small unmanned aerial systems (UAS); however, a large cost in both time and money is incurred when miniaturizing sensors to fit with ...

The global GDP has gone up from $38 Trillion in 2000 to $60 Trillion in 2009. Price increase in consumer products is directly proportional to rate of growth of global GDP. Fatty acids form the basic building blocks of skincare as well as personal hygiene consumer products. Within the last decade, fatty acid prices have more than quadrupled. Fatty acids with carbon range of C8 to C12 are prod ...

To address the DOE need for a high-power laser source used for synchronous photoinjection of GaAs photoemission guns, AdValue Photonics proposes to develop a radio-frequency (RF) synchronized 100W green fiber laser source with a repetition rate near 1GHz. Although GHz-rate mode-locked solid-state/fiber lasers in the near infrared have been previously demonstrated, which could be used as ...

Solid state lighting has not yet taken off in commercial buildings due to its high relative installed cost. On a normalized basis, solid state lighting replacement lamps are on the order of two times more expensive than equivalent compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), and five times more expensive than an equivalent downlight fixture. An additional barrier relates to the performance and cost of the dr ...

The development of large-area (m2) photodetectors with time resolutions of picoseconds (10-12 seconds) and submillimeter space resolutions would open new opportunities in collider detectors at the Energy Frontier, kaon and neutrino experiments at the Intensity Frontier, photon detection in detectors at the Cosmic Frontier, and applications with a large impact on societal issues such as low-dose-r ...

An improved method is needed for the detection of radiological materials for nuclear nonproliferation and safety. Current techniques using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), while robust, are limited in range due to pulse energy and diffraction. Furthermore, atmospheric broadening of the spectral lines reduces the sensitivity of the detection scheme, such as optical emission spectroscopy ...

Solid-state power electronic circuits that incorporate switching devices such as IGBTs, IGCTs and MOSFETs can now operate at voltages as high as 3KV to 6.0+KV with peak currents of 0.5-6.0+KA. Modulators built with various topologies require high voltage, energy storage capacitors, that can operate at the same voltage and current as the switching devices. Presently such capacitors a ...