Award Data

The problem being addressed is the development of high intensity ultrashort pulse lasers, in recognition that today’s ultra-high intensity lasers are limited to repetition rates of < 10 Hz. Technical solutions are sought to enable the generation of high energy (joule-level) laser pulses that can be focused to highly relativistic intensity at high repetition rates (100-1000 Hz). The proposed proj ...

Tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel is a key component of advanced small modular nuclear fission reactors due to its inherent safety at high temperatures and irradiation levels and decreased proliferation risk relative to current reactor fuels. A more efficient cooling method for TRISO fuel compacts would increase heat transfer, allow for an increase in fuel density, and further improve accident ...

Statement of Problem: The US DOE has set a goal to advance photovoltaics (PV) technology to reach installed costs of less than $1/Watt. This requires module costs below $0.50/ Watt. Thin film PV provides the lowest documented production cost per watt ($0.67) of any PV technology. Module reliability has a direct impact on the levalized cost of energy (LCOE), or the cost of the energy produced by ...

Improved ignition methods are needed for advanced vehicle combustion systems, in particular those that allow reliable ignition of lean mixtures in gasoline engines at elevated pressures. Laser ignition is a candidate technology having the potential to address these needs. However, despite more than 40 years of laser ignition research, the technology is not yet in commercial use. A critical proble ...

Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) has been an extremely productive materials science probe for several decades and is used extensively by researchers studying a wide range of subjects, including polymers, ceramics, metals and biological macromolecules and functions. However, it is limited to length scales from 1 to 100 nm and requires highly collimated and relatively monochromatic neutron beam ...

This project will develop position-sensitive liquid argon detectors for a range of nuclear physics experiments. A particular need is for large area detectors with good energy, spatial and time resolution. Originally developed for calorimetry and the detection of neutrinos, weakly interacting massive particles and neutrinoless double beta decay, liquefied noble gas (LNG) detectors have ...

Photocathodes are one of the most critical components in RF-based linacs and light source systems. Current photocathodes lack the capability to meet the long term requirements for medical, defense, industrial and many scientific systems. This program will develop a new generation of photocathodes that provide high performance and long life. Calabazas Creek Research Inc. (CCR), in collaboration wi ...

The single most critical value in any terrestrial carbon (C) sequestration budget is the net primary production. The biggest unknown in determining C sequestration is the allocation, production, respiration, mortality and decomposition of soil organisms. We developed and are refining a new observation/sensor platform, the enhanced automated minirhizotron (EAMR) which, when coupled to a soil sensor ...

Electrons play a very key role in plasma chemistry and dynamics of low temperature plasmas. Improved capability for measuring electron number density, ne, and electron energy distribution function, EEDF, in weakly ionized low temperature plasmas would benefit both fundamental study and application areas. For example, the capability would directly benefit emerging research targeted at modifying and ...

X-Ray microscopy offers rich internal information of objects under study due to the highly penetrative nature of x-rays. Significant improvements in laboratory x-ray sources, synchrotrons and detector technologies in the past few years have pushed the frontiers of spatial and time resolution enabling time-lapse imaging of structures in the micron scale. Xradia, a US based small business founded in ...