Diagnostics

46 R&D 100 Awards For 2009 Won By DOE-Funded Research Projects

to the performance of the streak camera alone. This breakthrough offers the potential to yield important insights into understanding the process of fusion energy burn. * Spectral Sentry - is an advanced technology developed to protect critical laser systems from pulses that contain incorrect bandwidth for amplification. The device inspects each individual laser pulse, which is traveling at the speed of light, and then determines if the pulse meets the bandwidth requirements to avoid self-destruction during amplification. Spectral Sentry can stop the speed-of-light pulse it just measured from further amplification, avoiding potential laser damage. * ROSE - This technology radically changes the accessibility of compiler technologies, allowing access to average software developers and scientists. ROSE enables users to build their own tools, including defect detection tools to uncover undetected bugs, code optimization tools to maximize program performance and program transformation tools that allow users to easily develop programs for today"s fast changing hardware platforms. * Precision Robotics Assembling Machine - This machine manufactures small and complex laser-driven fusion ignition targets for the world"s largest and most energetic laser, the National Ignition Facility. The machine can manipulate millimeter-scale components with 100-nanometer precision in an operating arena the size of a sugar cube, and has a work volume the size of a shoe box. * Laser Beam Centering and Pointing System - This system does the work of two sensors by using a special dual-imaging lens, which acts like a bifocal, to capture both images simultaneously and combine them into one. Because the system combines two alignment sensors into one, it cuts the cost of alignment components in half and saves space. It has no moving parts and provides huge advantages in stability and repeatability over conventional alignment systems. Los Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos, N.M.) * MagViz - MagViz is the first product based on a new form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - a form that uses ultralow magnetic fields. MagViz noninvasively scans containers of liquids and gels, detects explosive liquids in less than a minute, and may make current airline liquid restrictions obsolete. * TerraOps Software Radio - This software moves the concept of software-defined radio into space, where it can be used to extend dramatically the lifetimes of electronic systems aboard satellites and in space payloads. The components that make up the TeraOps Software Radio are compact, lightweight, cost-effective and adapted from commercial off-the-shelf products. Los Alamos National Laboratory and Space Instrumentation Systems developed this technology. * SIMTECHE Carbon Dioxide Capture Process - This process captures and compresses the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide emitted by fossil fuel power plants and other industrial operations. The process is less energy and capital intensive than the technologies currently in use. Los Alamos and SIMTECHE developed this technology. * Lasonix - A new approach for fabricating insulators, semiconductors, and metallic conductors to form standard semiconductor microcircuits, metallic connections and pathways, and vertically integrated circuits. * The Artificial Retina Project - see Lawrence Livermore National Lab National Energy Technology Laboratory (Pittsburgh, Pa. and Morgantown, WV ) * SEQURETM Tracer Technology - uses perfluorocarbon tracers for ultra-sensitive detection of carbon dioxide leakage from geologic storage reservoirs. * Clay-Liquid Carbon Dioxide Removal Sorbent - a low-cost, solid-state sorbent designed to remove CO2 from flue gas and other gas streams. (Jointly with Sud-Chemie, Louisville, KY) * Thief Process for the Removal of Mercury from Flue Gas - Partially burned coal is extracted from a pulverized coal-fired combustor using a suction pipe, or "thief," and injected into the downstream flue gas to absorb mercury. (Jointly with Nalco-Mobotec, Orinda, CA) * Virtual Engineering Process Simulator Interface (VE-PSI) - jointly with Ames National Laboratory. See their listing) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, Colo.) * Ultra-Accelerated Weathering System - is a multifaceted, ultraviolet solar concentrator used to speed up the exposure of coatings, paints and other materials to determine their durability and resistance to weathering. Industry applications include coatings used for solar panels as well as paints or finishes used on homes, cars or even bridges. The UAWS provides test results 12 times faster than other accelerated weathering systems and can replicate years of sun damage in just a few weeks. (Jointly with Atlas Material Testing Technology and the Institute of Laser Optical Technology) * Power Plain UX Microbattery - is a safe, rechargeable, deep-cycle, thin-film lithium microbattery. Ideal applications include remote wireless sensors, smart homes, smart cars and medical sensing devices. Unlike traditional batteries, the PowerPlane UX Microbattery has a long life cycle even if it is frequently and fully discharged. (Jointly with Planar Energy Devices) * SkyTrough™ Parabolic Trough Solar Concentrating Collector - uses a lightweight and weatherproof reflector to create a low cost system for utility-sized power generation. This innovation, coupled with improvements to items like the hydraulic-based rotational system and the sun-tracking controller, enables SkyTrough™ to reduce installed cost by 35 percent. (Jointly with SkyFuel, Inc.) Nevada Test Site (Las Vegas, Nev.) * High-Resolution UV Holography Lens - The lens will help scientists measure the size and velocity of particles ejected off a metal after it is hit by a shock wave. The physics of these particles will be used to develop a theoretical model for nonnuclear experiments that safely simulate atomic experiments. It can also be used with any x-ray imaging application to study how a material"s construction, purity, phase, and surface treatment affect a material"s strength under extreme stress. This technology was developed by National Security Technologies, the management and operating contractor for the test site. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) * Alumina-forming Austenitic - stainless steels that boasts an increased upper-temperature oxidation, or corrosion limit that is 100 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit higher than that of conventional stainless steels. These new alloys deliver this superior oxidation resistance with high-temperature strengths approaching that of far more expensive nickel-based alloys without sacrificing the typical lower cost, formability and weldability of conventional stainless steels. These new alloys have applications ranging from gas turbines and power plants to chemical and petrochemical processing equipment. * The Artificial Retina Project - see Lawrence Livermore National Lab * Fire-resistive phase change material - the first-ever organic fire-resistive material when incorporated into conventional insulation can improve the heating and cooling efficiency in buildings. The new materials, composed of fatty-acid esters from sustainable plant and animal fats and blended with cellulose insulation, are the first phase change materials to fulfill all requirements in the U.S. flammability tests. The PCM adds thermal mass to buildings, thus generating heating and cooling energy savings of up to 25 percent in residential buildings. (Jointly with Microtek Laboratories and Advanced Fiber Technology) * Mass-Independent Kinetic-Energy-Reducing Inlet System for Mass Spectrometers - permits high-resolution mass analysis of large, intact biological molecules without having to break them apart. With this spectrometer, the large biomolecular ions are captured in a trapping field while air is pumped away. Conventional spectrometers pump most of the ions away with the air, making them less sensitive. This mass spectrometer delivers much higher resolution in the high mass range compared to conventional spectrometers. For specific use in the medical field, the mass spectrometer can be developed to rapidly image a tumor and define the boundaries so the tumor can be most effectively treated. * Methodology for Estimating the Life of Power Line Conductor-Connector Systems Operating at High Temperatures (MELCOT) - predicts the service life of conductor-connector systems. The splices connecting the conductor lines are literally the weak links in power transmission systems. With this new method of investigating performance and integrity of the power line systems, researchers can develop more durable and reliable systems for the electric power grid. Power grid operators can maintain power flow and prevent potential grid failures, and effectively reroute power distribution during emergency or natural disasters. (Jointly with Electric Power Research Institute, Tennessee Valley Authority and PBS&J) * PulseForge 3100 - uses rapid pulses of light for high-speed drying, curing, sintering or annealing high temperature materials on plastic and paper, enabling inexpensive and flexible electronics. With the PulseForge 3100, high intensity flashlamps briefly heat inks and films to controlled high temperatures. The PulseForge and Pulse Thermal Processing systems provide a thousand-fold increase in the energy flux that is available to the surface of the processed part - cutting processing times to fractions of a second. (Jointly with NovaCentrix) * Superconducting "Wires" by Epitaxial Growth on SSIFFS - flexible, single-crystal, high-temperature cables that enable high-performance advantages for electric power grid applications. These cables are different because they are round, rather than flat like conventional wires, which lowers heat loss and eliminates energy loss, making longer transmission lengths possible. Superconducting wires can carry five times more power than copper cables and

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