University of Illinois

Cu Aerospace, LLC

Jason D Readle

J Gary Eden

Sung-Jin Park

Clark J Wagner

Andrew Price

David Loren Carroll

James Gary Eden

Joseph T Verdeyen

JeKwon Yoon

Jeffrey Putney

Preferred embodiments of the invention provide microcavity plasma lamps having a plurality of metal and metal oxide layers defining a plurality of arrays of microcavities and encapsulated thin metal electrodes. Packaging encloses the plurality of metal and metal oxide layers in plasma medium. The metal and metal oxide layers are configured and arranged to vary the electric field strength and total gas pressure (E/p) in the lamp. The invention also provides methods of manufacturing a microcavity plasma lamp that simultaneously evacuate the volume within the packaging and a volume surrounding the packaging to maintain an insignificant or zero pressure differential across the packaging. The packaging is backfilled with a plasma medium while also maintaining an insignificant or zero pressure differential across the packaging.

Variable electric field strength metal and metal oxide microplasma lamps and fabrication

Embodiments of the invention provide for large arrays of microcavity plasma devices that can be made inexpensively, and can produce large area but thin displays or lighting sources Interwoven metal wire mesh, such as interwoven Al mesh, consists of two sets of wires which are interwoven in such a way that the two wire sets cross each other, typically at &#x3c0;ght angles (90 degrees) although other patterns are also available Fabrication is accomplished with a simple and inexpensive wet chemical etching process The wires in each set are spaced from one another such that the finished mesh forms an array of openings that can be, for example, square, rectangular or diamond-shaped The size of the openings or microcavities is a function of the diameter of the wires in the mesh and the spacing between the wires in the mesh used to form the array of microcavity plasma devices.

Interwoven wire mesh microcavity plasma arrays

The present invention provides in one of the embodiments for either a continuous wave (cw) or pulsed alkali laser having an optical cavity resonant at a wavelength defined by an atomic transition, a van der Waals complex within the optical cavity, the van der Waals complex is formed from an alkali vapor joined with a polarizable gas, and a pump laser for optically pumping the van der Waals complex outside of the Lorentzian spectral wings wherein the van der Waals complex is excited to form an exciplex that dissociates forming an excited alkali vapor, generating laser emission output at the wavelength of the lasing transition.

Atomic lasers with exciplex assisted absorption

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Channahon, IL, United States of America

Jason D Readle