National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC

Sandia Corporation

University of Virginia Patent Foundation

Jon Ihlefeld

Paul Gilbert Clem

Erik David Spoerke

Harlan James Brown-Shaklee

Michael B Sinclair

Darwin K Serkland

Leo J Small

Patrick Edward Hopkins

Salvatore Campione

Thomas Edwin Beechem, Iii

Michael Wood

Gordon Arthur Keeler

Ting S Luk

Kent M Geib

Joshua Shank

Jill S Wheeler

David R Wheeler

David Ingersoll

Ganesan Nagasubramanian

Khalid Mikhiel Hattar

Karen Waldrip

Larry K Warne

Cynthia Edney

Kyle Ross Fenton

Luke Yates

Lorena I Basilio

William L Langston

Edward S Piekos

Douglas L Medlin

Mia Angelica Blea-Kirby

Isak C Reines

William A Johnson

James C Ginn, Iii

An electroabsorption modulator that operates based on electroabsorption of a surface plasmon polariton mode is improved by various structural changes and/or selection of different materials. For example, at least a portion of the waveguide may be made to be conductive, e.g., by doping. Also, layers that make up the modulator structure may be placed along sides of waveguides in addition to or instead of simply on the top thereof. High permittivity gate dielectric materials may be employed. Also, materials other than ITO may be employed as a transparent conductor. Such an improved plasmonic electroabsorption modulator can be fabricated using standard semiconductor processing techniques and may be integrated with standard photonic integrated circuits, including silicon photonics and compound semiconductor-based platforms. Advantageously, high-speed, low-voltage operation over a wide spectrum of wavelengths may be achieved.

Electroabsorption optical modulator

A method of optical modulation in a non-resonant epsilon-near-zero (EMZ) plasmonic electro-optical modulator is provided. An optical carrier is injected into a waveguide optically coupled to a layer of transparent conductive material having an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) wavelength. The transparent conductive material layer constitutes a portion of a capacitive structure that includes a gate dielectric layer. A time-varying bias voltage applied across the gate dielectric layer shifts the ENZ wavelength toward the carrier wavelength, and thereby impresses a phase modulation pattern on the carrier wave.

Methods of epsilon-near-zero optical modulation

Ion implantation can be used to define a thermal dissipation path that allows for better thermal isolation between devices in close proximity on a microelectronics chip, thus providing a means for higher device density combined with better performance.

Ion-implanted thermal barrier

At least partial substitution of zirconium by hafnium in ion-conducting zirconium-based ceramics provides enhanced chemical stability in alkaline and acid environments.

Cation-enhanced chemical stability of ion-conducting zirconium-based ceramics

A method to produce high density, uniform lithium lanthanum tantalate lithium-ion conducting ceramics uses small particles that are sintered in a pressureless crucible that limits loss of LiO.

Method for producing dense lithium lanthanum tantalate lithium-ion conducting ceramics

The present invention pertains to the use of mobile coherent interfaces in a ferroelectric material to interact with optical phonons and, ultimately, to affect the material's optical properties. In altering the optical phonon properties, the optical properties of the ferroelectric material in the spectral range near-to the phonon mode frequency can dramatically change. This can result in a facile means to change to the optical response of the ferroelectric material in the infrared.

Tunable infrared reflectance by phonon modulation

A purification method that uses ion-selective ceramics to electrochemically filter waste products from a molten salt. The electrochemical method uses ion-conducting ceramics that are selective for the molten salt cations desired in the final purified melt, and selective against any contaminant ions. The method can be integrated into a slightly modified version of the electrochemical framework currently used in pyroprocessing of nuclear wastes.

Electrochemical ion separation in molten salts

Resonances can be tuned in dielectric resonators in order to construct single-resonator, negative-index metamaterials. For example, high-contrast inclusions in the form of metallic dipoles can be used to shift the first electric resonance down (in frequency) to the first magnetic resonance, or alternatively, air splits can be used to shift the first magnetic resonance up (in frequency) near the first electric resonance. Degenerate dielectric designs become especially useful in infrared- or visible-frequency applications where the resonator sizes associated with the lack of high-permittivity materials can become of sufficient size to enable propagation of higher-order lattice modes in the resulting medium.

Single-resonator double-negative metamaterial

A bismuth-doped perovskite thermoelectric, comprising (Bi, La)SrTiO, wherein x is between 0.01 and 0.1, can have a high figure-of-merit, ZT.

High ZT bismuth-doped perovskite thermoelectrics

A method to control thermal energy transport uses mobile coherent interfaces in nanoscale ferroelectric films to scatter phonons. The thermal conductivity can be actively tuned, simply by applying an electrical potential across the ferroelectric material and thereby altering the density of these coherent boundaries to directly impact thermal transport at room temperature and above. The invention eliminates the necessity of using moving components or poor efficiency methods to control heat transfer, enabling a means of thermal energy control at the micro- and nano-scales.

Voltage tunability of thermal conductivity in ferroelectric materials

The present invention is directed to a higher power, thin film lithium-ion electrolyte on a metallic substrate, enabling mass-produced solid-state lithium batteries. High-temperature thermodynamic equilibrium processing enables co-firing of oxides and base metals, providing a means to integrate the crystalline, lithium-stable, fast lithium-ion conductor lanthanum lithium tantalate (LaLiTaO) directly with a thin metal foil current collector appropriate for a lithium-free solid-state battery.

Solid-state lithium battery

Dramatic improvements in metallization integrity and electroceramic thin film performance can be achieved by the use of the ZnO buffer layer to minimize interfacial energy between metallization and adhesion layers. In particular, the invention provides a substrate metallization method utilizing a ZnO adhesion layer that has a high work of adhesion, which in turn enables processing under thermal budgets typically reserved for more exotic ceramic, single-crystal, or metal foil substrates. Embodiments of the present invention can be used in a broad range of applications beyond ferroelectric capacitors, including microelectromechanical systems, micro-printed heaters and sensors, and electrochemical energy storage, where integrity of metallized silicon to high temperatures is necessary.

ZnO buffer layer for metal films on silicon substrates

Growing community of inventors

Albuquerque, NM, United States of America

Jon Ihlefeld