USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

The State University of New York

Ronald J Tonucci

Douglas H Pearson

Brian L Justus

Zachary A Sechrist

Paul Phong Nguyen

Banahalli R Ratna

Serge Luryi

John H Coleman

Lee Cambrea

Jinny Lin Liu

James Peter Long

Anthony J Campillo

Carissa M Soto

Ronald W Rendell

Amy S Blum

Horn Bond Lin

Armand Rosenberg

Michael A Bruckman

Charles M Fortmann

Gary Roan

A sensor configured to sense when a force is applied to a surface includes a capacitive structure having a first conductive layer, a dielectric layer, and a second conductive layer. The dielectric layer is overlain on the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer is overlain on the dielectric layer. A glass superstrate has a first side and a second side, with the first side overlain on the second conductive layer. The force is applied to the second side of the glass superstrate. The force results from an object attached to the second side of the glass superstrate. The force causes capacitance changes between the first and second conductive layers. The force can be compressive or tensile, depending on whether the object is attached by magnet or adhesive.

Surface force sensor that senses force applied to a surface from an object attached to the surface

Embodiments are directed to sensors that detect objects attached to a vehicle. The sensor includes a layered capacitive structure. The sensors utilize a deformable dielectric layer sandwiched between two conductive layers. The layered capacitive structure measures capacitance changes caused by an applied force to the uppermost layer of the capacitive structure.

Vehicle surface force sensor

An increased plasmon resonance frequency stability drawn from a refractive index gradient spanning negative and positive values includes a two-dimensional array of tapered nanowells. A multilayer of alternating materials is associated with the two-dimensional array of tapered nanowells. The multilayer of alternating materials are alternating layers of electrical conductors and electrical insulators.

Increased plasmon resonance frequency stability drawn from a refractive index gradient spanning negative and positive values

Protein scaffolds from tobacco mosaic virus coat protein modified to incorporate polyhistidine can bind to a metal or a dye while having improved self-assembly characteristics. The scaffold can take the form of tubes or disks, and can further be formed into dual plasmonic ring resonators. Such self-assembled structures provide useful optical properties.

Metamaterial optical elements self-assembled on protein scaffolds

A lens system with a lens formed of a material having a negative index of refraction in an operational frequency range, a first surface of the material having a convex hyperbolic curvature, and a second surface of the material having a concave circular curvature. A lens system can include two of these lenses, arranged with the concave circular surfaces facing each other. Far field radiation arriving at the hyperbolic surface of the the first lens is refracted by the lens material toward the circular surface, out of the first lens in a direction parallel to the original radiation direction, and into the circular surface of the second lens, where it is refracted toward the hyperbolic surface of the second lens, and exits the second lens in a direction parallel to the original direction. The lens material can have a tunable or fixed negative refractive index and/or resonant frequency.

System and method for inducing far field transparency with negative index materials

A cable having one or more conductive members and one or more strength members. Each conductive member has a metal microwire having an outer diameter and an inorganic cladding having an inner diameter. The microwire is positioned within the cladding, and the outer diameter of the microwire is at least about 2 microns less then the inner diameter of the cladding. Each strength member has a plurality of inorganic fibers surrounding the conductive members or an inorganic rod. The conductive members are conductive while applying a voltage of 5000 V to the conductive members and while exposing the cable to a temperature of about 1000&#xb0; C.

High temperature high voltage cable

Materials and structures whose index of refraction can be tuned over a broad range of negative and positive values by applying above band-gap photons to a structure with a strip line element, a split ring resonator element, and a substrate, at least one of which is a photoconductive semiconductor material. Methods for switching between positive and negative values of n include applying above band-gap photons to different numbers of elements. In another embodiment, a structure includes a photoconductive semiconductor wafer, the wafer operable to receive above band-gap photons at an excitation frequency in an excitation pattern on a surface of the wafer, the excitation patterns generating an effective negative index of refraction. Methods for switching between positive and negative values of n include projecting different numbers of elements on the wafer. The resonant frequency of the structure is tuned by changing the size of the split ring resonator excitation patterns.

Metamaterial structure has resonant and strip line elements comprising a photoconductive semiconductor material formed on substrate to induce negative permeability and negative permittivity in operating frequency range

Photoconductive metamaterials with tunable index of refraction and frequency

An insulated conducting wire (ICW) having an inorganic cladding and a microwire positioned within the cladding. The outer diameter of the microwire is less then the inner diameter of the cladding, and the insulated conducting wire is substantially free of bonding between the microwire and the cladding. A process of making a wire, having the steps of: drawing an inorganic tube through a heating zone such that the inner diameter of the tube is reduced; inserting a microwire into the tube whereby the tube becomes a cladding; and adjusting the draw process parameters such that the inner diameter of the cladding is larger than the outer diameter of the microwire, and the microwire and the cladding are not in contact with each other under thermal conditions that would cause bonding between the microwire and the cladding.

High voltage, high temperature wire

The present invention is a method for modifying a substrate in a predetermined pattern, comprising the steps of: (a) applying a material to the face of an etched nanochannel glass (NCG), where this face has a pattern of channels corresponding to the predetermined pattern, and (b) contacting the substrate with the etched NCG face having applied material, under conditions for transferring the material to the substrate.

Parallel contact patterning using nanochannel glass (NCG)

A band-gap spectral filter is made of a nanochannel glass structure having a two-dimensional array of parallel dielectric rods arranged in a matrix material. The materials for the dielectric rods and the matrix material are selected so that the difference between the refractive index of the dielectric rods and the refractive index of the matrix material is equal to or less than about 0.5.

Optical notch filters based on two-dimensional photonic band-gap materials

The present invention is a process for making a nanochannel glass (NCG) replica, having the steps of: coating a face of an etched NCG with a replica material (with or without an intervening buffer layer), where the etched NCG face has a plurality of channels arranged in a desired pattern, to form a replica coating on the NCG conforming to the pattern; and removing the replica coating from the etched NCG. The present invention is also the replica made by this process.

Nanochannel glass replica membranes

A nanopost glass array contains up to 10,/cm,of magnetizable nanoposts having diameter of 10-1000 nm that are straight and parallel to each other and are typically of a uniform diameter relative to each other and along the post length. The array is made using a reference electrode and a nanochannel glass template structure connected to each other electrically through an electrical source and both disposed in a plating solution. A magnetizable material is electroplated from the plating solution into the channels of the template structure.

Nanopost arrays and process for making same

The present invention is a process for making complex structures with nanoscale resolution in parallel by placing an NCG replica-based mask (or other suitable mask) in close proximity to a substrate and controlling, with nanoscale accuracy and precision, the relative movement of the mask and substrate while sequentially or concurrently carrying out a patterning process or processes. Another aspect of the invention is a diamond film with submicron and/or nanoscale features, that can be made by the method of the invention.

Nanoscale X-Y-Z translation of nanochannel glass replica-based masks for

Structured materials for photonic devices, at wavelengths of X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared and microwave radiation, can be made using layer growth techniques. Such a structure can be made layer by layer, by homogeneous deposition followed by localized modification for refractive index differentiation. Alternatively, the structure can be made by simultaneous growth of regions whose refractive index differs. The structures can be used as selective bandpass filters, and in photovoltaic solar cells, for example.

Growing community of inventors

Waldorf, MD, United States of America

Ronald J Tonucci