Dartmouth College

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Laxense Inc.

Xiaoxin Wang

Jifeng Liu

Zhiyuan Wang

Eric R Fossum

Jiaju Ma

Juejun Hu

Tian Gu

Xiaochen Sun

Xia Zhou

Shudong Jiang

Eldred Lee

Nicholas R Shade

Charles J Carver, Jr

Can Xu

A selectively-absorbing material includes a silicone polymer and transition-metal oxide nanoparticles dispersed therein. Each of the transition-metal oxide nanoparticles includes manganese. A solar receiver includes (i) a metal substrate including an etched surface having a microroughness between 0.05 micrometers and two micrometers; (ii) a polymer matrix disposed on the etched surface; and (iii) transition-metal oxide nanoparticles dispersed within the polymer matrix. A method for producing transition-metal oxide nanoparticles includes recrystallizing a plurality of two-element nanoparticles at a temperature between 300 and 700° C. The plurality of two-element nanoparticles includes at least two of (i) copper oxide nanoparticles, (ii) manganese oxide nanoparticles, and (iii) iron oxide nanoparticles. A method for fabricating a selective-absorber includes etching a top surface of a metal substrate; depositing a polymer-matrix composite on the etched top surface; and interdiffusing the polymer-matrix composite and the metal substrate. The polymer-matrix composite includes transition-metal oxide nanoparticles dispersed therein.

Solar receiver, selectively absorbing material, and associated fabrication methods

A phosphor excitable by X-ray and blue-light emits light in the near-infrared (NIR-II, 1000-1700 nanometers) forms nanoparticles less than 200 nanometers diameter. The nanoparticles are tagged by coating with silica, then conjugating with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and tissue-selective compounds such as antibodies, nucleic acid chains, and other ligands. In embodiments, we administer the tagged nanoparticles to a subject, then localize the nanoparticles, and thus antigen-bearing tissues, by irradiating the subject with X-ray or other radiation beams while imaging near infrared light emitted from the subject. The nanoparticles are made by mixing 1-50 micron calcium oxide and germanium oxide powders with dilute nitric acid, adding chromium (III) nitrate at a ratio to germanium between 0.001 and 0.1, adding tartaric acid solution with molar ratio to metal ions between 1˜10, and adjusting pH to 0.1-4 with nitric acid, then later heating to form a sol, oven drying, and calcinating the sol.

Medical imaging technique using X-ray to near-infrared downconverting nanopowder

A speckle-suppressing lighting system includes an optical waveguide, a first solid-state light source, a second solid-state light source, and a diffuser. The optical waveguide has a proximal end and a distal end. At least part of the diffuser is between the proximal end and the distal end. The first solid-state light source is optically coupled to the optical waveguide near the proximal end, and emits a first light beam that propagates toward the distal end and has a first center wavelength. The second solid-state light source is optically coupled to the optical waveguide near the proximal end, and emits a second light beam that propagates toward the distal end and has a second center wavelength differing from the first center wavelength. The diffuser diffuses the first light beam and the second light beam.

Speckle-suppressing lighting system

Disclosed are infrared (IR) light detectors. The detectors operate by generating hot electrons in a metallic absorber layer on photon absorption, the electrons being transported through an energy barrier of an insulating layer to a metal or semiconductor conductive layer. The energy barrier is set to bar response to wavelengths longer than a maximum wavelength. Particular embodiments also have a pattern of metallic shapes above the metallic absorber layer that act to increase photon absorption while reflecting photons of short wavelengths; these particular embodiments have a band-pass response.

Nanophotonic hot-electron devices for infrared light detection

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a semiconductor-based photon-counting sensor comprising a metal-insulator-semiconductor internal photoemission (e.g., thermionic-emission) detector formed on and/or in a first surface of a semiconductor substrate, and at least one jot formed on and/or in a second side of a semiconductor substrate. The at least one MIS photoemission detector and the at least one jot are configured such that a photocarrier generated in response to a photon incident on the MIS thermionic-emission detector is readout by the at least one jot.

UV/VIS/IR backside-illuminated photon-counting sensor

An optical interconnect system has first and second waveguides each with wedge-shaped cross-section at a first end, disposed over an optical modulator. The optical modulator is a surface-plasmon multi quantum well (SP-MQW) modulator, the first waveguide an input waveguide and the second waveguide configured an output waveguide. In embodiments the SP-MQW modulator has multiple semiconductor layers disposed atop a lower metal layer between 10 and 300 nanometers thick and configured such that incident light is reflected at the lower metal layer unless a voltage is applied to the semiconductor layers, when incident light is coupled into a surface plasmon mode in the lower metal layer.

Method and apparatus of surface-incident, plasmon-enhanced multiple quantum well modulators and optical coupling thereon

A method for forming single crystal or large-crystal-grain thin-film layers deposits a thin-film amorphous, nanocrystalline, microcrystalline, or polycrystalline layer, and laser-heats a seed spot having size on the order of a critical nucleation size of the thin-film layer. The single-crystal seed spot is extended into a single-crystal seed line by laser-heating one or more crystallization zones adjacent to the seed spot and drawing the zone across the thin-film layer. The single-crystal seed line is extended across the thin-film material layer into a single-crystal layer by laser-heating an adjacent linear crystallization zone and drawing the crystallization zone across the thin-film layer. Photovoltaic cells may be formed in or on the single-crystal layer. Tandem photovoltaic devices may be formed using one or several iterations of the method. The method may also be used to form single-crystal semiconductor thin-film transistors, such as for display devices, or to form single-crystal superconductor layers.

Growing community of inventors

Hanover, NH, United States of America

Xiaoxin Wang