LLNL researchers has developed a composite copper current collector formulation readily used in DIW 3D printing to guide lithium-ion plating/dissolution during charging and discharging cycles.

This LLNL invention allows for the fabrication of complex waveplate features and topologies from fused silica, a highly desirable and durable waveplate material.  It also is a unique technique for density multiplication and high-fidelity bidirectional deposition, which can create optical components that are generally for entirely new classes of optical materials.

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This invention focuses on the design of a fully interchangeable hub-droplet device apparatus for multiple droplet generation in parallel. The novel central hub combined with interchangeable chip configuration allows the use of different planar droplet generation devices that can be replaced and exchanged as needed. By separating the central housing hub which distributes incoming liquids into…

LLNL has developed a method that adds a polyamine based crosslinker and an acid receptor, based on MgO nanoparticles into a polymer bonded PBX, where the polymer binder is a fluoropolymer containing vinylidene difluoride functionality.  Crosslinking kinetics can then be controlled by selecting an appropriate amine structure, pressing temperature and optionally the addition of a chemical…

This LLNL invention concerns a method for patterning the index of refraction by fabricating a spatially invariant metasurface, and then apply spatially varied mechanical loading to compress the metasurface features vertically and spread them radially. In doing so, the index of refraction can be re-written on the metasurface, thus enabling index patterning. This process allows rapid 'rewriting…

LLNL researchers uses Additive Manufacturing (AM) to create reinforcing scaffolds that can be integrated with High Explosives (HE) or solid rocket fuel with minimal volume fraction. Its main benefit is to create stability in harsh field conditions.  Its secondary benefit is providing another method to finely tune blast performance or fuel burn. Creating complex shapes with structural…

This novel invention specifically enables the fabrication of arbitrarily tailored birefringence characteristics in nano-structured meta-surfaces on non-birefringent substrates (e.g. fused silica). The birefringent nano-structured meta-surface is produced by angled directional reactive ion beam etching through a nano-particle mask. This method enables the simultaneous tailoring of refractive…

This invention (US Patent No. 11,294,103) is an extension of another LLNL invention, US Patent No. 10,612,145, which utilizes a thin sacrificial metal mask layer deposited on a dielectric substrate (e.g. fused silica) and subsequently nanostructured through a laser generated selective thermal de-wetting process.

This invention consists of a method of forming nanoscale metal lines to produce a grating-like mask with wide area coverage over the surface of a durable optical material such as fused silica. Subsequent etching processes transfer the metal mask to the underlying substrate forming a birefringent metasurface. This method enables the production of ultrathin waveplates for high power laser…

Heat sensitive materials such as piezoelectric and MEMS devices and assemblies, magnetic sensors, nonlinear optical crystals, laser glass or solid-state laser materials, etc. cannot be exposed to excess temperatures which in the context of this invention, means materials that cannot be exposed to temperatures greater than 50°C (122°F). LLNL’s invention describes a low-temperature method of…

This novel method of producing waveplates from isotropic optical materials (e.g. fused silica) consists of forming a void-dash metasurface using the following process steps: