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4H-SiC tips fabricated by etching 2 μm wide pillars at 1550 °C for 1 h. The inset shows that the tips are as narrow as 15 nm in diameter

LLNL researchers have developed an approach to form silicon carbide (and diamond) nanoneedles using plasma etching that create micro pillars followed by chemical etching of the pillars in forming gas containing hydrogen and nitrogen. Combining these two etching processes allow for fabrication of micro- and nanoneedles that are thinner and sharper than conventionally fabricated needles.

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SEM image of a prototype for a neural implant shuttle etched into a non-SOI wafer. The 7:1 (Si:Photoresist) etch selectivity used here allowed for a maximum structure height of 32 μm, with up to 75 steps of 0.4 μm height each. Scale bar 100 μm.

For this method, a Silicon on Insulator (SOI) wafer is used to tailor etch rates and thickness in initial steps of the process.  The simple three step process approach is comprised of grayscale lithography, deep reactive-ion etch (DRIE) and liftoff of the SOI wafer.  The liftoff process is used to dissolve the insulating layer, thus separating sections of the wafer as individual…

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Spectroscopic Injection Pulser prototype

The technology that is available has the capability to inject realistic radiation detection spectra into the amplifier of a radiation detector and produce the all the observables that are available with that radiation detection instrument; count-rate, spectrum, dose rate, etc.

The system uses the capability of LLNL to generate the source output for virtually any source and determine…

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ccms-water-splitting

Dubbed the "LLNL Chemical Prism", the LLNL system has use wherever there is a need to separate components of a fluid. A few examples include:

  • Chemical detection for known and previously unknown chemicals or substances
  • Separation of biomolecules from a cellular extract
  • Fractionation of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons
  • Forensic analysis of…