LLNL researchers have designed and developed a novel high-density, high-channel count 3D connector that enables hundreds or thousands of nonpermanent connections within a compact footprint. The connector addresses limitations of currently used conventional approaches that were described previously, which have an artificial ceiling on the number of recording sites of modern devices of no more…
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![OALV design with High-k Photoconductor and High-k Optical Window](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2024-01/OALV%20design.png?itok=xMV74hXb)
LLNL researchers has developed designs to augment WBG/UWBG-based OALVs to improve their power handling capability under CW operational environments. These designs include:
![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.](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-05/SEM%20image%20prototype%20neural%20implant%20shuttle.png?itok=fpnfB5Yr)
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 silicon…
![Segments of transmission line lengths can be switched to open circuit (as shown) or shorted to the ground (not shown)](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-05/Segments%20of%20tranmission%20line%20lengths.png?itok=FF0qaBGw)
Design and construction of a photoconductive switch requires a diamond photoconductor illuminated by light of a certain excitation wavelength. The diamond material is specifically doped with substitutional nitrogen, which act as a source of electrons. The device architecture allows maximum light entering the aperture. The top and bottom electrodes are made of ultra wide band gap (UWBG)…
![Annular illumination on photo conductor by Conical Total Internal Reflection “CTIR” endcap](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-05/CONIFR.png?itok=L4wSanXF)
The approach is to use a custom-designed frustrum and attach it to the optical fiber that connects to the PCSS. Light from the fiber enters the frustrum, spreads out, and enters the PCSS. Any unabsorbed light re-enters the frustrum and, because of its geometry, reflects back into the PCSS itself with only a negligible fraction escaping from the fiber. The shape of the novel frustrum is…
![Schematic of high density detachable electrical interfaces with a single layer](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-04/High%20density%20detachable%20interface_single.png?itok=HqwlqXwl)
Many of the disadvantages of current interface devices can be overcome with LLNL’s novel interface design, which relies on area array distribution where independent interface connector subassemblies are positioned in a planar grid. Not only is the interface device expandable area-wise (without increasing contact force), but it could also be expanded height-wise, with multiple layers of these…
![Flexible optoelectronic chip with integrated transmitter and receiver subassemblies](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-04/Flexible_optoelectronic_chip.png?itok=EVf8ujMo)
Commercial fiber optic cables are the current standard for carrying optical signals in industries like communications or medical devices. However, the fibers are made of glass, which do not have favorable characteristics for applications that require flexibility and re-routing, e.g. typically brittle, limited selection of materials, dimension constraints.
![iChip, brain on a chip](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2022-07/iChip.jpg?itok=B-rQJQjn)
LLNL has developed a brain-on-a-chip system with a removable cell-seeding funnel to simultaneously localize neurons from various brain regions in an anatomically relevant manner and over specific electrode regions of a MEA. LLNL’s novel, removable cell seeding funnel uses a combination of 3D printing and microfabrication that allows neurons from select brain regions to easily be seeded into…
![OTV Image](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2022-02/OTV%20Image.png?itok=KEAmHqpM)
The Optical Transconductance Varistor (OTV, formerly Opticondistor) overcomes depletion region voltage limitations by optically exciting wide bandgap materials in a compact package. A 100μm thick crystal could have the capability approaching 40kV and would replace numerous equivalent junction devices. Thus, unlike present junction transistors or diodes, this wide bandgap device can be stacked…
![microcantilever3.jpg microcantilever3](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2019-08/microcantilever3.jpg?itok=NKaBhMlG)
LLNL has developed a compact and low-power cantilever-based sensor array, which has been used to detect various vapor-phase analytes. For further information on the latest developments, see the article "Sniffing the Air with an Electronic Nose."