Loren Data Corp.

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COMMERCE BUSINESS DAILY ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 10,1996 PSA#1676

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITIES The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), its laboratories, and production facilities are committed to helping businesses in the United States to improve the cycle from new ideas and product innovation to product development and commercialization. In order to achieve this goal, the DOE has put in place a program to transfer technologies developed at its laboratories to the private sector for commercial applications. DOE's objective in doing this is to establish mutually beneficial partnerships that can leverage advanced technologies and enhance the U.S. position in the ever changing global marketplace. Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) is one of the participating laboratories in this program. By this announcement, Sandia is soliciting expressions of interest from U.S. businesses for potential licensing of some of its technologies for which patent applications have been filed with the U.S. Patent Office. These are: 1. Method for Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV) Lithography: This invention describes a method for producing a patterned array features, in particular, gate apertures in the size range of 0.4-0.5um using projection lithography and EUV radiation. A high energy laser beam is used to vaporize a target material in order to produce a plasma which in turn, produces EUV radiation suitable for lithographic applications. 2. Optical Probe: This invention provides a compact optical probe geometry for optically-based measurements that allows all optical components (source, detector, rely optics, etc.) to be located in proximity to one another. The geometry of the probe disclosed herein provides a means for making optical measurements in environments where it is difficult and/or expensive to gain access to the vicinity of a flow stream to be measured. Significantly, the lens geometry of the optical probe allows the analysis location to be moved while maintaining optical alignment of all components even when the optical probe is focused on a plurality of different analysis points. 3. Polymer Formulations for Gettering Hydrogen: This invention describes a method for fabricating organic hydrogen scavengers (getters). In the past organic hydrogen getters have based on specialty chemicals especially synthesized. A method is invented which employs cheaper polymer organics as the base material for fabricating this new class of organic hydrogen getters which are extremely inexpensive to produce. Because of its ability to remove the presence of hydrogen in a given confined environment (such as nuclear weapons, insulated pipelines, tubulars, etc.), this invention has significant commercial potential. 4. Time Interval Counter Technology: The High Resolution Time Interval Counter is a patented electronic circuit that measures time between two events to very high resolution while using small, inexpensive, low power circuitry. The device has a typical specification of 0.2 nanosecond resolution, 0 to 20 microsecond measurement range, 100mW power consumption, about 3 square inches of printed wiring board space and $10-$15 parts cost. This electronic counter circuit can be utilized in combination with other electronic circuitry in a host of applications such as a miniature active infrared ranging surveillance system, miniature pulse-echo radar surveillance system, miniature ultrasonic sensor for remote applications, such as measuring liquid levels, density of liquids, or liquid contamination, chemical sensors, etc. 5. Ultra-Low Nox Burner for Residential, Commercial and Industrial Applications: Carbon dioxide and the oxides of nitrogen which result from combustion are pollutants involved in the atmospheric and photochemical reactions that contribute to ozone formation and petrochemical smog. Sandia National Laboratories has developed an invention in the field of combusting fuel in a safe manner while advantageously minimizing the production of nitrogen gases and carbon monoxide. The process may be applied to residential, commercial, and industrial heating, producing ultra-low values of Nox (3 ppm, corrected to 3%O2) with the virtual elimination of carbon monoxide from the exhaust stream. 6. Analysis of Local Orientation of Edges of Stellate Lesion Detection in Mammograms: Breast cancer will afflict one in nine American women. With early detection, many of those cancers can be cured. Mammograms - X-rays of the breast taken on machines specifically designed for that purpose - can detect cancers long before they can be detected in physical examinations. Sandia National Laboratories has developed a software for use in breast cancer detection. The software scans digitized X-ray films for ``spiculated lesions, which are signs of particularly virulent and subtle breast cancers. These spiky distortions in breast tissues are difficult to detect because of their subtle and varied appearance. The software is intended to be used as a ``second'' reader of mammograms, thus reducing the chance that suspicious lesions are missed. A clinical study of this technology indicated that it can help doctors find one additional cancer in ten without calling for any additional unnecessary biopsies. By improving the accuracy and efficiency of mammogram analysis, computers can help reduce costs and promote widespread screening which goes hand-in-hand with early detection, which is the most effective way of fighting breast cancer. 7. Secure Infra-red (IR) Data Diode: The IR Data Guard provides a secure way of automated one-way transfer of information from an unclassified or uncontrolled computer or network to a classified or controlled computer or network. It could be used to (i) securely use the internet to disseminate classified or sensitive information and allow the user to immediately decrypt and view the information (ii) provide a secure method to automate the input information from an unclassified network into a secure network while at the same time provide absolute assurance that data could not flow the opposite direction, and (iii) for collecting encrypted data from remote sensors utilizing the internet. The IR diode can provide near real time transfer and is very inexpensive to install and operate. 8. Flexible Microporous Polymers: Many microporous materials (pore size less than equal to 20nm) are used throughout industry for various applications where the size of the molecule approximates the sizes of the pores. Universally, microporous materials are rigid, high-surface area materials. Sandia National Laboratories has synthesized a flexible microporous material. It can be cast to shape, shrinks very little while drying, and can withstand modest thermal and mechanical stresses. This material could be used as flexible membranes and coatings for filtration and separations, and liquid sloshing mitigation for regular and zero-gravity applications. The pore structure is influenced by the exact chemical composition, but could be tailored to meet needs at hand. 9. Digitally Controlled System for Monitoring Physical Phenomenon: There is an ongoing need to improve the technology of flight test instrumentation systems, often referred to as telemetry systems which would result in improvements in performance, reduction in size and weight, and reduction in electrical power consumption. Telemetry systems typically consist of a group of sensors, signal conditioning electronics, a digital conversion/multiplexing scheme, a control function, and a r.f. transmission system. Sandia National Laboratories has developed a novel technique for implementing the control function that would allow high data rates (10 megabit/second pcm encoding) comparable to state machine based designs while at the same time provide significant data processing capability without the need for external support hardware. This has extensive applications in data loggers, airborne telemetry systems and remote surveillance system. 10. Carbon Film for Super Capacitor Applications: To date, the best performing super capacitor materials have volumetric capacitance between 200F/CC to 300F/cc. However, most of these materials use either high cost polymer films and/or are produced through complicated laboratory fabrication and activation processes that are difficult to put into industrial scale mass production. Sandia National Laboratories has developed an unique carbon film material fabricated from Saran derived carbon that is highly suitable for super capacitor applications. These have very high surface areas (about 1000 m2/g, density of 0.7-1g/cc and a capacitance varying between 150 F/cc to 250 F/cc. It uses a simple fabrication process and is very inexpensive to produce costing less that $10/lb. Super capacitors are used in home video, audio equipment, and computers as power back-ups. This is not a solicitation. Parties interested in licensing one or more of these technologies are invited to submit a letter of interest providing information about the company, areas of potential application for the technology and the point of contact (including address, telephone and fax numbers). Letters should be sent to: Joanne Trujillo, MS 1380, Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM 87185-1380. Fax: (505)843-4175.

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