Sandia National Laboratories (DOE)
World's smallest atomic clock
May 2, 2011 5:51 am | News | CommentsA matchbook-sized atomic clock 100 times smaller than its commercial predecessors has been created by a team of researchers at Symmetricom Inc. Draper Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories. The portable Chip Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC) also requires 100 times less power than its predecessors. Instead of 10 watts, it uses only 100 milliwatts.
Researchers merge gaming, simulation tools to create models for border security
April 5, 2011 6:19 am | News | CommentsWith funding from the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP), researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a high-fidelity simulation and analysis program that aids policy and decision-makers tasked with making key procurements and funding choices.
Sandia seeds culture of nuclear energy safety and security
March 7, 2011 5:29 am | News | CommentsThe Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute has recently opened in Abu Dhabi with mission of preparing Emirati nuclear professionals for the responsibility of handling potentially threatening materials. The institute, which is backed by experts from Sandia National Laboratories, will not train plant operators; instead it will train executives and policymakers in broad concepts.
S-CO2 Brayton cycle turbines promise leap in thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency
March 4, 2011 3:37 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories researchers are moving into the demonstration phase of a gas turbine system for power generation, with the promise that thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency will be increased to as much as 50%.
Tailoring fungi-based biofuels to meet the needs of combustion engines
January 20, 2011 8:46 am | News | CommentsEngine experts and biofuels researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are working on a project that aims to modify an endophytic fungus so that it will produce fuel-type hydrocarbons for transportation purposes.
Big power from micro energy harvester
August 12, 2010 12:04 pm | Award WinnersLithium-ion batteries and solar cells are by now familiar technologies. But Sandia National Laboratories and partners have combined the technologies into the Micro Power Source, a rechargeable ultra-small power source.
Mainstreaming superconduction
August 11, 2010 7:05 am | Award WinnersLos Alamos National Laboratory has developed its Solution Deposition Planarization (SDP) process in an effort to reduce the production costs of superconducting wire, and support much higher power densities.
Optical films get themselves together
August 11, 2010 5:22 am | Award WinnersMost optical films are manufactured using complicated, costly processes requiring high temperature and high vacuum. Looking for a simpler, less expensive solution, Sandia National Laboratories has developed Multifunctional Optical Coatings by Rapid Self-Assembly.
CRADA Improves Biofuel Energy Yield
September 29, 2009 9:06 am | by Mike James, Sandia National Laboratories | Articles | CommentsCooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) between private companies and government research labs allow partners to optimize their resources and share technical expertise in a protected enivironment.
Superhydrophobic Coatings
August 5, 2009 5:24 am | by Sandia National Laboratories | Videos | CommentsA transparent coating that is not just impermeable to water, but actually makes it bounce off a surface to help prevent corrosion, protect electronic and antiquities, or provide a new, more efficient surface to collect pure water.
Modulators conserve supercomputer power
July 28, 2009 7:03 am | Award WinnersSandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, N.M.) developed the Ultralow-Power Silicon Microphotonic Communications platform to address the bandwidth and power consumption limitations of future microelectronic inter-chip networks.
Hyperspectral goes hyperspeed
July 27, 2009 9:39 am | Award WinnersHyperspectral microscopes image hundreds of spectral wavelengths when obtaining spectral images, allowing users to observe multiple individually-fluorescing species. Microscope developers at Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, N.M.) have combined this capability with 3-D confocal imaging and multivariate curve analysis software to help observers discover and quantify these species.
Holey platinum brightens outlook for fuel cells
July 27, 2009 8:25 am | Award WinnersSandia National Laboratories' (Albuquerque, N.M.) NanoCoral Dendritic platinum nanostructures for renewable energy applications are the first shaped Pt nanostructures, offering an opportunity for improving the cost and efficiency of fuel cells. The nanostructures are produced by controlling the dendritic metal growth that occurs during the chemical reduction of various types of aqueous platinum complexes, resulting in 3 nm metal arms separated by space of about 1 nm.
Silicon carbide powers higher temperatures
July 27, 2009 6:40 am | Award WinnersThe High-temperature Silicon Carbide (SiC) Power Module developed by Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, N.M) and partners is the world’s first commercial module of its kind. The 50 kW (1200 V/150 A peak) silicon carbide power modules are rated up to 250°C junction temperature versus the 150ºC limit for silicon technology.
Mesoscale calibration goes high profile
September 26, 2008 12:49 pm | Award WinnersTo achieve high accuracy at mesoscale, the Silicon Micromachined Dimensional Calibration Artifact for Mesoscale Measurement Machines, produced by Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, N.M.), feature a nanometrically sharp yet microscopically long edge that can be located using a tactile probe on high-accuracy coordinate measuring machines. Chrome-on-glass grid artifacts can only be calibrated optically because they are essentially 2-D.
Superhydrophobia is perfectly natural
September 25, 2008 12:42 pm | Award WinnersWaxy spherical protrusions on the surface of the Lotus leaf force water droplets to assume a 150° or greater contact angle, allowing them to easily roll away. The patterned carapace of the Namib Sternocara Desert beetle nucleates water drops during fogs, which then roll toward its mouth for drinkinig. Like the Lotus and the desert beetle, the Superhydrophobic Coating from Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, N.M.) adopts a specialized surface geometry to manipulate the molecular tendencies of water.
Unlocking the potential of fiber lasers
August 31, 2007 8:00 pm | Award WinnersThe Mode-Filtered Fiber Amplifier enables dramatic power scaling of fiber lasers by more than 100x. Developed by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore, Calif.) and the Naval Research Laboratory (Washington, D.C.), and the technology licensees at Nufern Corp. (East Granby, Conn.) and Liekki Corp. (Lohja, Finland), the Mode-Filtered Fiber Amplifier technology enables fabrication of practical, high-power, high-beam-quality laser sources that are compact, rugged, and extremely efficient.
Holding the strings on thin film
August 31, 2007 8:00 pm | Award WinnersSandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (Fort Worth, Texas) seek to greatly boost control of deposition processes with a wet solution-based innovation, a Self-assembling Process for Fabricating Tailored Thin Films. Made of ordered, high-density nanocomposites, the film can be fine-tuned in thicknesses of a few nanometers up to 1 µm by changing particle composition, concentration, or both.
No fault, no blame
August 31, 2007 8:00 pm | Award WinnersEnsuring the integrity of complex wiring systems is crucial to the safety of aircraft. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, N.M.), in conjunction with Astronics-Advanced Electronic Systems, Inc. (Redmond,Wash.), aim to do just that with ArcSafe, their 9-kg device that can identify defects in an electrical line without damaging wiring, insulation, or conductors.
Driving drilling
August 31, 2006 8:00 pm | Award WinnersResearchers at Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, N.M.), High Power Battery Systems Co. (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia), and General Atomics (San Diego, Calif.) have developed the HTSS10V Fluoride Battery, a new battery is a solid-state fluoride-based battery for use in high-temperature applications.
High-energy imaging
August 31, 2005 8:00 pm | Award WinnersSingle-Ion Microscopy techniques are gaining ground in applications ranging from integrated circuit (IC) characterization to biological studies. Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, and Quantar Technology Inc., Santa Cruz, Calif., have recently extended the capabilities of single-ion microscopy with their invention, the Ion Photon Emission Microscope (IPEM).
Lightweight tooling heats up
August 31, 2005 8:00 pm | Award WinnersComposite materials that cure at high temperatures are becoming more prevalent in industry. Because of their high-temperature cure, only expensive metal tooling can be used to form these composites. Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, in a joint effort with Scion Industries, LLC, Fort Collins, Colo., have made a major advance in lightweight, high-temperature, high strength tooling materials with TEPIC—A Machinable or Cast-to-Shape Composite Tooling Material.
A new approach to tire design
August 31, 2005 8:00 pm | Award WinnersThe search for an all-season tire capable of handling any weather condition is one of the ultimate goals in the tire business. To that end, researchers at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, along with Sandia National Labs, Albuquerque, NM, developed the Assurance Featuring TripleTred Technology, a tire with three unique tread zones that combines long wear with traction in any weather condition.
Getting better connected
August 31, 2005 8:00 pm | Award WinnersIn a joint effort, researchers from Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, along with Logical Solutions, Milford, Conn., have developed Global-Link, a hardware solution tailored for the secure transmission of high-resolution video, keyboard and mouse using IP.
Mismatches made to match
August 31, 2004 8:00 pm | Award WinnersResearchers at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M., developed of the Cantilever Epitaxy and Growth of Low-Dislocation Gallium Nitride (CE-GaN). This unique process is characterized by its ability to grow a layer of one material on a second layer, and to achieve low dislocation densities in spite of a large mismatch in their atomic spacing.
