Key Highlights:
- The new EUVL technology uses a darker absorber material, chromium-antimony patterned with a high degree of control and resolution
- The cathode material lithium-ion batteries could prove useful in operating at high capacity and voltage over repeated cycles
- The NG-LAMP technology provides high-resolution 3D radiation maps that can be transmitted to the user over WiFi
2021 R&D 100 Award
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has recently been honored with the 2021 R&D 100 award for three different technologies. The three winning technologies of the Berkeley Lab are – memory and logic chips, next-generation batteries, and radiation detection and mapping. The R&D 100 award recognizes new commercial products, technologies, and materials through its science and technology awards competition. The United States National Laboratory conducts research on science and technology on behalf of the Department of Energy.
Memory and logic Chips
The first winning technology of the Berkeley Lab is the new photolithography technology called ‘Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography’ or EUVL. Photolithography is an approach that enables high-volume manufacturing by rapidly copying the layout of a pattern from a photomask onto a target wafer. The new EUVL technique uses extremely small-wavelength light making and provides high resolution, single exposure, and cost-effective patterning for the fabrication of logic and memory chips.
Next-Generation Batteries
Scientists of the Berkeley Lab have developed a unique cathode material using a layered-rocksalt intergrown structure, combining the high capacity of lithium-rich metal oxides, fast kinetics of a cation-ordered layered structure, and the structural stability of a cation-disordered rocksalt structure. The next-generation lithium-ion batteries open up a new class of high-performance intergrown cathode materials.
Radiation Detection and Mapping
The Neutron and Gamma-Ray Source Localization and Mapping Platform (NG-LAMP) developed by the Berkeley Lab scientists is the first real-time platform for mapping gamma-ray and neutron sources in three dimensions. The NG-LAMP is a lightweight portable device that can support the U.S. Military, International Inspectors, and Law Enforcement officials for locating radiation sources, nuclear reactor emergency response, and decontamination efforts.
Researchers from the Berkeley Lab develop sustainable energy and environmental solutions, create useful new materials, work on advancement on the frontiers of computing, and probe the mysteries of life, matter, and the universe.
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