Embargoed Until 1 p.m. Eastern Time NSF PR 03-113 - October 7, 2003
Media contact: Josh Chamot (703) 292-7730 [email protected] Program contact: Winslow Sargeant (703) 292-8330 [email protected] New Glass Can Replace Expensive Crystals in Some Lasers and Bring High Power to Small Packages
ARLINGTON, Va.—Researchers have developed a new family of glasses that will bring higher power to smaller packages in lasers and optical devices and provide a less-expensive alternative to many other optical glasses and crystals, like sapphire. Called REAl™ Glass (Rare-earth–Aluminum oxide), the materials are durable, provide a good host for atoms that improve laser performance, and may extend the range of wavelengths that a single laser can currently produce. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Containerless Research, Inc. (CRI), based in the Northwestern University Evanston Research Park in Illinois, recently developed the REAl™ Glass manufacturing process. NSF is now supporting the company to develop the glasses for applications in power lasers, surgical lasers, optical communications devices, infrared materials, and sensors that may detect explosives and toxins. "NSF funded the technology at a stage when there were very few companies or venture capitalists that would have made the choice to invest," says Winslow Sargeant, the NSF officer who oversees CRI's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award. "We supported the REAl Glass research because we saw there was innovation there," adds Sargeant. "They are a great company with a good technology, so we provided seed money to establish the technology's feasibility. Right now, we can say the feasibility is clear, and they're one step closer to full-scale manufacturability," he says. CRI originally developed the glasses with funding from NASA. The research used containerless processing techniques, including a specialized research facility—the Electrostatic Levitator—at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. With the NASA device, the researchers levitated the materials using static electricity and then heated the substances to extremely high temperatures. In that process, the materials were completely protected against contact with a surrounding container or other sources of contamination. "The research that led to the development of REAl Glass concerned the nature and properties of 'fragile' liquids, substances that are very sensitive to temperature and have a viscosity [or, resistance to flow] that can change rapidly when the temperature drops," says Richard Weber, the CRI principal investigator on the project. REAl™ Glass, like many other glasses, is made from a supercooled liquid. This means that the liquid cooled quickly enough to prevent its atoms from organizing and forming a crystal structure. At lower temperatures, such as room temperature, the atoms are "fixed" in this jumbled, glassy state. In REAl™ Glass, the glass making process also provides a mechanism for incorporating rare-earth elements in a uniform way. This quality makes REAl Glass particularly attractive for laser applications. After CRI scientists spent several years on fundamental research into fragile liquids, NSF provided funds to develop both patented glasses and proprietary manufacturing processes for combining the glass components in commercial quantities and at a much lower cost than for levitation melting. Using high temperature melting and forming operations, CRI is making REAl Glass in 10 mm thick rods and plates, establishing a basis for inexpensive, large scale production of sheet and rod products. "The REAl™ Glass products are a new family of optical materials," says Weber, who adds that CRI is already meeting with businesses to talk about requirements for laser, infrared window, and other optical applications and supplying finished products or licensing the material for use. "The REAl™ Glass technology combines properties of competing materials into one [material]," says NSF's Sargeant. "With these glasses," he adds, "researchers can design smaller laser devices, because of the high power density that can be achieved, and can provide small, high-bandwidth devices for applications in the emerging fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) telecom market." Because the glass can incorporate a variety of rare-earth elements into its structure, CRI can craft the glasses to yield specific properties, such as the ability to tune a laser across multiple light wavelengths. The ability to tune the light wavelength can have important implications for the lasers used in dental procedures and surgery, providing more control for operations involving skin shaping or cauterization. The Air Force Office of Scientific Research is supporting CRI's research into applications, including materials for infrared waveguides and sensors needed to identify chemical components. CRI is also continuing basic research on fragile oxide liquids, which they believe still offer much potential for generating new materials, and ultimately, optical devices. Principal Investigator Contact: Richard Weber, Containerless Research, Inc., (847) 467-2678, [email protected], NASA Media Contact: Dolores Beasley, (202) 358-1753, [email protected] NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Media Contact: Steve Roy, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, (256) 544-0034 Websites: www.containerless.com NSF is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering, with an annual budget of nearly $5.3 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 30,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 10,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $200 million in professional and service contracts yearly. Receive official NSF news electronically through the e-mail delivery system, NSFnews. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to [email protected]. In the body of the message, type "subscribe nsfnews" and then type your name. (Ex.: "subscribe nsfnews John Smith") Useful Web Sites: NSF Home Page: http://www.nsf.gov News Highlights: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa Newsroom: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/media/start.htm Science Statistics: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/stats.htm Awards Searches: http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a6/A6Start.htm "Metal droplet levitated inside the Electrostatic Levitator (ESL). The ESL uses static electricity to suspend an object (about 2-3 mm in diameter) inside a vacuum chamber while a laser heats the sample until it melts. This lets scientists record a wide range of physical properties without the sample contacting the container or any instruments, conditions that would alter the readings. The Electrostatic Levitator is one of several tools used in NASA's microgravity materials science program." Credit: NASA Select image for larger version (Size: 609KB)
"The Electrostatic Levitator (ESL) Facility established at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) supports NASA's Microgravity Materials Science Research Program. NASA materials science investigations include ground-based, flight definition and flight projects. Flight definition projects, with demanding science concept review schedules, receive highest priority for scheduling experiment time in the Electrostatic Levitator (ESL) Facility." Credit: NASA Select image for larger version (Size: 806KB)
Samples of glass made by CRI without the use of containers. These samples were made as part of the development of REAl Glass materials. Credit: Containerless Research, Inc. Select image for larger version (Size: 17KB)
CRI worker casting bulk REAl Glass ingots. Credit: Containerless Research, Inc. Select image for larger version (Size: 370KB)
As-cast REAl Glass button and cylindrical ingot. Credit: Containerless Research, Inc. Select image for larger version (Size: 340KB)
As-cast REAl Glass rod containing minute quantities of the rare earth element erbium. Credit: Containerless Research, Inc. Select image for larger version (Size: 324KB)
Larger versions (Total Size: 2,466KB) of all images from this document Note About Images National Science Foundation Office of Legislative and Public Affairs 4201 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, Virginia 22230, USA Tel: 703-292-8070 FIRS: 800-877-8339 | TDD: 703-292-5090
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