BirdShades

Naxellent is a company that received a SBIR Phase I grant for a project entitled: Smart transparent solar heat management films. Their project proposes to demonstrate a flexible transparent film technology that automatically reflects near infrared (NIR) solar heat above, but allows the same to transmit through below the room temperature. Using the large discontinuous change in refractive indices across a first order phase transition in liquid crystals (LCs), the proposed polymer and LC composite structure shows index matching at lower temperatures but shows significant index mismatching at higher temperatures. The index mismatched polymer and LC structure at higher temperatures is designed to transmit visible light but to reflect a broad band of NIR radiations. The developed film may be laminated or used as retrofits into glass windows for architectural and vehicular applications to reject solar heat on a hot summer day but allows the same to warm the interior on a colder winter day while the glass windows maintain clear at all times. Full use of such films may save consumers billions of dollars annually in air conditioning costs in summer. The flexible polymeric structure with vastly available materials and scalable thin film manufacturing technologies makes the technology economically very attractive and readily affordable, and successful development of the proposed film technology could have enormous environmental and economical impacts.

Sun Innovations is a company that focuses on the development of projective light emissive display (PLED) technology in the tech industry. The company's main offerings include the creation of transparent emissive display panels that can be applied to any glass or plexiglass windows, providing unlimited viewing angles and field of view. Sun Innovations primarily serves sectors such as media, advertising, entertainment, aeronautics, hospitality, banking, financial, and retail industries. It is based in Fremont, California.

NN-Labs is a company focused on nanotechnology within the materials science industry. The company primarily offers high-quality nanomaterials, including quantum dots and magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, which are used in various applications such as light emitting devices, solar cells, catalysis, biomarkers, and biomedicine. The company's products are primarily sold to sectors involved in research and application development in these areas. It is based in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Advanced Photonic Crystals is a company that received a STTR Phase I grant for a project entitled: Ammonothermal Growth of Doped Aluminum Gallium Nitride Single Crystals for Energy Efficient Solid State Lighting and Tunable LED's. Their award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and their project will address the problem of a multifunctional wide band-gap aluminum gallium nitride single crystal substrate that will enable low-defect, high-performance epitaxial growth. Since much of the energy consumed in the U.S. used for traditional lighting is wasted as heat, solid-state lighting (SSL) has the potential to reduce our energy consumption dramatically. The technology is lacking a critical material that will allow production of high efficiency devices however. Single crystals of AlGaN substrate will enable the production of a tunable bandgap material with a variable band-edge from the visible to the UV range, including the solar blind region between 250-280nm. In addition to solid-state lighting, such a multifunctional material can be used for UV-Vis diode lasers and UV photodetectors in the solar blind region. This technology exploits six years of joint engineering and design of a proven, commercially operational autoclave from APC and Clemson University. The technology can contain the high temperatures and pressures required for hydrothermal growth of oxide crystals (700 C and 4kbar). To accomplish the objectives of Phase I the current hydrothermal model autoclave design will be adapted to work for ammonothermal crystal growth. Broader Impacts project will support the next generation of crystal growth technology in the United States. It will develop a commercially viable route to a key material in solid-state lighting, UV-Vis diode lasers and UV photodetection. The crystal growth industry has exited the United States, leaving a significant gap in the ability to produce strategically important solids onshore. The technical skills to grow single crystals for important materials have decreased significantly in the US. This project will develop a next generation technology that will contribute to US self-sufficiency in a strategic area of materials science. The project will also lead to training of a young postdoctoral fellow in the field of crystal growth, an area that is underdeveloped in the US. The project will also contribute to energy self-sufficiency. Solid-state lighting is expected to save significant energy by improving efficiency and minimizing waste heat. A primary limitation to widespread introduction of solid-state lighting is lack of suitable substrates. This project will provide materials that will enable much high efficiency and long life solid state lighting as well as solid state diode lasers and various other technologies that will provide competitive advantage to the US. Advanced Photonic Crystals is a company that received a SBIR Phase II grant for a project entitled: Hydrothermal Growth of Ultra-High Performance Nd. Their project will focus on the development of a commercial process for the growth of Neodymium Yttrium Vanadate (Nd: YVO4) single crystals for use in solid-state lasers. This research will generate the commercially viable conditions for growth of large boules of single crystals suitable for use in diode pumped solid-state lasers. The hydrothermal method is a low temperature growth technique that leads to crystals containing less thermal strain, much fewer defects and greater homogeneity than conventional methods. These defects combine to cause considerable optical loss and concomitant reduction in performance. The hydrothermal technique has slower growth kinetics and requires chemical development for economically viable growth. In the Phase I project, preliminary growth conditions that lead to suitable single crystals were identified. These conditions include approximate thermal ranges, a variety of starting materials, seed crystals and mineralizer concentrations. In the Phase II project growth conditions will be systematically optimized to provide suitable transport rates and crystal quality. Once an acceptable growth is developed, the resulting boules will be evaluated for performance efficiency and loss. Commercially benefits will emerge as the company introduces new higher performance crystal materials to the market that cannot be grown by existing crystal growth methods. In addition, new laser materials will be donated to Clemson University for design of new laser devices and cavities supporting the University's participation in the emerging photonics Coalition of the Carolinas that includes Clemson, the OptoElectronics Center at UNC-Charlotte, COMSET at Clemson University, and the Carolina MicroOptics Consortium.

Lawrenceville Plasma Physics is a company focused on nuclear fusion research and development in the energy sector. The company is developing a new energy source, modeled on the fusion energy that powers the Sun, aiming to produce environmentally safe energy. It was founded in 1974 and is based in Middlesex, New Jersey.

Aerophase, Inc. is a Longmont, CO based company that has received a grant(s) from the Department of Energy's SBIR/STTR program. The abstract(s) for these grant award(s) are provided as well since they provide insights into Aerophase, Inc.'s business and areas of expertise. Biodiesel is a key component in US plans to reduce dependence on foreign oil and decrease the environmental impacts of using fossil fuels—but current feedstocks and production technologies prevent it from being cost-competitive. This project will provide enabling technologies for a costeffective, energy-efficient method of producing biodiesel fuels from a variety of lowercost feedstocks. Biodiesel is a key component in U.S. plans to reduce dependence on foreign oil and decrease the environmental impacts of using fossil fuels—but current production technology is not cost-competitive. This project will provide enabling technologies for a cost-effective, energy-efficient method of producing biodiesel fuels.