Omega Optics is a company that received a SBIR Phase I grant for a project entitled: Photonic Crystal Slot Waveguide Miniature Spectrometer for In-Situ Groundwater Contaminant and Greenhouse Gas Detection and Identification. Their project will develop a 100 micron long lab-on-a-chip spectrometer to detect benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) and other compounds in contaminated ground water and methane and nitrous oxides in air emissions. The project will develop a photonic crystal slot waveguide device which will combine slow light effect in photonic crystal waveguides with large optical field intensity in a low index slot at the center of the photonic crystal waveguide. This will allow exact identification of analyte through spectroscopic signatures. The broader/commercial impact of the project will be realized with the successful demonstration of this technology that will permit this chip to be adapted to a wide range of contaminants in water and air media, and hence, could be very useful to activities in the environmental field. Omega Optics is a company that received a STTR Phase II grant for a project entitled: Fully Embedded Optical Interconnects based on Optical Bus Architecture for Large Size Printed Circuit Boards. Their research project is to develop a commercial board level optical interconnect using bus architecture. Conventional copper links on printed circuit boards fail to provide sufficient bandwidth for data transfer above 10 Gbit/sec. Optical interconnections are widely viewed as an alternative to higher throughput. However, existing photonics-related approaches suffer from issues of packaging, reliability and manufacturing cost. In this project, Omega Optics and the University of Texas at Austin seek to develop a fully embedded board level optical interconnect for enhanced bandwidth, while reducing the difficulties of optoelectronic packaging and device reliability. Phase I results demonstrated 150 GHz bandwidth with 51 cm interconnection distance. Instead of utilizing surface mounted optical components this approach separates the fabrication of the optical layer with the electrical parts and laminates it inside printed circuit boards, between which the interconnection is setup through in-layer vias. This fully embedded technology seals all the optical components and provides a seamless interface with electrical layers, therefore it eliminates the concerns of external optoelectronic devices for end users. The revolutionary breakthrough over copper links sought through this research would benefit the entire computer industry and enable the continued progression of bandwidth and interconnect distance. Omega Optics is a company that received a STTR Phase I grant for a project entitled: Electrically pumped silicon laser for monolithic integration of electronics and photonics. Their research project aims at developing a practical silicon laser with the ultimate goal of monolithic integration of electronics and photonics on a single silicon substrate. Past approaches to silicon light sources, including Si/Ge superlattices, porous silicon, silicon nanocrystals, a variety of silicon-rich oxide structures, bulk silicon with a textured surface, and various optical pumping schemes have made noteworthy progress through the last few decades. Nonetheless, an electrically pumped silicon laser with satisfactory quantum efficiency has yet to be demonstrated. The proposed program exploits a recent development based on doped silicon nanostructures formed from mixtures of spin-on-dopant and spin-on-glass, which has already achieved an external quantum efficiency of 0.013% and obvious linewidth narrowing above a clear threshold, all at room temperature. The prior development, however, suffered from a poor waveguide structure which collected generated photons inefficiently and lowered effective gain. This project will attempt to solve this problem by investigating the spatial gain profile and designing a waveguide structure tailored to maximize the overlap of the optical mode field of the waveguide and the spatial gain profile. The proposed program aims at enhancing the external quantum efficiency to a few percent, which becomes comparable to compound semiconductor lasers. Having electronics and optics work together on one silicon chip has been the vision of generations of scientists and engineers. Developing an electrically pumped silicon laser is a crucial step toward realizing this vision. Yet the intrinsically weak photon emission capability made the use of silicon problematic. A silicon laser would enable the integration of all optoelectronic components on a single silicon chip. Such chips may find applications in computers, consumer electronics, and medical devices. A special feature of the proposed silicon laser approach is its simple fabrication process, which is readily compatible with modern silicon VLSI technology. This would hasten adoption of the technology into the marketplace. Omega Optics is a company that received a STTR Phase I grant for a project entitled: Fully Embedded Optical Interconnect Layers Based on Molded Polymer Lightwave Components for Large Field Size Printed Circuit Boards. Their project aims at developing a commercially viable optical interconnect technology. Conventional optical interconnect technologies suffer from planar optical waveguides with small dimensions in the vertical direction, which leads to alignment difficulties, laser coupling efficiency reduction, and deteriorated packaging reliability. These optical interconnect technologies also fail to provide transmission over a large field size, and the insertion of optical interconnects is incompatible with electronic device packaging. In this program, it is proposed to develop a fully embedded optical interconnection layer within the three dimensional (3D) electrical interconnect layers using molded optical waveguides in conjunction with thin film lasers and thin film photodetectors (both ~ 10 micron in thickness). The selection of polymer based molded waveguides solves two pending problems, the small field size of the interconnects and the shallow depth of the waveguides. The proposers intend to demonstrate up to 24"x36" molded waveguide films having waveguide dimensions of 50 microns by 50 microns, which make the alignment, and therefore packaging, of laser diodes and photodetectors highly reliable. Such a waveguide depth is not economically feasible using any other waveguide technologies. Commercially, using current communication devices, future data transmission demands at the printed circuit board and system level will be difficult to achieve with current copper interconnect technology due to issues regarding signal attenuation, electromagnetic interference, and parasitic noise. The state of the art electrical interconnect technology is anticipated to hit a deadlock between 2008 and 2012 at speeds above 10Gb/s. The proposed research provides a unique solution that reliably incorporates the optical interconnects into printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication and integration. The result of this research program will lay a solid foundation for a future PCB industry, which is critical for the United States to lead the market for the years to come.

PKvitality is a bio-wearable company that designs self-monitoring solutions for diabetes. The K'Watch is a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) device that tracks glucose levels continuously throughout the day and night. The company was founded in 2017 and is based in Paris, France.

Baebies developed a nimble bioassay automation platform to rapidly perform multiplex enzymatic assays and other tests. The company licensed its core technology, digital microfluidics, from Illumina. In addition to a technology license in newborn screening that does not include sequencing, Baebies also received equipment, contracts, and other consideration in exchange for a share of ownership in the new company. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Durham, North Carolina.

Safetest Comercio de Diagnostico produces diagnostic kits for detection of diseases in animals and humans from the isolation of specific antigens.

NanoSpot.ai is a diagnostic company that delivers artificial intelligence-based diagnoses to the point of care. It uses a protein system and artificial intelligence to deliver data at the point of care. The company was founded in 2021 and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Senzo develops deep-technology biomedical testing products. It offers COVID-19 test products based on amplified lateral flow (ALF) technology and also integrates with flu testing, tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and hepatitis testing. It caters to the clinical testing industry. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in London, United Kingdom.