A -- DEVELOPMENTS AT NIST

Notice Date

September 25, 2001

Contracting Office

Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition and Logistics Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Room B129, Mail Stop 3571, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899-3571

ZIP Code

20899-3571

Description

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are working on the following technologies. For further information, contact the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Office of Technology Partnerships, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 2200, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899; Telecopy: 301-869-2751. This is not an announcement of a contract action or grant. NIST DOCKET NUMBER: 00-018US, Title: Inorganic Non-metallic, Wire Bondable Top Surface Coating for Use in Wire Bonding to Copper Metallization on Semiconductor Chips. Description: The invention addresses the problem of electrically interconnecting copper metallized semiconductor chips to their packages with wire bonding. A thin, inorganic film is deposited such that it will break-up during the wire bonding process and be pushed aside. Selected film materials are compatible with and normally used for other purposes in wafer fabrication processing. NIST DOCKET NUMBER: 00-020PA, Title: Low Background Doubly Focusing Neutron Monochromator, Description: The Doubly Focusing Neutron Monochromator is a primary component of a neutron spectrometer designed for use at nuclear reactor research facilities. The invention receives polychromatic neutrons from a nuclear reactor cold source and horizontally and vertically focuses neutrons at the Bragg wavelength onto a sample. Advantages over previous designs include the minimization of neutron scattering due to the reduction of structural materials in the neutron beam path. The invention uses thin aluminum blades to support crystals. The only other materials in the neutron beam path are three thin-walled support posts. Other designs require complex and bulky mechanical components for mounting crystals and assembling the overall support frame. NIST DOCKET NUMBER: 01-002PA, Title: Sensitive and Selective Biosenor Employing Nanostrutured Surfaces, Description: A novel biosensor is described that utilizes an optical resonator with nonostructured surfaces to permit highly sensitive and selective detection of biomolecules by absorption spectroscopy, typically, in the visible spectral region. The analyte is not required to possess a significant absorption cross section at the probe wavelength. Instead, the absorption of one or more nonoparticles that are bound to the resonator surface is detected. These nonoparticles have an enormous absorption cross section, which is highly sensitive to chemical and physical changes at the nonoparticle surface. The analyte is detected by combining the sensitive optical response of the nonoparticle with selective chemical interactions occurring at the particle surface. These selective interactions can occur by employing a coated nonoparticle that selectively binds the analyte. The coating is typically of biological origin and possesses binding sites which recognize the analyte. The nanoparticles can be formed from gold, silver, cadmium sulfide, zinc selenide, or other material and have a spherical, spheroidal, tetrahedral, or other shape. Typically, metal or semiconductor particles are employed which support a surface plasmon polariton resonance (SPRR). The nonoparticles modify one or more surfaces of an optical resonator where a light beam interrogates the absorption change in response to the analyte. In one embodiment, the nanoparticles modify one or more ultra-smooth surfaces of a high-finesse resonator that employees intracavity total internal reflection, allowing evanescent wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy (EW-CRDS) to be employed for probing the absorbance change. Through proper choice of nanoparticle density, size, shape, material, coating and resonator design, a miniature biosensor is achieved, permitting trace detection of a wide range of light absorbing or non-light-absorbing analytes. NIST DOCKET NUMBER: 01-016PA, Title: Co-extrusion of Biocompatible Polymers for Tissue Engineering Scaffolds, Description: A new method for preparing porous polymeric materials for tissue engineering applications is presented. The goal is to create a material made of a biocompatible polymer with a continuous network of void space having a characteristic length scale on the order of cellular dimensions. In this work a biodegradable, biocompatible polymer such as poly (caprolactone) is blended with a water-soluble, biocompatible polymer such as (ethylene oxide) in a polymer compounder at elevated temperatures to form an intimately-mixed polymer blend with a characteristic length scale of 1 um. The volume fractions of the components may be chosen so that a co-continuous blend results where both polymers form a continuous, interpenetrating network. The blend is subsequently annealed above the melting temperatures and glass transition temperatures of the components resulting in coarsening of the blend and an increase in the characteristic length scale of the material, which may be increased in excess of the 100 um while still retaining the co-continuity of the structure. The water-soluble component is then dissolved by aqueous washes resulting in the porous scaffold composed of the biodegradable, biocompatible polymer. NIST DOCKET NUMBER: 01-020PA2, Title: Sample Preparation Method for MALDI Analysis, Description: Polyethylene and other polyolefins have not been amenable to MALDI or other soft ionization methods of characterization due to the ineffectiveness of conventional methods of cationization. The lack of polar groups, unsaturation, and aromaticity excludes cationization methods that are used for other common polymers. A new process has been invented in which an organic cation is covalently bonded to the polymer to produce the necessary ionization for successful MALDI. A strong MALDI signal results from polymers that give no response by other methods. This represents a major improvement in Polyolefin analysis and quality control. Other polymers such as styrenics can be analyzed by this method also. NIST DOCKET NUMBER: 97-017C, Title: Domain Engineered Ferroelectric Optical Radiation Detector, Description: The invention comprises a pyroelectric detector with significantly reduced microphonic noise sensitivity comprising a pyroelectric detector element constructed from a z-cut LiNBO3 electret. Selective domain reversal is accomplished in the electret by applying an electric field. Electrodes are attached to either surface of the electret spanning the domain reversed region and a portion of the original domain region to create areas of equal and opposite sensitivity. The detector is mounted in an electrically grounded container or housing. The detector may also be constructed having multiple detector regions to accommodate resonant frequencies of the electret or to function as a position sensor. NIST DOCKET NUMBER: 98-017PA, Title: Compact Disc Notebook, Description: A modular electronic book includes a base page module having a major rectangular surface, a long edge and an end edge with the major rectangular surface defining a rectangular display large enough to include a complete page of text. A microprocessor is mounted in the base page with a memory attached, which is large enough to store a complete book in the form of a plurality of pages. The microprocessor is coupled to the display for driving the display to illustrate the book, or other information, a page at a time. A primary electrical connector is coupled to the microprocessor and is externally accessible at the long edge for receiving one of the keyboard module, a second page module, and a tablet module in electrical communication with the microprocessor for upgrading the book.

Web Link

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Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010927/SPMSC002.HTM (D-268 SN50Y793)