Project
Title:Innovative
Optics Technology to Focus X-Rays and Neutrons (New Optics
Enhance X-Ray and Neutron Focusing)
Project:
To establish
the capability to manufacture reliable polycapillary x-ray
optics technology, which is needed for medical imaging
and materials research, and to explore and experiment
with design, alternative materials, and productivity models.
Duration:
6/1/1992-5/31/1996
ATP Number:
91-01-0112
Funding (in thousands):
ATP Final Cost $1,949 84%
Participant Final Cost
371 16%
Total $2,320
Accomplishments: Through
its collaboration with ATP, X-Ray Optical Systems (XOS)
achieved a number of accomplishments, including winning
the 1996 Photonics Circle of Excellence Award presented
by Photonics Spectra Magazine and being listed among the
R&D top 100 from R&D Magazine in 1995. XOS
received the following patents for technologies resulting
from this ATP-funded project:
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"Polychannel
multiple-total-external reflection neutron radiography"
(No. 5,553,105: filed October 31, 1994, granted September
3, 1996)
-
"Use
of a Kumakhov lens in analytic instruments"
(No. 5,497,008: filed February 1, 1995, granted March
5, 1996)
-
"High
intensity, small diameter x-ray beam, capillary optic
system"
(No. 5,570,408: filed February 28, 1995, granted October
29, 1996)
-
"Multiple-channel,
total-reflection optic with controllable divergence"
(No. 5,604,353: filed June 12, 1995, granted February
18, 1997)
-
"Radiation
focusing monocapillary with constant inner dimension
region and varying inner dimension region"
(No. 5,747,821: filed August 4, 1995, granted May
5, 1998)
-
"Multiple
channel optic"
(No. 5,745,547: filed August 2, 1996, granted April
28, 1998)
-
"Microcalorimeter
x-ray detectors with x-ray lens"
(No. 5,880,467: filed March 5, 1997, granted March
9, 1999)
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Commercialization
Status: XOS commercialized
its optics technology and was working on improving the
optic components' ability to scan larger areas by 2002.
Furthermore, the ATP award enabled XOS to develop its
technology to a level that made possible further collaboration
with private and public entities for a variety of research
and commercial endeavors. XOS assisted the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration in determining the structure
of proteins, which will have a wide impact on the study
of diseases, including the possibility of preventing a
rare children's disease. XOS also collaborated with the
Department of Energy and with research organizations such
as the Los Alamos and the Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
In the private sector, XOS started numerous joint development
projects with companies such as VECCO, EDAX, Roentgenanalytik,
Shimadzu, Bede Scientific, Inc., and Thermo Electron.
The partnerships with Shimadzu and Bede Scientific, Inc.,
resulted in commercialized machines that use the ATP-funded
technology, while the other projects were still in the
R&D stage. Although
the market size for polycapillary optic lenses and collimators
is small, it is growing. The lens is revolutionary because,
for the first time, researchers are able to investigate
materials at a level of detail once thought impossible.
This technology should open new markets in the materials
research and protein crystallography sectors.
Outlook:
Prospective applications and benefits from this new optics
technology were just beginning to be identified. Polycapillary
optics were only starting to make inroads within the economy.
For example, one area of future interest is in microelectronic
lithography, where x-ray lenses can be used to make finer
microchip features. Furthermore,
polycapillary optics are useful for materials research,
medical imaging, and long-wavelength x-ray applications.
X-ray diffraction, for example, is useful for government,
commercial, and scientific applications aimed at studying
molecular structures within materials. As a component
provider for customized optics, XOS is beginning to expand
on this role and enter into new territory.
Composite
Performance Score: *
* * *
Number of Employees:
One employee at project start, 22 as of September 2002.
Company:
X-Ray Optical Systems, Inc.
30 Corporate Circle
Albany, NY 12203
Contact:
David Gibson
Phone:
(518) 464-3334
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