TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITIES: BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES

Applicants to TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITIES (TTO) should review the section describing these opportunities on page 8 of this document prior to submitting applications. Grant applications are sought in the following subtopics: a. Refractive Polymer-Based X-Ray Optical Components To fully utilize the high coherence of DOE's diffraction-limited X-ray sources, there is an urgent need for a giant leap forward in the manufacturing capabilities of X-ray refractive optics that are required for controllable wavefronts in the applications of coherent-based experiment methods. To meet these goals, Argonne National Laboratory researchers have been developing a customizable strategy to manufacture and deploy polymerbased refractive X-ray optics at synchrotron beamlines (US Patent Pending 17/039,624). Using high-resolution polymerization lithography, refractive X-ray optics, such as phase correctors and compound refractive lenses (CRLs), can be rapidly and cost-efficiently printed with a better-than-100 nm printing resolution. These optics have shown a higher quality and better performance than conventional lenses, such as commercially available Beryllium CRLs. Supported on the small flat substrates, these lenses can be quickly deployed into an X-ray beam delivery system. The researchers also devised the transfocator-on-chip, a device comprising printed arrays of CRLs on a single substrate to meet various focusing requirements. These transfocators-on-chip have much more compact form factor and are more affordable than conventional transfocators. ANL is looking for industrial partners to commercialize this technique rapidly for wide applications in various synchrotron facilities and other X-ray delivery systems. The joint advanced R&D will focus on the following aspects: i. Improve multiple polymerization printing lithography schemes for better lens quality and shape controls. ii. Improve the printing resolution to 20-50 nm. iii. Scale-up the procedure for high-throughput optics fabrication, aiming at a useful lens array set per one to a few hours. iv. Investigate high-energy (>20 kev) and high-coherence applications of printed optics. v. Design commercialization-ready assembly scheme for stand-alone instrument that allows fast optics alignment and flexible operation to meet various experimental requirements at synchrotron beamlines. vi. Develop a cost-effective transfocator mechanism for rapid lens exchange and replacement.