Los Alamos National Laboratory January Tip Sheet
A LASER THAT HAS THE BLUES...AND REDS, ORANGES AND GREENS
A recent discovery at Los Alamos National Laboratory has led to the development of a new all-solid-state laser that produces four visible colors. The laser can be tuned to red, orange, green, and blue colors and may be useful in full-color projection displays or high-density optical data storage. One of the most exciting features, the researchers say, is the laser's ability to produce blue light, a color difficult to generate efficiently and reliably from solid materials. The Los Alamos discovery involves a phenomenon called a photon avalanche. Researchers use two kinds of impurities placed in a zirconium-fluoride-based glass. The impurities are triple-charged ions and serve as both donors and acceptors of energy while readily absorbing more energy from an infrared pump laser. As these excited ions release energy to yield less excited ions, they produce light. Different colors of light result from transitions of the ions to different lower-energy states. Kathy DeLucas, (505) 665-9201, [email protected]
PURE, PURE HYDROGEN
Los Alamos' Palladium Membrane Reactor generates valuable, ultrapure hydrogen from water, methane or other hydrocarbons in a single, nonpolluting step. The combined membrane separator and catalytic reactor could replace traditional hydrogen-production methods that require at least seven steps. Two potential applications are extraction of hydrogen to synthesize ammonia needed in the multi-billion-dollar fertilizer industry and high-efficiency recovery of tritium. Recovering tritium from the tons of contaminated water at U.S. nuclear facilities is important environmentally and for recycling of tritium, which is valued at $100,000 a gram and is a key component in fusion reactors and nuclear weapons. Los Alamos already is operating a pilot-plant-scale tritium extraction system. Jim Danneskiold, (505) 667-1640, [email protected]
A GLASS ACT, WITH ALLOYS Keep the liquid-like atomic structure of a molten metal when it cools, and you get a metallic glass -- great for making metal parts such as gears, bearings or surgical tools stronger, harder and more corrosion resistant. A metallic glass does not have the ordered, crystalline structure of normal metals that makes them prone to corrosion and pitting. Until now, however, metallic glasses could be made only as thin films and powders, because the metal had to be cooled very quickly to retain the amorphous atomic structure. But Los Alamos scientists have developed a method to remove from molten alloys the impurities that promote crystallization. Now industries can use injection molding to form bulk metallic glasses into complex shapes. The glassy alloys even retain their electrical conductivity and metallic luster. Gary Kliewer, (505) 665-2085, [email protected]
SENSING THE INVISIBLE Researchers in Los Alamos' Electronic Materials and Device Research Group have developed a solid-state sensor for detecting trace quantities of carbon monoxide and other simple gases. The detector senses carbon monoxide levels as low as one part per million -- well below the Environmental Protection Agency's exposure limit of 35 parts per million. This makes the sensor ideal for monitoring environments where small levels of carbon monoxide may lead to hazardous chronic exposures. For example, workers in warehouses where propane-fueled forklifts are used or in chemical processing plants may be exposed to low levels of the gas, a potential health problem. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires that such workplaces be monitored for carbon monoxide, and this creates a need for a robust and accurate sensor like the one developed at Los Alamos. In addition, the sensor may have applications in the recreational vehicle and boating industry to monitor emissions from marine gasoline generators and kerosene heaters, and in the airline industry to monitor recirculated airline cabin air. James E. Rickman, (505) 665-9203, [email protected]
For more Los Alamos news releases, visit World Wide Web site http://www.lanl.gov/Internal/News/pressreleases
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