The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2006-2007

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2006-2007 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This annual report summarizes activities of the BUPC over the period of July, 2006 through June, 2007, corresponding to the University’s fiscal year. These activities span the Center’s complementary missions in research, education, technology development, and commercialization. This reporting period included a milestone, as BUPC completed its tenth year of operation in its landmark building in the heart of the University’s Charles River Campus. Faculty research activity reached an all time high when evaluated by the usual metrics of external funding, scholarly publications, honors and awards. The Center’s educational programs were bolstered by two summer programs hosting more than 40 undergraduate interns, and by the launch of a competitive graduate fellowship program sponsoring ten BUPC graduate fellowships. In technology development, the prototype RedOwl sniper detection system pioneered by Center faculty, staff, and industry partners was fieldtested by the US Department of Defense, and has been handed off to industry partners for further pre-commercial development. Three new defense/security prototypes were developed by BUPC to address critical national defense needs in the past year and 13 faculty development projects were supported in collaboration with the Army Research Laboratory to fill the technology pipeline for our future defense-related prototyping efforts. The Center’s business incubator had a transformative year. After revising its core mission and operational strategy in the summer of 2006, the incubator generated significant demand for the intellectual environment, facilities, and expertise available to participating companies. New companies attracted by this revised value proposition now occupy all available space

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2007-2008

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2007-2008 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.The following report summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) during the period July 2007 through June 2008. These activities span the Center’s complementary missions in education, research, technology development, and commercialization. Faculty research activity reached an all time high when evaluated by the accepted metrics of external funding, scholarly publications, honors and awards. The Center’s educational programs were bolstered by two summer programs hosting more than 40 undergraduate interns, and by the renewal of a competitive graduate fellowship program sponsoring ten BUPC graduate fellowships. In technology development, the prototype RedOwl sniper detection system pioneered by Center faculty, staff, and industry partners was field-tested by the US Department of Defense. RedOwl has been officially transitioned to industry partners for further commercial development along with the soldier wearable Enhanced Acoustic Gear for Locating Enemies (EAGLE) system. Three defense/security prototypes were developed by BUPC to address critical national defense needs in the past year. Four faculty development projects were supported in collaboration with the Army Research Laboratory’s Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate (ARL-SEDD) to fill the technology pipeline for our future defense-related prototyping efforts. The Center’s business incubator is at capacity with various technology companies ranging from photonics to life sciences. The incubator provides a stimulating intellectual environment, outstanding facilities, and professional business expertise to participating companies

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2009-2010

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center for the period from July 2009 through June 2010. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This report summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) during the period July 2009 through June 2010. These activities span the Center’s complementary missions in education, research, technology development, and commercialization. In education, twenty-three BUPC graduate students received Ph.D. diplomas. BUPC faculty taught thirty-one photonics courses. Five graduate students were funded through the Photonics Fellowship Program. BUPC supported a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site in Photonics, which hosted summer interns in a ten-week program. Each REU student presented their research results to a panel of faculty and graduate students. Professors Goldberg and Swan continued their work with K-12 student outreach programs. Professor Goldberg’s Boston Urban Fellows Project started its sixth year. Professor Swan’s collaborative Four Schools for Women in Engineering program entered its third year. For more on our education programs, turn to the Education section on page 67. In research, BUPC faculty published journal papers spanning the field of photonics. Twelve patents were awarded to faculty this year for new innovations in the field. A number of awards for outstanding achievement in education and research were presented to BUPC faculty members. These honors include NSF CAREER Awards for Professors Altug, Dal Negro and Reinhard. New external grant funding for the 2009-2010 fiscal year totaled $21.1M, including$4.0M through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL). For more information on our research activities, turn to the Research section on page 24. In technology development, the Department of Defense (DoD) continued to support the COBRA prototype systems. These photonics-technologies were pioneered by BUPC faculty and staff and have been deployed for field test and use at the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases. New technology development projects for nuclear weapon detection, biodosimetry and terahertz imaging were launched and previously developed technologies for bacterial and viral sensing advanced toward commercial transition. For more information on our technology development pipeline and projects, turn to the Technology Development section on page 54. In commercialization, the business incubator continues to operate at capacity. Its tenants include more than a dozen technology companies with core business interests primarily in photonics and life sciences. It houses several companies founded by current and former BU faculty and students and provides students with an opportunity to assist, observe, and learn from start-up companies. For more information about business incubator activities, turn to the Business Incubation chapter in the Facilities and Equipment section on page 84. In early 2010, the BUPC unveiled a five-year strategic plan as part of the University’s comprehensive review of centers and institutes. The BUPC strategic plan will enhance the Center’s position as an international leader in photonics research. For more information about the strategic plan, turn to the BUPC Strategic Plan section on page 8

Sub-20 nm Core-Shell-Shell Nanoparticles for Bright Upconversion and Enhanced Förster Resonant Energy Transfer.

Upconverting nanoparticles provide valuable benefits as optical probes for bioimaging and Förster resonant energy transfer (FRET) due to their high signal-to-noise ratio, photostability, and biocompatibility; yet, making nanoparticles small yields a significant decay in brightness due to increased surface quenching. Approaches to improve the brightness of UCNPs exist but often require increased nanoparticle size. Here we present a unique core-shell-shell nanoparticle architecture for small (sub-20 nm), bright upconversion with several key features: (1) maximal sensitizer concentration in the core for high near-infrared absorption, (2) efficient energy transfer between core and interior shell for strong emission, and (3) emitter localization near the nanoparticle surface for efficient FRET. This architecture consists of β-NaYbF4 (core) @NaY0.8-xErxGd0.2F4 (interior shell) @NaY0.8Gd0.2F4 (exterior shell), where sensitizer and emitter ions are partitioned into core and interior shell, respectively. Emitter concentration is varied (x = 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 80%) to investigate influence on single particle brightness, upconversion quantum yield, decay lifetimes, and FRET coupling. We compare these seven samples with the field-standard core-shell architecture of β-NaY0.58Gd0.2Yb0.2Er0.02F4 (core) @NaY0.8Gd0.2F4 (shell), with sensitizer and emitter ions codoped in the core. At a single particle level, the core-shell-shell design was up to 2-fold brighter than the standard core-shell design. Further, by coupling a fluorescent dye to the surface of the two different architectures, we demonstrated up to 8-fold improved emission enhancement with the core-shell-shell compared to the core-shell design. We show how, given proper consideration for emitter concentration, we can design a unique nanoparticle architecture to yield comparable or improved brightness and FRET coupling within a small volume

Commercializing Defense Technologies and Helping Defense Firms Succeed in Commercial Markets: A Report on the Objectives, Activities, and Accomplishments of the TAP-IN Program

Technology Access for Product Innovation (TAP-IN), the largest technology deployment project funded by TRP, was competitively selected through a national solicitation for proposals. TAP-IN was created to help companies access and apply defense technologies and help defense-dependent companies enter new commercial markets. Defense technologies included technologies developed by DoD, DOE, NASA, and their contractors. TAP-IN was structured to provide region-based technology access services that were able to draw on technology resources nationwide. TAP-IN provided expert assistance in all stages of the commercialization process from concept through prototype design to capital sourcing and marketing strategy. TAP-IN helped companies locate new technology, identify business partners, secure financing, develop ideas for new products, identify new markets, license technology, solve technical problems, and develop company-specific applications of federal technology. TAP-IN leveraged NASA's existing commercial technology network to create an integrated national network of organizations that assisted companies in every state. In addition to NASA's six regional technology transfer centers (RTTCs), TAP-IN included business and technology development organizations in every state, the Industrial Designers Society of America, and the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC)

Towards Laser Driven Hadron Cancer Radiotherapy: A Review of Progress

It has been known for about sixty years that proton and heavy ion therapy is a very powerful radiation procedure for treating tumours. It has an innate ability to irradiate tumours with greater doses and spatial selectivity compared with electron and photon therapy and hence is a tissue sparing procedure. For more than twenty years powerful lasers have generated high energy beams of protons and heavy ions and hence it has been frequently speculated that lasers could be used as an alternative to RF accelerators to produce the particle beams necessary for cancer therapy. The present paper reviews the progress made towards laser driven hadron cancer therapy and what has still to be accomplished to realise its inherent enormous potential.Comment: 40 pages, 24 figure