Located in Albuquerque since 1988, Voss Scientific provides a wide variety of scientific and R&D services and products, including turnkey data acquisition systems for transient event capture, computational plasma physics modeling, and directed energy sources including high-powered lasers. Beam distortions due to thermal effects pose a major challenge for the development of next-generation lasers. To address this, Voss developed a nanotech-optic that elegantly eliminates these distortions.
Lacking the expertise in nanoscience and equipment necessary to fabricate the optic, the support of Sandia National Laboratories through the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program was sought. Sandia researchers at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies worked to develop the process for creating the necessary nanostructures that produce the desired optical effect and can handle the highpower laser light without being destroyed.
Results from the NMSBA project enabled Voss Scientific to obtain a $1.15 million Phase II Department of Energy Small Business Innovation Research grant. Development of the optic is ongoing. If successful, the technology will significantly improve the performance of high-powered lasers while substantially reducing their costs. Voss Scientific expects to increase commercial sales by augmenting its product line with nanotech-optic enabled lasers.
The company and their manufacturing partners in New Mexico, InSync Inc., CNC Machining, and Sandia Electro-Optics Corporation, expect substantial additions in annual revenue. The work has been mutually beneficial to Voss Scientific, Sandia, and the DOE in that it supports the national labs’ broader goals in laser development and energy research. The nanotech-optic can be scaled in size to support lasers capable of fusing hydrogen atoms together for controlled thermal nuclear fusion for clean electricity production; a goal which the DOE has pursued since the 1950s. For practical energy production, technology like the optic developed by Voss Scientific with the support of the NMSBA is essential.