Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed an advanced multi x-ray source array system employing dual cathode designs that enhance computed tomography (“CT”) imaging by enabling pulsed, spatially multiplexed x-ray emission with reduced artifacts.

         Dust accumulation on solar panels, particularly in desert regions, can cause significant power losses without frequent water-based cleaning. With the global solar capacity rising, current cleaning methods yield high operational costs, consume billions of gallons of water annually, and pose sustainability and resource challenges.         To overcome these challenges, UC Berkeley researchers have developed a passive anti-soiling coating, which can effectively repel dust particles without energy or resources. The anti-soiling performance can be triggered by an onset temperature as low as 40 °C—common in most operating environments—and has been demonstrated to repel nearly all dust particles in preliminary studies. The approach is practical and highly promising for large-scale deployment.

      The widespread occurrence of nutrient-rich and metal-contaminated wastewater presents an environmental challenge and untapped economic opportunity. Ammonia, copper, and phosphorous are prime targets. For example, ammonia is industrially produced by the Haber-Bosch process, a highly energy-intensive (~12.5 kWh/kg-N to convert N2 to ammonia, consuming 1-2% of global energy usage) and greenhouse gas-emitting (~1.2% of global CO2 emissions) technique. After use, primarily as fertilizer, nearly 50% of all U.S.-consumed ammonia ends up in municipal wastewater and animal feedlot retention systems. Technologies presently proposed for recovering critical nutrients and metals from wastewater are limited in scalability by high energy demands, costly chemicals or membrane requirements, low efficiencies, or fouling challenges.       UC Berkeley researchers have developed and demonstrated a low-cost, robust, and near-zero-energy reactor that simultaneously recovers ammonia and other valuable ions (e.g., P and Cu) from wastewater streams. The reactor is driven by sunlight or low-grade waste heat, such that it eliminates the need for external pumping—further cutting energy consumption and capital cost. The functional material is an inexpensive cloth that is also roll-to-roll compatible, making it economically scalable and easy to manufacture. The reactor can be implemented within wastewater streams including municipal wastewater, animal feedlot wastewater, and organic waste digestate. It may further be adapted to recover other valuable resources, such as lithium, from sources like mining wastewater and landfill leachate. It may even be extended beyond nutrient and metal recovery to separation or pre-concentration of volatile organic compounds such as ethanol and methanol from aqueous solutions.

UC Berkeley researchers have developed a novel dispersion system for agricultural and environmental payloads, including seeds, soil amendments, miniature soil sensors, and so forth. Dispersive packages are biodegradable and biomimetically designed with similarities to natural seeds. Aerodynamic properties control large-area dispersions, while importantly, tunable gyroscopic properties are programmed for penetration parameters, such as depth, upon impact. Payload distribution can be fine-tuned accounting for local soil moisture and grain-size.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a technology that introduces a highly adaptable, lightweight robotic end effector designed for complex manipulation tasks in automation.

      On-chip ultrafast light devices with a compact footprint and low cost would provide a practical platform for applications such as optical signal processing, molecular sensing, microwave generation and nonlinear optical processes. With the help of recent advances in nanofabrication techniques, the ability to reach low propagation loss on-chip has driven the development of high-quality (Q) factor microresonators. These microresonators allow for microcomb and pulse generation under intense continuous wave (CW) pumping. However, low nonlinear conversion efficiencies and high repetition rates, fixed by the resonator geometry, make achieving ultrashort pulses with high peak power remains an ongoing challenge.       To overcome these challenges, UC Berkeley researchers have demonstrated the integration of an electro-optic-comb system and dispersion-engineered nonlinear waveguides on a thin-film lithium niobate platform. The compact, on-chip device can achieve 35-fs pulse generation, corresponding to 6.7 cycles at 1550 nm, via higher-order soliton compression. The present invention facilitates development of ultrafast nano-optics and nano-electronics.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a reversed feedback amplifier design for enhanced mm-wave signal amplification.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a technology that introduces an alternative topology for Fibonacci switched-capacitor converters that significantly reduces switch losses and improves efficiency.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed method for separating quasi-periodic mixed-signals using a single data trace, enhancing wearable sensor applications.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a technology that introduces new electrolyte compositions that significantly enhance the stability and efficiency of non-aqueous flow batteries.

       Spectral machine vision collects both the spectral and spatial dependence (x,y,λ) of incident light, containing potentially useful information such as chemical composition or micro/nanoscale structure.  However, analyzing the dense 3D hypercubes of information produced by hyperspectral and multispectral imaging causes a data bottleneck and demands tradeoffs in spatial/spectral information, frame rate, and power efficiency. Furthermore, real-time applications like precision agriculture, rescue operations, and battlefields have shifting, unpredictable environments that are challenging for spectroscopy. A spectral imaging detector that can analyze raw data and learn tasks in-situ, rather than sending data out for post-processing, would overcome challenges. No intelligent device that can automatically learn complex spectral recognition tasks has been realized.       UC Berkeley researchers have met this opportunity by developing a novel photodetector capable of learning to perform machine learning analysis and provide ultimate answers in the readout photocurrent. The photodetector automatically learns from example objects to identify new samples. Devices have been experimentally built in both visible and mid-infrared (MIR) bands to perform intelligent tasks from semiconductor wafer metrology to chemometrics. Further calculations indicate 1,000x lower power consumption and 100x higher speed than existing solutions when implemented for hyperspectral imaging analysis, defining a new intelligent photodetection paradigm with intriguing possibilities.

      Microwave impedance microscopy (MIM) is an emerging scanning probe technique that enables non-contact, nanoscale measurement of local complex permittivity. By integrating an ultrasensitive, phase-resolved microwave sensor with a near-field probe, MIM has made significant contributions to diverse fundamental and applied fields. These include strongly correlated and topological materials, two-dimensional and biological systems, as well as semiconductor, acoustic, and MEMS devices. Concurrently, notable progress has been made in refining the MIM technique itself and broadening its capabilities. However, existing literature has focused exclusively on linear MIM based on homodyne architectures, where reflected or transmitted microwave is demodulated and detected at the incident frequency. As such, linear MIM lacks the ability to probe local electrical nonlinearity, which is widely present, for example, in dielectrics, semiconductors, and superconductors. Elucidating such nonlinearity with nanoscale spatial resolution would provide critical insights into semiconductor processing and diagnostics as well as fundamental phenomena like local symmetry breaking and phase separation.       To address this shortcoming, UC Berkeley researchers have introduced a novel methodology and apparatus for performing multi-harmonic MIM to locally probe electrical nonlinearities at the nanoscale. The technique achieves unprecedented spatial and spectral resolution in characterizing complex materials. It encompasses both hardware configurations enabling multi-harmonic data acquisition and the theoretical and calibration protocols to transform raw signals into accurate measures of intrinsic nonlinear permittivity and conductivity. The advance extends existing linear MIM into the nonlinear domain, providing a powerful, versatile, and minimally invasive tool for semiconductor diagnostics, materials research, and device development.

      Optical tweezers generated with light modulation devices have great importance for highly precise laser imaging and addressing systems e.g. excitation and readout of single atoms, imaging of interactions between molecules, or highly precise spatial trapping and movement of particles. To generate dynamic optical tweezers adjustable at the microsecond scale, acousto-optic deflectors (AOD) are commonly used to modulate the spatial profile of laser light. Dynamic optical tweezers are increasingly relevant for emerging technologies such as neutral atom quantum computers, and tightly focused laser spot arrays may enable advanced imaging and/or semiconductor processing applications. However, dynamic optical tweezer systems capable of rapid, aberration-free movement of one or multiple atoms in independent, arbitrary three-dimensional trajectories with minimal aberration have not yet been realized.      UC Berkeley researchers have developed a dynamic optical tweezer system that overcomes significant defects such as limited 2D motion and optical aberration present in existing art. Carefully designed waveform modulation of one or more acousto-optic deflector lenses (AODLs) enables atomic addressing and rapid tweezer motions while minimizing significant optical aberrations present in prior methods. The invention is capable of microsecond scale single or multi tweezer motion in arbitrary three-dimensional trajectories without the use of translation stages. The invention can flexibly address one atom, multiple atoms, or the entire array.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed an innovative technology that incorporates advanced microchannel architecture into scalable solar thermal receiver unit cells, enabling highly efficient solar energy conversion.

      Poorly designed healthcare environments can increase patient stress and delay recovery, particularly in pediatric settings (see, e.g., Devlin & Andrade 2017; Park et al. 2018; Jafarifiroozabadi et al. 2023). Traditional methods for gathering architectural design feedback, such as interviews, surveys, and focus groups, rely heavily on subjective user input, and often fail to capture the voices of children by relying on parent proxies. Physical mock-ups, a common alternative to traditional methods, provide a full-scale model of a room or space, often constructed from materials like cardboard or foam. While these mock-ups allow for some degree of spatial exploration, they are time-intensive, and limited in their ability to replicate real-world conditions; high-fidelity mock-ups which incorporate more realistic materials and finishes add expense and limit flexibility for testing multiple design iterations.       To overcome these challenges UC Berkeley researchers have developed an innovative participatory design methodology that leverages advanced virtual reality (VR), eye-tracking, and physiological/emotional biofeedback technologies to evaluate the design of pediatric healthcare environments. This comprehensive system is further enhanced by custom-developed workflows for creating dynamic, interactive room simulations that are randomized to ensure rigorous, unbiased data collection. The methodology is uniquely capable of gathering objective, quantifiable data on how pediatric patients and their families respond physiologically and emotionally to specific environmental design features.

Researchers at the University of California Davis have developed a system designed to predict and prevent ATV rollovers, enhancing rider safety.

      Effective thermal management remains a critical challenge in designing and operating next-generation electronics, data centers, and energy systems. Devices are steadily shrinking and handling increased power densities. Traditional cooling strategies, such as heat sinks and immersive cooling systems, fall short in delivering the targeted, localized cooling needed to prevent or address thermal hotspots. Current solutions for localized hotspot cooling require active, energy-intensive methods like pumping of coolants and complex thermal architecture design.       To overcome these challenges, UC Berkeley researchers present a transformative passive method for localized, autonomous cooling of hotspots. The cooling system delivers effective, localized cooling across various device surfaces and geometries, including those geometries wherein cooling media must move against gravity. The benefits of the present system will be appreciated for computer chip and other electronics cooling, microgravity applications, battery thermal management. Beyond thermal management, the underlying system may also open novel avenues in fluid manipulation and energy harvesting.

Researchers at the University of California Davis have developed a technology that enables the provable editing of DNNs (deep neural networks) to meet specified safety criteria without altering their architecture.

      The demand for miniaturized power electronics with increased efficiency and performance motivates the exploration of piezoelectric structures as alternative passive components; piezoelectric components store energy in mechanical compliance and inertia with extremely high quality factors and energy densities significantly greater than those of magnetics at small scales. Recent magnetic-less dc-dc converter designs based on single-port piezoelectric resonators (PRs) have demonstrated power stage efficiencies of 99% and PR power handling densities of up to 5.7 kW/cm3. While marking tremendous milestones, such performance has only been achieved in non-isolated dc-dc converters with mild (2:1) voltage conversion ratios, confining the utility of piezoelectric-based power conversion to a narrow subset of applications.       Piezoelectrics may be expanded to a broader set of applications through use of multi-port piezoelectric transformers (PTs), which offer the same advantages as PRs but with the added potential for galvanic isolation and inherent voltage transformation. The present invention overcomes standing performance shortcomings in isolated magnetic-less PT-based dc-dc converters, providing a framework for high-efficiency piezoelectric transformer (PT) designs (wherein isolated PTs serve as the primary passive components in isolated dc-dc converters). One of the proposed PT designs is validated in a dc-dc power converter prototype and demonstrates a peak efficiency of 97.5%. The measured performance represents a 17x reduction in loss ratio compared to previous isolated magnetic-less PT-based dc-dc converter designs, and expands the value of piezoelectrics to applications requiring isolation.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a technology that introduces a novel approach to hardware security using photonic physically unclonable functions for true random number generation and biometric ID.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a photothermal patterning flow cell that enables precise and efficient patterning of polymer films, compatible with existing cleanroom photolithography equipment.

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Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed an artificial intelligence machine that uses a combination of electronic neuromorphic circuits and photonic neuromorphic circuits.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a haptic interface designed to aid visually impaired individuals in navigating their environment using their portable electronic devices.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a Doppler radar front end to overcome detection nulls without quadrature demodulation.