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.

       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.

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.

Brief description not available

A bio-based closed-cell foam created using chitin derived from shellfish waste. Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide after cellulose and acts as the structural component of the exoskeleton of arthropods. Chitin has mechanical properties that can be processed into a foam. Such a foam can be used for biodegradeable packaging as well as other uses. 

Brief description not available

The invention is flexible/stretchable soft battery for devices that seamlessly integrate for human-machine interface applications.  Such reconfigurable and soft batteries will play an important role as power sources can take up a large space in a system. To this end, the conformable/stretchable batteries of the embodiments provide an ideal power sources for these devices. Wearable devices attract lots of interest with a market share of over $116.2 billion/year, projected to be $265.4 billion by 2026

Brief description not available

This technology is a new class of materials capable of thermal regulation and active camouflage. These cephalopod-inspired materials, configurable to different geometries, can be used in many sectors, ranging from consumer to industrial to military applications.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering have developed a novel boron arsenide (BAs) material that has an ultra-high thermal conductivity of 1300 W/mK and low cost of synthesis and processing.

Researchers led by Professor Subramanian Iyer from the Department of Electrical Engineering at UCLA have developed a novel fabrication technique to create stretchable electronics.

A fully implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) with onboard processing to control a robotic gait exoskeleton as a walking aid for individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). This technology would alleviate SCI patient’s dependence on wheel chairs, reducing the risk of secondary medical complications that account for an estimated $50 billion/year in healthcare costs.

Fabricating materials from naturally occurring proteins that are inherently biocompatible enables the resulting material to be easily integrated with many downstream applications, ranging from batteries to transistors. In addition, protein-based materials are also advantageous because they can be physically tuned and specifically functionalized. Inventors have developed protein-based material from structural proteins such as reflectins found in cephalopods, a molluscan class that includes cuttlefish, squid, and octopus. In a space dominated by artificial, man-made proton-conducting materials, this material is derived from naturally occurring proteins.

Researchers in the UCLA Department of Electrical Engineering have created a hybrid digital polar and zero switching voltage (ZVS) contour power amplifier, offering higher efficiency for up to 36 dB peak-to-average ratio.

A low-cost solution to robust electronic packaging of 3-D MEMS devices using micro-glassblown “bubble-shaped” structures.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Electrical Engineering have developed a novel tunable and efficient terahertz (THz) plasmon generation on-chip via graphene monolayers.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering have developed a novel lead halide perovskite solar cell with a metal oxide charge transport layer.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering have developed novel tandem transparent and semi-transparent organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering have developed a novel class of conjugated polymers for photo-electronic device applications.

The technology relates to cavity resonators and filters for improved processing of electromagnetic signals. Specifically, the invention is a cavity resonator or filter that is constructed on electromagnetic bandgap substrate that includes an external controlling assemble can change the work frequency of the cavity resonator or filter. This enables device access to frequencies with a very broad range.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed an innovative synthesis approach to achieve high anisotropy L1 FeNi by combining physical vapor deposition and a high speed rapid thermal annealing (RTA).

The first true vertical GaN-based transistors, where gating is also performed on electrons traveling perpendicular to the surface in a vertical channel.

Brief description not available

Researchers at UCI have developed a novel way to make microelectrodes and integrate the fluidic channels. In addition to delivering drugs and growth factors, a neural probe with fluidic and electrical capabilities was developed to further extend the longevity of neural electrodes by reducing the tissue/electrode mechanical mismatch of traditional neural electrodes. In addition to extending the life of probe, it is a biocompatablie insulator with the potential for MRI and other imaging compatibility.

In order to overcome fundamental energy efficiency limits of CMOS technology, micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) relay technologies are now being investigated for ultra-low-power digital integrated circuit (IC) applications. High relay endurance (exceeding 10^14 ON/OFF switching cycles) is required for relay-based ICs to be viable, and has been a major challenge due to stiction and wear. Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed an efficient way to reduce contacts aging, stiction, and oxidation. The researchers have shown that contacts can be made to be very reliable with very low resistance. To date, a contact resistance of 85.2 kohms has been measured at room temperature and suggests the possible use of these contacts for relay-based integrated circuits, which typically requires contact resistances less than 100 kohms. Further work will include coating optimization, surface roughness analysis, dynamic measurements for contact aging evaluation, thermal analysis, extraction of the effective contact area, and advanced current transport modeling.