Publications, Patents, and Awards

Publications


Design and test of a compound curved beam flexure with off-axis actuation for precision optical alignment

Proceedings Volume 11100, Optomechanical Engineering 2019; 1110004 (2019)

https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie/11100/1110004/Design-and-test-of-a-compound-curved-beam-flexure-with/10.1117/12.2529271.short

Abstract: A novel curved beam compound flexure has been developed for alignment of multiple aspheric optics on a motorized rotation stage. This new flexure design combines design aspects of compound flexure stages with off-axis actuation to reduce size of the adjustment stage while maintaining relatively large travel range. The flexure design presented provides alignment for ten 12.7 mm diameter optics; each optic position’s flexure has an adjustment resolution of 0.6 microns and 1.0 mm of travel. This flexure design also includes built-in hard stops to minimize over-travel during adjustment, and engineered features to minimize tilt and rotation during adjustment. Design optimization of the flexure and finite element models are presented with design comparisons to previous eccentric adjuster designs.


A fisheye lens as a photonic Doppler velocimetry probe

Proc. SPIE 8494/84940D (2012)

http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=1359096

Paper detailing the design, analysis, and assembly of a fisheye lens used as a multiple line of sight fiber-optic probe for measurement of velocity distribution of an imploding surface along many lines of sight. Laser light, directed and scattered back along each beam on the surface, is Doppler shifted by the moving surface and collected into the launching fiber.


Design, assembly, and testing of a photon Doppler velocimetry probe

Proc. SPIE 8131/813109 (2011)

http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=1341707

Paper detailing the design and analysis of a novel fiber-optic probe for measurement of velocity distribution of an imploding surface along many lines of sight. Reflected light from each spot on the moving surface is processed via photon Doppler velocimetry to provide a continuous time-velocity record.


Design, assembly, and testing of the neutron imaging lens for the National Ignition Facility

Proc. SPIE 7793, 77930D (2010)

http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=754490

Summary paper on the design, assembly, and system alignment of a 9-element imaging lens used for high-speed image capture of neutrons on the National Ignition Facility fusion chamber.


Design considerations of a slit diaphragm flexure used in a precision mirror gimbal

Proc. SPIE 8125, 81250R (2011)

http://www.osti.gov/scitech/biblio/1055667

Summary presentation of two precision mirror gimbals designed using slit diaphragm flexures to provide two-axis precision mirror alignment in space-limited applications. Both gimbals are currently in use in diagnostics at the National Ignition Facility: one design in the Gamma Reaction History (GRH) diagnostic and the other in the Neutron Imaging System (NIS) diagnostic.


Optomechanical design of a prompt gamma reaction history diagnostic

Proc. SPIE 7424, 74240M (2009)

http://www.osti.gov/scitech/biblio/990796

Design and analysis of a high-speed gamma ray detection diagnostic using off-axis-parabolic mirrors on Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF). Special techniques were used in the design, construction, and tolerancing of this gamma ray diagnostic to take first-of-its-kind data in a challenging environment.


Design, assembly, and testing of a high-resolution relay lens used for holography with operation at both doubled and tripled Nd:YAG laser wavelengths

Proc. SPIE 7433, 74330L (2009)

http://www.osti.gov/scitech/biblio/991277

Summary presentation on the design and assembly of a large nine-element holographic imaging system that achieves >2000 lp/mm resolution using 355-nm ultraviolet light. The system has been used in a variety of dynamic explosive experiments at NSTec and won a R&D 100 Award (2009).


Collimating coded aperture for point source detection

Nevada Test Site–Directed Research and Development, FY 2009

http://dx.doi.org/10.2172/977624

SDRD Research project which involved building a remotely-controlled auto-scanning gamma ray coded aperture system capable of narrowing the field of view of a gamma-ray imaging spectrometer (GRIS).


Fielding of a time-resolved tomographic diagnostic

Proc. SPIE 7061, 70610Y (2008)

http://www.osti.gov/scitech/biblio/939693

Summary of a remotely-controlled diagnostic instrument developed for the acquisition of high-speed time-resolved images at the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory.


Patents

3D printing of an intraocular lens having smooth, curved surfaces


FIG. 3

US Patent #US20220176624A1, Published 9 Jun 2022

A continuous additive fabrication system comprises a bath of photopolymer resin and a light source assembly having a light source and a motorized variable aperture.

  • The light source assembly is operable to generate a focus point in the bath of photopolymer resin, the shape of the focus point at a curing plane within the bath of photopolymer resin corresponding to the shape of the motorized variable aperture.
  • The continuous additive fabrication system further comprises a platform configured to support a build object and a drive mechanism (coupled to at least one of the platform and the light source assembly) configured to continuously move the curing plane through the bath of photopolymer resin.
  • A size and/or shape of the motorized variable aperture is changed while the curing plane in continuously moved through the bath of photopolymer resin.

Slit Diaphragm Flexure

Patent Application #US 20140061420 A1, Filed Aug 15, 2013

A novel design for a stiffened slit diaphragm flexure for use as a low-profile, high-precision optical positioning gimbal. This invention was applied to steering mirrors utilized in the Gamma Reaction History (GRH) and Neutron Imaging System (NIS) diagnostics at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF).


Awards

  • 2015 Alcon – IOL R&D On The Spot Award, Imaging Technique for Quantitative Assessment
  • 2013 Alcon – 2013 Oustanding Achievement Award, Product/Technology Innovation – Alcon Aberrometer

  • 2010 National Security Technologies – Performance Award for exceptional performance, NIF Neutron Imaging System
  • 2010 National Security Technologies – Performance Award for exceptional performance, NIF Gamma Reaction History diagnostic

  • 2009 R&D 100 Award Winner, R&D Magazine – High-Resolution UV Holography Lens for Particle Size Distribution Measurements, National Security Technologies, Los Alamos Operations

  • 2008 NNSA Defense Programs Award of Excellence – Exemplary Design on the Var-Frame Camera
  • 2008 NNSA Defense Programs Award of Excellence – Exemplary engineering design, testing, and documentation support for the new Barolo High-pressure Fiber Feed Throughs