innovation technology and instrumentation in particle physics june 9, 2011 w. f. brinkman
TRANSCRIPT
Innovation Definition (wikipedia)
Relates to renewal or improvementSocial- democracyEconomic –credit default swapsGovernment-medicareArts-impressionists
We will use “taking inventions to products
The Invisible Revolution behind modern communications
Inventions/innovations that were essential
Optical communications
Laser Coherent lightSemiconductor laser -small high speed deviceOptical fiber -long distances Erbium amplifiers-simple WDM repeaters
Tremendous advances in communication
First trial was 1.5 miles and a few megabits per second
Multi wavelength systems were introduced in1995.
Today we have systems handle several Terabits/sec with as many as 80-100 wavelengths
Recent reports are one terabit on a single wavelength
However, let’s look at a couple innovations that occurred during all this progress
True Wave Fiber
Solved four wave mixing problem
Scientists involved did not think of Patenting-too trivial
VP Arno Penzias insisted
Patent granted
True wave fiber sold at a factor of 10 higher than NDSF
Corning agreed to cross licensing with Lucent
Process OverviewStep 1: Mixing and CastingSol and additives are mixed. Centrifugation removes impurities. The gelation agent is added prior to pumping into precision molds for casting.
Step 2: Removal of Mandrel and LaunchingAfter aging in the molds, the mandrel is removed. Tubes are launched under water directly onto carriers.
Step 3: DryingCarrier/tube assemblies are placed into the drier where the tubes slowly rotate and dry over several days in a carefully controlled atmosphere.
Step 4: PurificationTubes are loaded into a silica “boat” and heated in various gases to remove organic compounds, water, and refractory impurities.
Step 5: SinteringThe purified body is consolidated to clear glass in chlorine, helium, and oxygen.
Sol Gel Overcladding Tube
Coresingle mode optical wave guide
substrate
MCVDdeposited material
overcladding tube(~90% of total glass)
Specifications• optically “perfect”• dimensionally precise• chemically pure
Used in preforms for single mode optical fiber production
Sol Gel R&D TimelineStart Process
Feasibility
ProductEvolution
1993 1995 1997
2 Kg 4 Kg 7 Kg 14 Kg
Initial Research
MH Pilot Production
AK Factory Ground-breaking
Production
1999
28 Kg
GeometryEvolution
(e.g.,Siding)
1.0 mm 0.4 mm 0.1 mm 0.08 mmInitial Requirement World Class Sol Gel
So what has happened since?
Supplier came back to Lucent and made an offer that was Very low but would only agree to sell at that price if Lucent shut down The sol-gel production line.
Was a great, difficult innovation but did not get used as we hoped
But was a good return on investment-Innovation
Innovation can come in strange ways
A Unsuccessful Innovation
Using MEMS technology to create optical switches
MCI was claiming their network was growing a factor of ten/yr
We decided to try making a wavelength router
So What happened ?
Switch was not fast enough to do real time switching
Really became an optical automatic patch panel
Not much demand-sold a few
Not all technologies get through the valley of death (and they shouldn’t!!)
One other exciting innovation while at Bell Labs I can’t resist it!!
Functional MRI Imaging of the brain
Seiji Ogawa-1990
Demonstration of measurement of brain activity
Much development of the technique, reducing signal to noise Now widely used in brain studies by large variety of scientists.
Bell Lawyers refused to patent technique Was not considered relevant to ATT
A healthy Japanese established a institute forOgawa
Ogawa won the Japan Prize in 2003(Thompson and Ritchie won it this year)
Detector R&DPast to the Present• Silicon vertex detectors revolutionized collider physics.
– Detailed studies of B mesons told us about CP violation– Tagged B mesons became a critical tool in the study of top quarks and then
the search for Higgs bosons. • Precision electromagnetic calorimetry
– CsI calorimeters are indispensable in the B-Factory detectors to measure photons.– Now they are in space on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope delivering new views of
the sky.
The Future• Large area photodetectors using microchannel plates are being developed
by ANL and University of Chicago– Fast and cheap replacement for phototubes
• Liquid noble gases show potential for great gains in neutrinos and dark matter searches.
Accelerator R&DPast to the Present• Superconducting magnets have given us the Tevatron and now the LHC.
– The LHC has the highest magnetic fields of any operating accelerator and as a result the highest energy.
• Electron cooling dramatically increased the luminosity of the Tevatron.– The scare antiprotons are used much more efficiently.
The Future• New superconducting materials promise higher luminosity at the LHC
– maybe even higher energy someday
• Superconducting RF becomes the workhorse for high power accelerator applications.
• New acceleration techniques like plasma wakefields could lead to higher energy or smaller accelerators.