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Element Six, Santa Clara, Calif.,
announced that its high purity,
single crystal chemical vapor
deposition (CVD) diamond material
can be used in intracavity cooling
of disc lasers, and was recently
used in development of the first
tunable diamond Raman laser
system. The CVD diamond has the
highest thermal conductivity of any
material at room temperature (up
to 2200 W/mK), according to
researchers. Combined with a low
absorption coefficient at a number
of key wavelengths, the material
gave the University of
Strathclyde, UK, the ability to
demonstrate this continuous-
wave, diamond Raman laser for
the first time.
High purity, single crystal CVD
diamond used as an enabler in
the first ever tunable Raman
laser.
Researchers at Kyoto University’s
Institute for Integrated Cell-
Material Sciences (iCeMS),
Japan, succeeded in creating a
rare metal alloy used for industrial
purposes. Palladium and
ruthenium were combined, which
typically behave like oil and water
and will not mix even when
liquefied at 2000°C. This was
overcome by mixing the metals at
the atomic level. The alloy may be
substituted for rhodium, normally
used for automobile exhaust pipes.
With a cost one-third that of
rhodium, the new alloy is
reportedly just as robust
and has many of the
same characteristics,
such as eliminating nitric
oxide from exhaust.
.
NASA seeks next-gen microgravity research concepts
NASA’s microgravity materials
science program supports materials
research conducted aboard the Interna-
tional Space Station (ISS) and will
hold a materialsLAB Workshop
April 15-16 in Arlington, Va., to
explore next-generation experimen-
tal concepts. The ISS is essentially
an orbiting laboratory, and the only
such facility to offer this unique mi-
crogravity setting. The orbital conditions onboard provide an environment where gravity-
driven phenomena—such as buoyancy-driven fluid flows and sedimentation—are nearly
negligible. This enables scientists to study the effects of sedimentation and buoyancy-driven
convection on the formation of materials when comparing flight and ground samples. It also
allows for study of the often obscured effects of things like diffusive transport and surface-
tension-driven convection on the formation of materials. Measurement of properties such as
liquid diffusion coefficients obtained in the absence of gravity-related heat and mass trans-
port is another area of materials research enabled by the unique ISS environment.
Marshall Porterfield, division director, NASA Space Life and Physical Sciences, says
that a vital part of facilitating future research directions is a new Physical Science Informat-
ics System that provides global access to all past, present, and future ISS Physical Science
experimental data for the first time. The system enables an open source approach to sci-
entific data analysis and will become a gateway to hundreds of new ISS-based scientific
investigations that will define the next generation of ISS experiments.
Following a half-day plenary session on April 15, workshop participants will be placed into
working groups based on area of expertise, includingmetals, semiconductors, ceramics, glasses,
polymers, biomaterials, nanomaterials, and others. NASA has released a Request for Informa-
tion (RFI) to solicit ideas onmaterials research on the ISS. Submitting a response to the RFI will
facilitate organization of the breakout sessions and ensure that your ideas will be given the op-
portunity to be discussed in the forum. The full RFI and submission instructions can be found
at In addition, visit the workshop registration website at:
For more information: Francis
Chiaramonte, 202/358-0693, ,
NCMS launches nanomanufacturing survey
The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), Ann Arbor, Mich., part-
nered with the National Science Foundation under the National Nanotechnology Initiative
(NNI) to launch its latest study of commercialization trends in nanotechnology and
nanofabrication. Themed “Achieving Sustainable Nanotechnology Products,” the goal of
the study is to document best practices in nanoproduct development and integration, and
identify common challenges faced by organizations (academia, government labs, startups,
and established corporations) in transitioning nanoscale advances from the laboratory into
sustainable commercial applications.
Senior executives and researchers in stakeholder organizations are encouraged to share
their experience and opinions about nanotechnology development in the U.S. Individual re-
sponses are kept confidential and the data will only be used in the aggregate. All survey respon-
dents will receive the study results in advance of public release this summer. The 15-minute
interactive survey may be accessed at until March 31. For more
information: Manish Mehta, 734/995-4938, , .
Nanotechnology has unlimited applications. Cooling microprocessor chips through the
combination of carbon nanotubes and organic molecules as bonding agents is a promising
technique for maintaining the performance levels of densely packed, high-speed transistors
in the future. Courtesy of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES • MARCH 2014 10
E MERGING T ECHNOLOGY
The International Space Station’s length and width is
about the size of a football field. Courtesy of NASA.