Patents by Inventor Douglas P. Wells

Douglas P. Wells has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20140205062
    Abstract: The invention is directed to a defect imaging device that has an energy beam that is directed at a device under test. The energy beam creates positrons deep within the material of the device under test. When the positrons combine with electrons in the material they produce a pair of annihilation photons. The annihilation photons are detected. The Doppler broadening of the annihilation photons is used to determine if a defect is present in the material. Three dimensional images of the device under test are created by directing the energy beam at different portions of the device under test.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2013
    Publication date: July 24, 2014
    Inventors: Alan W. Hunt, J. Frank Hermon, Douglas P. Wells
  • Publication number: 20120281799
    Abstract: Using the device and method of the present invention, high energy photons, or gamma radiation, impinge upon a target comprising a nanomaterial that includes a target isotope, resulting in the release of one or more neutrons from the target isotope. This neutron release creates an effect known as “kinematic recoil,” which results in a recoiling photo-produced radioisotope which is ejected from the nanomaterial and can be harvested in high specific activity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2011
    Publication date: November 8, 2012
    Inventors: Douglas P. Wells, Frank Harmon
  • Publication number: 20100285559
    Abstract: The present invention relates to variants of the model halophile Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 that have been exposed to cycles of irradiation with high doses of 18-20 MeV electrons. These novel isolated halobacterium exhibit increased resistance to radiation and may be used for bioremediation of toxic and highly radioactive waste sites and/or for studying and modulating the mechanism involved in such resistance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2008
    Publication date: November 11, 2010
    Inventors: Shiladitya DasSarma, Linda Deveaux, Douglas P. Wells
  • Patent number: 7718962
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a defect imaging device that has an energy beam that is directed at a device under test. The energy beam creates positrons deep within the material of the device under test. When the positrons combine with electrons in the material they produce a pair of annihilation photons. The annihilation photons are detected. The Doppler broadening of the annihilation photons is used to determine if a defect is present in the material. Three dimensional images of the device under test are created by directing the energy beam at different portions of the device under test.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Assignee: Idaho State University and the Board of Educa
    Inventors: Alan W. Hunt, J. Frank Harmon, Douglas P. Wells
  • Publication number: 20080067372
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a defect imaging device that has an energy beam that is directed at a device under test. The energy beam creates positrons deep within the material of the device under test. When the positrons combine with electrons in the material they produce a pair of annihilation photons. The annihilation photons are detected. The Doppler broadening of the annihilation photons is used to determine if a defect is present in the material. Three dimensional images of the device under test are created by directing the energy beam at different portions of the device under test.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2007
    Publication date: March 20, 2008
    Inventors: Alan W. Hunt, J. Frank Harmon, Douglas P. Wells