Patents by Inventor Thomas Edwin Beechem

Thomas Edwin Beechem 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).

  • Patent number: 11482560
    Abstract: A monolithically integrated, tunable infrared pixel comprises a combined broadband detector and graphene-enabled tunable metasurface filter that operate as a single solid-state device with no moving parts. Functionally, tunability results from the plasmonic properties of graphene that are acutely dependent upon the carrier concentration within the infrared. Voltage induced changes in graphene's carrier concentration can be leveraged to change the metasurface filter's transmission thereby altering the “colors” of light reaching the broadband detector and hence its spectral responsivity. The invention enables spectrally agile infrared detection with independent pixel-to-pixel spectral tunability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC
    Inventors: Thomas Edwin Beechem, III, Michael Goldflam, Anna Tauke-Pedretti, Isaac Ruiz, David W. Peters, Stephen W. Howell
  • Patent number: 11287536
    Abstract: A radiation field is detected or imaged using one or more junction devices in which a two-dimensional conductor layer is capacitively coupled to a semiconductor absorber layer. In the junction devices, pixel-level amplification and read-out are accomplished through the photogating of the devices by absorption within the absorber layer while it is in a state of deep depletion. When the two-dimensional conductor is graphene, we refer to a device operating in that manner as a deeply depleted graphene-oxide-semiconductor (D2GOS) detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC
    Inventors: Stephen W. Howell, David W. Peters, Thomas Edwin Beechem, III, Isaac Ruiz, Richard Karl Harrison, Jeffrey B. Martin
  • Patent number: 10877194
    Abstract: An actively tunable optical filter can control the amplitude of reflected infrared light. The filter exploits the dependence of the excitation energy of plasmons in a continuous and unpatterned sheet of graphene, on the Fermi-level, which can be controlled by conventional electrostatic gating. An exemplary filter enables simultaneous modification of two distinct spectral bands whose positions are dictated by the device geometry and graphene plasmon dispersion. Within these bands, the reflected amplitude can be varied by over 15% and resonance positions can be shifted by over 90 cm?1. Electromagnetic simulations verify that tuning arises through coupling of incident light to graphene plasmons by a nanoantenna grating structure. Importantly, the tunable range is determined by a combination of graphene properties, device structure, and the surrounding dielectrics, which dictate the plasmon dispersion. Thus, the underlying design is applicable across a broad range of infrared frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC
    Inventors: Thomas Edwin Beechem, III, Michael Goldflam, Stephen W. Howell, David W. Peters, Isaac Ruiz, Paul Davids
  • Publication number: 20200350356
    Abstract: A monolithically integrated, tunable infrared pixel comprises a combined broadband detector and graphene-enabled tunable metasurface filter that operate as a single solid-state device with no moving parts. Functionally, tunability results from the plasmonic properties of graphene that are acutely dependent upon the carrier concentration within the infrared. Voltage induced changes in graphene's carrier concentration can be leveraged to change the metasurface filter's transmission thereby altering the “colors” of light reaching the broadband detector and hence its spectral responsivity. The invention enables spectrally agile infrared detection with independent pixel-to-pixel spectral tunability.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2020
    Publication date: November 5, 2020
    Inventors: Thomas Edwin Beechem, III, Michael Goldflam, Anna Tauke-Pedretti, Isaac Ruiz, David W. Peters, Stephen W. Howell
  • Patent number: 10418304
    Abstract: Ion implantation can be used to define a thermal dissipation path that allows for better thermal isolation between devices in close proximity on a microelectronics chip, thus providing a means for higher device density combined with better performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignees: National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, University of Virginia Patent Foundation
    Inventors: Thomas Edwin Beechem, III, Khalid Mikhiel Hattar, Jon Ihlefeld, Edward S. Piekos, Douglas L. Medlin, Luke Yates, Patrick E. Hopkins
  • Publication number: 20190219747
    Abstract: An actively tunable optical filter can control the amplitude of reflected infrared light. The filter exploits the dependence of the excitation energy of plasmons in a continuous and unpatterned sheet of graphene, on the Fermi-level,which can be controlled by conventional electrostatic gating. An exemplary filter enables simultaneous modification of two distinct spectral bands whose positions are dictated by the device geometry and graphene plasmon dispersion. Within these bands, the reflected amplitude can be varied by over 15% and resonance positions can be shifted by over 90 cm?1. Electromagnetic simulations verify that tuning arises through coupling of incident light to graphene plasmons by a nanoantenna grating structure. Importantly, the tunable range is determined by a combination of graphene properties, device structure, and the surrounding dielectrics, which dictate the plasmon dispersion. Thus, the underlying design is applicable across a broad range of infrared frequencies.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 16, 2018
    Publication date: July 18, 2019
    Inventors: Thomas Edwin Beechem, III, Michael Goldflam, Stephen W. Howell, David W. Peters, Isaac Ruiz, Paul Davids
  • Publication number: 20190196229
    Abstract: Thermochromic low-emissivity films can comprise a vanadium dioxide thin film or a thin film of vanadium dioxide nanoparticles incorporated into a polymer matrix, and a layer comprising a transparent conductive oxide to modify solar heat gain, solar reflectivity and thermal resistance of windows. The thermochromic low-emissivity films transition from infrared (IR) reflective when warm, to IR transparent when cool. This dynamic reflectivity is passive by nature, and requires no electronics or power source to shift. In addition, this dynamic transition can occur at any design temperature, and when the nanoparticles are dispersed, they remain transparent in the visible spectrum during both phases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2018
    Publication date: June 27, 2019
    Inventors: Paul G. Clem, Michael Goldflam, Ting S. Luk, Michael B. Sinclair, Thomas Edwin Beechem, III
  • Publication number: 20190139856
    Abstract: Ion implantation can be used to define a thermal dissipation path that allows for better thermal isolation between devices in close proximity on a microelectronics chip, thus providing a means for higher device density combined with better performance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 21, 2018
    Publication date: May 9, 2019
    Inventors: Thomas Edwin Beechem, III, Khalid Mikhiel Hattar, Jon Ihlefeld, Edward S. Piekos, Douglas L. Medlin, Luke Yates, Patrick E. Hopkins
  • Publication number: 20180335651
    Abstract: Thermochromic low-emissivity films can comprise a vanadium dioxide thin film or a thin film of vanadium dioxide nanoparticles incorporated into a polymer matrix, and a layer comprising a transparent conductive oxide to modify solar heat gain, solar reflectivity and thermal resistance of windows. The thermochromic low-emissivity films transition from infrared (IR) reflective when warm, to IR transparent when cool. This dynamic reflectivity is passive by nature, and requires no electronics or power source to shift. In addition, this dynamic transition can occur at any design temperature, and when the nanoparticles are dispersed, they remain transparent in the visible spectrum during both phases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2018
    Publication date: November 22, 2018
    Inventors: Paul G. Clem, Michael Goldflam, Ting S. Luk, Michael B. Sinclair, Thomas Edwin Beechem, III
  • Patent number: 9862608
    Abstract: A patterned graphene or graphitic body is produced by providing a three-dimensionally patterned carbonaceous body; coating the body with a catalytic metal whereby is formed a coating having an inner surface proximal the body and an outer surface distal the body; and annealing the coated body under time and temperature conditions effective to form a graphene or graphitic layer on the outer surface of the catalytic metal coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC
    Inventors: Ronen Polsky, Xiaoyin Xiao, David Bruce Burckel, David R. Wheeler, Susan M. Brozik, Thomas Edwin Beechem
  • Patent number: 9533887
    Abstract: A patterned graphene or graphitic body is produced by providing a three-dimensionally patterned carbonaceous body; coating the body with a catalytic metal whereby is formed a coating having an inner surface proximal the body and an outer surface distal the body; and annealing the coated body under time and temperature conditions effective to form a graphene or graphitic layer on the outer surface of the catalytic metal coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: Sandia Corporation
    Inventors: Ronen Polsky, Xiaoyin Xiao, David Bruce Burckel, David R. Wheeler, Susan M. Brozik, Thomas Edwin Beechem
  • Publication number: 20160172527
    Abstract: An interdigitated nanoelectrode grating functions both as an absorption-enhancing sub-wavelength antenna and to minimize the distance between electron-hole creation and current collection so as to enhance photodetection schemes based upon active layers comprising two-dimensional semiconducting materials.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2016
    Publication date: June 16, 2016
    Inventors: Thomas Edwin Beechem, III, Stephen W. Howell, David W. Peters, Paul Davids, Eric A. Shaner
  • Patent number: 9293627
    Abstract: The integration of bilayer graphene with an absorption enhancing sub-wavelength antenna provides an infrared photodetector capable of real-time spectral tuning without filters at nanosecond timescales.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2016
    Assignee: Sandia Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas Edwin Beechem, III, Stephen W. Howell, David W. Peters, Paul Davids, Taisuke Ohta