Recognition
Applied Spectra Recognized as SBIR/STTR Success Story by the US Department of Energy
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Applied Spectra, Inc., a leading manufacturer of analytical chemical analysis instruments based on laser ablation technology, is pleased to announce that the company has been recognized as an SBIR/STTR success story by the US Department of Energy (DOE). The story of the company’s success was formally published on the DOE SBIR/STTR website.
“We are honored by the DOE’s recognition of Applied Spectra as an SBIR/STTR success. The SBIR/STTR funding support has been critical for a deep-tech company like Applied Spectra to introduce innovation to the market and achieve commercial success. We are grateful for the support from the DOE SBIR/STTR program.”
Applied Spectra has grown rapidly, at a rate surpassing 34% between 2016 and 2019, thanks to commercial customers in analytical R&D, energy storage materials, metals, electronics, forensics, and the nuclear materials industry.
From the DOE article
Every time a solid material, whether originating from research, industry, or nuclear activity, needs to be disposed of, it is first chemically analyzed to determine its elemental composition. This is typically done using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), which requires macroscopic samples to be extracted and liquefied by “digestion” in strong and hot acids. This process produces significant quantities of liquid substances that are themselves hazardous waste. During his career as a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Dr. Rick Russo laid the foundations of a paradigm change for chemical analysis — a technology that can now be purchased in the form of analytical instruments sold by Applied Spectra.
Dr. Russo started his career at LBNL in 1982, and since 1989 has been supported by the Basic Energy Science (BES) program of the DOE to develop a fundamental scientific understanding of the interaction between a pulsed laser beam and matter, a phenomenon known as Laser Ablation (LA). In 2004, following a successful program with the Army, Dr. Russo fully embraced the prospect of further developing and de-risking his laboratory prototype with the goal of transforming it into a marketable product. This was the birth of Applied Spectra, Inc. and the beginning of a new entrepreneurial career for Dr. Russo and his graduate student, Dr. Jong Yoo.
Dr. Russo pioneered the use of LA as a platform enabling spectroscopy by multiple, concurrent analytical methods, yielding qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis of nearly all materials and physical phases, without the need for bulky samples to be digested in acid. Unlike ion-beam-assisted techniques like Secondary-Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), laser ablation-based techniques do not need costly vacuum environments, can analyze samples at a distance, and ensure that the sampled species reproduce the exact stoichiometry of the material to be analyzed.
When the short-wavelength, pulsed laser beam is focused on the material, a small volume of the sample is ablated and converted into a plasma plume. As the electrons and ions return to their ground state, light is emitted in discrete spectral peaks, which can be analyzed to determine elemental concentration and isotopic information through Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and Laser Ablation Molecular Isotopic Spectrometry (LAMIS). The plume also contains fine particulates that can be transported to a secondary ICP-MS source (LA-ICP-MS) for additional elemental and isotopic information.
The combination of these tools yields complete elemental and isotopic analysis, femtogram mass detection, and sub-micron lateral and depth mapping on any compound. Because the plasma is generated by a laser beam at a distance, remote sensing of materials up to 1 km away is possible — of great interest to nuclear detection and space exploration. The same technology has been used by NASA on the Curiosity rover on Mars.
LA instruments also aid energy technologies such as advanced batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage, providing cost-effective, rapid 3D mapping of critical elements over large surfaces in ambient atmosphere. Routine R&D, incoming raw electrode material QC, and failure analysis can be easily incorporated in the manufacturing processes of mainstream battery manufacturers.
Today Applied Spectra has a product line comprising over 9 LA instruments and has sold over 300 instruments worldwide. Customers include National Laboratories, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), academic institutions, and Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 industries, including major Li-ion battery, electronic, and industrial material manufacturers in North America, Asia, and Europe.
“There is always a barrier in adopting a new technology, and industry is particularly reluctant to change analytical instrumentation. However, ultimately a market pull is established as more customers adopt the new technology and recognize its value. This process can take many years — we need only consider how long it took for the PC to replace the typewriter.”
LA instruments have penetrated several commercial markets, including oil & gas, mining, energy storage, nuclear non-proliferation and waste, metals and steels, and forensics. Thanks to the support of DOE SBIR through 4 Phase II grants and 2 continuation grants, a paradigm-changing technology is now transforming the way small to large research and manufacturing facilities perform chemical analysis, with great impact on devices and processes that enable energy security and national economic growth.
Written by Claudia Cantoni, Commercialization Program Manager, DOE SBIR/STTR, January 2020.