Other High-Priority Applications

The report prepared by one of the world’s most respected science and technology laboratories following their independent testing and verification of Natcore’s liquid phase deposition technology included suggestions for potential commercial applications and products. As you can see from the following list, these suggestions included some of the applications currently being considered as high priorities by Natcore, as well as a number of additional applications with exceptional long-term potential:

 

  1. Waveguides, including waveguide cladding, and other passive optical components for the all-optical Internet.
  2. Specialized coatings for solid state lasers and other non-silicon semiconductor devices. (There is a need for coatings that will extend the useful lifetime of such devices.)
  3. Internal oxide layers for silicon semiconductor devices (i.e., computer chips)
  4. Liquid phase deposition oxides for microelectromechanical (MEMs) device fabrication. (There is a need for low-temperature oxide deposition.)
  5. Protective coatings for plastic lenses of all sorts, from prescription eyeglasses to over-the-counter sunglasses and reading glasses.
  6. Cladding for both large- and small-scale metallic surfaces. Large-scale surfaces include metal liners for hot water heaters, and small-scale surfaces include copper traces on circuit boards to turn them into easily patterned optical waveguides.
  7. Protective coatings for light emitting diodes (LEDs) that emit red, yellow and especially white light. (These devices will eventually replace the incandescent light bulb in automobiles and homes and represent a huge consumer market.)
  8. Antireflecting coatings for silicon solar cells.
  9. Films to control the emissivity of windows and architectural glass surfaces. (Emissivity control affects the amount of light and heat that can move through a sheet of glass.)