Arradiance has revealed that the United States Patent Office has allowed two basic patent applications that claim the utilization of nanofilm technology, including atomic layer deposition (ALD) films, as the resistive component in microchannel amplification devices.
These two allowed patents are the latest members of Arradiance’s portfolio of patents encompassing this microchannel plate (MCP) production technique. The company has an extensive intellectual property (IP) portfolio of substrate independent MCP.
Arradiance’s newly allowed patents focus on functional nanofilms. These conductive nanofilms are the enabling technology for huge area detection systems and the vital component for substrate independence. Overall, the company has 10 patents in this field, of which two patents cover nanofilm-activated MCP technology for applications that need vacuum tube detection systems like those utilized for event detection and image intensifying.
According to David Beaulieu, Arradiance’s Chief Operating Officer, the two recently allowed patents are the last pieces for protecting the company’s cost-effective large-area MCP detector fabrication. The combination of the company’s portfolio of patented technologies and large-area glass capillary array plates allows mass production of MCP detector-based devices at a much lower cost. The company’s latest fabrication technology allows the high-performance MCP devices to be utilized in numerous key applications, including the homeland security and medical markets that can leverage the nanofilm MCP device’s high performance, low noise and extended life.
Arradiance’s Chief Executive Officer, Ken Stenton stated that through these newly allowed patents, the company now claims patent right for ALD-grown nanofilm electron emissive and resistive coatings for MCP applications.