A brief examination of optical tagging technologies.

Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a multidisciplinary laboratory that maintains a primary mission focus the physical sciences, energy sciences, and life sciences, with additional expertise in environmental sciences, energy technologies, and national security. It is managed by Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC, (BSA) under contract with the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE). BNL's Fiscal year 2008 budget was $531.6 million. There are about 2,800 employees, and another 4,300 guest scientists and students who come each year to use the Laboratory's facilities and work with the staff. The BNL Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program reports its status to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) annually in March, as required by DOE Order 413.2B, 'Laboratory Directed Research and Development,' April 19, 2006, and the Roles, Responsibilities, and Guidelines for Laboratory Directed Research and Developlnent at the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration Laboratories dated June 13, 2006. Accordingly, this is our Annual Report in which we describe the Purpose, Approach, Technical Progress and Results, and Specific Accomplishments of all LDRD projects that received funding during Fiscal Year 2008. BNL expended $12 million during Fiscal Year 2008 in support of 69 projects. The program has two categories, the annual Open Call LDRDs and Strategic LDRDs, which combine to meet the overall objectives of the LDRD Program. Proposals are solicited annually for review and approval concurrent with the next fiscal year, October 1. For the open call for proposals, an LDRD Selection Committee, comprised of the Associate Laboratory Directors (ALDs) for the Scientific Directorates, an equal number of scientists recommended by the Brookhaven Council, plus the Assistant Laboratory Director for Policy and Strategic Planning, review the proposals submitted in response to the solicitation. The Open Can LDRD category emphasizes innovative research concepts with limited management filtering to encourage the creativity of individual researchers. The competition is open to all BNL staff in programmatic, scientific, engineering, and technical support areas. Researchers submit their project proposals to the Assistant Laboratory Director for Policy and Strategic Planning. A portion of the LDRD budget is held for the Strategic LDRD (S-LDRD) category. Projects in this category focus on innovative R&D activities that support the strategic agenda of the Laboratory. The Laboratory Director entertains requests or articulates the need for S-LDRD funds at any time. Strategic LDRD Proposals also undergo rigorous peer review; the approach to review is tailored to the size and scope of the proposal. These Projects are driven by special opportunities, including: (1) Research project(s) in support of Laboratory strategic initiatives as defined and articulated by the Director; (2) Research project(s) in support of a Laboratory strategic hire; (3) Evolution of Program Development activities into research and development activities; and (4) ALD proposal(s) to the Director to support unique research opportunities. The goals and objectives of BNL's LDRD Program can be inferred fronl the Program's stated purposes. These are to (1) encourage and support the development of new ideas and technology, (2) promote the early exploration and exploitation of creative and innovative concepts, and (3) develop new 'fundable' R&D projects and programs. The emphasis is clearly articulated by BNL to be on supporting exploratory research 'which could lead to new programs, projects, and directions' for the Laboratory. We explicitly indicate that research conducted under the LDRD Program should be highly innovative, and an element of high risk as to success is acceptable. To be one of the premier DOE National Laboratories, BNL must continuously foster groundbreaking scientific research. At Brookhaven National Laboratory one such method is through its LDRD Program. This discretionary research and development tool is critical in maintaining the scientific excellence and long-term vitality of the Laboratory. Additionally, it is a means to stimulate the scientific community and foster new science and technology ideas, which becomes a major factor in achieving and maintaining staff excellence and a means to address National needs within the overall mission of the DOE and BNL.

Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a multidisciplinary Laboratory that carries out basic and applied research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, and in selected energy technologies. It is managed by Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC, (BSA) under contract with the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE). BNL's Fiscal Year 2008 spending was $531.6 million. There are approximately 2,800 employees, and another 4,300 guest scientists and students who come each year to use the Laboratory's facilities and work with the staff. The BNL Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program reports its status to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) annually in March, as required by DOE Order 413.2B, 'Laboratory Directed Research and Development,' April 19, 2006, and the Roles, Responsibilities, and Guidelines for Laboratory Directed Research and Development at the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration Laboratories dated June 13, 2006. The goals and objectives of BNL's LDRD Program can be inferred from the Program's stated purposes. These are to (1) encourage and support the development of new ideas and technology, (2) promote the early exploration and exploitation of creative and innovative concepts, and (3) develop new 'fundable' R&D projects and programs. The emphasis is clearly articulated by BNL to be on supporting exploratory research 'which could lead to new programs, projects, and directions' for the Laboratory. To be a premier scientific Laboratory, BNL must continuously foster groundbreaking scientific research and renew its research agenda. The competition for LDRD funds stimulates Laboratory scientists to think in new and creative ways, which becomes a major factor in achieving and maintaining research excellence and a means to address National needs within the overall mission of the DOE and BNL. By fostering high-risk, exploratory research, the LDRD program helps BNL to respond new scientific opportunities within existing mission areas, as well as to develop new research mission areas in response to DOE and National needs. As the largest expense in BNL's LDRD program is the support graduate students, post-docs, and young scientists, LDRD provides base for continually refreshing the research staff as well as the education and training of the next generation of scientists. The LDRD Program Assessment Report contains a review of the program. The report includes a summary of the management processes, project peer review, and the portfolio's relatedness to BNL's mission, initiatives and strategic plans. Also included are a metric of success indicators and Self Assessment.

Brookhaven National (BNL) Laboratory is a multidisciplinary laboratory that carries out basic and applied research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, and in selected energy technologies. It is managed by Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC, under contract with the U. S. Department of Energy. BNL's total annual budget has averaged about $450 million. There are about 3,000 employees, and another 4,500 guest scientists and students who come each year to use the Laboratory's facilities and work with the staff. The BNL Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program reports its status to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) annually in March, as required by DOE Order 4 13.2, ''Laboratory Directed Research and Development,'' March 5, 1997, and the LDRD Annual Report guidance, updated February 12, 1999. The LDRD Program obtains its funds through the Laboratory overhead pool and operates under the authority of DOE Order 4 13.2. The goals and objectives of BNL's LDRD Program can be inferred from the Program's stated purposes. These are to (1) encourage and support the development of new ideas and technology, (2) promote the early exploration and exploitation of creative and innovative concepts, and (3) develop new ''fundable'' R&D projects and programs. The emphasis is clearly articulated by BNL to be on supporting exploratory research ''which could lead to new programs, projects, and directions'' for the Laboratory. As one of the premier scientific laboratories of the DOE, BNL must continuously foster groundbreaking scientific research. At Brookhaven National Laboratory one such method is through its LDRD Program. This discretionary research and development tool is critical in maintaining the scientific excellence and long-term vitality of the Laboratory. Additionally, it is a means to stimulate the scientific community and foster new science and technology ideas, which becomes a major factor in achieving and maintaining staff excellence and a means to address national needs within the overall mission of the DOE and BNL. The LDRD Annual Report contains summaries of all research activities funded during Fiscal Year 2001. The Project Summaries with their accomplishments described in this report reflect the above. Aside from leading to new fundable or promising programs and producing especially noteworthy research, the LDRD activities have resulted in numerous publications in various professional and scientific journals and presentations at meetings and forums. All FY 2001 projects are listed and tabulated in the Project Funding Table. Also included in this Annual Report in Appendix A is a summary of the proposed projects for FY 2002. The BNL LDRD budget authority by DOE in FY 2001 was $6 million. The actual allocation totaled $5.3 million. The following sections in this report contain the management processes, peer review, and the portfolio's relatedness to BNL's mission, initiatives and strategic plans. Also included is a metric of success indicators.

ORNL FY 2016 Annual Summary of Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program (LDRD) Completed Projects. The Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program at ORNL operates under the authority of DOE Order 413.2C, “Laboratory Directed Research and Development” (October 22, 2015), which establishes DOE’s requirements for the program while providing the Laboratory Director broad flexibility for program implementation. The LDRD program funds are obtained through a charge to all Laboratory programs. ORNL reports its status to DOE in March of each year.

High performance computing (HPC) has been a defining strength of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) since its founding. Livermore scientists have designed and used some of the world’s most powerful computers to drive breakthroughs in nearly every mission area. Today, the Laboratory is recognized as a world leader in the application of HPC to complex science, technology, and engineering challenges. Most importantly, HPC has been integral to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) Stockpile Stewardship Program—designed to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of our nuclear deterrent without nuclear testing. A critical factor behind Lawrence Livermore’s preeminence in HPC is the ongoing investments made by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program in cutting-edge concepts to enable efficient utilization of these powerful machines. Congress established the LDRD Program in 1991 to maintain the technical vitality of the Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories. Since then, LDRD has been, and continues to be, an essential tool for exploring anticipated needs that lie beyond the planning horizon of our programs and for attracting the next generation of talented visionaries. Through LDRD, Livermore researchers can examine future challenges, propose and explore innovative solutions, and deliver creative approaches to support our missions. The present scientific and technical strengths of the Laboratory are, in large part, a product of past LDRD investments in HPC. Here, we provide seven examples of LDRD projects from the past decade that have played a critical role in building LLNL’s HPC, computer science, mathematics, and data science research capabilities, and describe how they have impacted LLNL’s mission.

The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL or Berkeley Lab) Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program FY 1998 report is compiled from annual reports submitted by principal investigators following the close of the fiscal year. This report describes the supported projects and summarizes their accomplishments. It constitutes a part of the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program planning and documentation process that includes an annual planning cycle, projection selection, implementation, and review. The LBNL LDRD program is a critical tool for directing the Laboratory's forefront scientific research capabilities toward vital, excellent, and emerging scientific challenges. The program provides the resources for LBNL scientists to make rapid and significant contributions to critical national science and technology problems. The LDRD program also advances LBNL's core competencies, foundations, and scientific capability, and permits exploration of exciting new opportunities. All projects are work in forefront areas of science and technology. Areas eligible for support include the following: Advanced study of hypotheses, concepts, or innovative approaches to scientific or technical problems; Experiments and analyses directed toward ''proof of principle'' or early determination of the utility of new scientific ideas, technical concepts, or devices; and Conception and preliminary technical analyses of experimental facilities or devices.

The following research is operated as a Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) initiative at Sandia National Laboratories. The long-term goals of the program include sophisticated diagnostics of advanced fuels testing for nuclear reactors for the Department of Energy (DOE) Gen IV program, with the future capability to provide real-time measurement of strain in fuel rod cladding during operation in situ at any research or power reactor in the United States. By quantifying the stress and strain in fuel rods, it is possible to significantly improve fuel rod design, and consequently, to improve the performance and lifetime of the cladding. During the past year of this program, two sets of experiments were performed: small-scale tests to ensure reliability of the gages, and reactor pulse experiments involving the most viable samples in the Annulated Core Research Reactor (ACRR), located onsite at Sandia. Strain measurement techniques that can provide useful data in the extreme environment of a nuclear reactor core are needed to characterize nuclear fuel rods. This report documents the progression of solutions to this issue that were explored for feasibility in FY12 at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM.

This report summarizes progress from the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program during fiscal year 2004. In addition to a programmatic and financial overview, the report includes progress reports from 352 individual R and D projects in 15 categories. The 15 categories are: (1) Advanced Concepts; (2) Advanced Manufacturing; (3) Biotechnology; (4) Chemical and Earth Sciences; (5) Computational and Information Sciences; (6) Differentiating Technologies; (7) Electronics and Photonics; (8) Emerging Threats; (9) Energy and Critical Infrastructures; (10) Engineering Sciences; (11) Grand Challenges; (12) Materials Science and Technology; (13) Nonproliferation and Materials Control; (14) Pulsed Power and High Energy Density Sciences; and (15) Corporate Objectives.

The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab or LBNL) is a multi-program national research facility operated by the University of California for the Department of Energy (DOE). As an integral element of DOE's National Laboratory System, Berkeley Lab supports DOE's missions in fundamental science, energy resources, and environmental quality. Berkeley Lab programs advance four distinct goals for DOE and the nation: (1) To perform leading multidisciplinary research in the computing sciences, physical sciences, energy sciences, biosciences, and general sciences in a manner that ensures employee and public safety and protection of the environment. (2) To develop and operate unique national experimental facilities for qualified investigators. (3) To educate and train future generations of scientists and engineers to promote national science and education goals. (4) To transfer knowledge and technological innovations and to foster productive relationships among Berkeley Lab's research programs, universities, and industry in order to promote national economic competitiveness.

This is the final report of a one-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This project has supported the collaborative development with Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the University of New Mexico (UNM) of two critical components for a hand-held low-field magnetic sensor based on superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) sensor technology. The two components are a digital signal processing (DSP) algorithm for background noise rejection and a small hand-held dewar cooled by a cryocooler. A hand-held sensor has been designed and fabricated for detection of extremely weak magnetic fields in unshielded environments. The sensor is capable of measuring weak magnetic fields in unshielded environments and has multiple applications. We have chosen to pursue battlefield medicine as the highest probability near-term application because of stated needs of several agencies.

SiC- and GaN-based power semiconductor devices have in the past few years enabled great improvements in the efficiency and power density of switching power converters. A wide variety of SiC devices (e.g. MOSFETs, JFETs, BJTs, thyristors, and PiN/Schottky/JBS/MPS diodes) are now available from a number of manufacturers, and the same is true for GaN HEMTs. Thus, while vertical GaN devices are not yet mature, new research in the field is increasingly turning to the “ultra” wide-bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors, including diamond, gallium oxide, and aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), due to the expected scaling of the critical electric field as the bandgap to the 2.0-2.5 power. Notably, AlGaN is an alloy system, so that heterostructures are available, and it is also a polar material, which enables polarization doping. Both of these benefits significantly expand the range of device architectures that may be considered, compared to materials that do not have these properties; this is especially significant for UWBG materials, all of which have energetically deep impurity dopants that do not fully ionize at room temperature. This talk will report on both vertical PiN diodes and lateral HEMTs composed of Al-rich Al x Ga1-x N (x ≥ 0.7, EG ≥ 5.2 eV) designed as prototype power switching devices. The talk will begin with an overview of the properties of AlGaN that motivate its application to power switching, as well as an analysis of conduction and switching loss mechanisms as a function of AlGaN bandgap for various device types (PiN diodes, Schottky diodes, etc.) These results will be compared to similar metrics for SiC, GaN, and UWBG materials other than AlGaN. The talk will then present results on several PiN diode structures. All of the structures to be presented have thick (5-8 mm) Al0.7Ga0.3N drift regions doped in the 1-3×1016 cm-3 range, and were grown on thick (1.3 mm) sapphire substrates; due to the insulating nature of the substrate, the cathode contact is to a heavily-doped n-layer on the front side of the wafer in a so-called “quasi-vertical” configuration. The diodes differ in the design of the p-type anode. Homojunction diodes suffer from low free carrier density in the p-Al0.7Ga0.3N due to the low fraction of Mg than is ionized in material of such a wide bandgap (EA > 400 meV). Thus, two alternate approaches to achieve appreciable hole density were examined: heterojunction diodes in with the anode is composed of Al0.3Ga0.7N, in which reasonable Mg activation can be achieved; and diodes utilizing anodes in which the composition is graded from Al0.7Ga0.3N down to GaN. In order to avoid premature edge and/or surface breakdown, all diodes studied utilized a junction termination extension formed by nitrogen implantation into the p-region. The talk will conclude with a presentation of a second class of device, which is a power switching HEMT utilizing an Al0.85Ga0.15N/Al0.70Ga0.30N heterostructure. This heterostructure, which as a 25 nm thick barrier, is characterized by a pinch-off voltage of -4.5 V, a channel mobility of 250 cm2/Vs, and a channel sheet charge density of 6×1012 cm-2. The key challenge for Al-rich HEMTs has been the formation of Ohmic source and drain contacts; the current density in previous HEMTs reported by our group has been limited by the quasi-rectifying nature of these contacts. The HEMTs in the present work utilize planar source and drain contacts, as opposed to the etched-and-regrown contacts that we have reported previously; for those previous contacts, the regrown material was heavily-doped n-type GaN. The planar contacts in this study are composed of a Ti/Al/Ni/Au stack deposited directly on the Al0.85Ga0.15N barrier. While the current-voltage characteristics of these contacts are still quasi-rectifying, they have enabled a current density of 46 mA/mm, which is more than ten times greater than that achieved in our previous-generation AlGaN-channel HEMT, which had comparable channel sheet resistance. An effective breakdown field of ~170 V/um was achieved in a field-plated device with 4 um gate-to-drain spacing. This effective breakdown field exceeds that typically reported for GaN-channel HEMTs (~100 V/um), demonstrating the potential of AlGaN-channel HEMTs for high-performance power switching devices. This work was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program at Sandia. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Redox random access memory (ReRAM), also known as resistive or memristive switching memory, has had a dramatic increase in research activity in the past several years due to the prospect of sub-10nm scaling, high endurance, low switching energy, and high switching speeds (1), (2). In addition, it shows promise for specialized applications including radiation hardened memory for space (3) and as a computational element (4). There is particular interest in the nonvolatile, analog behavior of ReRAM devices for use in neuromorphic computing applications. Numerous implementations of brain-inspired systems have been suggested, typically utilizing the ReRAM as a synapse-like element in a classical perceptron network (4), (5). A particularly efficient method of utilizing analog memristor behavior employs a ReRAM crossbar matrix based “neuromorphic accelerator,” which trains and executes a multilayer back-propagation algorithm and provides significant improvement in energy per operation and enhanced throughput over traditional hardware (6). This accelerator makes use of the resistive switching cell as a finely tunable nonvolatile analog resistor. Although it is often thought that variability and noise do not significantly affect a neuromorphic system, the simulated accuracy of our algorithm is reduced 8-30% when realistic variability is introduced in the device model. Hence, we have undertaken an effort to characterize and model the analog behavior and fundamental origins of variability in ReRAM devices. CMOS compatible TiN/TaOx/Ta/TiN ReRAM cells have been developed as described in (7). Analog behavior of the ReRAM devices has been comprehensively characterized both using the typical I-V hysteresis loops, as well as a comprehensive characterization of response to pulses of different length and voltages; an example of this is given in Fig. 1. Significant variability is present in these measurements, which is consistent with other bipolar metal oxide ReRAM results presented in the literature (8). Both phenomenological and ab initio modeling efforts are being employed to provide a further understanding of the fundamental sources of noise and variation. An analytical model was developed, based on joule heating, which shows that TaOx ReRAM has two state variables: the conductivity and radius of the filament (9). Hence, each resistance state has a number of different configurations which rely on this internal state of the device. The amount of time at a given pulse voltage for a given resistance state to transition to another state is not set for a particular resistance, but also depends on the internal state of the device. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to further understand the microscopic origin of switching in TaOx (10). A significant observation from this work is that the oxidation state of the oxygen vacancy (VO) is a key determining factor of the conductivity in these films. In particular the VO 0 state behaves similar to an ionized donor in a semiconductor. Results of our modeling efforts are being utilized both to create a circuit level model for the simulation of the neuromorphic accelerator, as well as to reduce the variability of TaOx ReRAM devices. This presentation will further discuss the results of these modeling efforts, comparison of theory to experiment, and application to our neuromorphic computing system.The authors gratefully acknowledge contributions from J.J. Yang, S. Lam, D. Henze, and R.S. Williams of HP Labs. This work partially funded by Sandia’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.REFERENCES:1. International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS), 2013 Edition, available at www.itrs.net.2. M.J. Marinella and V. Zhirnov, in Emerging Nanoelectronic Devices, Ch. 13, eds. A. Chen, V. Zhirnov, J. Hutchby, Wiley, (2014).3. D.R. Hughart et al, Trans. Nuclear Sci. 99 1 (2013).4. J.J. Yang et al, Nat. Nano. 8, 13-24, (2013).5. B. Swaroop et al, Intl. Symposium on Circuits and Systems, (1998).6. B. Aimone et al, at Neural Inspired Computing Elements Workshop, (2014).7. A.J. Lohn et al, ECS Trans 58, 211-220, (2013).8. K. Prall et al, at 4th International Memory Workshop, (2012).9. P.R. Mickel et al., accepted for publication in Adv. Mater. (2014).10. R.J. Bondi et al., J. Appl. Phys, 114, 203701, (2013).

This Annual Report provides an overview of the FY2000 Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and presents a summary of the results achieved by each project during the year.

A proposal is a written response to an opportunity offered by a funding organization. Proposals must meet a SOLICITOR’S needs, not YOUR needs. A solicited proposal is a written response to a specific solicitation issued by a sponsor. These solicitations are typically called RFPs, or Requests for Proposals. RFPs are specific in their requirements regarding format and technical content. Scientists at Los Alamos often deal with this type of proposal — Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) proposals are one example. An unsolicited proposal is one submitted to a sponsor who has not issued a specific solicitation. It usually comes about during interactions at meetings or conferences. In some instances, a sponsor may be visiting for another reason when the possibility for an unsolicited proposal becomes available. A pre-proposal is one in which a sponsor wishes to gage competition before having participants prepare a formal, full-length proposal. These types of scenarios imply that the actual proposal could be highly competitive and will usually be by invitation only.

The {mu}ChemLab{trademark} Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Grand Challenge project began in October 1996 and ended in September 2000. The technical managers of the {mu}ChemLab{trademark} project and the LDRD office, with the support of a consultant, conducted a competitive technical and market demand intelligence analysis of the {mu}ChemLab{trademark}. The managers used this knowledge to make project decisions and course adjustments. CTI/MDI positively impacted the project's technology development, uncovered potential technology partnerships, and supported eventual industry partner contacts. CTI/MDI analysis is now seen as due diligence and the {mu}ChemLab{trademark} project is now the model for other Sandia LDRD Grand Challenge undertakings. This document describes the CTI/MDI analysis and captures the more important ''lessons learned'' of this Grand Challenge project, as reported by the project's management team.