SBIR Phase I: Nanoparticle-based Photostimulated Luminescent Optical Storage

This Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I project focuses on the development of nanocomposite materials that are capable of producing photostimulated luminescence (PSL) and the demonstration of their ability to do so at room temperature for durations that would support practical applications. Successful production of PSL with such materials would suggest that this technology could be used to create optical storage media for X-ray and other imaging techniques. Nanoparticle-based PSL optical storage systems would provide images with higher resolution at lower levels of production energy. Because of the extensive use of X-ray and similar technologies in the medical industry, manufacturing, security field, inspection and non-destructive testing processes, and many other applications, the proposed approach would offer substantial reductions in costs, complexity, hazards, and other negative aspects of the use of these processes. This technology will be applicable to virtually all X-ray processes and many other imaging and information storage techniques.