SBIR Phase I: Development of devices to manipulate the structure of quantum field energy for use in electric power generation

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is a paradigm shift in how electrical power is generated leading to compact, clean, and lightweight power sources able to provide consistent power no matter the environmental condition. The proposed product to be developed as part of this work offers the potential for broader societal and economic benefit. The proposed activity seeks to conduct research and development (R&D) to demonstrate technical feasibility of continuous power generation from the quantum field for terrestrial and space applications. The research activity will advance knowledge and understanding of quantum field theory and the nature of the quantum vacuum for the purpose of power generation and commercialization. This is expected to enable a continuous baseload renewable type power source in environments where other renewables are often not readily present. In so doing, the research will also enable new pathways for novel forms of radiation generation and detection, thereby enhancing space sensing and providing new communication capabilities making use of novel forms of radiation. This product may also benefit from high throughput scalable in-space manufacturing advances going forward, and serve as a reliable, light weight and abundant power source for the acceleration and growth of the large scale in-space economy. The technology is also expected to bring an array of advantages to national security and defense. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to validate numerical analysis design tools that will enable optimization of custom power cells. The research objective is to commercialize the company’s power-generating nanotechnology. These custom Casimir cavities interact with fluctuations of the quantum field to generate continuous power. The innovation in the approach is the customization of the original Casimir cavity concept to incorporate an array of electrically connected and conducting pillars arranged along the midplane of the cavity. With this enhancement, the custom Casimir cavity structure establishes an electrostatic potential between the pillars along the midplane and the cavity walls. The goals and scope of the research are: prediction of tunneling current magnitude for given metal-insulator-metal combination; and optimal selection of combinations of materials and insulator thicknesses. The methods to accomplish validation of software analysis tools are as follows: fabricate numerous metal-insulator-metal samples; conduct laboratory tests to quantify tunneling current performance; update analysis tools with measured performance data. The anticipated technical result is validated software analysis tools to predict the tunneling current magnitude for a given metal-insulator-metal combination of materials. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.