Calabazas Creek

June 22, 2011

Calabazas Creek Research, Inc., Receives R&D 100 Award for Advanced Cathode Research

The editors of R&D Magazine announced that Calabazas Creek Research Inc. (CCR), and its associate Ron Witherspoon, Inc. (RWI), are among the winners of the 49th Annual R&D Awards, which salute the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace over the past year. CCR received the award for development of Controlled Porosity Reservoir Cathodes.

Cathodes provide the electron source for a broad range of electron beam devices, including RF sources, medical, industrial, and scientific accelerators, X-ray sources, lithography equipment, and precision welding. Previous cathodes were limited to low current densities to achieve long lifetime and often produced beams with non-uniform emission. Controlled Porosity Reservoir Cathodes (CPRCs) allow an order of magnitude increase in current density while providing more than four times the lifetime. Controlled porosity provides electron sources with extremely uniform current emission. The cathodes provide a dramatic increase in performance with simultaneous increase in lifetime.

Funding for the development was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The SBIR program funds small businesses to pursue innovative research that can have a significant impact on society. A full list of this year’s winners is available at www.rdmag.com.

For more information about DOE’s SBIR program, go here.