The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Japan Patent Office issued a total of three patents for inventions developed by PPPL researchers in 2016. The U.S. patents went to:

• Engineers Charles Gentile, Adam Cohen and George Ascione for a system to produce Molybdenum 99, which decays into Technetium 99m, the most widely used medical isotope for diagnosing cancer, heart disease and other conditions throughout the world.
• Physicists Manfred Bitter, Kenneth Hill and Philip Efthimion for a novel imaging apparatus with adjustable magnification of objects that emit radiation at short wave lengths in the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) and x-ray regions. Prospective uses range from production of next-generation computer chips to x-ray diagnostics of hot, laser-produced plasmas.

The Japanese patent went to:

• Physicist Sam Cohen, with Michael Paluszek, Yosef Razin and Gary Pajer of Princeton Satellite Systems (PSS) for a method to produce high specific impulse and moderate thrust from a fusion-powered rocket engine. The invention, which PSS has licensed, is a compact, low-neutron, nuclear fusion reactor that can be used as a rocket engine or as a power generator.