Engineering topics

Smith, Andrew

Publications and source records attributed to Smith, Andrew.

21 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS2001

Tentative Identification of Interstellar CS by UV Absorption in the C-X Transition

Current chemical models of translucent clouds imply that sulfur is depleted with respect to its average abundance in diffuse clouds as determined by Morton (1975 ApJ,197, 85) by factors exceeding 10. Existing gigahertz emission observations yield sizable uncertainties in the column densities to background stars, and attempts to measure column densities of CS in the lines-of-sight to various stars through the absorption in the A-X (0,0) electronic transition near 257.6 nm have been unsuccessful. CS dissociates primarily through discrete absorptions into predissociating states. In analogy with CO the strongest of these is the C-X band found near 140.0 nm. We report the tentative identification of the C-X band of CS in the interstellar spectra of HD 24398 (zeta Per), HD 148184 (chi Oph), and HD 154368. The estimated column densities will be compared to the predictions of prevailing chemical models.

Smith, Andrew↗

NASA NTRS1996

Computational and Experimental Efforts in Gravity Probe B Microthruster Analysis

Gravity Probe B, an experiment to test the theory of relativity, will be launched near the turn of the millennium. Due to the precise pointing requirements need to successfully carry out this experiment, the satellite will use sixteen proportionally controlled microthrusters as a main component of the attitude control system. These microthrusters use the helium boil-off from the on-board dewar as propellant. Marshall Space Flight Center, verified the design of the thruster flow path by both computational and experimental methods. The flow performance of the thruster has been adequately characterized. Graphs show specific impulse, thrust coefficient, discharge coefficient, and mass flow rate trends. Value was added to the program through gained confidence in the design of the thruster and through valuation of some design trade-offs.

Droege, Alan↗

NASA NTRS1986

Modelling short channel mosfets for use in VLSI

In an investigation of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOFSET) devices, a one-dimensional mathematical model of device dynamics was prepared, from which an accurate and computationally efficient drain current expression could be derived for subsequent parameter extraction. While a critical review revealed weaknesses in existing 1-D models (Pao-Sah, Pierret-Shields, Brews, and Van de Wiele), this new model in contrast was found to allow all the charge distributions to be continuous, to retain the inversion layer structure, and to include the contribution of current from the pinched-off part of the device. The model allows the source and drain to operate in different regimes. Numerical algorithms used for the evaluation of surface potentials in the various models are presented.

Klafter, Alex↗