Waltman, Steven B. | Engineering Papers

NASA NTRS1995

Tunnel effect wave energy detection

Methods and apparatus for measuring gravitational and inertial forces, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy acting on an object or fluid in space provide an electric tunneling current through a gap between an electrode and that object or fluid in space and vary that gap with any selected one of such forces, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy acting on that object or fluid. These methods and apparatus sense a corresponding variation in an electric property of that gap and determine the latter force, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy in response to that corresponding variation, and thereby sense or measure such parameters as acceleration, position, particle mass, velocity, magnetic field strength, presence or direction, or wave or radiant energy intensity, presence or direction.

Kaiser, William J.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Tunnel effect measuring systems and particle detectors

Methods and apparatus for measuring gravitational and inertial forces, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy acting on an object or fluid in space provide an electric tunneling current through a gap between an electrode and that object or fluid in space and vary that gap with any selected one of such forces, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy acting on that object or fluid. These methods and apparatus sense a corresponding variation in an electric property of that gap and determine the latter force, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy in response to that corresponding variation, and thereby sense or measure such parameters as acceleration, position, particle mass, velocity, magnetic field strength, presence or direction, or wave or radiant energy intensity, presence or direction.

Kaiser, William J.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Tunnel effect measuring systems and particle detectors

Methods and apparatus for measuring gravitational and inertial forces, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy acting on an object or fluid in space provide an electric tunneling current through a gap between an electrode and that object or fluid in space and vary that gap with any selected one of such forces, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy acting on that object or fluid. These methods and apparatus sense a corresponding variation in an electric property of that gap and determine the latter force, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy in response to that corresponding variation, and thereby sense or measure such parameters as acceleration, position, particle mass, velocity, magnetic field strength, presence or direction, or wave or radiant energy intensity, presence or direction.

Kaiser, William J.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Tunnel effect measuring systems and particle detectors

Methods and apparatus for measuring gravitational and inertial forces, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy acting on an object or fluid in space provide an electric tunneling current through a gap between an electrode and that object or fluid in space and vary that gap with any selected one of such forces, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy acting on that object or fluid. These methods and apparatus sense a corresponding variation in an electric property of that gap and determine the latter force, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy in response to that corresponding variation, and thereby sense or measure such parameters as acceleration, position, particle mass, velocity, magnetic field strength, presence or direction, or wave or radiant energy intensity, presence or direction.

Kaiser, William J.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Electron-Tunneling Magnetometer

Electron-tunneling magnetometer is conceptual solid-state device operating at room temperature, yet offers sensitivity comparable to state-of-art magnetometers such as flux gates, search coils, and optically pumped magnetometers, with greatly reduced volume, power consumption, electronics requirements, and manufacturing cost. Micromachined from silicon wafer, and uses tunneling displacement transducer to detect magnetic forces on cantilever-supported current loop.

Kaiser, William J.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Methods and apparatus for improving sensor performance

Methods and apparatus for improving performance of a sensor having a sensor proof mass elastically suspended at an initial equilibrium position by a suspension force, provide a tunable force opposing that suspension force and preset the proof mass with that tunable force to a second equilibrium position less stable than the initial equilibrium position. The sensor is then operated from that preset second equilibrium position of the proof mass short of instability. The spring constant of the elastic suspension may be continually monitored, and such continually monitored spring constant may be continually adjusted to maintain the sensor at a substantially constant sensitivity during its operation.

Kaiser, William J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Tunnel-Effect Displacement Sensor

Tunnel position sensor simple device measuring small displacements or accelerations. Used to make compact, sensitive accelerometers or strain gauges or to measure impacts of particles. Variation in distance between two electrodes measured via variation in tunneling current between them. Tunnel microsensors provide versatility for application as accelerometers, force sensors, strain sensors, particle detectors, and other devices for space applications.

Kaiser, William J.↗