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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 217 records · Page 12

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2005

Reliability Assessment of Advanced Flip-clip Interconnect Electronic Package Assemblies under Extreme Cold Temperatures (-190 and -120 C)

Flip-chip interconnect electronic package boards have been assembled, underfilled, non-destructively evaluated and subsequently subjected to extreme temperature thermal cycling to assess the reliability of this advanced packaging interconnect technology for future deep space, long-term, extreme temperature missions. In this very preliminary study, the employed temperature range covers military specifications (-55 C to 100 C), extreme cold Martian (-120 C to 115 C) and asteroid Nereus (-180 C to 25 C) environments. The resistance of daisy-chained, flip-chip interconnects were measured at room temperature and at various intervals as a function of extreme temperature thermal cycling. Electrical resistance measurements are reported and the tests to date have not shown significant change in resistance as a function of extreme temperature thermal cycling. However, the change in interconnect resistance becomes more noticeable with increasing number of thermal cycles. Further research work has been carried out to understand the reliability of flip-chip interconnect packages under extreme temperature applications (-190 C to 85 C) via continuously monitoring the daisy chain resistance. Adaptation of suitable diagnostic techniques to identify the failure mechanisms is in progress. This presentation will describe the experimental test results of flip-chip testing under extreme temperatures.

thermal cycling↗

DOE OSTI2021

Cell-level reliability testing procedures for CIGS photovoltaics

The reliability of photovoltaics is commonly studied at the module level. Many reliability problems originate from module attributes, such as metal interconnections to cells, junction boxes. However, significant work in reliability can also be done prior to module design. Testing for reliability earlier in the research cycle increases the probability of avoiding common module reliability problems before cell changes are implemented on a large scale. Cell-level reliability studies can thus lower the rates of module failures in the field and provide confidence to investors that new technologies will perform as advertised. This report summarizes how we investigated three reliability concerns in Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) photovoltaics at the cell level: metastability, shading-induced damage, and potential-induced degradation (PID). We find that examining these concerns required developing robust measurement protocols including the fabrication of novel testing structures. This information will allow readers to incorporate sound metrics for investigating reliability phenomena and aid their studies of cell and module reliability improvements.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Urban cells: Extending the energy hub concept to facilitate sector and spatial coupling

The rapid growth of urban areas and concerns over climate change make it vital to improve the energy sustainability of cities. Understanding the complex interactions within different sectors (sectoral) and localities (spatial) of cities plays a crucial role in improving efficiency and sustainability, which is extremely challenging due to the complex urban morphology. State-of-the-art energy concepts do not facilitate a detailed consideration of both sectoral and spatial coupling that energy infrastructure maintains at the urban scale. This has become a significant challenge when designing interconnected urban energy infrastructure. The Urban Cell concept is introduced to address this bottleneck. A novel computational model using a modular approach is introduced to create an interconnected urban infrastructure, including the energy, building, and transportation sectors. Optimal sizing of the distributed energy system (including renewables, energy storage, and dispatchable sources) and optimal urban morphology is determined within a modular unit. A game-theoretic approach is used to model the interactions between urban cells (modular units). The study revealed that the urban cell concept can reduce the net present value of the interconnected energy infrastructure by 37% while increasing the installed renewable energy capacity by 25%. This demonstrates the benefit potential of urban cells and the importance of considering interactions between different sectors and different parts within a city. The Urban Cell concept can be used to present the complex interactions maintained within a city.

Perera, ATD↗

DOE OSTI2025

OR-AGENT framework – Architecting electrified heavy-duty drayage applications

The widespread adoption of zero-emission vehicles in heavy-duty (HD) commercial freight transportation faces considerable technoeconomic challenges. For heavy-duty trucks, ensuring high uptime, cost parity with diesel, and safety standards is especially critical as these vehicles operate over long distances with heavy loads, where any downtime or off-nominal behaviors significantly impacts logistics, productivity, and the total cost of ownership. Unlike traditional diesel refueling, BEV charging infrastructure must be co-optimized with vehicle deployment, operational demands, and grid capacity to ensure cost-effective and reliable freight operations. However, the lack of a standardized ownership and service model has led to a fragmented approach—where commercial vehicle operators may invest in, own, and maintain both vehicle/batteries and charging/energy infrastructure. This disconnect may exclude energy service providers from the equation, forcing fleet operators to explore ‘behind-the-fence’ energy solutions that increase capital investment, operational downtime, overhead costs, and, in some cases, net carbon emissions. To address these issues, this study introduces OR-AGENT (Optimal Regional Architecture Generation for Efficient National Transport), a comprehensive modeling framework that integrates powertrain architectures, charging infrastructures, and energy backbone systems into a cohesive strategy. In this paper, OR-AGENT is applied to develop an interconnected systems architecture for energy efficiency and resiliency enhancement of heavy-duty drayage vehicles at the Port of Savannah, GA. This framework showcases an interconnected systems approach to electrifying heavy-duty drayage vehicles at the Port of Savannah, GA. The study assessed BEVs with 400–1200 kWh battery capacities, accounting for seasonal variations in weather and freight routing. A diverse charging mix (150 kW–1250 kW) was evaluated alongside grid capacity constraints, cost, and carbon intensity analysis, leading to the development of a strategic microgrid/Distributed Energy Resources (DER) deployment architecture to ensure a reliable and sustainable transition. However, the findings also highlight the need for alternative zero-emission solutions for remaining trips, such as larger batteries, electrified roadways, hydrogen powertrains, or net-zero emission fuels. In conclusion, the findings are incorporated into a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model to identify optimal architectures for an interconnected electrified ecosystem.

Commercial vehicles↗

DOE OSTI2024

Queued Up: 2024 Edition, Characteristics of Power Plants Seeking Transmission Interconnection As of the End of 2023 [Slides]

Electric transmission system operators (ISOs, RTOs, or utilities) require projects seeking to connect to the grid to undergo a series of impact studies before they can be built. This process establishes what new transmission equipment or upgrades may be needed before a project can connect to the system and assigns the costs of that equipment. The lists of projects in this process are known as “interconnection queues”. The amount of new electric capacity in these queues is growing dramatically, with nearly 2,600 gigawatts (GW) of total generation and storage capacity now seeking connection to the grid (over 95% of which is for zero-carbon resources like solar, wind, and battery storage). However, most projects that apply for interconnection are ultimately withdrawn, and those that are built are taking longer on average to complete the required studies and become operational. Data from these queues nonetheless provide a general indicator for mid-term trends in developer interest.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

NASA NTRS1973

Diffusion and structural changes in microcircuit interconnections

The interdiffusion of platimum and gold films, a couple utilized in beam lead microcircuits, has been studied for temperatures up to 550 C. Gold-on-platinum couples and separate platimum and gold films 80-450 nm thick, were deposited by electron beam evaporation onto oxidized (111) silicon substrates. Diffusion was monitored by means of spectral reflectance versus wavelength in the band 500-1000 nm. The separate metal films showed good adhesion and stable reflectances (after an initial change) for at least 6 h at diffusion temperatures, in contrast to the couples. Analysis of platinum diffusion through the gold films yielded an activation energy about 38 kcal/g-atom and a pre-exponential factor of the order 0.001 sq cm/sec, values close to those for volume diffusion. The pre-exponential factor especially is dependent upon film deposition conditions.

Nowak, W. B.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Impact of Gold Thickness on Interfacial Evolution and Subsequent Embrittlement of Tin–Lead Solder Joints

Although gold remains a preferred surface finish for components used in high-reliability electronics, rapid developments in this area have left a gap in the fundamental understanding of solder joint gold (Au) embrittlement. Furthermore, as electronic designs scale down in size, the effect of Au content is not well understood on increasingly smaller solder interconnections. As a result, previous findings may have limited applicability. The current study focused on addressing these gaps by investigating the interfacial microstructure that evolves in 63Sn-37Pb solder joints as a function of Au layer thickness. Those findings were correlated to the mechanical performance of the solder joints. Increasing the initial Au concentration decreased the mechanical strength of a joint, but only to a limited degree. Kirkendall voids were the primary contributor to low-strength joints, while brittle fracture within the intermetallic compounds (IMC) layers is less of a factor. The Au embrittlement mechanism appears to be self-limiting, but only once mechanical integrity is degraded. Sufficient void evolution prevents continued diffusion from the remaining Au.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2026

Cross-sectoral impact of emerging technologies on U.S. manufacturing resilience and competitiveness

Introducing new technologies in one energy-intensive industry can affect how other industries operate and stay resilient, yet these cross-sector interactions are often underappreciated in conventional technology roadmaps. In practice, industrial systems do not evolve in isolation. They are linked through shared upstream and downstream dependencies, such as electricity and fuel supply, critical materials, transportation networks, and enabling infrastructure. As a result, large-scale technology deployment in one sector can reshape resource availability, infrastructure demand, and operational risk in others. These interdependencies mean that technology deployment decisions in one sector can create unintended bottlenecks or cascading benefits in others. Here, this article argues that a cross-sector, system-of-systems perspective is essential for evaluating and scaling emerging technologies in energy-intensive industries. By framing industrial transformation as an interconnected systems challenge rather than a set of isolated sectoral decisions, the study highlights how interdependence shapes technology feasibility, adoption pathways, and resilience outcomes. The article illustrates how cross-sector linkages can amplify both risks and benefits, and it emphasizes the importance of integrated planning approaches that account for shared dependencies, cascading impacts, and co-optimization opportunities. Adopting this broader perspective can support more robust technology roadmaps, improve strategic coordination across industries, and strengthen the long-term resilience of the industrial sector as a whole.

Nain, Preeti [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)↗

DOE OSTI2025

Human–Earth system interactions under climate change

This special issue, titled ‘Focus on human–Earth system interactions under climate change,’ compiles cutting-edge research that deepens our understanding of the complex feedback mechanisms between anthropogenic activities and Earth system processes in the context of a changing climate (figure 1). The featured articles employ a diverse array of methodologies—including field studies, remote sensing, modeling, and socio-ecological analyses—to explore these interconnections. A unifying theme across these contributions is the imperative to bridge disciplinary divides, integrating physical Earth sciences with social sciences to fully capture the spectrum of human-Earth system interactions. Key topics addressed the impacts of human activities on natural systems, encompassing land-use change and water resource management on biogeochemistry, climate dynamics, and feedback on the climate system and socioeconomics from local to global scales under a changing climate.

Li, Huidong [Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (Unit↗

DOE OSTI2025

Microgrid Building Block Architecture, and Subcomponents Modeling and Demonstration in Controller Hardware-in-the-Loop

The recently proposed Microgrid Building Blocks (MBB) are ready-to-use components to build microgrids quickly, cheaply, and modularly. This work presents and demonstrates in controller hardware-in-the-loop (CHIL) three key subcomponents of an MBB architecture: power converter topology, control scheme, and communication framework. The addressed architecture aims for systems interconnection such as microgrid to grid and microgrid to microgrid. This paper studies each subcomponent in detail and validates the efficacy of the architecture through CHIL results.

Adib, Aswad [ORNL] (ORCID:000000020997056X)↗

DOE OSTI2025

Edge ML for CAN bus intrusion detection in AVs

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are revolutionizing transportation, but their reliance on interconnected cyber-physical systems exposes them to unprecedented cybersecurity risks. This study addresses the critical challenge of detecting real-time cyber intrusions in self-driving vehicles by leveraging a dataset from the Udacity self-driving car project. We simulate four high-impact attack vectors, Denial of Service (DoS), spoofing, replay, and fuzzy attacks, by injecting noise into spatial features (e.g., bounding box coordinates) to replicate adversarial scenarios. We develop and evaluate two lightweight neural network architectures (NN-1 and NN-2) alongside a logistic regression baseline (LG-1) for intrusion detection. The models achieve exceptional performance, with NN-2 attaining an AUC score of 93.15% and 93.15% accuracy, demonstrating their suitability for edge deployment in AV environments. Through explainable AI techniques, we uncover unique forensic fingerprints of each attack type, such as spatial corruption in fuzzy attacks and temporal anomalies in replay attacks, offering actionable insights for feature engineering and proactive defense. Visual analytics, including confusion matrices, ROC curves, and feature importance plots, validate the models' robustness and interpretability. This research sets a new benchmark for AV cybersecurity, delivering a scalable, field-ready toolkit for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and policymakers. By aligning intrusion fingerprints with SAE J3061 automotive security standards, we provide a pathway for integrating machine learning into safety-critical AV systems. Our findings underscore the urgent need for security-by-design AI, ensuring that AVs not only drive autonomously but also defend autonomously. This work bridges the gap between theoretical cybersecurity and life-preserving engineering, offering a leap toward safer, more secure autonomous transportation.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2026

Achieving 20.1% Efficiency in Organic Solar Cells Through Interconnected Fibrillar Networks via Local Molecular Stacking

ABSTRACT The performance of organic solar cells (OSCs) is governed by how molecular packing evolves into interconnected networks that facilitate exciton dissociation and charge transport. Using an all‐small‐molecule blend DR3TSBDT:Y6 as a model system, we study how local molecular stacking evolves into performance‐relevant morphology during solvent vapor annealing (SVA) and subsequent thermal annealing (TA). SVA promotes end‐to‐end stacking of amorphous acceptors to form interconnected fibrils, while TA compacts inter‐fibril spacing without disrupting favorable local order. Such molecular‐to‐morphological refinements broaden light absorption, enhance charge transport, and markedly improve device efficiency. Extending this approach to additional blend systems (D18:Y6, D18:L8‐BO, and DR3TSBDT:L8‐BO) yields similar structural evolution and performance gains, with the D18:L8‐BO system achieving up to 20.10% PCE. Our study establishes control over local stacking in amorphous acceptors into fibrillar networks as a general and effective route to realize high‐performance OSCs.

Wu, Junying↗

DOE OSTI2026

A Review of Distributed Wind Interconnection Technology and Standards

The objectives of this report are to discuss the uniqueness of power converters in distributed wind (DW), identify challenges in complying with existing standards, prioritize technological innovations to facilitate interconnection of DW energy systems, and, where necessary, propose potential clarifications or revisions to standards. This report evaluates IEEE 1547-2018, IEEE 1547.1-2020, and UL 1741 SB standards and their implications for DW. A standards review and interviews of DW industry stakeholders were conducted to identify challenges in the application of current standards to DW. The study concludes with a combination of recommendations of pathways towards facilitating DW product commercialization and DW interconnection, which draws on participation from multiple stakeholders in the space. These solutions can continue to be explored to improve DW standards compliance, improve the applicability of the standards to DW, reduce certification testing barriers, and ensure the safe and reliable operation of DW energy resources and electric power systems.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS2010

Advanced Flip Chips in Extreme Temperature Environments

The use of underfill materials is necessary with flip-chip interconnect technology to redistribute stresses due to mismatching coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) between dissimilar materials in the overall assembly. Underfills are formulated using organic polymers and possibly inorganic filler materials. There are a few ways to apply the underfills with flip-chip technology. Traditional capillary-flow underfill materials now possess high flow speed and reduced time to cure, but they still require additional processing steps beyond the typical surface-mount technology (SMT) assembly process. Studies were conducted using underfills in a temperature range of -190 to 85 C, which resulted in an increase of reliability by one to two orders of magnitude. Thermal shock of the flip-chip test articles was designed to induce failures at the interconnect sites (-40 to 100 C). The study on the reliability of flip chips using underfills in the extreme temperature region is of significant value for space applications. This technology is considered as an enabling technology for future space missions. Flip-chip interconnect technology is an advanced electrical interconnection approach where the silicon die or chip is electrically connected, face down, to the substrate by reflowing solder bumps on area-array metallized terminals on the die to matching footprints of solder-wettable pads on the chosen substrate. This advanced flip-chip interconnect technology will significantly improve the performance of high-speed systems, productivity enhancement over manual wire bonding, self-alignment during die joining, low lead inductances, and reduced need for attachment of precious metals. The use of commercially developed no-flow fluxing underfills provides a means of reducing the processing steps employed in the traditional capillary flow methods to enhance SMT compatibility. Reliability of flip chips may be significantly increased by matching/tailoring the CTEs of the substrate material and the silicon die or chip, and also the underfill materials. Advanced packaging interconnects technology such as flip-chip interconnect test boards have been subjected to various extreme temperature ranges that cover military specifications and extreme Mars and asteroid environments. The eventual goal of each process step and the entire process is to produce components with 100 percent interconnect and satisfy the reliability requirements. Underfill materials, in general, may possibly meet demanding end use requirements such as low warpage, low stress, fine pitch, high reliability, and high adhesion.

Ramesham, Rajeshuni↗

DOE OSTI2022

Influence of the molecular weight and size distribution of PSS on mixed ionic-electronic transport in PEDOT:PSS

The commercially available polyelectrolyte complex poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is ubiquitous in organic and hybrid electronics. As such, it has often been used as a benchmark material for fundamental studies and the development of new electronic devices. Yet, most studies on PEDOT:PSS have focused on its electronic conductivity in dry environments, with less consideration given to its ion transport, coupled ionic-electronic transport, and charge storage properties in aqueous environments. These properties are essential for applications in bioelectronics (sensors, actuators), charge storage devices, and electrochromic displays. Importantly, past studies on mixed ionic-electronic transport in PEDOT:PSS neglected to consider how the molecular structure of PSS affects mixed ionic-electronic transport. Herein, we therefore investigated the effect of the molecular weight and size distribution of PSS on the electronic properties and morphology of PEDOT:PSS both in dry and aqueous environments, and overall performance in organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs). Using reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization with two different chain transfer agents, six PSS samples with monomodal, narrow (D = 1.1) and broad (D = 1.7) size distributions and varying molecular weights were synthesized and used as matrices for PEDOT. We found that using higher molecular weight of PSS (Mn = 145 kg mol –1 ) and broad dispersity led to OECTs with the highest transconductance (up to 16 mS) and [μC*] values (~140 F cm –1 V –1 s –1 ) in PEDOT:PSS, despite having a lower volumetric capacitance (C* = 35 ± 4 F cm –3 ). The differences were best explained by studying the microstructure of the films by atomic force microscopy (AFM). We found that heterogeneities in the PEDOT:PSS films (interconnected and large PEDOT- and PSS-rich domains) obtained from high molecular weight and high dispersity PSS led to higher charge mobility (μOECT ~4 cm 2 V –1 s –1 ) and hence transconductance. Furthermore, these studies highlight the importance of considering molecular weight and size distribution in organic mixed ionic-electronic conductor, and could pave the way to designing high performance organic electronics for biological interfaces.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2020

Synthesis of Ionic Ultramicroporous Polymers for Selective Separation of Acetylene from Ethylene

The design of highly stable and efficient porous materials is essential for developing breakthrough hydrocarbon separation methods based on physisorption to replace currently used energy-intensive distillation/absorption technologies. Efforts to develop advanced porous materials such as zeolites, coordination frameworks, and organic polymers have met with limited success. Here, a new class of ionic ultramicroporous polymers (IUPs) with high-density inorganic anions and narrowly distributed ultramicroporosity is reported, which are synthesized by a facile free-radical polymerization using branched and amphiphilic ionic compounds as reactive monomers. A covalent and ionic dual-crosslinking strategy is proposed to manipulate the pore structure of amorphous polymers at the ultramicroporous scale. The IUPs exhibit exceptional selectivity (286.1–474.4) for separating acetylene from ethylene along with high thermal and water stability, collaboratively demonstrated by gas adsorption isotherms and experimental breakthrough curves. Modeling studies unveil the specific binding sites for acetylene capture as well as the interconnected ultramicroporosity for size sieving. Finally, the porosity-engineering protocol used in this work can also be extended to the design of other ultramicroporous materials for the challenging separation of other key gas constituents.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

NASA NTRS1977

Development of a complex of activity in the solar corona

Using Skylab observations of soft solar X-rays, the development of a complex of activity in the solar corona during its whole lifetime of seven solar rotations is studied. The basic components of the activity complex were determined to be permanently interconnected through sets of magnetic field lines, which suggests similar connections also below the photosphere. The visibility of individual loops in these connections, however, was greatly variable and typically shorter than one day. Each brightening of a coronal loop in X-rays seems to be related to a variation in the photospheric magnetic field near its footprint.

Howard, R.↗

NASA NTRS1978

A national voice network with satellite and small transceivers

A geostationary satellite utilizing a large multiple-beam UHF antenna is shown to be potentially capable of providing tens of thousands of voice channels for hundreds of thousands of mobile ground terminals using hand-held or vehicular-mounted transceivers with whip antennas. Inclusion of on-board network switching facilities permits full interconnection between any terminal pair within the continental United States (CONUS). Configuration tradeoff studies at selected frequencies from 150 to 1500 MHz, with antenna diameters ranging from 20 to 200 m, and CONUS-coverage multiple beams down to 0.3 deg beamwidth, establish that monthly system user costs in the range of $90 to $150, including leased and maintained ground equipment, are feasible.

Reilly, N. B.↗