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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 271 records · Page 15

An extreme ultraviolet photometer for solar observations from the Atmosphere Explorer satellites

A broadband photometer experiment is being fabricated for the Atmosphere Explorer C, D and E missions to record the solar irradiance in the 40 to 1250 A region with seven distinct passbands. The experiment consists principally of four spinal electron multipliers located behind a moving eight position filter wheel. Six metallic filters are used to spectrally isolate the solar irradiance. In addition three Al2O3 diodes, two with filters, are being used to record the solar irradiance over the range of orbital altitudes from perigee through apogee. A principal goal of the experiment will be to measure time dependence of the solar irradiance with respect to a storage ring synchrotron light source which has been calibrated in terms of the best currently available standards of irradiance.

Heath, D. F.↗

Photo sensor array technology development

The development of an improved capability photo sensor array imager for use in a Viking '75 type facsimile camera is presented. This imager consists of silicon photodiodes and lead sulfide detectors to cover a spectral range from 0.4 to 2.7 microns. An optical design specifying filter configurations and convergence angles is described. Three electronics design approaches: AC-chopped light, DC-dual detector, and DC-single detector, are investigated. Experimental and calculated results are compared whenever possible using breadboard testing and tolerance analysis techniques. Results show that any design used must be forgiving of the relative instability of lead sulfide detectors. A final design using lead sulfide detectors and associated electronics is implemented by fabrication of a hybrid prototype device. Test results of this device show a good agreement with calculated values.

Rossman, M. W.↗

Plasma fluctuations and large-scale mixing near Comet Giacobini-Zinner

The relationship among plasma densities, flow speeds and directions, and temperatures, at distances within about 100,000 km of Comet Giacobini-Zinner's nucleus, are presently examined in view of lowpass-filtered data from the International Cometary Explorer's electron spectrometer. While the largest amplitude density spikes often have more significant flow changes associated with them, a consistent pattern is not found. Power spectral analyses in and near the sheath/transition regions show that density fluctuation levels are enhanced at all detectable frequencies, consistent with strong density fluctuations on all time scales. Such mechanisms as the amplification of convected ion pickup waves and cometary rays for producing the large plasma variations are discussed. It is suggested that the Rayleigh-Taylor effect-driven mixing mechanism at a mass-loading boundary abut 100,000 km from the nucleus may be operative.

Baker, D. N.↗

Evaluation of the characteristics of a field emission cathode for use in a Mercury ion trap frequency standard

The performance is reported of a field emission array characterized for the purpose of replacing the filament in a trapped ion frequency standard. This dark electron emitter eliminates the need for the interference filter currently used in the trapped ion standard. While reducing the filament's unwanted light, this filter causes a significant reduction in the signal. The magnetic field associated with the filament is also eliminated, thus potentially improving the present stability of the trapped ion standard. The operation of the filament in the present system is described, as well as the associated concerns. The cathode considered for the filament's replacement is then described along with the experimental system. Experimental results, observations, and conclusions are presented.

Christman, J. M.↗

Hazard detection and avoidance sensor for NASA's planetary landers

An optical terrain analysis based sensor system specifically designed for landing hazard detection as required for NASA's autonomous planetary landers is introduced. This optical hazard detection and avoidance (HDA) sensor utilizes an optoelectronic wedge-and-ting (WRD) filter for Fourier transformed feature extraction and an electronic neural network processor for pattern classification. A fully implemented optical HDA sensor would assure safe landing of the planetary landers. Computer simulation results of a successful feasibility study is reported. Future research for hardware system implementation is also provided.

Lau, Brian↗

Investigation of the effects of long duration space exposure on active optical system components

This experiment was exposed to the space environment for 6 years on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). It investigated quantitatively the effects of the long-duration space exposure on the relevant performance parameters of a representative set of electron-optic system components, including lasers, radiation detectors, filters, modulators, windows, and other related components. It evaluated the results and implications of the measurements indicating real or suspected degradation mechanisms. This information will be used to establish guidelines for the selection and use of components for space-based, electro-optic systems.

Blue, M. D.↗

Bolometric detector systems for IR and mm-wave space astronomy

Recent developments in bolometric detector systems for millimeter and submillimeter wave space astronomy are described. Current technologies meet all the requirements for the high frequency instrument onboard the cosmic background radiation anisotropy satellite/satellite for the measurement of background anisotropies (COBRAS/SAMBA) platform. It is considered that the technologies that are currently being developed will significantly reduce the effective time constant and/or the cooling requirements of bolometric detectors. These technologies lend themselves to the fabrication of the large format arrays required for the Far Infrared and Submillimeter Space Telescope (FIRST). The scientific goals and detector requirements of the COBRAS/SAMBA platform that will use infrared bolometers are reviewed and the baseline detector system is described, including the feed optics, the infrared filters, the cold amplifiers and the warm readout electronics.

Church, S. E.↗

Ground-Based Simulation of Low-Earth Orbit Plasma Conditions: Plasma Generation and Characterization

A 16-cm diameter plasma source operated on argon is described that is capable of producing a plasma environment that closely simulates the low Earth orbit (LEO) conditions experienced by satellites in the altitude range between 300 to 500 km. The plasma source uses a transverse-field magnetic filter, and has been successful in producing low electron temperature plasmas that contain streaming ion populations. Both of these characteristics are important because the plasma in LEO is relatively cold (e.g., Te approx. 0.1 eV) and the ram energy of the ions due to the motion of the satellite relative to the LEO plasma is high (e.g., 7,800 m/s which corresponds to approx. 5 eV for O+ ions). Plasma source operational conditions of flow rate and discharge power are presented that allow the electron temperature to be adjusted over a range from 0.14 to 0.4 eV. The expanding plasma flow field downstream of the source contains both low-energy, charge-exchange ions and streaming ions with energies that are adjustable over a range from 4 eV to 6 eV. At low flow rates and low facility pressures, the streaming ion component of the ion population comprises over 90% of the total plasma density. In the work described herein, a large area retarding potential analyzer was used to measure both electron and ion energy distribution functions in the low density, expanding plasma produced downstream of the plasma source. The benefits of using this type of plasma diagnostic tool in easily perturbed, low-density plasma are identified, and techniques are also discussed that can be used to perform real-time measurements of electron temperature. Finally, recommendations are made that may enable lower electron temperatures to be produced while simultaneously decreasing the plasma source flow rate below 1 to 2 sccm.

Williams, John D.↗

NASA Tech Briefs, May 2005

Topics covered include: Fastener Starter; Multifunctional Deployment Hinges Rigidified by Ultraviolet; Temperature-Controlled Clamping and Releasing Mechanism; Long-Range Emergency Preemption of Traffic Lights; High-Efficiency Microwave Power Amplifier; Improvements of ModalMax High-Fidelity Piezoelectric Audio Device; Alumina or Semiconductor Ribbon Waveguides at 30 to 1,000 GHz; HEMT Frequency Doubler with Output at 300 GHz; Single-Chip FPGA Azimuth Pre-Filter for SAR; Autonomous Navigation by a Mobile Robot; Software Would Largely Automate Design of Kalman Filter; Predicting Flows of Rarefied Gases; Centralized Planning for Multiple Exploratory Robots; Electronic Router; Piezo-Operated Shutter Mechanism Moves 1.5 cm; Two SMA-Actuated Miniature Mechanisms; Vortobots; Ultrasonic/Sonic Jackhammer; Removing Pathogens Using Nano-Ceramic-Fiber Filters; Satellite-Derived Management Zones; Digital Equivalent Data System for XRF Labeling of Objects; Identifying Objects via Encased X-Ray-Fluorescent Materials - the Bar Code Inside; Vacuum Attachment for XRF Scanner; Simultaneous Conoscopic Holography and Raman Spectroscopy; Adding GaAs Monolayers to InAs Quantum-Dot Lasers on (001) InP; Vibrating Optical Fibers to Make Laser Speckle Disappear; Adaptive Filtering Using Recurrent Neural Networks; and Applying Standard Interfaces to a Process-Control Language.

Source record↗

Effect of electron divergence in air gaps on the measurement of the energy of cascades in emulsion chambers

The effect of an increase in electron density in the vicinity of the cascade axis caused by an avalanche passing through the gap between lead filters of the emulsion chamber was investigated experimentally. Optical densities were measured in three X-ray films spaced at 400, 800 and 1200 micrometer from the filter surface having a thickness of 6 cascade units. The optical densities of blackening spots caused by electron photon cascades of 1 to 2, 2 to 7 and greater than 7 BeV energies were measured. The results prove the presence of a gap between the filter and the nuclear emulsion which results in the underestimation of energy by several tenths of a percent.

Apanasenko, A. V.↗

A Comprehensive Approach towards Multi-Objective EMI Filter Design Optimization in High-Frequency SiC-Based Motor Drives

With rapid penetration of high-frequency, highdensity power electronics into the industry, controlling the system generated EMI becomes one of the major design challenges. Designing practical optimized EMI filters require simultaneous consideration of multiple aspects - including electromagnetic couplings, magnetic materials, practical component parasitics and their impacts at high-frequencies, and also the overall manufacturing costs. The multi-dimensional nature of the problem often results in overcompensated designs that hurt the system efficiency and power density. This paper focuses on a comprehensive design platform (developed in MATLAB) towards designing high-density, optimized, highly efficient EMI filters by analyzing the generated noise spectrum and evaluating a vast array of potential solutions before outputting an optimized filter solution. The proposed tool includes database-based component selection, optimal topology selection, multistage filter design, overall optimization for volume, mass, cost and total loss. The proposed filter has been thoroughly evaluated in a PSIM simulation environment emulating the hardware in CRD300DA12EXM3, a 300kW three-phase inverter from Wolfspeed with an RL load representing a motor drive application. Furthermore, a 20kHz switching frequency is chosen and impacts of the motor high-frequency characteristics on the generated EMI noise spectrum of the overall system have been analyzed.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Voyager spacecraft images of Jupiter and Saturn

The Voyager imaging system is described, noting that it is made up of a narrow-angle and a wide-angle TV camera, each in turn consisting of optics, a filter wheel and shutter assembly, a vidicon tube, and an electronics subsystem. The narrow-angle camera has a focal length of 1500 mm; its field of view is 0.42 deg and its focal ratio is f/8.5. For the wide-angle camera, the focal length is 200 mm, the field of view 3.2 deg, and the focal ratio of f/3.5. Images are exposed by each camera through one of eight filters in the filter wheel on the photoconductive surface of a magnetically focused and deflected vidicon having a diameter of 25 mm. The vidicon storage surface (target) is a selenium-sulfur film having an active area of 11.14 x 11.14 mm; it holds a frame consisting of 800 lines with 800 picture elements per line. Pictures of Jupiter, Saturn, and their moons are presented, with short descriptions given of the area being viewed.

Birnbaum, M. M.↗

Half-Metal Spin Filter for Highly Polarized Emission from GaAs Photocathodes

GaAs-based photocathodes are one of the major sources of spin-polarized electrons and are crucial for the upcoming Electron-Ion collider experiments which includes study of proton spin and spin parity violation in the standard model. The theoretical polarization limit in unstrained GaAs photocathodes is 50 % but only 35 % is routinely achieved in experiments. Spin selective filtering allows to boost the spin polarization beyond the 50 % theoretical limit. In this work, first-principle electronic calculations using standard Density Functional Theory are performed to predict possible Heusler alloy half-metal candidates to be used as spin-filter. Simulations are also performed to investigate the half-metallicity as function of the magnetic spin direction. Several devices are experimentally fabricated using dedicated Molecular Beam Epitaxy growth system. We implemented Quantum Efficiency and Polarization testing of these half-metal/GaAs heterostructures using a dedicated Mott polarimeter system. Photoemission can also be seen on magnetically switching the spin-filter direction accompanied by a change in sign of the asymmetry which is a qualitative proof of the spin-filtering effect.

Poddar, S.↗

LHC physics dataset for unsupervised New Physics detection at 40 MHz

In the particle detectors at the Large Hadron Collider, hundreds of millions of proton-proton collisions are produced every second. If one could store the whole data stream produced in these collisions, tens of terabytes of data would be written to disk every second. The general-purpose experiments ATLAS and CMS reduce this overwhelming data volume to a sustainable level, by deciding in real-time whether each collision event should be kept for further analysis or be discarded. We introduce a dataset of proton collision events that emulates a typical data stream collected by such a real-time processing system, pre-filtered by requiring the presence of at least one electron or muon. This dataset could be used to develop novel event selection strategies and assess their sensitivity to new phenomena. In particular, we intend to stimulate a community-based effort towards the design of novel algorithms for performing unsupervised new physics detection, customized to fit the bandwidth, latency and computational resource constraints of the real-time event selection system of a typical particle detector.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Two-color scattering for the measurement of neutrals at the edge of fusion devices

Laser two-color scattering (TCS) is proposed to detect the neutral species in the edge of fusion devices, namely, tokamaks. Here, TCS uses two wavelengths to probe both the laser Rayleigh scattering and Thomson scattering of the neutral-electron bath, with emphasis on neutral density measurements such as that of hydrogen and deuterium. Modeling of the Rayleigh scattering of tokamak neutral species under various plasma conditions (electron density and temperature) shows that, with an appropriate filtering of the Thomson signal and by going to ultraviolet-region wavelengths, identification of the Rayleigh signal can be achieved. Photon count and signal fractions are calculated in two test cases, one in the midplane region of the National Spherical Torus Experiment and one in the divertor region of DIII-D. An uncertainty analysis and discussion of the feasibility of the TCS diagnostic is also presented.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Starting dynamics of a linear-cavity femtosecond Mamyshev oscillator

Mamyshev oscillators can generate high-power femtosecond pulses, but starting a mode-locked state has remained a major challenge due to the suppression of continuous-wave lasing. Here, we study the starting dynamics of a linear Mamyshev oscillator designed to generate high-power femtosecond pulses while avoiding component damage. Reliable starting to stable mode-locking is achieved with a combination of modulation of the pump power and shifting of a filter passband. The starting process is automated, with full electronic control. The laser delivers 21-nJ pulses that are dechirped to 65 fs in duration outside the cavity.

Chen, Yi-Hao (ORCID:0000000244001983)↗

An extreme UV photometer for solar observations from Atmosphere Explorer.

A broadband photometer experiment is being prepared for the Atmosphere Explorer-C, -D, and -E missions to record the solar irradiance in seven wavelength bands in the range from 40 to 1250 A. The experiment contains four spiral electron multipliers located behind a moving eight-position filter wheel. Six of the eight sections of this wheel contain metallic filters used to spectrally isolate the solar irradiance. In addition, three Al2O3 diodes, two with filters, are being used to record the solar irradiance over the full range of orbital altitudes including those at which operation of multipliers with high voltages on open structures would be unsafe. A principal goal of the experiment will be to measure time dependence of the solar irradiance.

Heath, D. F.↗