Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “electrical switches”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 307 records · Page 17
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1978

Illumination control apparatus for compensating solar light

An illumination control apparatus is presented for supplementing light from solar radiation with light from an artificial light source to compensate for periods of insufficient levels of solar light. The apparatus maintains a desired illumination level within an interior space comprising an artificial light source connected to an electrical power source with a switch means for selectively energizing said light source. An actuator means for controlling the on-off operation of the switch means is connected to a light sensor which responses to the illumination level of the interior space. A limit switch carried adjacent to the actuator limits the movement of the actuator within a predetermined range so as to prevent further movement thereof during detection of erroneous illumination conditions.

Owens, L. J.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Plastic-Sealed Hybrid Power Circuit Package

Proposed design for hybrid high-voltage power-circuit package uses molded plastic for hermetic sealing instead of glass-to-metal seal. New package used to house high-voltage regulators and solid-state switches for applications in aircraft, electric automobiles, industrial equipment, satellites, solarcell arrays, and other equipment in extreme environments.

Miller, W. N.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Fault tree safety analysis of a large Li/SOCl(sub)2 spacecraft battery

The results of the safety fault tree analysis on the eight module, 576 F cell Li/SOCl2 battery on the spacecraft and in the integration and test environment prior to launch on the ground are presented. The analysis showed that with the right combination of blocking diodes, electrical fuses, thermal fuses, thermal switches, cell balance, cell vents, and battery module vents the probability of a single cell or a 72 cell module exploding can be reduced to .000001, essentially the probability due to explosion for unexplained reasons.

Uy, O. Manuel↗
NASA NTRS1990

High-voltage picosecond photoconductor switch based on low-temperature-grown GaAs

A GaAs material grown by molecular beam epitaxy at a low substrate temperature was used to fabricate a photoconductor switch that produces 6-V picosecond electrical pulses. The pulses were produced on a microwave coplanar-strip transmission line lithographically patterned on the low-temperature (LT) GaAs. A 150-fs laser pulse was used to generate carriers in the LT GaAs gap between the metal strips, partially shorting a high DC voltage placed across the lines. The 6-V magnitude of the electrical pulses obtained is believed to be limited by the laser pulse power and not by the properties of the LT GaAs. Experiments were also performed on a picosecond photoconductor switch fabricated on a conventional ion-damaged silicon-on-sapphire substrate. Although comparable pulse durations were obtained, the highest pulse voltage achieved with the latter device was 0.6 V.

Frankel, Michael Y.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Global Optimization of Low-Thrust Interplanetary Trajectories Subject to Operational Constraints

Low-thrust interplanetary space missions are highly complex and there can be many locally optimal solutions. While several techniques exist to search for globally optimal solutions to low-thrust trajectory design problems, they are typically limited to unconstrained trajectories. The operational design community in turn has largely avoided using such techniques and has primarily focused on accurate constrained local optimization combined with grid searches and intuitive design processes at the expense of efficient exploration of the global design space. This work is an attempt to bridge the gap between the global optimization and operational design communities by presenting a mathematical framework for global optimization of low-thrust trajectories subject to complex constraints including the targeting of planetary landing sites, a solar range constraint to simplify the thermal design of the spacecraft, and a real-world multi-thruster electric propulsion system that must switch thrusters on and off as available power changes over the course of a mission.

Design↗
DOE OSTI2021

Universal phase dynamics in VO 2 switches revealed by ultrafast operando diffraction

Understanding the pathways and time scales underlying electrically driven insulator-metal transitions is crucial for uncovering the fundamental limits of device operation. Using stroboscopic electron diffraction, we perform synchronized time-resolved measurements of atomic motions and electronic transport in operating vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) switches. We discover an electrically triggered, isostructural state that forms transiently on microsecond time scales, which is shown by phase-field simulations to be stabilized by local heterogeneities and interfacial interactions between the equilibrium phases. This metastable phase is similar to that formed under photoexcitation within picoseconds, suggesting a universal transformation pathway. Our results establish electrical excitation as a route for uncovering nonequilibrium and metastable phases in correlated materials, opening avenues for engineering dynamical behavior in nanoelectronics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Electric Aircraft Thermal Management Using a Two-Phase Heat Transport System with Solid-State Thermal Switching Capability

Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) is collaborating with NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) to develop a heat pipe-based thermal delivery system to efficiently manage the waste heat generated onboard an electric aircraft. The heat pipe system will interface with NASA GRC’s thermoacoustic heat pump in order to recycle waste heat by transporting thermal energy to various end users onboard the aircraft. This paper discusses the layout of theoretical heat pipe networks for a MW-class commercial electric aircraft. This is followed by a discussion of progress made on the development of a novel two-phase heat transport system with solid-state thermal switching and control capabilities.

Exergy↗
DOE OSTI2023

Electrical conductivity of TaO x as function of composition and temperature

The ability to model the resistive switching devices depends on input material parameters and is particularly sensitive to values of electrical conductivity of the functional material as a function of composition and temperature. Here we report the results of conductivity measurements of TaO x with 0 AC ) changing from 0.34 eV at x=2.36 to 0.016 eV at x=1.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1981

Optically induced bistable states in metal/tunnel-oxide/semiconductor /MTOS/ junctions

A new switching phenomenon in metal-oxide semiconductor tunnel junction has been discovered. With a sufficiently large negative bias applied to the electrode, incident visible light of intensity greater than about 1 microW/sq cm causes the reverse-biased junction to switch from a low-current to a high-current state. It is believed that hot-electron-induced impact ionization provides the positive feedback necessary for switching, and causes the junction to remain in its high-current state after the optical excitation is removed. The junction may be switched back to the low-current state electrically. The basic junction characteristics have been measured, and a simple model for the switching phenomenon has been developed.

Lai, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Design of power electronics for TVC and EMA systems

The EMA systems proposed for future space transportation applications are high power systems operating at voltages up to 270 Vdc and at current levels on the order of hundreds of amperes. The position of the actuator is controlled by modulating the flow of energy from the source to an electric motor with an inverter. Hard-switching of the semiconductor devices in the inverter results in considerable device switching stresses and losses and in the generation of substantial amounts of EMI. Both of these can be reduced by employing zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) techniques in the inverter. This project has focused on the development of a ZVS inverter for the Marshall Space Center EMA prototypes, which utilize brushless dc motors to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy. An inverter which permitted zero-voltage switching and a quasi-PWM operation was selected for study and implementation. A waveshaping circuit is added to the front of a standard three-phase inverter to achieve the desired switching properties. This circuit causes the input voltage of the three-phase inverter to ring to zero where it is clamped for a short period of time. During this zero-voltage period, any of the semiconductor switches in the three-phase inverter are switched on or off at zero voltage resulting in a reduction in switching losses and EMI. The operation of this waveshaping circuit and its interaction with the three-phase inverter are described. The different circuit modes were analyzed using equivalent circuits. Based on this analysis, design relationships were developed for calculating component values for the circuit elements in the waveshaping circuit. Waveforms of various voltages and currents in the waveshaping circuit were plotted and used to determine the ratings of the semiconductors in the waveshaping circuit. The implementation of this inverter are described. Block diagrams for the overall control system and the waveshaping circuit control are presented and discussed. The current control scheme employed in the controller is also described.

Nelms, R. Mark↗
DOE OSTI2024

High-temperature quantum valley Hall effect with quantized resistance and a topological switch

Edge states of a topological insulator can be used to explore fundamental science emerging at the interface of low dimensionality and topology. Achieving a robust conductance quantization, however, has proven challenging for helical edge states. In this work, we show wide resistance plateaus in kink states—a manifestation of the quantum valley Hall effect in Bernal bilayer graphene—quantized to the predicted value at zero magnetic field. The plateau resistance has a very weak temperature dependence up to 50 kelvin and is flat within a dc bias window of tens of millivolts. We demonstrate the electrical operation of a topology-controlled switch with an on/off ratio of 200. These results demonstrate the robustness and tunability of the kink states and its promise in constructing electron quantum optics devices.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2022

High Velocity, Low‐Voltage Collective In‐Plane Switching in (100) BaTiO 3 Thin Films

Abstract Ferroelectrics are being increasingly called upon for electronic devices in extreme environments. Device performance and energy efficiency is highly correlated to clock frequency, operational voltage, and resistive loss. To increase performance it is common to engineer ferroelectric domain structure with highly‐correlated electrical and elastic coupling that elicit fast and efficient collective switching. Designing domain structures with advantageous properties is difficult because the mechanisms involved in collective switching are poorly understood and difficult to investigate. Collective switching is a hierarchical process where the nano‐ and mesoscale responses control the macroscopic properties. Using chemical solution synthesis, epitaxially nearly‐relaxed (100) BaTiO 3 films are synthesized. Thermal strain induces a strongly‐correlated domain structure with alternating domains of polarization along the [010] and [001] in‐plane axes and 90° domain walls along the [011] or [01] directions. Simultaneous capacitance–voltage measurements and band‐excitation piezoresponse force microscopy revealed strong collective switching behavior. Using a deep convolutional autoencoder, hierarchical switching is automatically tracked and the switching pathway is identified. The collective switching velocities are calculated to be ≈500 cm s −1 at 5 V (7 kV cm −1 ), orders‐of‐magnitude faster than expected. These combinations of properties are promising for high‐speed tunable dielectrics and low‐voltage ferroelectric memories and logic.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Flux-Closure Domain Structures in Ferroelectric K 0.5 Na 0.5 NbO 3 Thin Films

Topological domain structures in ferroelectric materials have garnered increasing attention due to their intriguing physical properties and promising applications. While most existing topological structures in ferroelectric perovskite oxides originate from tetragonal or rhombohedral bulk phases, much less is understood about their counterparts in orthorhombic ferroelectrics. Here, in this work, we employ ferroelectric K 0.5 Na 0.5 NbO 3 (KNN) thin films as a model system and leverage phase-field simulations to theoretically predict the static structures and dynamic behaviors of three types of flux-closure domain configurations: in-plane (Type-I), out-of-plane (Type-II), and superdomain (Type-III) flux-closure structures. We systematically investigate the effects of finite size, misfit strains, and electrical boundary conditions on the formation and switching of these topological structures. For the Type-I structure, size reduction or small misfit strain facilitates a transition of the flux-closure pattern to polar vortices. Type-II structures emerge under open-circuit electrical boundary conditions of the film, forming at the junctions of specific domain walls with the film surface or the film–substrate interface. The formation mechanisms of these two flux-closure structures are rationalized from an energy perspective. We demonstrated switching capabilities of Type-II and Type-III structures by obtaining polarization–electric field hysteresis loops. Our simulations also reveal a reversible electric-field-induced transition between the orthorhombic and rhombohedral ferroelectric phases with a checkerboard domain pattern, during which the integrity of the flux-closure structure is preserved. These findings provide theoretical insights and practical guidance for identifying and manipulating topological structures in low-symmetry ferroelectrics, paving the way for developing energy-efficient microelectronic devices based on topological structures.

P-E loop↗
DOE OSTI2023

Large Spin-Orbit-Torque Efficiency and Room-Temperature Magnetization Switching in Sr Ir O 3 / Co-Fe-B Heterostructures

Spin-orbit-torque (SOT) switching is a potentially energy-efficient mechanism by which electrical current can control magnetization. We demonstrate room-temperature SOT switching in nanometer-thick Co⁢Fe⁢B/Sr⁢Ir⁢O 3 bilayers despite the amorphous nature of CoFeB and the interface. This behavior is attributed to the large spin Hall angle in Sr⁢Ir⁢O 3 as well as high spin transmission at the interface that contribute to the SOT efficiency ξ SOT . Our bilayers exhibit large ξ SOT of up to 1.4 and effective spin Hall conductivity of 0.9 ×10 5 (ℏ/2e)Ω –1 ⁢m –1 . In our bilayers, we observe unidirectional magnetoresistance and current-induced magnetization switching with a low critical current density of 1.38 ×10 10 A/m 2 at room temperature. Finally, our results are promising for heterostructures combining technologically relevant CoFeB with high spin-orbit-coupling oxides.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS2014

5.8kV SiC PiN Diode for Switching of High-Efficiency Inductive Pulsed Plasma Thruster Circuits

Inductive Pulsed Plasma Thruster (IPPT) pulse circuits, such as those needed to operate the Pulsed Inductive Thruster (PIT), are required to quickly switch capacitor banks operating at a period of μs while conducting current at levels on the order of at least 10 kA. [1,2] For all iterations of the PIT to date, spark gaps have been used to discharge the capacitor bank through an inductive coil. Recent availability of fast, high‐power solid state switching devices makes it possible to consider the use of semiconductor switches in modern IPPTs. In addition, novel pre‐ionization schemes have led to a reduction in discharge energy per pulse for electric thrusters of this type, relaxing the switching requirements for these thrusters. [3,4] Solid state switches offer the advantage of greater controllability and reliability, as well as decreased drive circuit dimensions and mass relative to spark gap switches. The use of solid state devices such as Integrated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs), Gate Turn‐off Thyristors (GTOs) and Silicon‐Controlled Rectifiers (SCRs) often involves the use of power diodes. These semiconductor devices may be connected antiparallel to the switch for protection from reverse current, or used to reduce power loss in a circuit by clamping off current ringing. In each case, higher circuit efficiency may be achieved by using a diode that is able to transition, or 'switch,' from the forward conducting state ('on' state) to the reverse blocking state ('off' state) in the shortest amount of time, thereby minimizing current ringing and switching losses. Silicon Carbide (SiC) PiN diodes offer significant advantages to conventional fast‐switching Silicon (Si) diodes for high power and fast switching applications. A wider band gap results in a breakdown voltage 10 times that of Si, so that a SiC device may have a thinner drift region for a given blocking voltage. [5] This leads to smaller, lighter devices for high voltage applications, as well as reduced forward conduction losses, faster reverse recovery time (faster turn‐off), and lower‐magnitude reverse recovery current. In addition, SiC devices have lower leakage current as compared to their Si counterparts, and a high thermal conductivity, potentially allowing the former to operate at higher temperatures with a smaller, lighter heatsink (or no heatsink at all).

Toftul, Alexandra↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Third Dimension of Ferroelectric Domain Walls

Abstract Ferroelectric domain walls are quasi‐2D systems that show great promise for the development of nonvolatile memory, memristor technology, and electronic components with ultrasmall feature size. Electric fields, for example, can change the domain wall orientation relative to the spontaneous polarization and switch between resistive and conductive states, controlling the electrical current. Being embedded in a 3D material, however, the domain walls are not perfectly flat and can form networks, which leads to complex physical structures. In this work, the importance of the nanoscale structure for the emergent transport properties is demonstrated, studying electronic conduction in the 3D network of neutral and charged domain walls in ErMnO 3 . By combining tomographic microscopy techniques and finite element modeling, the contribution of domain walls within the bulk is clarified and the significance of curvature effects for the local conduction is shown down to the nanoscale. The findings provide insights into the propagation of electrical currents in domain wall networks, reveal additional degrees of freedom for their control, and provide quantitative guidelines for the design of domain‐wall‐based technology.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Reversible non-volatile electronic switching in a near-room-temperature van der Waals ferromagnet

Abstract Non-volatile phase-change memory devices utilize local heating to toggle between crystalline and amorphous states with distinct electrical properties. Expanding on this kind of switching to two topologically distinct phases requires controlled non-volatile switching between two crystalline phases with distinct symmetries. Here, we report the observation of reversible and non-volatile switching between two stable and closely related crystal structures, with remarkably distinct electronic structures, in the near-room-temperature van der Waals ferromagnet Fe 5− δ GeTe 2 . We show that the switching is enabled by the ordering and disordering of Fe site vacancies that results in distinct crystalline symmetries of the two phases, which can be controlled by a thermal annealing and quenching method. The two phases are distinguished by the presence of topological nodal lines due to the preserved global inversion symmetry in the site-disordered phase, flat bands resulting from quantum destructive interference on a bipartite lattice, and broken inversion symmetry in the site-ordered phase.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗