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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 433 records · Page 24
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2003

Theodolite with CCD Camera for Safe Measurement of Laser-Beam Pointing

The simple addition of a charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera to a theodolite makes it safe to measure the pointing direction of a laser beam. The present state of the art requires this to be a custom addition because theodolites are manufactured without CCD cameras as standard or even optional equipment. A theodolite is an alignment telescope equipped with mechanisms to measure the azimuth and elevation angles to the sub-arcsecond level. When measuring the angular pointing direction of a Class ll laser with a theodolite, one could place a calculated amount of neutral density (ND) filters in front of the theodolite s telescope. One could then safely view and measure the laser s boresight looking through the theodolite s telescope without great risk to one s eyes. This method for a Class ll visible wavelength laser is not acceptable to even consider tempting for a Class IV laser and not applicable for an infrared (IR) laser. If one chooses insufficient attenuation or forgets to use the filters, then looking at the laser beam through the theodolite could cause instant blindness. The CCD camera is already commercially available. It is a small, inexpensive, blackand- white CCD circuit-board-level camera. An interface adaptor was designed and fabricated to mount the camera onto the eyepiece of the specific theodolite s viewing telescope. Other equipment needed for operation of the camera are power supplies, cables, and a black-and-white television monitor. The picture displayed on the monitor is equivalent to what one would see when looking directly through the theodolite. Again, the additional advantage afforded by a cheap black-and-white CCD camera is that it is sensitive to infrared as well as to visible light. Hence, one can use the camera coupled to a theodolite to measure the pointing of an infrared as well as a visible laser.

Crooke, Julie A.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Total-dose radiation effects data for semiconductor devices, volume 2

Total ionizing dose radiation test data on integrated circuits are analyzed. Tests were performed with the electron accelerator (Dynamitron) that provides a steady state 2.5 MeV electron beam. Some radiation exposures were made with a Cobalt-60 gamma ray source. The results obtained with the Cobalt-60 source are considered an approximate measure of the radiation damage that would be incurred by an equivalent dose of electrons.

Price, W. E.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Quantum limits of superconducting-photonic links and their extension to millimeter waves

Photonic addressing of superconducting circuits has been proposed to overcome wiring complexity and heat-load challenges. However, such superconducting-photonic links suffer from an efficiency-noise trade-off that limits scalability. This trade-off arises because increasing power conversion efficiency entails reducing optical power, which makes the converted signal susceptible to shot noise. We analyze this trade-off and find that the laser-driven qubit gate infidelity scales inversely with the number of photons used. While methods such as nonlinear detection or squeezed light could mitigate this effect, we consider generating higher-frequency electrical signals, such as millimeter waves (100 GHz), using laser light. At these higher frequencies, circuits have higher operating temperatures and cooling power budgets and alleviate constraints posed by the trade-off. Therefore, we demonstrate an optically driven cryogenic millimeter-wave source with a maximum power efficiency of 8 ×10 −5 that can generate a maximum of 0.7 μ⁢W of 80 GHz power, with a 1200-thermal-photon equivalent of added noise at 4K. Using this source, we perform frequency-domain spectroscopy of superconducting NbTiN resonators at 80–90 GHz. Our results show a promising approach to lessen the efficiency-noise constraints on superconducting-photonic links, while leveraging the benefits of photonic signal delivery. Further optimization of power efficiency and noise at high frequencies could make scalable photonic control of superconducting qubits viable at temperatures exceeding 1K.

Optoelectronics↗
DOE OSTI2025

The detrimental ratio ( ρ ): A critical metric complementing coulombic loss for long calendar-life silicon-based lithium-ion batteries

Silicon (Si) is a promising high-capacity anode in lithium-ion batteries but suffers from chronic chemical degradation and capacity fading during calendar aging, greatly hindering its automobile applications. Electrolyte engineering currently relies on conventional evaluation criteria of reducing coulombic consumption, which implicitly presume its equivalence to irreversible capacity loss and complicates battery development. Here, we introduce the detrimental ratio p to quantify the fraction of parasitic species that permanently degrades active material. This metric is independent and crucially complements total coulombic consumption for accurate performance evaluation. We systematically investigate multiple electrolyte formulations using high-precision leakage current measurements, open-circuit-voltage experiments, and post-mortem characterizations. Although some electrolytes exhibit similarly low coulombic consumption, they diverge significantly incapacity retention and p. Especially, dimethyl-carbonate-based localized-high concentration electrolyte can synergically achieve low coulombic consumption and detrimental ratio p during calendar aging, owing to its chemically inert and structurally resilient solidelectrolyte interface with minimal isolated Si material. By contrast, increasing fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) additive content suppresses electrolyte breakdown but suffers aggravated chemical degradation of more LixSi isolation for irreversible capacity loss with arising p. This study critically reveals that the chemistry-characteristic detrimental ratio p establishes physically informed performance evaluation to pave the way for accelerating battery development.

Calendar aging↗
DOE OSTI2020

Substitution Effect on Thiobarbituric Acid End Groups for High Open-Circuit Voltage Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells

Recent advances in non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) have resulted in significant improvement in the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of organic solar cells (OSCs). In our efforts to boost open-circuit voltage (V OC ) for OSCs, the molecular design employing thiobarbituric acid (TBTA) end groups and an indacenodithieno[3,2-b]thiophene (IDTT) core gives rise to NFAs with significantly raised lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level, which, when paired with PCE10, can achieve V OC 's over 1.0 V and decent PCEs that outperform the equivalent devices based on the benchmark ITIC acceptor. While the use of a TBTA end group is effective in tuning energy levels, very little is known about how the alkyl substitution on the TBTA group impacts the solar cell performance. To this end, TBTA end groups are alkylated with linear, branched, and aromatic sidechains to understand the influence on thin-film morphology and related device performances. We report our study has confirmed the dependence of solar cell performance on the end-group substituents. More importantly, we reveal the presence of an ideal window of crystallinity associated with the medium-length hydrocarbon chains such as ethyl and benzyl. Deviation to the shorter methyl group makes the acceptor too crystalline to mix with the polymer donor and form proper domains, whereas longer and branched alkyl chains are too sterically bulky and hinder charge transport due to nonideal packing. Such findings underline the comprehensive nature of thin-film morphology and the subtle end-group effects for the design of non-fullerene acceptors.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1988

Experimental and simulation studies of hard contact in force reflecting teleoperation

Experiments and simulations of a single-axis force-reflecting teleoperation system have been conducted to investigate the problem of contacting a hard environment and maintaining a controlled force in teleoperation in which position is fed forward from the hand controller (master) to the manipulator (slave), and force is fed back to the human operator through motors in the master. The simulations, using an electrical circuit model, reproduce the behavior of the real system, including effects of human operator biomechanics. It is shown that human operator properties, which vary as a result of different types of grasp of the handle, affect the stability of the system in the hard-contact task. The effect of a heavier grasp on the handle is equivalent to increased hand-controller velocity damping in terms of the systems stability in the contact task, but control system damping sufficient to guarantee stable contact results in perceptible sluggishness of the control handle's response in free motion. These results suggest that human operator biomechanics must be taken into account to guarantee stable and ergonomic performance of advanced teleoperators.

Hannaford, Blake↗
NASA NTRS1986

Total-dose radiation effects data for semiconductor devices. 1985 supplement. Volume 2, part A

Steady-state, total-dose radiation test data, are provided in graphic format for use by electronic designers and other personnel using semiconductor devices in a radiation environment. The data were generated by JPL for various NASA space programs. This volume provides data on integrated circuits. The data are presented in graphic, tabular, and/or narrative format, depending on the complexity of the integrated circuit. Most tests were done using the JPL or Boeing electron accelerator (Dynamitron) which provides a steady-state 2.5 MeV electron beam. However, some radiation exposures were made with a Cobalt-60 gamma ray source, the results of which should be regarded as only an approximate measure of the radiation damage that would be incurred by an equivalent electron dose.

Martin, K. E.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Abatement of ionizing radiation for superconducting quantum devices

Ionizing radiation has been shown to reduce the performance of superconducting quantum circuits. In this report, we evaluate the expected contributions of different sources of ambient radioactivity for typical superconducting qubit experiment platforms. Our assessment of radioactivity inside a typical cryostat highlights the importance of selecting appropriate materials for the experiment components nearest to qubit devices, such as packaging and electrical interconnects. We present a shallow underground facility (30-meter water equivalent) to reduce the flux of cosmic rays and a lead shielded cryostat to abate the naturally occurring radiogenic gamma-ray flux in the laboratory environment. We predict that superconducting qubit devices operated in this facility could experience a reduced rate of correlated multi-qubit errors by a factor of approximately 20 relative to the rate in a typical above-ground, unshielded facility. Finally, we outline overall design improvements that would be required to further reduce the residual ionizing radiation rate, down to the limit of current generation direct detection dark matter experiments.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1979

Open-circuit voltage improvements in low-resistivity solar cells

Mechanisms limiting the open-circuit voltage in 0.1 ohm-cm solar cells were investigated. It was found that a rather complicated multistep diffusion process could produce cells with significantly improved voltages. The voltage capabilities of various laboratory cells were compared independent of their absorption and collection efficiencies. This was accomplished by comparing the cells on the basis of their saturation currents or, equivalently, comparing their voltage outputs at a constant current-density level. The results show that for both the Lewis diffused emitter cell and the Spire ion-implanted emitter cell the base component of the saturation current is voltage controlling. The evidence for the University of Florida cells, although not very conclusive, suggests emitter control of the voltage in this device. The data suggest further that the critical voltage-limiting parameter for the Lewis cell is the electron mobility in the cell base.

Godlewski, M. P.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Novel nitrogen-based organosulfur electrodes for advanced intermediate temperature batteries

Advanced secondary batteries operating at intermediate temperatures (100 to 200 C) have attracted considerable interest due to their inherent advantages (reduced corrosion and safety risks) over higher temperature systems. Current work in this laboratory has involved research on a class of intermediate temperature Na/beta double prime- alumina/RSSR batteries conceptually similar to Na/S cells, but operating within a temperature range of 100 to 150 C, and having an organosulfur rather than inorganic sulfur positive electrode. The organosulfur electrodes are based on the reversible, two electron eduction of organodisulfides to the corresponding thiolate anions, RSSR + 2 electrons yield 2RS(-), where R is an organic moiety. Among the advantages of such a generic redox couple for battery research is the ability to tailor the physical, chemical, and electrochemical properties of the RSSR molecule through choice of the organic moiety. The viscosity, liquidus range, dielectric constant, equivalent weight, and redox potential can in fact be verified in a largely predictable manner. The current work concerns the use of multiple nitrogen organosulfur molecules, chosen for application in Na/RSSR cells for their expected oxidizing character. In fact, a Na/RSSR cell containing one of these materials, the sodium salt of 5-mercapto 1-methyltetrazole, yielded the highest open circuit voltage obtained yet in the laboratory; 3.0 volts in the charged state and 2.6 volts at 100 percent discharge. Accordingly, the cycling behavior of a series of multiple nitrogen organodisulfides as well as polymeric organodisulfides are presented in this manuscript.

Visco, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Inductive Pulsed Plasma Thruster Model with Time-Evolution of Energy and State Properties

A model for pulsed inductive plasma acceleration is presented that consists of a set of circuit equations coupled to both a one-dimensional equation of motion and an equation governing the partitioning of energy. The latter two equations are obtained for the plasma current sheet by treating it as a single element of finite volume and integrating the governing equations over that volume. The integrated terms are replaced where necessary by physically-equivalent quantities that are calculated through the solution of other parts of the governing equation set. The model improves upon previous one-dimensional performance models by permitting the time-evolution of the energy and state properties of the plasma, the latter allowing for the tailoring of the model to different gases that may be chosen as propellants. The time evolution of the various energy modes in the system and the associated plasma properties, calculated for argon propellant, are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the model. The model produces a result where efficiency is maximized at a given value of the electrodynamic scaling term known as the dynamic impedance parameter. Qualitatively and quantitatively, the model compares favorably with performance measured for two separate inductive pulsed plasma thrusters, with disagreements attributable to simplifying assumptions employed in the generation of the model solution.

Polzin, Kurt A.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Evaluation of Space Radiation Effects on HgCdTe Avalanche Photodiode Arrays for Lidar Applications

We report the results from proton and gamma ray radiation testing of HgCdTe avalanche photodiode (APD) arrays developed by Leonardo DRS for space lidar detectors. We tested these devices with both approximately 60 MeV protons and gamma rays, with and without the read out integrated circuit (ROIC). We also measured the transient responses with the device fully powered and with the APD gain from unity to greater than 1000. The detectors produced a large current impulse in response to each proton hit but the response completely recovered within 1 microsecond. The devices started to have persistent damage at a proton fluence of 7e10 protons/cm2, equivalent to 10 krad(Si) total ionization dose. The dark current became much higher after the device was warmed to room temperature and cooled to 80K again, but it completely annealed after baking at 85 C for several hours. These results showed the HgCdTe APD arrays are suitable for use in space lidar for typical Earth orbiting and planetary missions provided that provisions are made to heat the detector chip to 85 C for several hours after radiation damage becomes evident that system performance is impacted.

Sun, Xiaoli↗
NASA NTRS1975

Effect of longitudinal surface finish on elastohydrodynamic lubrication

The effect of longitudinal-lay surface finish on the elastohydrodynamic film thickness and the percentage of film between rolling disks in contact were evaluated using a rolling disk apparatus. Film thickness was measured by transmitted X-rays, and percentage of film was monitored by an alternating-current continuity circuit. Disk finish was varied on both the crowned upper disk and the cylindrical lower disk. A type-2 ester and a synthetic paraffinic oil were used as lubricants. It was shown that the roughness with longitudinal lay has a deleterious effect on both film thickness and percentage of film. Measured film thicknesses for the two lubricants were comparable at equivalent test conditions. The percentage of film where a change in surface topography was observed was approximately 20 percent for the synthetic paraffinic oil and 10 percent for the type-2 ester.

Dow, T. A.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Solving independent set problems with photonic quantum circuits

An independent set (IS) is a set of vertices in a graph such that no edge connects any two vertices. In adiabatic quantum computation [E. Farhi, et al ., Science 292, 472–475 (2001); A. Das, B. K. Chakrabarti, Rev. Mod. Phys. 80, 1061–1081 (2008)], a given graph G ( V , E ) can be naturally mapped onto a many-body Hamiltonian H IS G ( V , E ) , with edges E being the two-body interactions between adjacent vertices V . Thus, solving the IS problem is equivalent to finding all the computational basis ground states of H IS G ( V , E ) . Very recently, non-Abelian adiabatic mixing (NAAM) has been proposed to address this task, exploiting an emergent non-Abelian gauge symmetry of H IS G ( V , E ) [B. Wu, H. Yu, F. Wilczek, Phys. Rev. A 101, 012318 (2020)]. Here, we solve a representative IS problem G ( 8 , 7 ) by simulating the NAAM digitally using a linear optical quantum network, consisting of three C-Phase gates, four deterministic two-qubit gate arrays (DGA), and ten single rotation gates. The maximum IS has been successfully identified with sufficient Trotterization steps and a carefully chosen evolution path. Remarkably, we find IS with a total probability of 0.875(16), among which the nontrivial ones have a considerable weight of about 31.4%. Our experiment demonstrates the potential advantage of NAAM for solving IS-equivalent problems.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
NASA NTRS1995

Design and performance of mobile terminal for North American MSAT network

The mobile terminal (MT), which can be selected for various applications, i.e. land mobile, transportable, fixed site, and maritime use, has been developed. Medium gain and high gain antennas are available. The MT can support circuit switched voice and data service. Additionally, cellular roaming service, net radio, and Group 3 facsimile services are optionally provided. A Mitsubishi handheld portable phone can be used as a stand-alone portable cellular-only phone or it can provide MSAT voice service when connected to MT. The MT which operates in L-band (1.5 GHz/1.6 GHz) satisfies equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) of 12.5 dBW minimum and G/T of -16 dB/K minimum for medium gain system and -12 dB/K for high gain system. The excellent performance of transmit phase noise and bit error rate is achieved by using new technologies.

Fuji, Tsuyoshi↗
NASA NTRS2014

HgCdTe e-APD Detector Arrays with Single Photon Sensitivity for Space Lidar Applications

A multi-element HgCdTe electron initiated avalanche photodiode (e-APD) array has been developed for space lidar applications. The detector array was fabricated with 4.3-μm cutoff HgCdTe which covered a spectral response from 0.4 to 4.3 μm. We have characterized a 4x4 detector array with 80 μm square elements and an integrated custom cryogenic silicon read-out integrated circuit (ROIC). The device operated at 77K inside a small closed-cycle Dewar. Measurements showed a unity gain quantum efficiency of about 90% at 1.55 μm. The bulk dark current of the HgCdTe e-APD at 77K was less than 50,000 input referred electrons/s at 12 V APD bias where the APD gain was 620 and the measured noise equivalent power (NEP) was 0.4 fW/Hz1/2. The electrical bandwidth of the ROIC was about 6 MHz, which was chosen to match the laser pulse width of our CO2 lidar. Even with the relatively low bandwidth, the high APD gain and low dark current enabled the device to detect single photon events. Because the APD was biased below the break-down voltage, the detector output was linear with the input optical signal and there was no dead-time and afterpulsing. A new series of HgCdTe e-APDs are being developed with a much wider bandwidth ROIC and higher gain HgCdTe e-APD array, which is expected to give a much better performance in linear mode photon counting applications.

HgCdTe↗
DOE OSTI2025

Hybridization Assessment of Trybrid Pumped Storage Hydropower System—Part 1: A Case Study of Corral Summit

This report is a part of the deliverables for technical assistance provided to Cat Creek Energy for the Coral Summit Trybrid (Triple Hybrid-Pumped Storage Hydropower, Battery Energy Storage System, and photovoltaic solar energy) energy project. This report explores the operational benefits and challenges of hybridizing an open loop PSH (200MW) located at Mackay, Custer County, Idaho with solar PV (Ground mount 300MW and floating 40MW) and battery (720MWhr). This document reports two activities performed as a part of the hybridization assessment task 1) optimal resource allocation and energy management strategy, and 2) power quality and reliability assessment. From optimal resource allocation and energy management strategy (activity 1), the following key findings can be observed: • Conventional PSH (CPSH) with two reversible pump turbines and separate penstocks can provide required flexibility equivalent to that from two ternary PSH with separate penstock. With single unit CPSH, upper reservoir head cannot be maintained accurately, the variation of water level is rapid and pump mode flexibility is not available. These disadvantages can be overcome by single unit TPSH. However, using two CPSH units with separate penstocks also overcome these disadvantages with the formation of the hydraulic short circuit between two conventional units. • Flooding of the lower reservoir is a severe concern when considering continuous operation for black start. This limits the duration of continuous operation from PSH alone to around 50 hours. Due to the complementary PV and battery action, the duration of continuous operation and smooth power output can be extended. • An optimization problem is framed that maximizes the power output on an hourly basis while minimizing constraint violations and respecting seasonal variations of solar PV and load profiles . Two value streams, arbitrage and baseload generation are served by this profile. It was uncovered that for smooth power output during regular operation, PV curtailment will be required, or the battery capacity needs to be increased above 90MW to accommodate additional PV. From power quality and reliability assessment (activity 2) the following takeaway points can be observed: • The Trybrid, when integrated at the Lost River bus, and limited to 250MW in generation mode and -150MW in the pump mode, causes no violation of voltage or flow.

13 - HYDRO ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2011

The Prototype HyspIRI Thermal Infrared Radiometer (PHyTIR): A High Speed, Multispectral, Thermal Instrument Development in Support of HyspIRI-TIR

The Prototype HyspIRI Thermal Infrared Radiometer (PHyTIR) is being developed as part of the risk reduction activities associated with the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI). The HyspIRI mission was recommended by the National Research Council Decadal Survey and includes a visible shortwave infrared (SWIR) pushboom spectrometer and a multispectral whiskbroom thermal infrared (TIR) imager. Data from the HyspIRI mission will be used to address key science questions related to the Solid Earth and Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems focus areas of the NASA Science Mission Directorate. The HyspIRI TIR system will have 60m ground resolution, better than 200mK noise equivalent delta temperature (NEDT), 0.5C absolute temperature resolution with a 5-day repeat from LEO orbit. PHyTIR addresses the technology readiness level (TRL) of certain key subsystems of the TIR imager, primarily the detector assembly and scanning mechanism. PHyTIR will use Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) technology at the focal plane and operate in time delay integration mode. A custom read out integrated circuit (ROIC) will provide the high speed readout hence allowing the high data rates needed for the 5 day repeat. PHyTIR will also demonstrate a newly developed interferometeric metrology system. This system will provide an absolute measurement of the scanning mirror to an order of magnitude better than conventional optical encoders. This will minimize the reliance on ground control points hence minimizing post-processing (e.g. geo-rectification computations).

National Research Council Decadal Survey↗