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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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

A new solar irradiance calibration from 3295 A to 8500 A derived from absolute spectrophotometry of Vega

By imaging sunlight diffracted by 20- and 30-micron diameter pinholes onto the entrance aperture of a photoelectric grating scanner, the solar spectral irradiance was determined relative to the spectrophotometric standard star Vega, observed at night with the same instrument. Solar irradiances are tabulated at 4 A increments from 3295 A to 8500 A. Over most of the visible spectrum, the internal error of measurement is less than 2 percent. This calibration is compared with earlier irradiance measurements by Neckel and Labs (1984) and by Arvesen et al. (1969) and with the high-resolution solar atlas by Kurucz et al. The three calibrations agree well in visible light but differ by as much as 10 percent in the ultraviolet.

Lockwood, G. W.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Asteroid(4) Vesta

We report a comprehensive review of the UV-visible spectrum and rotational lightcurve of Vesta combining new observations by Hubble Space Telescope and Swift with archival International Ultraviolet Explorer observations. The geometric albedos of Vesta from 220 nm to 953 nm arc derived by carefully comparing these observations from various instruments at different times and observing geometries. Vesta has a rotationally averaged geometric albedo of 0.09 at 250 nm, 0.14 at 300 nm, 0.26 at 373 nm, 0.38 at 673 nm, and 0.30 at 950 nm. The linear spectral slope in the ultraviolet displays a sharp minimum ncar sub-Earth longitude of 20deg, and maximum in the eastern hemisphere. This is completely consistent with the distribution of the spectral slope in the visible wavelength. The uncertainty of the measurement in the ultraviolet is approx.20%, and in the visible wavelengths better than 10%. The amplitude of Vesta's rotational lightcurves is approx.10% throughout the range of wavelengths we observed, but is smaller at 950 nm (approx.6%) ncar the 1-micron mafic band center. Contrary to earlier reports, we found no evidence for any difference between the phasing of the ultraviolet and visible/ncar-infrared lightcurves with respect to sub-Earth longitude. Vesta's average spectrum between 220 and 950 nm can well be described by measured reflectance spectra of fine particle howardite-like materials of basaltic achondrite meteorites. Combining this with the in-phase behavior of the ultraviolet, visible. and ncar-infrared lightcurves, and the spectral slopes with respect to the rotational phase, we conclude that there is no global ultraviolet/visible reversal on Vesta. Consequently, this implies lack of global space weathering on Vesta. Keyword,: Asteroid Vesta; Spectrophotometry; Spectroscopy; Ultraviolet observations; Hubble Space Telescope observations

Li, Jian-Yang↗
NASA NTRS1983

The role of spicules in hetaing the solar atmosphere Implications of EUV observations

Although spicules hae been obseved for many years, very little is known about their role in the transport of mass and energy between the chromosphere and the higher layers of the atmospere. Athay and Holzer (1982) demonstrated that the rise and fall of spicular material can supply the thermal energy required for heating the upper chromosphere, transition, and possibly corona. The proposed mechanism depends upon assumptions about the fate of spicules after they disappear from view in the visual spectrum where observations are limited to spectral lines formed at chromospheric temperatures. The present investigation is concerned with an analysis of meaurements of the spatial and temporal variations of EUV emission near the solar limb. The obtained results place empirical constraints on the fate of spicules after they disappear from view in the visible spectrum and thereby place constraints on their role in the transport of mass and energy between the chromosphere and corona.

Withbroe, G. L.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Wavelength independent interferometer

A polychromatic interferometer utilizing a plurality of parabolic reflective surfaces to properly preserve the fidelity of light wavefronts irrespective of their wavelengths as they pass through the instrument is disclosed. A preferred embodiment of the invention utilizes an optical train which comprises three off-axis parabolas arranged in conjunction with a beam-splitter and a reference mirror to form a Twyman-Green interferometer. An illumination subsystem is provided and comprises a pair of lasers at different preselected wavelengths in the visible spectrum. The output light of the two lasers is coaxially combined by means of a plurality of reflectors and a grating beam combiner to form a single light source at the focal point of the first parabolic reflection surface which acts as a beam collimator for the rest of the optical train. By using visible light having two distinct wavelengths, the present invention provides a long equivalent wavelength interferogram which operates at visible light wherein the effective wavelength is equal to the product of the wavelengths of the two laser sources divided by their difference in wavelength. As a result, the invention provides the advantages of what amounts to long wavelength interferometry but without incurring the disadvantage of the negligible reflection coefficient of the human eye to long wavelength frequencies which would otherwise defeat any attempt to form an interferogram at that low frequency using only one light source.

Hochberg, Eric B.↗
NASA NTRS1972

The absolute energy flux envelopes of B type stars.

Absolute energy flux envelopes covering the region of 1100 to 6000 A for main-sequence stars of types B3, B7 and A0 derived from published, ground-based observations and from spectrum scans with OAO-II are presented. These flux envelopes are compared with the predicted flux envelopes from lightly line-blanketed model atmospheres. The line blanketing at wavelengths shorter than 3000 A is severe, about one-half the predicted light being observed at 1600 A. These results demonstrate that a model which represents well the observed visible spectrum of a star may fail seriously for representing the ultraviolet spectrum.

Underhill, A. B.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Photoinduced Anion Segregation in Mixed Halide Perovskites

Alloyed lead halide perovskites have taken a dominant role in the quest for third-generation solar cells. This is due to optimal light-harvesting properties, which can be tuned across the visible spectrum by mixing halide (X = Cl – , Br – , and I – ) anions and A + cations (A + = FA + , MA + , and Cs + ). Durability issues related to ion movement within the perovskite lattice, however, impede large-scale commercialization. Uniformly mixed halide perovskites [e.g., APb(I 1– x Br x ) 3 ] reversibly segregate into narrow bandgap I-rich and wide bandgap Br-rich domains during continuous visible illumination. Subsequent I-rich domains reduce local open circuit voltages and decrease mixed halide perovskite solar cell power conversion efficiencies. In this review, we assess the known effects of halide segregation on the structural and optical properties of mixed halide materials, discuss ongoing research to suppress the phenomenon, and finally provide a mechanistic overview of its underlying origins.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2011

Cloud Detection with the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC)

The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on board the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) would provide a unique opportunity for Earth and atmospheric research due not only to its Lagrange point sun-synchronous orbit, but also to the potential for synergistic use of spectral channels in both the UV and visible spectrum. As a prerequisite for most applications, the ability to detect the presence of clouds in a given field of view, known as cloud masking, is of utmost importance. It serves to determine both the potential for cloud contamination in clear-sky applications (e.g., land surface products and aerosol retrievals) and clear-sky contamination in cloud applications (e.g., cloud height and property retrievals). To this end, a preliminary cloud mask algorithm has been developed for EPIC that applies thresholds to reflected UV and visible radiances, as well as to reflected radiance ratios. This algorithm has been tested with simulated EPIC radiances over both land and ocean scenes, with satisfactory results. These test results, as well as algorithm sensitivity to potential instrument uncertainties, will be presented.

Meyer, Kerry↗
DOE OSTI2023

Snapshot multispectral imaging using a diffractive optical network

Abstract Multispectral imaging has been used for numerous applications in e.g., environmental monitoring, aerospace, defense, and biomedicine. Here, we present a diffractive optical network-based multispectral imaging system trained using deep learning to create a virtual spectral filter array at the output image field-of-view. This diffractive multispectral imager performs spatially-coherent imaging over a large spectrum, and at the same time, routes a pre-determined set of spectral channels onto an array of pixels at the output plane, converting a monochrome focal-plane array or image sensor into a multispectral imaging device without any spectral filters or image recovery algorithms. Furthermore, the spectral responsivity of this diffractive multispectral imager is not sensitive to input polarization states. Through numerical simulations, we present different diffractive network designs that achieve snapshot multispectral imaging with 4, 9 and 16 unique spectral bands within the visible spectrum, based on passive spatially-structured diffractive surfaces, with a compact design that axially spans ~72 λ m , where λ m is the mean wavelength of the spectral band of interest. Moreover, we experimentally demonstrate a diffractive multispectral imager based on a 3D-printed diffractive network that creates at its output image plane a spatially repeating virtual spectral filter array with 2 × 2 = 4 unique bands at terahertz spectrum. Due to their compact form factor and computation-free, power-efficient and polarization-insensitive forward operation, diffractive multispectral imagers can be transformative for various imaging and sensing applications and be used at different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum where high-density and wide-area multispectral pixel arrays are not widely available.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Modular chip-integrated photonic control of artificial atoms in diamond waveguides

A central goal in creating long-distance quantum networks and distributed quantum computing is the development of interconnected and individually controlled qubit nodes. Atom-like emitters in diamond have emerged as a leading system for optically networked quantum memories, motivating the development of visible-spectrum, multi-channel photonic integrated circuit (PIC) systems for scalable atom control. However, it has remained an open challenge to realize optical programmability with a qubit layer that can achieve high optical detection probability over many optical channels. Here, we address this problem by introducing a modular architecture of piezoelectrically actuated atom-control PICs (APICs) and artificial atoms embedded in diamond nanostructures designed for high-efficiency free-space collection. The high-speed four-channel APIC is based on a splitting tree mesh with triple-phase shifter Mach–Zehnder interferometers. This design simultaneously achieves optically broadband operation at visible wavelengths, high-fidelity switching (>40dB) at low voltages, submicrosecond modulation timescales (>30MHz), and minimal channel-to-channel crosstalk for repeatable optical pulse carving. Via a reconfigurable free-space interconnect, we use the APIC to address single silicon vacancy color centers in individual diamond waveguides with inverse tapered couplers, achieving efficient single photon detection probabilities (∼15%) and second-order autocorrelation measurements g (2) (0)<0.14 for all channels. The modularity of this distributed APIC–quantum memory system simplifies the quantum control problem, potentially enabling further scaling to thousands of channels.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1983

Structure and spectrum of quiescent prominences. IV - The ultraviolet ionization continua of hydrogen and helium

The formation of the ground-state ionization continua of hydrogen and neutral helium in quiescent prominences has been investigated by using isothermal and isobaric slab models. The hydrogen and helium ionization equilibria are dominated by the extreme ultraviolet radiation field incident on the prominence. The Lyman continuum brightness is dependent only on the incident radiation and the optical thickness of the prominence. The ratio of the intensity in the He I to the Lyman continuum is principally a function of the hardness of the incident radiation and the helium abundance and is only secondarily a function of the optical thickness of the slab and the gas pressure. The color temperatures of the continua, when corrected for optical depth effects, are good indicators of the electron temperature in the prominence. The slab models used in this study, which were developed to reproduce the visible spectrum hydrogen and helium lines, are in reasonable agreement with existing ultraviolet observations.

Heasley, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS2008

A Wide Spectrum of Solar Science for After School Astronomy Club

After School Astronomy clubs are an important method of exposing students to astronomy at the critical middle school age when sparking an interest can inspire a lifelong career or hobby. We know that teachers complain that they can spend little time on astronomy in the classroom since they must teach to the test and the curriculum requirements do not have very extensive astronomy coverage. We also know that space is a very popular subject with students that can motivate them to join an after school club. One of the problems with after school astronomy clubs is that they don't often have a chance to observe the night sky. We propose to train club mentors on how to do daytime solar observing so students fulfill the IYA goal of looking through a telescope. We propose to provide a half day workshop for elementary and middle school teachers on starting and maintaining After School Astronomy clubs with special emphasis on observing the Sun not only in the visible spectrum but with radio waves and other parts of the spectrum as well. We will use NASA-oriented or NASA-funded educational materials and websites to bring a variety of ideas to the mentors and a broad knowledge of astronomy to the students. Attendees will be given an overview of the science of the Sun and how it can affect us on the Earth. They will be shown the dynamic nature of the Sun and what to look for to track the events happening there. The educators will be shown simple approaches to directly observing the Sun such as pinhole cameras, use of projection techniques with telescopes or binoculars, etc. They will be acquainted with sunspotter scopes and the advantages and disadvantages (such as expense) they pose for getting students involved. We will also point out the possibilities of using regular telescopes with solar filters and the specialized solar viewing telescopes such as the Coronado. Once the educators are comfortable with the simple approaches to viewing the Sun we will expose them to advanced topics such as remotely viewing the Sun using telescopes available on the web. Resources such as the Sun-Earth Viewer will allow them to study near real-time images of the Sun in multiple wavelengths. They will also be shown how they can monitor the Sun at radio wavelengths via remote telescopes or even how to purchase and build their own radio telescopes for hands-on monitoring of the Sun and other radio sources. We will conduct a brief evaluation of the participants knowledge of the Sun as they come into the workshop. We will also ask them to complete a brief knowledge survey at the end to determine if their knowledge and comfort level with solar science has improved significantly.

Mayo, Lou↗
DOE OSTI2020

Hot-Hole versus Hot-Electron Transport at Cu/GaN Heterojunction Interfaces

Among all plasmonic metals, copper (Cu) has the greatest potential for realizing optoelectronic and photochemical hot-carrier devices, thanks to its CMOS compatibility and outstanding catalytic properties. Yet, relative to gold (Au) or silver (Ag), Cu has rarely been studied and the fundamental properties of its photoexcited hot carriers are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that Cu nanoantennas on p-type gallium nitride (p-GaN) enable hot-hole-driven photodetection across the visible spectrum. Importantly, we combine experimental measurements of the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) with ab initio theoretical modeling to clarify the competing roles of hot-carrier energy and mean-free path on the performance of hot-hole devices above and below the interband threshold of the metal. We also examine Cu-based plasmonic photodetectors on corresponding n-type GaN substrates that operate via the collection of hot electrons. By comparing hot hole and hot electron photodetectors that employ the same metal/semiconductor interface (Cu/GaN), we further elucidate the relative advantages and limitations of these complementary plasmonic systems. In particular, we find that harnessing hot holes with p-type semiconductors is a promising strategy for plasmon-driven photodetection across the visible and ultraviolet regimes. Given the technological relevance of Cu and the fundamental insights provided by our combined experimental and theoretical approach, we anticipate that our studies will have a broad impact on the design of hot-carrier optoelectronic devices and plasmon-driven photocatalytic systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Multifrequency stimulated Raman scattering of light in a calcite single crystal

Using pulses of multifrequency stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in calcite, nonlinear photoluminescence in a stilbene molecular crystal is excited. When multifrequency SRS is excited by the radiation of a Nd{sup 3+} : YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm, eleven anti-Stokes components are observed in the visible spectrum with an average frequency shift of 1086 cm{sup −1} between them. Using the second harmonic of the Nd {sup 3+} : YAG laser radiation allowed three anti-Stokes and four Stokes components to be recorded. The large spectral range of the frequency comb facilitated effective reduction in the duration and increase in the intensity of the radiation pulse of multifrequency SRS. (nonlinear optical phenomena)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2026

CHESS 2025: Orthorectified airborne RGB imagery from NEON AOP surveys

This dataset provides Level 1 (L1) and Level 3 (L3) orthorectified Red-Green-Blue (RGB) imagery collected for the 2025 Colorado Headwaters Ecological Spectroscopy Study (CHESS). This high-resolution imagery is a photographic record of red, green, and blue visible light from sunlight reflected off of the Earth’s surface. The data comprise full-color images of the ground surface and are primarily intended to provide context to imaging spectroscopy and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. The data were acquired over three study domains in the Upper Gunnison river basin: the upper East River watershed (CRBU); Almont Triangle and Taylor Canyon (ALMO); and Upper Taylor River watershed (UPTA) between 2025-06-13 and 2025-07-15. RGB images were acquired using the PhaseOne IXM-RS150F high-resolution digital camera onboard the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Airborne Observation Platform (AOP). The package data include both an L1 product comprising one camera frame per file and an L3 mosaic aligned to the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 13N grid and the World Geodetic System (WGS) 84 projection. Both products are provided in geotif (.tif) format at 0.1 m ground resolution. The bulk of the imagery was collected during the main CHESS field campaign from June 13 to July 15, 2025. Additional images of a portion of the Upper Taylor (UPTA) domain were collected on September 18, 2025, to fill gaps in imagery identified after the main campaign was complete. RGB camera imagery is not radiometrically calibrated, and therefore pixel values should not be exploited for scientific analysis. Pixel values have undergone a manual adjustment to enhance feature identification. The imagery is rigorously geolocated which does allow for reliable geometric information to be retrieved. To generate the orthorectified imagery, the NEON AOP camera captured visible spectrum in red, green, and blue bands. The raw images were then processed using NEON’s camera orthorectification workflow. A boresight calibration flight was made to build a complete camera, distortion, and alignment model. Color balance/white balance and exposure correction were applied to the raw RGB images. The corrected images were orthorectified by ray-tracing image pixels to a lidar-derived digital surface model (DSM) mesh using the refined camera model, outputting orthorectified raster pixels on a regular grid. Flightline-level data were mosaicked by selecting per-pixel contributions from overlapping orthorectified images using line-of-sight (LOS) zenith angle minimization to reduce edge distortions. CHESS Project Description: The Colorado Headwaters Ecological Spectroscopy Study (CHESS) comprised a multi-week airborne remote sensing and field observation campaign in the Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado, conducted in June and July of 2025. Airborne remote sensing was conducted by the National Ecological Observatory Network Airborne Observation Platform (NEON AOP), concurrent with a field campaign run by the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL), the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Watershed Function Science Focus Area (SFA), and NASA-JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) program. Between June 10 and July 18, 2025, the NEON AOP flight team collected high-resolution aerial imaging spectroscopy and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data over three domains: the Upper East River (CRBU), Almont Triangle (ALMO), and the Upper Taylor Basin (UPTA). In coordination with the flights, a field campaign acquired ground-truth observations, including observations of vegetation composition, foliar traits, forest demography, and subsurface properties in 18 core sampling areas within the domains. Additional surface water observations were taken at over 380 point locations. All CHESS campaign datasets can be found within the CHESS ESS-DIVE data portal: https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/portals/chess. Funding Acknowledgement: Field and remote-sensing data acquisition was performed under a grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NSSC24K1005). This work was also supported by the Watershed Function Science Focus Area at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

2018 NEON and 2025 CHESS Campaigns↗
DOE OSTI2021

Multicolor Photonic Pigments for Rotation-Asymmetric Mechanochromic Devices

Photonic crystals are extensively explored to replace inorganic pigments and organic dyes as coloring elements in printing, painting, sensing, and anti-counterfeiting due to their brilliant structural colors, chemical stability, and environmental friendliness. However, most existing photonic-crystal-based pigments can only display monochromatic colors once made, and generating multicolors has to start with designing different building blocks. In this work, a novel photonic pigment featuring highly tunable structural colors in the entire visible spectrum, made by the magnetic assembly of monodisperse nanorods into body-centered-tetragonal photonic crystals, is reported. Their prominent magnetic and crystal anisotropy makes it efficient to generate multicolors using one photonic pigment by magnetically controlling the crystal orientation. Further, the combination of angle-dependent diffraction and magnetic orientation control enables the design of rotation-asymmetric photonic films that display distinct patterns and encrypted information in response to rotation. The efficient multicolor generation through precise orientational control makes this novel photonic pigment promising in developing high-performance structural-colored materials and optical devices.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ultrastrong Coupling of Band‐Nested Excitons in Few‐Layer Molybdenum Disulphide

Abstract The 2D transition‐metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDCs) are an intriguing platform for studying strong light–matter interactions because they combine the electronic properties of conventional semiconductors with the optical resonances found in organic systems. However, the coupling strengths demonstrated in strong exciton–polariton coupling in the 2D TMDCs remain much lower than those found in organic systems. In this paper, a new approach is taken by utilizing the large oscillator strength of the above‐band gap C exciton in few‐layer molybdenum disulphide (FL‐MoS 2 ). A k ‐space Rabi splitting of 293 meV is shown when coupling FL‐MoS 2 C excitons to surface plasmon polaritons at room temperature. This value is 11% of the uncoupled exciton energy (2.67 eV or 464 nm), ≈2× what is typically seen in the TMDCs, placing the system in the ultrastrong coupling regime. The results take a step toward finally achieving the efficient quantum coherent processes of ultrastrong coupling in a CMOS‐compatible system—the 2D TMDCs—in the visible spectrum.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Multispectral Quantitative Phase Imaging Using a Diffractive Optical Network

As a label‐free imaging technique, quantitative phase imaging (QPI) provides optical path length information of transparent specimens for various applications in biology, materials science, and engineering. Multispectral QPI measures quantitative phase information across multiple spectral bands, permitting the examination of wavelength‐specific phase and dispersion characteristics of samples. Herein, the design of a diffractive processor is presented that can all‐optically perform multispectral quantitative phase imaging of transparent phase‐only objects within a snapshot. The design utilizes spatially engineered diffractive layers, optimized through deep learning, to encode the phase profile of the input object at a predetermined set of wavelengths into spatial intensity variations at the output plane, allowing multispectral QPI using a monochrome focal plane array. Through numerical simulations, diffractive multispectral processors are demonstrated to simultaneously perform quantitative phase imaging at 9 and 16 target spectral bands in the visible spectrum. The generalization of these diffractive processor designs is validated through numerical tests on unseen objects, including thin Pap smear images. Due to its all‐optical processing capability using passive dielectric diffractive materials, this diffractive multispectral QPI processor offers a compact and power‐efficient solution for high‐throughput quantitative phase microscopy and spectroscopy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

MgZnO High‐Voltage Transparent Thin‐Film Transistors Built on Glass

Recently, there has been increasing interest in building‐integrated photovoltaic (BIPV), which enables harvesting solar energy effectively. Large‐area glass components such as windows are widely used in modern constructions. In addition to the PV on opaque components such as walls and roofs, the transparent photovoltaic (TPV) directly built on glass is complementary to fully utilize the PV energy in BIPV. A high‐voltage transparent thin‐film transistor (HVTTFT) built on glass is an ideal option for distributed microinverters for TPV modules. A wide‐bandgap oxide‐based HVTTFT on glass for this purpose is reported. The HVTTFT on glass uses ZnO‐based materials with different functions for two roles: a semiconductor Mg 0.01 Zn 0.99 O (MZO) as TFT channel and Al‐doped ZnO (AZO) as transparent conductive oxide (TCO) electrodes. The centrosymmetric circular structure of the MZO HVTTFT with a high‐k‐stacking gate dielectric enables a blocking voltage as high as ≈1 kV and an on/off ratio of 10 6 . The device exhibits an average optical transmittance of 81% over the visible spectrum.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗