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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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Thermal diode sandwich panel transfers heat in one direction, but when heat load reversed, switches off and acts as thermal insulator. Proposed to control temperature in spacecraft and in supersonic missiles to protect internal electronics. In combination with conventional heat pipes, used in solar panels and other heat-sensitive systems.
A technique for measuring displacements remotely to minimum distances of 8 mm with a resolution of 2 microns is described. A dynamic interferometer method is employed using a frequency-ramped laser diode. A direct measurement of the period of the resulting beat signal is used to determine the displacement.
A detailed study of the detection of trace gases at atmospheric pressure using tunable diode lasers is described. The influence of multipass cells, retroreflectors and topographical targets is examined. The minimum detectable infrared absorption ranges from 0.1 percent for a pathlength of 1.2 km to 0.01 percent over short pathlengths. The factors which limit this sensitivity are discussed, and the techniques are illustrated by monitoring atmospehric CO2 and CH4.
Pb-salt diode lasers are being used as frequency-tunable infrared sources in high resolution spectroscopy and heterodyne detection applications. Recent advances in short cavity, stripe-geometry laser configurations have led to significant increases in maximum CW operating temperature, single mode operation, and increased single mode tuning range. This paper describes short cavity, stripe geometry lasers operating in the 5, 10, and 30-microns spectral regions, with single mode tuning ranges of over 6/cm.
A new technique has been developed for deconvolving diode-laser spectra. This technique treats Doppler broadening, collisional broadening, and instrumental effects simultaneously. This technique is superior to previous deconvolution methods in the recovery of line-strength and transition-frequency information. A section of the ethane spectrum near 12 microns is used as an example. This new approach applies to any spectroscopy in which the instrumental resolution is narrower than actual linewidths.
A diode laser spectrometer has been used to measure line strengths for 143 transitions in the nu(6) fundamental band of (C-12)H3D near 9 microns. These line-strength measurements have been used to derive a band strength for nu(6) and nu(3). The band strength derived for nu(6) is 61.7 + or - 1.8/sq cm/atm and that for nu(3) is 49.3 + or - 1.4/sq cm/atm at 295 K.
A novel technique has been developed to produce n(+) 'pockets' in semiinsulating GaAs bulk material. This technique has produced thick pockets of highly conducting epitaxial material on the substrate surface. The pockets were formed by the growth of a liquid-phase epitaxial (LPE) layer into holes which had been etched into the substrate. Surface uniformity was obtained by chemo-mechanically polishing the substrate surface under tightly controlled conditions. Polishing rates as low as 0.2 micron/min have been obtained. Photographs taken of the pocket cross-sectional area have revealed that growth occurred throughout the entire pocket region. Growth was even found to have occurred along the irregularly shape walls of the packets. The continuous growth throughout the pockets coupled with the subsequent polishing of the substrate have produced exceptionally smooth and planar surfaces. Thicknesses as great as 10 microns have been obtained for the n(+) pockets using this technique. Mixer diodes have been fabricated onto these layers and tested. Preliminary dc measurements taken on these devices have yielded a zero-biased cutoff frequency (Fco) of 800 GHz with a series resistance (Rs) of 6 omega and a zero-biased capacitance (Co) of 30 fF.
A sensing system is presented which includes a pulse-modulated light-emitting diode (LED) and an all-fibre-optic loop generating a reference signal in the time domain. The basic principle of operation and parameters are introduced, and some properties of such a system are experimentally examined using a microbend sensor.
Tunable diode laser measurements of air-broadened and N2-broadened halfwidths are reported for 23 lines in the nu(4) band of C-13H4, between 1260 and 1360/cm. For all lines, at least three scans of each of four or more pressures were recorded. The experimental halfwidths presently obtained for C-13H4 are both larger and smaller than the U.S. Air Force Geophysics Laboratory values.
The theoretical efficiency for frequency triplers mutliplying from 300 to 900 GHz has been calculated for nonideal GaAs Schottky diodes operating in the varistor mode. The maximum efficiency is determined to be about 7 percent, only slightly smaller than that for ideal varistors. Guidelines for optimum bias conditions and embedding network impedances have been determined using the large-signal analysis computer program of Siegel and Kerr (1980).
A tunable diode laser has been used to observe rotational collisional narrowing or line mixing in the IR absorption spectrum of the Q branch of the (1 1 exp-1 0,0 3 exp-1 0) sub II - 0 0 exp-0 0 band of CO2 at 1932.47/cm over the 100-745 Torr pressure range. The observed absorption coefficients below the band origin are up to 80 percent lower than those calculated on the basis of an isolated Lorentz line approxmation. A simple fitting law is derived for the state-to-state, rotationally inelastic rate constants, on the basis of the known line broadening coefficients; a calculation of the mixing using these rates agrees with observed absorption coefficients to within several percent.
The first experimental measurements of air- and N2-broadened halfwidths of single lines in the nu2 band of D2O were obtained at room temperature, using a semiconductor tunable diode laser operating in the 1250-1340/cm region. The difference observed between air- and N2-broadened halfwidths may be attributed to the different quadrupole moments of the perturbing gas constituents. It is noted that both the airand N2-broadened halfwidths for the two ortho-para doublets are the same, within the present experimental uncertainties.
High-power, single-mode, double-heterojunction AlGaAs diode lasers are being developed to meet source requirements for both fiber optic local area network and free space communications systems. An individual device, based on the channeled-substrate-planar (CSP) structure, has yielded single spatial and longitudinal mode outputs of up to 90 mW CW, and has maintained a single spatial mode to 150 mW CW. Phase-locked arrays of closely spaced index-guided lasers have been designed and fabricated with the aim of multiplying the outputs of the individual devices to even higher power levels in a stable, single-lobe, anastigmatic beam. The optical modes of the lasers in such arrays can couple together in such a way that they appear to be emanating from a single source, and can therefore be efficiently coupled into optical communications systems. This paper will review the state of high-power laser technology and discuss the communication system implications of these devices.
Line-strength measurements in the N2O nu3-fundamental region using a tunable diode-laser spectrometer. From these measurements and the Herman-Wallis factor determined by Boissy et al. (1975), the nu-3-fundamental band strength is found to be 1203 + or - 22 per sq cm atm at 297 K. Line-broadening parameters for two nu-3-fundamental lines were determined using nitrogen (N2) as the broadening gas. Measured strengths and N2 line-broadening parameters for several hot-band lines are also presented.
A coherent-optical time-of-flight range-finding technique is proposed which uses a simple inexpensive device. Target range is determined by modulating a laser diode's optical frequency and measuring the change in the phase of the light reflected back into the laser. Target velocity as well as range can be measured using this approach. The device is described, and experimental evidence is presented to show the feasibility of measuring distance with subcentimeter resolution over a 1.5-m range.
Air-broadened half-widths of 18 transitions in the nu6 band of H2O2 between 1252/cm and 1291/cm have been determined from spectra recorded at room temperature using a tunable diode laser spectrometer. The preparation of the H2O2 gas samples for the measurements is described, and the data analysis is discussed, including the derivation of Lorentz broadening coefficients and the contribution of molecular collisions to the measured Lorentz half-widths. For the 18 transitions, the half-widths varied from 0.0923/cm/atm to 0.1155/cm/atm at 296 K, with a mean value of 0.1020/cm/atm. An error of less than 10 percent is estimated for these results.
Absolute intensities and self-, air- and N2-broadened half-widths have been determined for the first time for individual lines in the nu3(A1) band of (C-12)H3D near 7.6 microns from measurements of individual vibration-rotation lines using a tunable diode laser spectrometer. The intensity measurements are believed to be accurate to within three percent. Within experimental uncertainties, equal broadening efficiencies are found for both air and nitrogen. Self-broadened half-widths determined for three transitions yield an average half-width value of 0.803 + or -0.0010/cm/atm at 296 K.
Design considerations, fabrication techniques, and performance predictions are presented for a planar whiskerless Schottky diode to be used (in radio astronomy applications) at 100-300 GHz. The anode and ohmic contacts are on the same side of the device, and proton bombardment is used to establish the divided surface (by making some regions of the GaAs wafer semiinsulating) prior to definition of a B-doped SiO2 finger, ohmic contacting, anode formation, and anode contact metallization (all using photolithographic techniques). The contributions of parasitic elements are calculated for a device with a 3.5-micron-deep n(+) layer doped at 2 x 10 to the 18th/cu cm, a 250-nm-thick epitaxial layer doped at 5 x 10 to the 16th/cu cm, and a 1-micron-radius anode (providing zero-bias junction capacitance 7 fE). It is predicted that such a device would have total series resistance 12.58 ohm and total shunt capacitance 1.37 fF, compared with 14.27 ohm and 0.93 fF for the corresponding whiskered device.