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At least 91 records · Page 5

Model Experiments with Slot Antenna Arrays for Imaging

A prototype imaging system at 31 GHz was developed, which employs a two-dimensional (5x5) array of tapered slot antennas, and integrated detector or mixer elements, in the focal plane of a prime-focus paraboloid reflector, with an f/D=1. The system can be scaled to shorter millimeter waves and submillimeter waves. The array spacing corresponds to a beam spacing of approximately one Rayleigh distance and a two-point resolution experiment showed that two point-sources at the Rayleigh distance are well resolved.

Johansson, J. F.↗

Linear charge coupled device detector array for imaging light propagating in an integrated thin-film optical waveguide

Device design, fabrication, and operation of a linear charge coupled device (CCD) detector array integrated with a thin film optical waveguide and applications of this structure to integrated optical signal processing and fiber optical communications were discussed. A two phase, overlapping-gate CCD is connected in parallel by means of a series of gates to an array of photodiodes. The photodiode provides an electrode free surface region so that a highly efficient waveguide detector coupling technique can be implemented. A thermally-oxidized layer of SiO2 forms an effective substrate for the optical waveguide.

Chen, C. L.↗

Station-Keeping Requirements for Astronomical Imaging with Constellations of Free-Flying Collectors

The requirements on station-keeping for constellations of free-flying collectors coupled as (future) imaging arrays in space for astrophysics applications are discussed. The typical knowledge precision required in the plane of the array depends on the angular size of the targets of interest; it is generally at a level of tens of centimeters for typical stellar targets, becoming of order centimeters only for the widest attainable fields of view. In the "piston" direction, perpendicular to the array, the typical knowledge precision required depends on the bandwidth of the signal, and is at a level of tens of wavelengths for narrow approx. 1% signal bands, becoming of order one wavelength only for the broadest bandwidths expected to be useful. The significance of this result is that, at this level of precision, it may be possible to provide the necessary knowledge of array geometry without the use of signal photons, thereby allowing observations of faint targets. "Closure-phase" imaging is a technique which has been very successfully applied to surmount instabilities owing to equipment and to the atmosphere, and which appears to be directly applicable to space imaging arrays where station-keeping drifts play the same role as (slow) atmospheric and equipment instabilities.

Allen, Ronald J.↗

Submillimeter-wave antennas on thin membranes

Submillimeter-wave antennas have been fabricated on 1-micron thick silicon-oxynitride membranes. This approach results in better patterns than previous lens-coupled antennas, and eliminates the dielectric loss associated with the substrate lens. Measurements on a wideband log-periodic antenna at 700 GHz, 370 GHz and 167 GHz show no sidelobes and 3-dB beamwidths between 40 and 60 deg. A linear imaging array has similar patterns at 700 GHz. Possible applications for membrane antennas include wideband superconducting tunnel-junction receivers for radio astronomy and imaging arrays for radiometry and plasma diagnostics.

Rebeiz, Gabriel M.↗

High Yield Xray Imager Final Design Review

The High Yield Xray Imager (HYXI) is a new NIF target diagnostic system currently under development. The goal of HYXI is to provide high-fidelity, high temporal resolution x-ray imaging capability on high yield NIF implosions at 10MJ and above. The HYXI instrument design concept is based on the combination of two technologies that have been successfully utilized at the NIF on previous instruments, electron pulse-dilation and hybrid-CMOS sensor imaging. The combination of these two techniques will give HYXI sufficient data quality to ascertain differences in hot spot formation dynamics between high and low yield implosions. This information will highlight the critical hot spot conditions needed for ignition and burn. The HYXI design leverages the successful operation of the PDIXI x-ray imager at the NIF on multi MJ yield shots. A new radiation tolerant CMOS imaging array (HYPERION) is being developed to eliminate the significant background noise which limits the data quality of PDIXI. We successfully placed the contract with Advanced hCMOS Systems (AHS) to develop the HYPERION sensor, which fulfils our criteria to place long lead time item procurements by end of FY24. The HYXI Final Design Review was completed at the end of Q4 FY24 (Sep 24 th and Sep 30 th ). The HYXI project is a multi-year effort with a phased approach to be bring up system functionality over time in parallel with the development and fabrication effort of the HYPERION CMOS imaging array. In Phase 1, time-integrated x-ray images on NIF DT experiments will be collected starting in Q3 FY25. In Phase 2 of the project, time-resolved imaging with HYXI utilizing a spare microchannel plate detector back-end will begin in Q3 FY26. Phase 3 concludes the project with the installation of the HYPERION sensor array and the final performance qualification of the HYXI instrument which is scheduled for Q3 FY27 as discussed in the PDR and MRT report on this project in FY23.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Cosmic Infrared Background Fluctuations in Deep Spitzer Infrared Array Camera Images: Data Processing and Analysis

This paper provides a detailed description of the data reduction and analysis procedures that have been employed in our previous studies of spatial fluctuation of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) using deep Spitzer Infrared Array Camera observations. The self-calibration we apply removes a strong instrumental signal from the fluctuations that would otherwise corrupt the results. The procedures and results for masking bright sources and modeling faint sources down to levels set by the instrumental noise are presented. Various tests are performed to demonstrate that the resulting power spectra of these fields are not dominated by instrumental or procedural effects. These tests indicate that the large-scale ([greater, similar]30') fluctuations that remain in the deepest fields are not directly related to the galaxies that are bright enough to be individually detected. We provide the parameterization of these power spectra in terms of separate instrument noise, shot noise, and power-law components. We discuss the relationship between fluctuations measured at different wavelengths and depths, and the relations between constraints on the mean intensity of the CIB and its fluctuation spectrum. Consistent with growing evidence that the [approx]1-5 [mu]m mean intensity of the CIB may not be as far above the integrated emission of resolved galaxies as has been reported in some analyses of DIRBE and IRTS observations, our measurements of spatial fluctuations of the CIB intensity indicate the mean emission from the objects producing the fluctuations is quite low ([greater, similar]1 nW m-2 sr-1 at 3-5 [mu]m), and thus consistent with current [gamma]-ray absorption constraints. The source of the fluctuations may be high-z Population III objects, or a more local component of very low luminosity objects with clustering properties that differ from the resolved galaxies. Finally, we discuss the prospects of the upcoming space-based surveys to directly measure the epochs inhabited by the populations producing these source-subtracted CIB fluctuations, and to isolate the individual fluxes of these populations.

Arendt, Richard↗

Milestone report for MRT 8479: High Yield Xray Imager Preliminary Design Review

The High Yield Xray Imager (HYXI) is a new NIF target diagnostic system currently under development. The goal of HYXI is to provide high-fidelity, high temporal resolution x-ray imaging capability on high yield NIF implosions at 10MJ and above. The HYXI instrument design concept is based on the combination of two technologies that have been successfully utilized at the NIF on previous instruments, electron pulse-dilation and hybrid-CMOS sensor imaging. The combination of these two techniques will give HYXI sufficient data quality to ascertain differences in hot spot formation dynamics between high and low yield implosions. This information will highlight the critical hot spot conditions needed for ignition and burn. The HYXI design leverages the successful operation of the PDIXI x-ray imager at the NIF on multi-MJ yield shots. Also, a new radiation tolerance CMOS imaging array is being developed to eliminate the significant background noise which limits the data quality of PDIXI. The HYXI Preliminary Design Review was completed at the end of Q4 FY23. The HYXI project is a multi-year effort with a phased approach to be bring up system functionality over time in parallel with the development and fabrication effort of the new CMOS imaging array. Initial time integrated NIF data will be collected in Q2 FY25, first time resolved imaging with Daedalus starting in Q2 FY26 and the final performance qualification of the complete HYXI system is scheduled for Q2 FY27.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Mapping Capacitive Coupling Among Pixels in a Sensor Array

An improved method of mapping the capacitive contribution to cross-talk among pixels in an imaging array of sensors (typically, an imaging photodetector array) has been devised for use in calibrating and/or characterizing such an array. The method involves a sequence of resets of subarrays of pixels to specified voltages and measurement of the voltage responses of neighboring non-reset pixels.

Seshadri, Suresh↗

A multispectral image sensor array.

A silicon monolithic multispectral photosensor device is described. Fabrication techniques and preliminary spectral response data are presented. The device is designed to meet small size and weight requirements and to impose a reduced load upon cooling systems in use on satellites.

Gerhard, G. C.↗

Technologies for the multispectral mapping of earth resources

The application of solid-state detector array imaging to the remote sensing of the earth as a follow-on to currently planned Landsat missions provides the opportunity to achieve significantly increased performance. First-order advantages to be anticipated are higher sensitivity resulting in greater radiometric accuracies and improved geometric fidelity. The Multispectral Mapper design concept is responsive to a broad range of user needs by incorporating in-flight selection of spectral bands, instantaneous fields of view, and swath width. This versatility is achieved by the use of an imaging spectrometer which permits both spatial and spectral sampling in the image plane using area array detectors. Other improvements over the current Landsat multispectral scanner and Thematic Mapper include higher spatial resolution and inherently precise registration of the spectral bands. The key technologies required in order to realize these improvements include short-wavelength infrared detectors, wide field of view, broad spectral coverage optics, focal plane cooling, and high-speed onboard signal processing. Significant development activities will be required if an advanced remote sensing capability is to be implemented.

Wellman, J. B.↗

A two-dimensional intensified photodiode array for imaging spectroscopy

The Johns Hopkins University is currently developing an instrument to fly aboard NASA's Space Shuttle as a Spartan payload in the late 1980s. This Spartan free flyer will obtain spatially resolved spectra of faint extended emission line objects in the wavelength range 750-1150 A at about 2-A resolution. The use of two-dimensional photon counting detectors will give simultaneous coverage of the 400 A spectral range and the 9 arc-minute spatial resolution along the spectrometer slit. The progress towards the flight detector is reported here with preliminary results from a laboratory breadboard detector, and a comparison with the one-dimensional detector developed for the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope. A hardware digital centroiding algorithm has been successfully implemented. The system is ultimately capable of 15-micron resolution in two dimensions at the image plane and can handle continuous counting rates of up to 8000 counts/s.

Tennyson, P. D.↗

Imaging systems and related methods including radar imaging with moving arrays or moving targets

Imaging systems, including radio frequency, microwave and millimeter-wave arrangements, and related methods are described. According to one aspect, an imaging system includes an antenna array, a position capture system configured to generate position information indicative of locations of one of the antenna array and the target at the first and second moments in time, and wherein the one of the antenna array and the target move between the first and second moments in time, a transceiver configured to control the antenna array to emit electromagnetic energy towards the target and to generate an output that is indicative of the received electromagnetic energy, a data acquisition system configured to generate radar data, processing circuitry configured to process the position information and the radar data to generate image data regarding the target, and an interface configured to use the image data to generate visual images regarding the target.

Sheen, David M.↗

Imaging systems and related methods including radar imaging with moving arrays or moving targets

Imaging systems, including radio frequency, microwave and millimeter-wave arrangements, and related methods are described. According to one aspect, an imaging system includes an antenna array, a position capture system configured to generate position information indicative of locations of one of the antenna array and the target at the first and second moments in time, and wherein the one of the antenna array and the target move between the first and second moments in time, a transceiver configured to control the antenna array to emit electromagnetic energy towards the target and to generate an output that is indicative of the received electromagnetic energy, a data acquisition system configured to generate radar data, processing circuitry configured to process the position information and the radar data to generate image data regarding the target, and an interface configured to use the image data to generate visual images regarding the target.

Sheen, David M.↗