Experimental determination of vapor species from laser-ablated carbon phenolic composites
Previosuly cited in issue 17, p. 2910, Accession no. A81-39069
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Previosuly cited in issue 17, p. 2910, Accession no. A81-39069
The NASA Glenn Research Center is constructing a 616 element scanning phased array antenna using thin film Ba(sub x)Sr(sub 1-x)TiO(sub 3) based phase shifters. A critical milestone is the production of 616 identical phase shifters at 19 GHz with [asymptotically equal to]4 dB insertion loss and at least 337.5 deg phase shift with 3 percent bandwidth. It is well known that there is a direct relationship between dielectric tuning and loss due to the Kramers-Kronig relationship and that film crystallinity and strain, affected by the substrate template, play an important role. Ba(sub 0.50)Sr(sub 0.50)TiO (sub 3) films, nominally 400 nm thick, were deposited on 48 0.25 mm thick, 5 cm diameter LaAlO(sub 3) wafers. Although previous results suggested that Mn-doped films on MgO were intrinsically superior in terms of phase shift per unit loss, for this application phase shift per unit length was more important. The composition was selected as a compromise between tuning and loss for room temperature operation (e.g. crystallinity progressively degrades for Ba concentrations in excess of 30 percent). As a prelude to fabricating the array, it was necessary to process, screen, and inventory a large number of samples. Variable angle ellipsometry was used to characterize refractive index and film thickness across each wafer. Microstructural properties of the thin films were characterized using high resolution X-ray diffractometry. Finally, prototype phase shifters and resonators were patterned on each wafer and RE probed to measure tuning as a function of dc bias voltage as well as peak (0 field) permittivity and unloaded Q. The relationship among film quality and uniformity and performance is analyzed. This work presents the first statistically relevant study of film quality and microwave performance and represents a milestone towards commercialization of thin ferroelectric films for microwave applications.
Lunar impact-melt breccias contain metal grains from the meteorites that formed the breccias. Because the breccias contain clastic material that may derive from older breccias, metal grains from earlier impacts may be present, too. The large subset of moderately mafic (8 - 12% FeO), KREEP-rich ("LKFM") melt breccias is particularly important because: (1) these are the melt breccias most likely to have been produced in basin-forming impacts, (2) it is from these breccias that many of the approx. 3.9 Gyr ages that are so common in lunar samples derive, (3) the breccias contain large proportions of FeNi metal, more than 1% in some types of Apollo 16 breccias, and (4) the metal potentially provides information about the impactors causing the apparent cataclysm at 3.9 Gyr.
Introduction: With the anticipated development of high-capacity fission power and electric propulsion for deep-space missions, it will become possible to propose experiments that demand higher power than current technologies (e.g. radioisotope power sources) provide. Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO), the first mission in the Project Prometheus program, will explore the icy moons of Jupiter with a suite of high-capability experiments that take advantage of the high power levels (and indirectly, the high data rates) that fission power affords. This abstract describes two high-capability active-remote-sensing experiments that will be logical candidates for subsequent Prometheus-class missions.
Scanning phased-array antennas represent a highly desirable solution for futuristic near-Earth and deep space communication scenarios requiring vibration-free, rapid beam steering and enhanced reliability. The current state-of-practice in scanning phased arrays is represented by gallium arsenide (GaAs) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology or ferrite phase shifters. Cost and weight are significant impediments to space applications. Moreover, conventional manifold-fed arrays suffer from beam-forming loss that places considerable burden on MMIC amplifiers. The inefficiency can result in severe thermal management problems.
Future long-duration missions to Mars require capabilities in terms of manufacture of structures and chemical compounds essential for human habitat and exploratory activities. Currently, it is not feasible to import all the required raw and finished materials from Earth. In fact, essential items such as structural members as well as various gases for human consumption and material processing need to be largely extracted from the available planetary resources. The resources on Mars include its soil and rocks, its atmosphere and the polar caps. Mars atmosphere consists of 95% carbon dioxide and the balance contains small percentages of oxygen, nitrogen, and argon. The Mars regolith contains many metal oxides in various mineralogical forms. Presently, Martian soil samples are not available. However, a closely matched Martian soil simulant developed by the Johnson Space Center has been available for scientific research and engineering studies. The chemical makeup of this simulant is compared with the data from Viking Lander and Path Finder missions are shown..
Howardites, eucrites and diogenites (HED) form a suit of igneous achondrite meteorites that are thought to have formed on a single asteroidal body. While there have been many different models proposed for the formation of the HED parent asteroid they can be generalized into two end member models. One is the magma ocean model (e.g. [1]) in which the entire HED parent body was continuously fractionated from a planet wide magma ocean with diogenites representing the lower crust and eucrites being upper crustal rocks. The second model hypothesizes that diogenites and eucrites were formed as a series of intrusions and/or extrusions of partial melts of a primitive proto-Vesta [2]. We use in situ trace element analysis together with major and minor element analysis to try and distinguish between these different hypotheses for the evolution of the HED parent body.
Surface energy of a substrate is changed without the need for any template, mask, or additional coating medium applied to the substrate. At least one beam of energy directly ablates a substrate surface to form a predefined topographical pattern at the surface. Each beam of energy has a width of approximately 25 micrometers and an energy of approximately 1-500 microJoules. Features in the topographical pattern have a width of approximately 1-500 micrometers and a height of approximately 1.4-100 micrometers.
Absolute age determination isnecessary to check and calibratethe relative Martian chronologypresently available from meteoriticcrater counting.
No abstract provided
Barium isotopic compositions of single presolar grains were measured by laser ablation laser resonant ionization mass spectrometry and the implications of the data for stellar processes are discussed. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
Gray-scale x-ray lithography is undergoing development as a technique for fabricating blazed diffraction gratings. As such, gray-scale x-ray lithography now complements such other grating-fabrication techniques as mechanical ruling, holography, ion etching, laser ablation, laser writing, and electron-beam lithography. Each of these techniques offers advantages and disadvantages for implementing specific grating designs; no single one of these techniques can satisfy the design requirements for all applications. Gray-scale x-ray lithography is expected to be advantageous for making gratings on steeper substrates than those that can be made by electron-beam lithography. This technique is not limited to sawtooth groove profiles and flat substrates: various groove profiles can be generated on arbitrarily shaped (including highly curved) substrates with the same ease as sawtooth profiles can be generated on flat substrates. Moreover, the gratings fabricated by this technique can be made free of ghosts (spurious diffraction components attributable to small spurious periodicities in the locations of grooves). The first step in gray-scale x-ray lithography is to conformally coat a substrate with a suitable photoresist. An x-ray mask (see Figure 1) is generated, placed between the substrate and a source of collimated x-rays, and scanned over the substrate so as to create a spatial modulation in the exposure of the photoresist. Development of the exposed photoresist results in a surface corrugation that corresponds to the spatial modulation and that defines the grating surface. The grating pattern is generated by scanning an appropriately shaped x-ray area mask along the substrate. The mask example of Figure 1 would generate a blazed grating profile when scanned in the perpendicular direction at constant speed, assuming the photoresist responds linearly to incident radiation. If the resist response is nonlinear, then the mask shape can be modified to account for the nonlinearity and produce a desired groove profile. An example of grating grooves generated by this technique is shown in Figure 2. A maximum relative efficiency of 88 percent has been demonstrated.
A miniaturized instrument for performing chemical and isotopic analysis of rocks has been developed. The rock sample is ablated by a laser and the neutral species produced are analyzed using the JPL-invented miniature mass spectrometer. The direct sampling of neutral ablated material and the simultaneous measurement of all the elemental and isotopic species are the novelties of this method. In this laser ablation-miniature mass spectrometer (LA-MMS) method, the ablated neutral atoms are led into the electron impact ionization source of the MMS, where they are ionized by a 70-eV electron beam. This results in a secondary ion pulse typically 10-100 microsecond wide, compared to the original 5-10-nanosecond laser pulse duration. Ions of different masses are then spatially dispersed along the focal plane of the magnetic sector of the miniature mass spectrometer and measured in parallel by a modified CCD (charge-coupled device) array detector capable of detecting ions directly. Compared to conventional scanning techniques, simultaneous measurement of the ion pulse along the focal plane effectively offers a 100% duty cycle over a wide mass range. LAMMS offers a more quantitative assessment of elemental composition than techniques that detect laser-ionized species produced directly in the ablation process because the latter can be strongly influenced by matrix effects that vary with the structure and geometry of the surface, the laser beam, and the ionization energies of the elements. The measurement of high-precision isotopic ratios and elemental composition of different rock minerals by LAMMS method has been demonstrated. The LA-MMS can be applied for the absolute age determination of rocks. There is no such instrument available presently in a miniaturized version that can be used for NASA space missions. Work is in progress in the laboratory for geochronology of rocks using LA-MMS that is based on K-Ar radiogenic dating technique.
Ablative materials performance in high radiative heat flux environments produced by CW carbon dioxide laser
Laser Ablation ICP-MS (LA-ICP-MS) has been widely accepted as a microanalytical technique for in-situ trace (ppb) elemental analysis on the micron scale in a variety of geologic materials. LA-ICP-MS (single or multi-collector) provides both elemental and isotopic measurements critical for a wide range of geological research by generating a fine grained aerosol (nm scale) during the laser ablation event and delivering that aerosol to the ICP ion source of the mass spectrometer via an inert carrier gas. LA-ICP-MS, however, suffers from limitations in analyzing high ionization potential elements as well as elements subject to atmospheric and argon based interferences. LA-ICP-MS also has limitations in analyzing major elements due to detector saturation. An alternative laser ablation technique, Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), employs an optical spectrometer integrated into the laser ablation system that analyzes the laser induced plasma at the sample surface across the entire optical spectrum for emission lines of every element in the periodic table. Elements that are difficult or impossible to measure with LA-ICP-MS are now possible to analyze with LIBS down to low ppm levels with CCD and/or ICCD detection. We introduce a new laser based technique, “Tandem LA-LIBS”, that combines LA for ICP-MS and LIBS into one integrated laser ablation system. This system has the effect of expanding the elemental coverage and the dynamic range of the laser ablation experiment as measurements from ppb to % level matrix elements can now be analyzed in a single ablation experiment. We present both femtosecond and nanosecond Tandem LA-LIBS quantitative and qualitative data on wide range of geological materials for those elements that are difficult or impossible by traditional LA-ICP-MS techniques such as F, H, O, N, C, S, halogens, etc. We also demonstrate that the simultaneous measurement of trace, minor and major elements are now possible in a single laser ablation experiment with Tandem LA-LIBS technology.
Progress in the development of an instrument for direct geochronologic measurements on rocks in situ will be described. The instrument integrates laser ablation sampling, resonance ionization, and mass spectrometry to directly measure concentrations of the Rb-Sr isotope system. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
Adhesive bonding offers many advantages over mechanical fastening, but requires robust materials and processing methodologies before it can be incorporated in primary structures for aerospace applications. Surface preparation is widely recognized as one of the key steps to producing robust and predictable bonds. This report documents an ongoing investigation of a surface preparation technique based on Nd:YAG laser ablation as a replacement for the chemical etch and/or abrasive processes currently applied to Ti-6Al-4V alloys. Laser ablation imparts both topographical and chemical changes to a surface that can lead to increased bond durability. A laser based process provides an alternative to chemical-immersion, manual abrasion, and grit blast process steps which are expensive, hazardous, environmentally unfriendly, and less precise. In addition, laser ablation is amenable to process automation, which can improve reproducibility to meet quality standards for surface preparation. An update on work involving adhesive property testing, surface characterization, surface stability, and the effect of laser surface treatment on fatigue behavior is presented. Based on the tests conducted, laser surface treatment is a viable replacement for the immersion chemical surface treatment processes. Testing also showed that the fatigue behavior of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy is comparable for surfaces treated with either laser ablation or chemical surface treatment.