SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Lenses”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,099 records · Page 61

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1991

Gravitational microlensing of the Galactic bulge stars

The optical depth to microlensing on the ordinary disk stars is about 4 x 10 to the -7th for the Galactic bulge stars visible in Baade's window. This means that at any given time one out of about 2.5 x 10 to the 6th bulge stars must be brightened by at least 0.3 mag. The duration of events is proportional to the square root of mass of the lensing star, and it is in the range of 1 week to 1 month for the lensing stars of 0.1-1.0 solar mass. The average number of events with the amplitude exceeding 0.3 mag is expected to be about 4 per year per million bulge stars. If there are brown dwarfs in the Galactic disk with masses in the range 0.01-0.1 solar mass, with the total mass density equal to the total mass density of the ordinary stars, then the combined optical depth to microlensing of the bulge stars is about 8 x 10 to the -7th, the average number of events with the amplitude exceeding 0.3 mag is expected to be about 17 per year per million bulge stars, and the time scales of events are in the range of 3-20 days.

Paczynski, B.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Gravitational microlensing by double stars and planetary systems

Almost all stars are in binary systems. When the separation between the two components is comparable to the Einstein ring radius corresponding to the combined mass of the binary acting as a gravitational lens, then an extra pair of images can be created, and the light curve of a lensed source becomes complicated. It is estimated that about 10 percent of all lensing episodes of the Galactic bulge stars will strongly display the binary nature of the lens. The effect is strong even if the companion is a planet. A massive search for microlensing of the Galactic bulge stars may lead to a discovery of the first extrasolar planetary systems.

Mao, Shunde↗

NASA NTRS1992

Laser to single-mode-fiber coupling: A laboratory guide

All the information necessary to achieve reasonably efficient coupling of semiconductor lasers to single mode fibers is collected from the literature, reworked when necessary, and presented in a mostly tabular form. Formulas for determining the laser waist radius and the fiber mode radius are given. Imaging relations connecting these values with the object and image distances are given for three types of lenses: ball, hemisphere, and Gradient Index (GRIN). Sources for these lenses are indicated, and a brief discussion is given about ways of reducing feedback effects.

Ladany, I.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Probability distributions for the magnification of quasars due to microlensing

Gravitational microlensing can magnify the flux of a lensed quasar considerably and therefore possibly influence quasar source counts or the observed quasar luminosity function. A large number of distributions of magnification probabilities due to gravitational microlensing for finite sources are presented, with a reasonable coverage of microlensing parameter space (i.e., surface mass density, external shear, mass spectrum of lensing objects). These probability distributions were obtained from smoothing two-dimensional magnification patterns with Gaussian source profiles. Different source sizes ranging from 10 exp 14 cm to 5 x 10 exp 16 cm were explored. The probability distributions show a large variety of shapes. Coefficients of fitted slopes for large magnifications are presented.

Wambsganss, Joachim↗

NASA NTRS1992

Caustic-induced features in microlensing magnification probability distributions

Numerical simulations have uncovered a previously unrecognized 'bump' in the macroimage magnification probabilities produced by a planar distribution of point masses. The result could be relevant to cases of microlensing by star fields in single galaxies, for which this lensing geometry is an excellent approximation. The bump is produced by bright pairs of microimages formed by sources lying near the caustics of the lens. The numerically calculated probabilities for the magnifications in the range between 3 and 30 are significantly higher than those given by the asymptotic relation derived by Schneider. The bump present in the two-dimensional lenses appears not to exist in the magnification probability distribution produced by a fully three-dimensional lens.

Rauch, Kevin P.↗

NASA NTRS1992

A fiber optic sensor for ophthalmic refractive diagnostics

This paper demonstrates the application of a lensless fiber optic spectrometer (sensor) to study the onset of cataracts. This new miniaturized and rugged fiber optic probe is based upon dynamic light scattering (DLS) principles. It has no moving parts, no apertures, and requires no optical alignment. It is flexible and easy to use. Results are presented for cold-induced cataract in excised bovine eye lenses, and aging effects in excised human eye lenses. The device can be easily incorporated into a slit-lamp apparatus (ophthalmoscope) for complete eye diagnostics.

Ansari, Rafat R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Electronic Still Camera

A handheld, programmable, digital camera is disclosed that supports a variety of sensors and has program control over the system components to provide versatility. The camera uses a high performance design which produces near film quality images from an electronic system. The optical system of the camera incorporates a conventional camera body that was slightly modified, thus permitting the use of conventional camera accessories, such as telephoto lenses, wide-angle lenses, auto-focusing circuitry, auto-exposure circuitry, flash units, and the like. An image sensor, such as a charge coupled device ('CCD') collects the photons that pass through the camera aperture when the shutter is opened, and produces an analog electrical signal indicative of the image. The analog image signal is read out of the CCD and is processed by preamplifier circuitry, a correlated double sampler, and a sample and hold circuit before it is converted to a digital signal. The analog-to-digital converter has an accuracy of eight bits to insure accuracy during the conversion. Two types of data ports are included for two different data transfer needs. One data port comprises a general purpose industrial standard port and the other a high speed/high performance application specific port. The system uses removable hard disks as its permanent storage media. The hard disk receives the digital image signal from the memory buffer and correlates the image signal with other sensed parameters, such as longitudinal or other information. When the storage capacity of the hard disk has been filled, the disk can be replaced with a new disk.

Holland, S. Douglas↗

NASA NTRS1992

Zone plate lens antennas for millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths

Zone plate lenses are a type of focusing element which function essentially as differential phase shifters, having a relatively few, coarsely quantized phase delays across the incident beam of radiation. The major advantages are ease of fabrication and much reduced thickness, compared to conventional refractive focusing elements. These considerations are both of particular importance for the submillimeter range, in which manufacturing tolerances for curved optical elements can pose significant problems, and where the absorption of readily available dielectric materials is quite large. In this presentation we briefly review the theory of zone plate lens operations, present a relatively simple method for calculating the aperture efficiency of zone plate lenses used as antennas, and show some theoretical and measured results in the 100 GHz range.

Goldsmith, Paul F.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Advanced photovoltaic power systems using tandem GaAs/GaSb concentrator modules

In 1989, Boeing announced the fabrication of a tandem gallium concentrator solar cell with an energy conversion efficiency of 30 percent. This research breakthrough has now led to panels which are significantly smaller, lighter, more radiation resistant, and potentially less expensive than the traditional silicon flat plate electric power supply. The new Boeing tandem concentrator (BTC) module uses an array of lightweight silicone Fresnel lenses mounted on the front side of a light weight aluminum honeycomb structure to focus sunlight onto small area solar cells mounted on a thin back plane. This module design is shown schematically. The tandem solar cell in this new module consists of a gallium arsenide light sensitive cell with a 24 percent energy conversion efficiency stacked on top of a gallium antimonide infrared sensitive cell with a conversion efficiency of 6 percent. This gives a total efficiency 30 percent for the cell-stack. The lens optical efficiency is typically 85 percent. Discounting for efficiency losses associated with lens packing, cell wiring, and cell operating temperature still allows for a module efficiency of 22 percent which leads to a module power density of 300 Watts/sq. m. This performance provides more than twice the power density available from a single crystal silicon flat plate module and at least four times the power density available from amorphous silicon modules. The fact that the lenses are only 0.010 ft. thick and the aluminum foil back plane is only 0.003 ft. thick leads to a very lightweight module. Although the cells are an easy to handle thickness of 0.020 ft., the fact that they are small, occupying one-twenty-fifth of the module area, means that they add little to the module weight. After summing all the module weights and given the high module power, we find that we are able to fabricate BTC modules with specific power of 100 watts/kg.

Fraas, L. M.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Gravitational microlensing of gamma-ray bursts

A Monte Carlo code is developed to calculate gravitational microlensing in three dimensions when the lensing optical depth is low or moderate (not greater than 0.25). The code calculates positions of microimages and time delays between the microimages. The majority of lensed gamma-ray bursts should show a simple double-burst structure, as predicted by a single point mass lens model. A small fraction should show complicated multiple events due to the collective effects of several point masses (black holes). Cosmological models with a significant fraction of mass density in massive compact objects can be tested by searching for microlensing events in the current BATSE data. Our catalog generated by 10,000 Monte Carlo models is accessible through the computer network. The catalog can be used to take realistic selection effects into account.

Mao, Shude↗

NASA NTRS1993

Liquid metal drop ejection

The aim of this project was to demonstrate the possibility of ejecting liquid metals using drop on demand printing technology. The plan was to make transducers for operation in the 100 MHz frequency range and to use these transducers to demonstrate the ability to eject drops of liquid metals such as gallium. Two transducers were made by indium bonding piezoelectric lithium niobate to quartz buffer rods. The lithium niobate plates were thinned by mechanical polishing to a thickness of 37 microns for operation at 100 MHz. Hemispherical lenses were polished in the opposite ends of the buffer rods. The lenses, which focus the sound waves in the liquid metal, had an F-number equals 1. A mechanical housing was made to hold the transducers and to allow precise control over the liquid level above the lens. We started by demonstrating the ability to eject drops of water on demand. The drops of water had a diameter of 15 microns which corresponds to the wavelength of the sound wave in the water. A videotape of this ejection was made. We then used a mixture of Gallium and Indium (used to lower the melting temperature of the Gallium) to demonstrate the ejection of liquid metal drops. This proved to be difficult because of the oxide skin which forms on the surface of the liquid. In some instances, we were able to eject metal drops, however, this was not consistent and reproducible. An experiment was set up at NASA-Lewis to stabilize the process of drop on demand liquid metal ejection. The object was to place the transducer and liquid metal in a vacuum station so that no oxide would form on the surface. We were successful in demonstrating that liquid metals could be ejected on demand and that this technology could be used for making sheet metal in space.

Khuri-Yakub, B. T.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Diffractive optics: Design, fabrication, and applications

The topics are presented in viewgraph form and include the following: features, applications, surface relief diffractive optics, optical data storage, waveguide lenses, diffractive lense imaging, phase grating synthesis, sub-wavelength structured surfaces, etc.

Morris, G. Michael↗

NASA NTRS1993

Fabrication of micro-optical devices

We have fabricated a variety of micro-optic components including Fresnel and non-Frensel lenses, off-axis and dispersive lenses with binary stepped contours, and analog contours. Process details for all lens designs fabricated are given including multistep photolithography for binary fabrication and grayscale mask photolithography for analog fabrication. Reactive ion etching and ion beam milling are described for the binary fabrication process, while ion beam milling was used for the analog fabrication process. Examples of micro-optic components fabricated in both Si and CdTe substrates are given.

Anderson, W. W.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Telescope for x ray and gamma ray studies in astrophysics

Imaging of x-rays has been achieved by various methods in astrophysics, nuclear physics, medicine, and material science. A new method for imaging x-ray and gamma-ray sources avoids the limitations of previously used imaging devices. Images are formed in optical wavelengths by using mirrors or lenses to reflect and refract the incoming photons. High energy x-ray and gamma-ray photons cannot be reflected except at grazing angles and pass through lenses without being refracted. Therefore, different methods must be used to image x-ray and gamma-ray sources. Techniques using total absorption, or shadow casting, can provide images in x-rays and gamma-rays. This new method uses a coder made of a pair of Fresnel zone plates and a detector consisting of a matrix of CsI scintillators and photodiodes. The Fresnel zone plates produce Moire patterns when illuminated by an off-axis source. These Moire patterns are deconvolved using a stepped sine wave fitting or an inverse Fourier transform. This type of coder provides the capability of an instantaneous image with sub-arcminute resolution while using a detector with only a coarse position-sensitivity. A matrix of the CsI/photodiode detector elements provides the necessary coarse position-sensitivity. The CsI/photodiode detector also allows good energy resolution. This imaging system provides advantages over previously used imaging devices in both performance and efficiency.

Weaver, W. D.↗

NASA NTRS1992

How to handle 6GBytes a night and not get swamped

The Macho Project has undertaken a 5 year effort to search for dark matter in the halo of the Galaxy by scanning the Magellanic Clouds for micro-lensing events. Each evening's raw image data will be reduced in real-time into the observed stars' photometric measurements. The actual search for micro-lensing events will be a post-processing operation. The theoretical prediction of the rate of such events necessitates the collection of a large number of repeated exposures. The project designed camera subsystem delivers 64 Mbytes per exposure with exposures typically occurring every 500 seconds. An ideal evening's observing will provide 6 Gbytes of raw image data and 40 Mbytes of reduced photometric measurements. Recognizing the difficulty of digging out from a snowballing cascade of raw data, the project requires the real-time reduction of each evening's data. The software team's implementation strategy centered on this non-negotiable mandate. Accepting the reality that 2 full time people needed to implement the core real-time control and data management system within 6 months, off-the-shelf vendor components were explored to provide quick solutions to the classic needs for file management, data management, and process control. Where vendor solutions were lacking, state-of-the-art models were used for hand tailored subsystems. In particular, petri nets manage process control, memory mapped bulletin boards provide interprocess communication between the multi-tasked processes, and C++ class libraries provide memory mapped, disk resident databases. The differences between the implementation strategy and the final implementation reality are presented. The necessity of validating vendor product claims are explored. Both the successful and hindsight decisions enabling the collection and processing of the nightly data barrage are reviewed.

Allsman, R.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Output optics for laser velocimeters

Space savings are effected in the optical output system of a laser velocimeter. The output system is comprised of pairs of optical fibers having output ends from which a beam of laser light emerges, a transfer lens for each light beam, and at least one final (LV) lens for receiving the light passing through the transfer lenses and for focussing that light at a common crossing point or area. In order to closely couple the transfer lenses to the final lens, each transfer lens is positioned relative to the final lens receiving light therefrom such that the output waist of the corresponding beam received by the final lens from the transfer lens is a virtual waist located before the transfer lens.

Lynch, Dana H.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Development of microchannel plate x-ray optics

The goal of this research program was to develop a novel technique for focusing x-rays based on the optical system of a lobster's eye. A lobster eye employs many closely packed reflecting surfaces arranged within a spherical or cylindrical shell. These optics have two unique properties: they have unlimited fields of view and can be manufactured via replication of identical structures. Because the angular resolution is given by the ratio of the size of the individual optical elements to the focal length, optical elements with size on the order of one hundred microns are required to achieve good angular resolution with a compact telescope. We employed anisotropic etching of single crystal silicon wafers for the fabrication of micron-scale optical elements. This technique, commonly referred to as silicon micromachining, is based on silicon fabrication techniques developed by the microelectronics industry. We have succeeded in producing silicon lenses with a geometry suitable for a 1-d focusing x-ray optics. These lenses have an aspect ratio (40:1) suitable for x-ray reflection and have very good optical surface alignment. We have developed a number of process refinements which improved the quality of the lens geometry and the repeatability of the etch process. In addition to the silicon fabrication, an x-ray beam line was constructed at Columbia for testing the optics. Most recently, we have done several experiments to find the fundamental limits that the anisotropic etch process placed on the etched surface roughness.

Kaaret, Philip↗

NASA NTRS1994

High dynamic range radio observations of PKS 1413+135: A BL Lacertae object with a parsec-scale counterjet

We report the results of three high dynamic range, high-resolution radio observations with the Very Large Array (VLA), US Very Long Base Interferometry (VLBI) Network, and partially completed Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) on the peculiar BL Lacertae objects PKS 1413+135. The VLA observations (resolution approximately 1.5 sec) reveal that PKS 1413+135 has no kiloparsec-scale extended structure to a dynamic range limit of 10,000:1. However, its milliarcsecond-scale structure appears to be a triple (i.e., a core, jet plus 'counterjet') at both 3.6 and 18 cm, a unique structure among BL Lac objects but similar to a recently discovered class of VLBI 'mini-triples.' The presence of a counterjet at fluxes comparable to the main jet is incompatible with the standard relativistically beamed jet model for BL Lac objects and with the high value of core dominance exhibited by this source at arcsec resolution. This suggests a nonstandard interpretation in which the radio source lies far in the background of the spiral galaxy it is projected upon so that its VLBI structure may be affected by gravitational lensing. At 18 cm, the core is much weaker than at 3.6 cm suggesting free-free absorption by the high-column-density gas found along this sightline by previous infrared(IR)/optical, X-ray and redshifted H I 21 cm observations. We discuss the roles that free-free absorption and gravitational lensing may have for PKS 1413+135 and other GHz-peaked spectrum radio sources.

Perlman, Eric S.↗