Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Platforms”

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.

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

At least 1,405 records · Page 78

Embedded ultrasound sensor in a silicon-on-insulator photonic platform

A miniaturized ultrasound sensor is demonstrated in a silicon-on-insulator platform. The sensor is based on a π-phase-shifted Bragg grating formed by waveguide corrugation. Ultrasound detection is performed by monitoring shifts in the resonance frequency of the grating using pulse interferometry. The device is characterized by measuring its response to a wideband acoustic point source generated using the optoacoustic effect. Experimental results show that the sensor's response is dominated by the formation of surface acoustic waves.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Intrinsic device-to-device variation in graphene field-effect transistors on a Si/SiO{sub 2} substrate as a platform for discriminative gas sensing

Arrays of nearly identical graphene devices on Si/SiO{sub 2} exhibit a substantial device-to-device variation, even in case of a high-quality chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or mechanically exfoliated graphene. We propose that such device-to-device variation could provide a platform for highly selective multisensor electronic olfactory systems. We fabricated a multielectrode array of CVD graphene devices on a Si/SiO{sub 2} substrate and demonstrated that the diversity of these devices is sufficient to reliably discriminate different short-chain alcohols: methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol. The diversity of graphene devices on Si/SiO{sub 2} could possibly be used to construct similar multisensor systems trained to recognize other analytes as well.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Highly efficient greenish-blue platinum-based phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes on a high triplet energy platform

We have demonstrated high-efficiency greenish-blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PHOLEDs) based on a dimesitylboryl-functionalized C^N chelate Pt(II) phosphor, Pt(m-Bptrz)(t-Bu-pytrz-Me). Using a high triplet energy platform and optimized double emissive zone device architecture results in greenish-blue PHOLEDs that exhibit an external quantum efficiency of 24.0% and a power efficiency of 55.8 lm/W. This record high performance is comparable with that of the state-of-the-art Ir-based sky-blue organic light-emitting diodes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Near-infrared gallium nitride two-dimensional photonic crystal platform on silicon

We demonstrate a two-dimensional free-standing gallium nitride photonic crystal platform operating around 1550 nm and fabricated on a silicon substrate. Width-modulated waveguide cavities are integrated and exhibit loaded quality factors up to 34 000 at 1575 nm. We show the resonance tunability by varying the ratio of air hole radius to periodicity, and cavity hole displacement. We deduce a ∼7.9 dB/cm linear absorption loss for the suspended nitride structure from the power dependence of the cavity in-plane transmission.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Nonlinear automatic landing control of unmanned aerial vehicles on moving platforms via a 3D laser radar

This paper presents a motion tracking and control system for automatically landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) on an oscillating platform using Laser Radar (LADAR) observations. The system itself is assumed to be mounted on a ship deck. A full nonlinear mathematical model is first introduced for the UAV. The ship motion is characterized by a Fourier transform based method which includes a realistic characterization of the sea waves. LADAR observation models are introduced and an algorithm to process those observations for yielding the relative state between the vessel and the UAV is presented, from which the UAV's state relative to an inertial frame can be obtained and used for feedback purposes. A sliding mode control algorithm is derived for tracking a landing trajectory defined by a set of desired waypoints. An extended Kalman filter (EKF) is proposed to account for process and observation noises in the design of a state estimator. The effectiveness of the control algorithm is illustrated through a simulation example.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A robust platform cooled by superconducting electronic refrigerators

A biased tunnel junction between a superconductor and a normal metal can cool the latter electrode. Based on a recently developed cooler with high power and superior performance, we have integrated it with a dielectric silicon nitride membrane, and cooled phonons from 305 mK down to 200 mK. Without perforation and covered under a thin alumina layer, the membrane is rigorously transformed into a cooling platform that is robust and versatile for multiple practical purposes. We discussed our results and possibilities to further improve the device.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Electronic desalting for controlling the ionic environment in droplet-based biosensing platforms

The ability to control the ionic environment in saline waters and aqueous electrolytes is useful for desalination as well as electronic biosensing. We demonstrate a method of electronic desalting at micro-scale through on-chip micro electrodes. We show that, while desalting is limited in bulk solutions with unlimited availability of salts, significant desalting of ≥1 mM solutions can be achieved in sub-nanoliter volume droplets with diameters of ∼250 μm. Within these droplets, by using platinum-black microelectrodes and electrochemical surface treatments, we can enhance the electrode surface area to achieve >99% and 41% salt removal in 1 mM and 10 mM salt concentrations, respectively. Through self-consistent simulations and experimental measurements, we demonstrate that conventional double-layer theory over-predicts the desalting capacity and, hence, cannot be used to model systems that are mass limited or undergoing significant salt removal from the bulk. Our results will provide a better understanding of capacitive desalination, as well as a method for salt manipulation in high-throughput droplet-based microfluidic sensing platforms.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A combined electrochemical and optical trapping platform for measuring single cell respiration rates at electrode interfaces

Metal-reducing bacteria gain energy by extracellular electron transfer to external solids, such as naturally abundant minerals, which substitute for oxygen or the other common soluble electron acceptors of respiration. This process is one of the earliest forms of respiration on earth and has significant environmental and technological implications. By performing electron transfer to electrodes instead of minerals, these microbes can be used as biocatalysts for conversion of diverse chemical fuels to electricity. Understanding such a complex biotic-abiotic interaction necessitates the development of tools capable of probing extracellular electron transfer down to the level of single cells. Here, we describe an experimental platform for single cell respiration measurements. The design integrates an infrared optical trap, perfusion chamber, and lithographically fabricated electrochemical chips containing potentiostatically controlled transparent indium tin oxide microelectrodes. Individual bacteria are manipulated using the optical trap and placed on the microelectrodes, which are biased at a suitable oxidizing potential in the absence of any chemical electron acceptor. The potentiostat is used to detect the respiration current correlated with cell-electrode contact. We demonstrate the system with single cell measurements of the dissimilatory-metal reducing bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, which resulted in respiration currents ranging from 15 fA to 100 fA per cell under our measurement conditions. Mutants lacking the outer-membrane cytochromes necessary for extracellular respiration did not result in any measurable current output upon contact. In addition to the application for extracellular electron transfer studies, the ability to electronically measure cell-specific respiration rates may provide answers for a variety of fundamental microbial physiology questions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Functional integrity of flexible n-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors on a reversibly bistable platform

Flexibility can bring a new dimension to state-of-the-art electronics, such as rollable displays and integrated circuit systems being transformed into more powerful resources. Flexible electronics are typically hosted on polymeric substrates. Such substrates can be bent and rolled up, but cannot be independently fixed at the rigid perpendicular position necessary to realize rollable display-integrated gadgets and electronics. A reversibly bistable material can assume two stable states in a reversible way: flexibly rolled state and independently unbent state. Such materials are used in cycling and biking safety wristbands and a variety of ankle bracelets for orthopedic healthcare. They are often wrapped around an object with high impulsive force loading. Here, we study the effects of cumulative impulsive force loading on thinned (25 μm) flexible silicon-based n-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor devices housed on a reversibly bistable flexible platform. We found that the transistors have maintained their high performance level up to an accumulated 180 kN of impact force loading. The gate dielectric layers have maintained their reliability, which is evidenced by the low leakage current densities. Also, we observed low variation in the effective electron mobility values, which manifests that the device channels have maintained their carrier transport properties.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Quantum photonics hybrid integration platform

Fundamental to integrated photonic quantum computing is an on-chip method for routing and modulating quantum light emission. We demonstrate a hybrid integration platform consisting of arbitrarily designed waveguide circuits and single-photon sources. InAs quantum dots (QD) embedded in GaAs are bonded to a SiON waveguide chip such that the QD emission is coupled to the waveguide mode. The waveguides are SiON core embedded in a SiO{sub 2} cladding. A tuneable Mach Zehnder interferometer (MZI) modulates the emission between two output ports and can act as a path-encoded qubit preparation device. The single-photon nature of the emission was verified using the on-chip MZI as a beamsplitter in a Hanbury Brown and Twiss measurement.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

An FPGA-based instrumentation platform for use at deep cryogenic temperatures

We describe the operation of a cryogenic instrumentation platform incorporating commercially available field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The functionality of the FPGAs at temperatures approaching 4 K enables signal routing, multiplexing, and complex digital signal processing in close proximity to cooled devices or detectors within the cryostat. The performance of the FPGAs in a cryogenic environment is evaluated, including clock speed, error rates, and power consumption. Although constructed for the purpose of controlling and reading out quantum computing devices with low latency, the instrument is generic enough to be of broad use in a range of cryogenic applications.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Design and analysis of photonic crystal micro-cavity based optical sensor platform

In this paper, the design of a two-dimensional photonic crystal micro-cavity based integrated-optic sensor platform is proposed. The behaviour of designed cavity is analyzed using two-dimensional Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method. The structure is designed by deliberately inserting some defects in a photonic crystal waveguide structure. Proposed structure shows a quality factor (Q) of about 1e5 and the average sensitivity of 500nm/RIU in the wavelength range of 1450 – 1580 nm. Sensing technique is based on the detection of shift in upper-edge cut-off wavelength for a reference signal strength of –10 dB in accordance with the change in refractive index of analyte.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Optical NOR logic gate design on square lattice photonic crystal platform

We numerically demonstrate a new configuration of all-optical NOR logic gate with square lattice photonic crystal (PhC) waveguide using finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The logic operations are based on interference effect of optical waves. We have determined the operating frequency range by calculating the band structure for a perfectly periodic PhC using plane wave expansion (PWE) method. Response time of this logic gate is 1.98 ps and it can be operated with speed about 513 GB/s. The proposed device consists of four linear waveguides and a square ring resonator waveguides on PhC platform.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Selective heteroepitaxy on deeply grooved substrate: A route to low cost semipolar GaN platforms of bulk quality

Semipolar GaN crystal stripes larger than 100 μm with dislocation densities below 5 × 10{sup 6} cm{sup −2} are achieved using a low cost fabrication process. An original sapphire patterning procedure is proposed, enabling selective growth of semipolar oriented GaN stripes while confining the defects to specific areas. Radiative and non-radiative crystalline defects are investigated by cathodoluminescence and can be correlated to the development of crystal microstructure during the growth process. A dislocation reduction mechanism, supported by transmission electron microscopy, is proposed. This method represents a step forward toward low-cost quasi-bulk semipolar GaN epitaxial platforms with an excellent structural quality which will allow for even more efficient III-nitride based devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Phonon-based scalable platform for chip-scale quantum computing

Here, we present a scalable phonon-based quantum computer on a phononic crystal platform. Practical schemes involve selective placement of a single acceptor atom in the peak of the strain field in a high-Q phononic crystal cavity that enables coupling of the phonon modes to the energy levels of the atom. We show theoretical optimization of the cavity design and coupling waveguide, along with estimated performance figures of the coupled system. A qubit can be created by entangling a phonon at the resonance frequency of the cavity with the atom states. Qubits based on this half-sound, half-matter quasi-particle, called a phoniton, may outcompete other quantum architectures in terms of combined emission rate, coherence lifetime, and fabrication demands.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Experimental platform for investigations of high-intensity laser plasma interactions in the magnetic field of a pulsed power generator

An experimental platform for the studying of high-intensity laser plasma interactions in strong magnetic fields has been developed based on the 1 MA Zebra pulsed power generator coupled with the 50-TW Leopard laser. The Zebra generator produces 100-300 T longitudinal and transverse magnetic fields with different types of loads. The Leopard laser creates plasma at intensity of 1019 W/cm2 in the magnetic field of coil loads. Focusing and targeting systems are integrated in the vacuum chamber of the pulsed power generator and protected from the plasma debris and strong mechanical shock. The first experiments with plasma at laser intensity >2x1018 W/cm2 demonstrated collimation of the laser produced plasma in the axial magnetic field strength >100 T.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

A capacitance spectroscopy-based platform for realizing gate-defined electronic lattices

Electrostatic confinement in semiconductors provides a flexible platform for the emulation of interacting electrons in a two-dimensional lattice, including in the presence of gauge fields. This combination offers the potential to realize a wide host of quantum phases. Capacitance spectroscopy demonstrates a technique that allows one to directly probe the density of states of such two-dimensional electron systems. Here, we present a measurement and fabrication scheme that builds on capacitance spectroscopy and allows for the independent control of density and periodic potential strength imposed on a two-dimensional electron gas. We characterize disorder levels and (in)homogeneity and develop and optimize different gating strategies at length scales where interactions are expected to be strong. A continuation of these ideas might see to fruition the emulation of interaction-driven Mott transitions or Hofstadter butterfly physics

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗