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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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Use of the molecular Stark effect in NH2D to modulate the 10.6-micron P(20) line of a CO2 laser, yielding a modulation depth of 40% from a 200-V/cm rms signal applied to a 19.7-cm gas cell external to the laser. NH2D was prepared by mixing ND3 and NH3. The absorption coefficient of the M = 4 Stark-split line was measured as a function of mixing ratio and pressure. The observed pressure-broadening coefficient was 32.5 MHz/torr.
Study of the space and time resolved structure of a helium plasma produced with a repetitive CO2 laser during the first 15 microsec of the afterglow period. The spectra of several neutral and ionized helium lines are used in the determination of the density and temperature profiles of the luminous fireball. It is found that the plasma is comprised of a dense hot core, which emits primarily ionic lines, and a well-defined tenuous outer shell, which is primarily the source of neutral emission lines. This ?two-component' plasma structure develops at about 0.4 microsec after breakdown, at about the time when the luminous fireball dissipates its expansion energy and comes to a virtual standstill.
The dissociative excitation of CO (a 3Pi) and other metastable fragments produced by electron impact on CO2 has been investigated from threshold to 50 eV. The observed threshold for CO (a 3Pi) production at 11.9 (plus or minus 0.5) eV was near the minimum required energy of 11.5 eV.
The use of cadmium telluride as an electrooptic material for intracavity modulation of CO2 lasers is described. Included are the predicted and measured effects of CdTe intracavity modulators on laser performance. Coupling and frequency modulation are discussed and experimental results compared with theoretically predicted performance for both techniques. Limitations on the frequency response of the two types of modulation are determined.
The application of coupling modulation is described for achieving a 110-MHz bandwidth using CO2 lasers and GaAs electrooptic crystals. Coupling modulation is a technique that has no bandwidth limitations and allows the modulation bandwidth to exceed that of the laser resonator.
Chondrule-like spherules were formed from individual freely falling subcooled droplets of alumina, enstatite, forsterite, enstatite-albite and forsterite-albite mixtures that had been melted with a focused continuous CO2 laser beam. Their textures (rimmed, excentro-radial, barred, glassy) are strikingly similar to those of many meteoritic chondrules. It is suggested that the phenomena associated with rapid crystallization from the supercooled melt are responsible for the various textures observed in the artificial spherules as well as in similar meteoritic chondrules. It is suggested that the textures observed would also result from rapid crystallization of relatively slowly cooling molten droplets that may have been produced in larger scale events, including condensation from a nebula of solar composition and solidification in an ambient medium of high temperature.
The CO(A 1 Pi) cross sections reported here, along with previously determined electron impact results, establish the basis for calculating CO fourth positive system volume emission rates in the Martian dayglow. Calculated volume emission rates in turn determine relative distribution of photon vs. electron impact as mechanisms for producing CO(A 1 Pi) in the Mars atmosphere. The smallness of the O(1304) cross section confirms previous indirect evidence that photodissociative excitation of CO2 is not an important source of O(3 S) in the upper atmosphere of Mars.
The systems and techniques which were utilized in the experiment to establish an air-to-ground CO2 laser heterodyne link are described along with the successes and problems encountered when the heterodyne receiver and laser transmitter package were removed from the controlled environment of the laboratory. Major topics discussed include: existing systems and the underlying principles involved in their operation; experimental techniques and optical alignment methods which were found to be useful; theoretical calculations of signal strengths expected under a variety of test conditions and in actual flight; and the experimental results including problems encountered and their possible solutions.
Experimental results of a group of theoretically selected cold cathode materials are presented. These tests indicate Ag-CuO, Cu and Pt-Cu as three new cold cathode materials for sealed off CO2 lasers. The power output of a test with an Ag-CuO cathode and a gas volume of only 50 cubic centimeters varied from 0.72 W to 1.1 W at 3000 hours and yields still 0.88 W after 8000 hours. Gas discharge tubes with Cu cathodes and a volume of 25 cubic centimeters yield life times in excess of 10,000 hours. Gas analysis results, obtained from a similar tube over a period of 3000 hours, look most promising. A Pt-Cu alloy cathode shows an extremely promising V-I characteristic over a period of 2800 hours.
Experimental results of a group of theoretically selected cold cathode materials are presented. These tests indicate Ag-CuO, Cu, and Pt-Cu as three new cold cathode materials for sealed-off CO2 lasers. The power output of a test laser with an Ag-CuO cathode and a gas volume of only 50 cu cm varied from 0.72 W to 1.1 W at 3000 hours and still yields 0.88 W after 8000 hours. Gas discharge tubes with Cu cathodes and a volume of 25 cu cm yield lifetimes in excess of 10,000 hours. Gas analysis results, obtained from a similar tube over a period of 3000 hours, look most promising. A Pt-Cu alloy cathode shows an extremely promising V-I characteristic over a period of 2800 hours.
Results are presented of CO2 extinction coefficient measurements that were performed under conditions of temperature and pressure different from those used by previous investigators. The results show that, whereas pressure effects are generally negligible, temperature dependence is strong enough to invalidate the use of room temperature data for the Mars atmosphere.
The effects of N2, O2, Ar, and He on the absorption of radiation by the 15-micron perpendicular CO2 bands are reported. The investigation was carried out at medium resolution and at gas pressures less than 1 atm. The results of the study are presented in the form of a band-averaged broadening coefficient for N2, band-averaged broadening factors for O2, Ar, and He, and wavelength dependent broadening coefficients for N2, O2, Ar, and He. Comparisons are made with other experimental and theoretical results. In addition transmittances were calculated for homogeneous paths using some of the molecular parameters determined in the study and compared with measured transmittances.
A theoretical and experimental investigation of the kinetics of CO2 dimer formation in the adiabatically expanding core of a free jet expansion has been carried out. The theoretical analysis is based on dimer formation by an efficient termolecular process and dimer destruction by bimolecular collisions. Account is taken of the expected variation of the specific heat ratio during the expansion and of the effective increase in the termolecular collision rate at low temperatures due to the presence of loosely bound orbiting pairs. Experimental dimer concentrations were measured mass spectrometrically by forming a molecular beam from the expanded gas mixture after the onset of molecular flow. Observed dimer concentrations, for a range of pre-expansion conditions of 400 to 900 torr pressure and room temperature, are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis, provided that account is taken of the effect of loosely bound orbiting pairs at low temperatures.
The construction and processing of four test lasers are discussed, and the test results are assessed. Tests show that the best performance was obtained from cathodes made from internally oxidized Ag-Cu alloys or pure Cu. Due to the cold cathode technology developments, sealed-off 1 w CO2 lasers with gas volumes of only 50 cu cm were duplicated, and have performed satisfactorily for more than 6000 hours.
The probability of radiation producing ions in specific electronic and vibrational levels was documented. For example, when a narrow band-pass of solar ionizing photons is incident on an atmospheric species it is now possible to describe, accurately, how the radiant energy is shared among the various electronic states of the ions produced. The molecules studied were N2, CO, and CO2. These molecules were photoionized by radiation between 53 and 75 nm. The effects of autoionization are discussed and continuum vibrational intensities are tabulated and compared with theoretical Franck-Condon factors where available. The branching ratios and partial cross sections for ionization into various electronic states are tabulated.
The arc-driven Langley 6-inch shock tube has been used to produce shock waves in CO2 in the speed range between 9 and 13 km/sec at ambient pressures between 0.1 and 5 torr. These pressures correspond approximately to equivalent Venus altitudes between 100 and 80 km. Radiation intensity profiles behind the shock waves have been observed for several wavelengths at which the important species emit. Observation and analysis of the luminosity profiles in the zone of chemical nonequilibrium have been given particular emphasis. The results of the measurements are employed in the prediction of nonequilibrium radiative heating to a typical blunt-body probe entering the Venus atmosphere on a ballistic trajectory.
Computations of the equivalent widths of absorption lines as a function of planetary phase angle are made for a homogeneous cloud with particles having the properties (shape, refractive index, and size distribution) deduced from polarimetry of Venus. The computed equivalent widths show an 'inverse phase effect' comparable to that which is observed for CO2 lines on Venus. This result verifies a recent suggestion of Regas et al. that the existence of an inverse phase effect does not by itself imply the presence of multiple layers of scattering particles in the atmosphere of Venus.
A primary factor governing hypersonic flowfield characteristics of blunt vehicles entering planetary atmospheres is the normal shock density ratio. Hence, a means of duplicating or simulating the high density ratios experienced during planetary entry is needed. One facility having the capability of generating a range of hypersonic-hypervelocity flow conditions in arbitrary test gases is the expansion tube. Preliminary shock shape results obtained in the Langley 6-in. expansion tube at hypersonic conditions are presented. Normal shock density ratios from approximately 4 to 19 were generated using helium, air, and CO2 test gases at freestream velocities from 5 to 7 km/sec. Test models were a flat-faced cylinder and the Viking aeroshell.