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NASA NTRS1991

Reduced electrical bandwidth receivers for direct detection 4-ary PPM optical communication intersatellite links

This interim progress report consists of copies of three reports written for NASA's Flight System Development and Demonstration (FSDD) project on optical intersatellite links. The first report, 'Test results of the PlessCor avalanche photodiode (APD) preamplifier for use in the 50 Mbps quaternary pulse position modulator (QPPM) receiver,' was prepared for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The second, 'Performance of Q-ary PPM receiver under additive white Gaussian noise,' was prepared at the request of NASA Lewis Research Center for testing the electronic systems for the FSDD project. The third, 'Use of a Bessel lowpass filter as an approximate raised cosine filter,' was written for raised cosine filter implementation in the FSDD QPPM receiver.

Davidson, Frederic M.↗

NASA NTRS1992

A portable lidar using a diode-pumped YAG laser

A Mie lidar system is technically established and is used for monitoring air pollution, stratospheric and boundary layer aerosol distribution, plume dispersion, visibility, and the study of atmospheric structure and cloud physics. However, a lidar system is not widely used because of its cumbersome handling and unwieldy portability. Although the author developed a laser diode lidar system based on RM-CW technique, it has a limit of measurement distance. Here we report the development of an all solid Mie lidar system using a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser and a Si-APD detector. This was constructed as a prototype of a handy lidar system.

Takeuchi, N.↗

NASA NTRS1992

A payload to evaluate photodiodes for the detection of soft and hard x rays in a space environment using a Get Away Special

We propose to use the Get Away Special (GAS) facility to evaluate P-intrinsic-N (PIN) detectors and avalanche photodiodes (APD's) for the detection of both solar and nonsolar soft and hard x rays. We would like to fly both types of silicon detectors for the direct detection of the x ray photons in the energy range from 1 to 30 keV with an energy resolution of about 1 keV. We would also like to use both types of photodiodes viewing CsI(Tl) scintillators to extend the energy range up to 1 MeV with -6 percent resolution at 660 keV. Solar flares would be detected with this instrumentation during periods of solar pointing providing high energy resolution spectra with high time resolution. Similar data would be obtained in the scanning mode on nonsolar transient and steady x ray sources with the same instrumentation. A commandable door over the detectors would be required to allow measurements to be made as low as 1 keV.

Desai, Upendra D.↗

NASA NTRS1992

An acoustic charge transport imager for high definition television applications

In this report we present the progress during the second six month period of the project. This includes both experimental and theoretical work on the acoustic charge transport (ACT) portion of the chip, the theoretical program modelling of both the avalanche photodiode (APD) and the charge transfer and overflow transistor and the materials growth and fabrication part of the program.

Hunt, William D.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Reduced electrical bandwidth receivers for direct detection 4-ary PPM optical communication intersatellite links

One of the major sources of noise in a direct detection optical communication receiver is the shot noise due to the quantum nature of the photodetector. The shot noise is signal dependent and is neither Gaussian nor wide sense stationary. When a photomultiplier tube (PMT) or an avalanche photodiode (APD) is used, there is also a multiplicative excess noise due to the randomness of the internal photodetector gain. Generally speaking, the radio frequency (RF) communication theory cannot be applied to direct detection optical communication systems because noise in RF communication systems is usually additive and Gaussian. A receiver structure which is mathematically optimal for signal dependent shot noise is derived. Several suboptimal receiver structures are discussed and compared with the optimal receiver. The objective is to find a receiver structure which is easy to implement and gives close to optimal performance.

Davidson, Frederic M.↗

NASA NTRS1993

OTV bearing deflection investigation

The primary goal of the Bearing Deflectometer Investigation was to gain experience in the use of fiber optic displacement probe technology for bearing health monitoring in a liquid hydrogen turbo pump. The work specified in this Task Order was conducted in conjunction with Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory Contract F04611-86-C-0010. APD conducted the analysis and design coordination to provide a displacement probe design compatible with the XLR-134 liquid hydrogen turbo pump assembly (TPA). Specifications and requirements of the bearing deflectometer were established working with Mechanical Technology Instruments, Inc. (MTI). The TPA design accommodated positioning of the probe to measure outer race cyclic deflections of the pump inlet bearing. The fiber optic sensor was installed as required in the TPA and sensor output was recorded during the TPA testing. Data review indicated that no bearing deflection signature could be differentiated from the inherent system noise. Alternate sensor installations were not investigated, but might yield different results.

Reimer, B. L.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Comparison of direct detection 50 Mbps Q-PPM receiver performance for AlGaAs and Nd doped laser transmitters

We present a theoretical and experimental performance comparison of a free space direct detection 50 Mbps quaternary pulse position modulation (Q-PPM) communications receiver for Nd:YAG and AlGaAs laser transmitters. Using silicon avalanche photodiodes (APD), we achieved a receiver sensitivity of 2.6 nW (264 incident photons/bit) at 1060 nm and 0.77 nW (59 incident photons/bit) at 810 nm (bit error rate (BER) of 10 exp -6). This is the best sensitivity ever reported for a direct detection receiver at 1060 nm. The experimental results were in good agreement with theoretical predictions.

Unger, G. L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Miniaturization in x ray and gamma ray spectroscopy

The paper presents advances in two new sensor technologies and a miniaturized associated electronics technology which, when combined, can allow for very significant miniaturization and for the reduction of weight and power consumption in x-ray and gamma-ray spectroscopy systems: (1) Mercuric iodide (HgI2) x-ray technology, which allows for the first time the construction of truly portable, high-energy resolution, non-cryogenic x-ray fluorescence (XRF) elemental analyzer systems, with parameters approaching those of laboratory quality cryogenic instruments; (2) the silicon avalanche photodiode (APD), which is a solid-state light sensitive device with internal amplification, capable of uniquely replacing the vacuum photomultiplier tube in scintillation gamma-ray spectrometer applications, and offering substantial improvements in size, ruggedness, low power operation and energy resolution; and (3) miniaturized (hybridized) low noise, low power amplification and processing electronics, which take full advantage of the favorable properties of these new sensors and allow for the design and fabrication of advanced, highly miniaturized x-ray and gamma-ray spectroscopy systems. The paper also presents experimental results and examples of spectrometric systems currently under construction. The directions for future developments are discussed.

Iwanczyk, Jan S.↗

NASA NTRS1995

LET spectra measurements from the STS-35 CPDs

Linear energy transfer (LET) spectra derived form automated track analysis system (ATAS) track parameter measurements for crew passive dosimeters (CPD's) flown with the astronauts on STS-35 are plotted. The spread between the seven individual spectra is typical of past manual measurements of sets of CPD's. This difference is probably due to the cumulative net shielding variations experienced by the CPD's as the astronauts carrying them went about their activities on the Space Shuttle. The STS-35 mission was launched on Dec. 2, 1990, at 28.5 degrees inclination and 352-km altitude. This is somewhat higher than the nominal 300-km flights and the orbit intersects more of the high intensity trapped proton region in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). However, in comparison with APD spectra measured on earlier lower altitude missions (STS-26, -29, -30, -32), the flux spectra are all roughly comparable. This may be due to the fact that the STS-35 mission took place close to solar maximum (Feb. 1990), or perhaps to shielding differences. The corresponding dose and dose equivalent spectra for this mission are shown. The effect of statistical fluctuations at the higher LET values, where track densities are small, is very noticeable. This results in an increased spread within the dose rate and dose equivalent rate spectra, as compared to the flux spectra. The contribution to dose and dose equivalent per measured track is much greater in the high LET region and the differences, though numerically small, are heavily weighted in the integral spectra. The optimum measurement and characterization of the high LET tails of the spectra represent an important part of the research into plastic nuclear track detector (PNTD) response. The integral flux, dose rate, dose equivalent rate and mission dose equivalent for the seven astronauts are also given.

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NASA NTRS1995

Summary of LET spectra and dose measurements on ten STS missions

A comparison of linear energy transfer (LET) spectra measurements made with plastic nuclear track detectors (PNTD's) from area passive dosimeters (APD's), was made for ten different STS missions under similar shielding. The results show that integral flux, dose rate and equivalent dose rate values follow a general increase with respect to increasing orbital inclination and altitude but that there are large variations from a simple relationship. This is to be expected since it has been shown that Shuttle attitude variations, combined with the anisotropic particle flux at the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), can result in differences of a factor of 2 in dose rate inside the Shuttle (Badhwar et al., 1995). Solar cycle and shielding differences also result in variations in radiation dose between STS missions. Spaceflight dosimeters from the STS missions are also being used in the development of a method for increasing LET spectra measurement accuracy by extending LET measurements to particle tracks of ranges 10-80 microns. Refinements in processing and measurement techniques for the flight PNTD's have yielded increased detection efficiencies for the short tracks when LET spectra determined by using the standard and refined methods were intercompared.

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NASA NTRS1998

Advanced Detector and Waveform Digitizer for Water Vapor DIAL Systems

Measurement of atmospheric water vapor has become a major requirement for understanding moist-air processes. Differential absorption lidar (DIAL) is a technique best suited for the measurement of atmospheric water vapor. NASA Langley Research Center is continually developing improved DIAL systems. One aspect of current development is focused on the enhancement of a DIAL receiver by applying state-of-the-art technology in building a new compact detection system that will be placed directly on the DIAL receiver telescope. The newly developed detection system has the capability of being digitally interfaced with a simple personal computer, using a discrete input/output interface. This has the potential of transmitting digital data over relatively long distances instead of analog signals, which greatly reduces measurement noise. In this paper, we discuss some results from the new compact water vapor DIAL detection system which includes a silicon based avalanche photodiode (APD) detector, a 14-bit, 10-MHz waveform digitizer, a microcontroller and other auxiliary electronics. All of which are contained on a small printed-circuit-board. This will significantly reduce the weight and volume over the current CAMAC system and eventually will be used in a water vapor DIAL system on an unpiloted atmospheric vehicle (UAV) aircraft, or alternatively on an orbiting spacecraft.

Refaat, Tamer F.↗

NASA NTRS1998

A Fiber-Optic Coupled Telescope for Water Vapor DIAL Receivers

A fiber-optic coupled telescope of low complexity was constructed and tested. The major loss mechanisms of the optical system have been characterized. Light collected by the receiver mirror is focused onto an optical fiber, and the output of the fiber is filtered by an interference filter and then focused onto an APD detector. This system was used in lidar field measurements with a 532-nm Nd:YAG laser beam. The results were encouraging. A numerical model used for calculation of the expected return signal agreed with the lidar return signal obtained. The assembled system was easy to align and operate and weighed about 8 kg for a 30 cm (12") mirror system. This weight is low enough to allow mounting of the fiber-optic telescope receiver system in a UAV. Furthermore, the good agreement between the numerical lidar model and the performance of the actual receiver system, suggests that this model may be used for estimation of the performance of this and other lidar systems in the future. Such telescopes are relatively easy to construct and align. The fiber optic cable allows easy placement of the optical detector in any position. These telescope systems should find widespread use in aircraft and space home DIAL water vapor receiver systems.

DeYoung, Russell J.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) Measurements of Atmospheric Water Vapor Utilizing Robotic Aircraft

A new unpiloted air vehicle (UAV) based water vapor DIAL system will be described. This system is expected to offer lower operating costs, longer test duration and severe weather capabilities. A new high-efficiency, compact, light weight, diode-pumped, tunable Cr:LiSAF laser will be developed to meet the UAV payload weight and size limitations and its constraints in cooling capacity, physical size and payload. Similarly, a new receiver system using a single mirror telescope and an avalanche photo diode (APD) will be developed. Projected UAV parameters are expected to allow operation at altitudes up to 20 km, endurance of 24 hrs and speed of 400 km/hr. At these conditions measurements of water vapor at an uncertainty of 2-10% with a vertical resolution of 200 m and horizontal resolution of 10 km will be possible.

Hoang, Ngoc↗

NASA NTRS1999

Design of Advanced Atmospheric Water Vapor Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) Detection System

The measurement of atmospheric water vapor is very important for understanding the Earth's climate and water cycle. The lidar atmospheric sensing experiment (LASE) is an instrument designed and operated by the Langley Research Center for high precision water vapor measurements. The design details of a new water vapor lidar detection system that improves the measurement sensitivity of the LASE instrument by a factor of 10 are discussed. The new system consists of an advanced, very low noise, avalanche photodiode (APD) and a state-of-the-art signal processing circuit. The new low-power system is also compact and lightweight so that it would be suitable for space flight and unpiloted atmospheric vehicles (UAV) applications. The whole system is contained on one small printed circuit board (9 x 15 sq cm). The detection system is mounted at the focal plane of a lidar receiver telescope, and the digital output is read by a personal computer with a digital data acquisition card.

Refaat, Tamer F.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Tropospheric Wind Profile Measurements with a Direct Detection Doppler Lidar

Research has established the importance of global tropospheric wind measurements for large scale improvements in numerical weather prediction. In addition, global wind measurements provide data that are fundamental to the understanding and prediction of global climate change. These tasks are closely linked with the goals of the NASA Earth Science Enterprise and Global Climate Change programs. NASA Goddard has been actively involved in the development of direct detection Doppler lidar methods and technologies to meet the wind observing needs of the atmospheric science community. In this paper we describe a recently developed prototype wind lidar system using a direct detection Doppler technique for measuring wind profiles from the surface through the troposphere. This system uses a pulsed ND:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm as the transmitter. The laser pulse is directed to the atmosphere using a 40 cm diameter scan mirror. The portion of the laser energy backscattered from aerosols and molecules is collected by a 40 cm diameter telescope and coupled via fiber optics into the Doppler receiver. Single photon counting APD's are used to detect the atmospheric backscattered signal. The principle element of the receiver is a dual bandpass tunable Fabry Perot etalon which analyzes the Doppler shift of the incoming laser signal using the double edge technique. The double edge technique uses two high resolution optical filters having bandpasses offset relative to one another such that the 'edge' of the first filter's transmission function crosses that of the second at the half power point. The outgoing laser frequency is located approximately at the crossover point. Due to the opposite going slopes of the edges, a Doppler shift in the atmospheric backscattered laser frequency produces a positive change in signal for one filter and a negative change in the second filter. Taking the ratio of the two edge channel signals yields a result which is directly proportional to the component of the wind along the line-of-sight of the laser. Measuring the radial wind in several directions provides sufficient information to determine the true wind speed and direction. The lidar has operated from our laboratory at Goddard since June, 1997. Wind profiles have been obtained to altitudes of 12 km with a vertical resolution of 330 in. Vector wind data are obtained by rotating the scan mirror to measure line-of-sight wind profiles for at least two azimuth angles at an elevation angle of 45 degrees. The precision of the data as determined from the standard deviation of multiple independent lidar profiles is in the range of 1 to 3 m/sec up to 10 km. Good agreement is obtained when the lidar data are compared with the upper air rawinsonde soundings taken at Dulles airport. Examples of the wind lidar data will be presented along with a description of the instrument and future developments.

Gentry, Bruce M.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Numerical Examination of Silicon Avalanche Photodiodes Operated in Charge Storage Mode

The behavior of silicon-based avalanche photodiodes (APD's) operated in the charge storage mode is examined. In the charge storage mode, the diodes are periodically biased to a sub-breakdown voltage and then open-circuited. During this integration period, photo-excited and thermally generated carriers are accumulated within the structure. The dynamics of this accumulation and its effects upon the avalanching of the diode warrants a detailed, fully numerical analysis. The salient features of this investigation include device sensitivity to the input photo-current including the self-quenching effect of the diode and its limitations in sensing low light levels, the dependence of the response on the bulk lifetime and hence on the generation current within the device, the initial gain, transient response, dependence of the device uniformity upon performance, and the quantity of storable charge within the device. To achieve these tasks our device simulator, STEBS-2D, was utilized. A modified current-controlled boundary condition is employed which allows for the simulation of the isolated diode after the initial reset bias has been applied. With this boundary condition, it is possible to establish a steady-state voltage on the ohmic contact and then effectively remove the device from the external circuit while still including effects from surface recombination, trapped surface charge, and leakage current from the read-out electronics.

Parks, Joseph W., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1999

The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) for the ICESAT Mission

Accurate measurements of surface heights and atmospheric backscatter have been demonstrated with the SLA, MOLA and LITE space lidar. Recent MOLA measurements of the Mars surface have 40 cm resolution and have reduced the global uncertainty in Mars topography from a few km to approx. 10 m. GLAS is a next generation lidar being developed as part of NASA's Icesat Mission for Earth orbit . The GLAS design combines a 10 cm precision surface lidar with a sensitive dual wavelength cloud and aerosol lidar. GLAS will precisely measure the heights of the Earth's polar ice sheets, determine the height profiles of the Earth's land topography, and profile the vertical backscatter of clouds and aerosols on a global scale. GLAS will fly on a small dedicated spacecraft in a polar orbit at 598 km altitude with an inclination of 94 degrees. GLAS is scheduled to launch in summer 2001 and to operate continuously for a minimum of 3 years with a goal of 5 years. The primary mission for GLAS is to measure the seasonal and annual changes in the heights of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. GLAS will measure the vertical distance to the ice sheet from orbit with 1064 nm pulses from a Nd:Yag laser at 40 Hz. Each 5 nsec wide laser pulse is used for a single range measurement. When over land GLAS will profile the heights of the topography and vegetation. The GLAS receiver uses a I m diameter telescope and a Si APD detector. The detector signal is sampled by an all digital receiver which records each surface echo waveform with I nsec resolution and a stored echo record lengths of either 200, 400, or 600 samples. Analysis of the echo waveforms within the instrument permits discrimination between cloud and surface echoes. Ground based echo analysis permits precise ranging, determining the roughness or slopes of the surface as well as the vertical distributions of vegetation illuminated by the laser, Errors in knowledge of the laser beam pointing angle can bias height measurements of sloped surfaces. For surfaces with 2 deg. slopes, knowledge of pointing angle of the beam centroid to about 8 urad is required to achieve 10 cm height accuracy. GLAS uses a stellar reference system (SRS) to determine the pointing angle of each laser firing relative to inertial space. The SRS uses a high precision star camera oriented toward local zenith whose measurements are combined with a gyroscope to determine the inertial orientation of the SRS optical bench. The far field pattern of each laser pulse is measured with a laser reference system (LRS). Optically measuring each laser far field pattern relative to the star camera and gyroscope permits the angular offsets of each laser pulse to be determined. GLAS will also determine the vertical distributions of clouds and aerosols by measuring atmospheric backscatter profiles at both 1064 and 532 nm. The 1064 nm measurements use an analog detector and profile the height and vertical structure of thicker clouds. Measurements at 532 nm use new highly sensitive photon counting detectors, and measure the height distributions of very thin clouds and aerosol layers. With averaging these can be used to determine the height of the planetary boundary layer. The instrument design and expected performance will be discussed.

Abshire, James B.↗

NASA NTRS2000

A New Digital Holographic Instrument for Measuring Microphysical Properties of Contrails in the SASS (Subsonic Assessment) Program

SPEC incorporated designed, built and operated a new instrument, called a pi-Nephelometer, on the NASA DC-8 for the SUCCESS field project. The pi-Nephelometer casts an image of a particle on a 400,000 pixel solid-state camera by freezing the motion of the particle using a 25 ns pulsed, high-power (60 W) laser diode. Unique optical imaging and particle detection systems precisely detect particles and define the depth-of-field so that at least one particle in the image is almost always in focus. A powerful image processing engine processes frames from the solid-state camera, identifies and records regions of interest (i.e. particle images) in real time. Images of ice crystals are displayed and recorded with 5 micron pixel resolution. In addition, a scattered light system simultaneously measures the scattering phase function of the imaged particle. The system consists of twenty-eight 1-mm optical fibers connected to microlenses bonded on the surface of avalanche photo diodes (APDs). Data collected with the pi-Nephelometer during the SUCCESS field project was reported in a special issue of Geophysical Research Letters. The pi-Nephelometer provided the basis for development of a commercial imaging probe, called the cloud particle imager (CPI), which has been installed on several research aircraft and used in More than a dozen field programs.

Lawson, R. Paul↗