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At least 1,675 records · Page 93
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1980

Array automated assembly task low cost silicon solar array project, phase 2

Analyses of solar cell and module process steps for throughput rate, cost effectiveness, and reproductibility are reported. In addition to the concentration on cell and module processing sequences, an investigation was made into the capability of using microwave energy in the diffusion, sintering, and thick film firing steps of cell processing. Although the entire process sequence was integrated, the steps are treated individually with test and experimental data, conclusions, and recommendations.

Olson, C.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Thermal and flow analysis of a convection air-cooled ceramic coated porous metal concept for turbine vanes

The heat transfer and pressure drop through turbine vanes made of a sintered, porous metal coated with a thin layer of ceramic and convection cooled by spanwise flow of cooling air were analyzed. The analysis was made to determine the feasibility of using this concept for cooling very small turbines, primarily for short duration applications such as in missile engines. The analysis was made for gas conditions of approximately 10 and 40 atm and 1644 K and with turbine vanes made of felt type porous metals with relative densities from 0.2 to 0.6 and ceramic coating thicknesses of 0.076 to 0.254 mm.

Stepka, F. S.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Cell and method for electrolysis of water and anode

An electrolytic cell for converting water vapor to oxygen and hydrogen include an anode comprising a foraminous conductive metal substrate with a 65-85 weight percent iridium oxide coating and 15-35 weight percent of a high temperature resin binder. A matrix member contains an electrolyte to which a cathode substantially inert. The foraminous metal member is most desirably expanded tantalum mesh, and the cell desirably includes reservoir elements of porous sintered metal in contact with the anode to receive and discharge electrolyte to the matrix member as required. Upon entry of a water vapor containing airstream into contact with the outer surface of the anode and thence into contact with iridium oxide coating, the water vapor is electrolytically converted to hydrogen ions and oxygen with the hydrogen ions migrating through the matrix to the cathode and the oxygen gas produced at the anode to enrich the air stream passing by the anode.

Aylward, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Vacuum pumping system for spaceborne passive hydrogen masers

The ultimate utility of hydrogen masers as highly accurate clocks aboard navigation satellites depends on the feasibility of making the maser lightweight, compact, and capable of a 5 to 7 year unattended operation. A vacuum pumping system for the maser that is believed to meet these criteria was designed and fabricated. The pumping system was fabricated almost completely from 6Al-4V titanium alloy and incorporates two or four sintered zirconium carbon getter pumps with integral activation heaters. The manner in which the getter pumps were mounted to insure that they will stand both the activation and the shock of launch is illustrated. Data on the total hydrogen capacity and pumping of this system is also presented.

Wolf, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Thermally grown oxide and diffusions for automatic processing of integrated circuits

A totally automated facility for semiconductor oxidation and diffusion was developed using a state-of-the-art diffusion furnace and high temperature grown oxides. Major innovations include: (1) a process controller specifically for semiconductor processing; (2) an automatic loading system to accept wafers from an air track, insert them into a quartz carrier and then place the carrier on a paddle for insertion into the furnace; (3) automatic unloading of the wafers back onto the air track, and (4) boron diffusion using diborane with plus or minus 5 percent uniformity. Processes demonstrated include Wet and dry oxidation for general use and for gate oxide, boron diffusion, phosphorous diffusion, and sintering.

Kennedy, B. W.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Trends and Techniques for Space Base Electronics

Simulations of various phosphorus and boron diffusions in SOS were completed and a sputtering system, furnaces, and photolithography related equipment were set up. Double layer metal experiments initially utilized wet chemistry techniques. By incorporating ultrasonic etching of the vias, premetal cleaning a modified buffered HF, phosphorus doped vapox, and extended sintering, yields of 98% were obtained using the standard test pattern. A two dimensional modeling program was written for simulating short channel MOSFETs with nonuniform substrate doping. A key simplifying assumption used is that the majority carriers can be represented by a sheet charge at the silicon dioxide silicon interface. Although the program is incomplete, the two dimensional Poisson equation for the potential distribution was achieved. The status of other Z-D MOSFET simulation programs is summarized.

Trotter, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Vapor-liquid phase separator permeability results

Continued studies are described in the area of vapor-liquid phase separator work with emphasis on permeabilities of porous sintered plugs (stainless steel, nominal pore size 2 micrometer). The temperature dependence of the permeability has been evaluated in classical fluid using He-4 gas at atmospheric pressure and in He-2 on the basis of a modified, thermosmotic permeability of the normal fluid.

Yuan, S. W. K.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Turbulent boundary layer over solid and porous surfaces with small roughness

The turbulent boundary layer over a smooth, solid wall is examined along with a sandpaper-roughened, solid wall, and a porous wall. Suitable results are obtained with the smooth, solid wall for the Law of the Wall, the Defect Law, and the axial and turbulence intensities. The logarithmic portion of the Wall Law is shifted in the sandpaper-roughened, solid wall and an increase in the normal turbulence intensity and Reynolds stress is observed. An increase in the local skin friction values and all the turbulence values is found with the porous wall. The influence of a slightly rough, porous wall of sintered metal on the boundary layer is compared with a solid sandpaper-roughened wall in the same nominal K(+) range.

Kong, F. Y.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Screenable silver and base metal solar cell contacts

The metallurgical soundness of the all-metal screenable thick film electrode system is established for silver and copper electrodes. Silver fluoride was identified as a successful etchant material and is found most effective in the liquid phase (435-460 C). Best results were achieved with the eutectic alloys of dopants and semiconductors. The air-fired silver inks were strongly adherent, rugged, and solderable, whereas the hydrogen-fired silver inks had very poor adhesion. A two-step firing process was devised in which copper inks containing silver fluoride were activated in a nitrogen atmosphere, with sintering done at the same or higher temperatures in hydrogen. Good solar cells were made using the copper paste back contacts demonstrating that the electrodes are not the limiting factors in efficiency.

Ross, B.↗
NASA NTRS1980

An all-plated, low cost contact system for silicon solar cells

The plating sequences Pd-Cr-Cu and Pd-Ni-Cu are demonstrated. The surface was sensitized with a 50 A-thick Pd layer obtained from an immersion bath. After 15 min heating at 400 C in N2, a thin barrier layer of either Cr or Ni was deposited from electroless baths operated at temperatures around 90 C. The sintering process was repeated, and a thin copper layer of 500 A was deposited by electroless means. An electrolytic copper bath was used to build the copper layer to 3-4 micron thicknesses. Cells with good I-V curves were obtained, and the all-plated contacts had good adhesion. Preliminary cost estimates show that the process costs approximately 12 cents per watt excluding the cost of the masking procedure.

Tanner, D. P.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Nickel contacts for low cost solar cells

It is noted that nickel metallization of silicon solar cells offers a relatively inexpensive method of making electrical contact with the surface of the cell. More expensive methods, involving precious metals and costly processes, are widely used; these have been developed for space applications, where considerations of reliability predominate over those of cost. Since recent interest in terrestrial applications of solar cells has led to an increased concern over cost, nickel has assumed a position as a major candidate for solar cell metallization. It is shown that sintering can improve the integrity of the nickel-silicon bond. Evidence that the nickel-silicon contact can survive moderate environmental stress is presented.

Anderson, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Fracture toughness of brittle materials determined with chevron notch specimens

Short bar, short rod, and four-point-bend chevron-notch specimens were used to determine the plane strain fracture toughness of hot-pressed silicon nitride and sintered aluminum oxide brittle ceramics. The unique advantages of this specimen type are: (1) the production of a sharp natural crack during the early stage of test loading, so that no precracking is required, and (2) the load passes through a maximum at a constant, material-independent crack length-to-width ratio for a specific geometry, so that no post-test crack measurement is required. The plane strain fracture toughness is proportional to the maximum test load and functions of the specimen geometry and elastic compliance. Although results obtained for silicon nitride are in good mutual agreement and relatively free of geometry and size effects, aluminum oxide results were affected in both these respects by the rising crack growth resistance curve of the material.

Shannon, J. L., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Carbon Cloth Supports Catalytic Electrodes

Carbon cloth is starting material for promising new catalytic electrodes. Carbon-cloth electrodes are more efficient than sintered-carbon configuration previously used. Are also chemically stable and require less catalyst--an important economic advantage when catalyst is metal such as platinum.

Lu, W. T. P.↗
NASA NTRS1981

InGaAsP/InP laser development for single-mode, high-data-rate communications

Materials studies as well as general and specific device development were carried out in the InGaAsP system. A comparison was made of three standard methods of evaluating substrate quality by means of dislocation studies. A cause of reduced yield of good wafers, the pullover of melt from one bin to the next, has been analyzed. Difficulties with reproducible zinc acceptor doping have been traced to segregation of zinc in the In/Zn alloy used for the doping source. Using EBIC measurments, the pn junction was shown to drift in location depending on factors not always under control. An analysis of contact structures by SIMS showed that the depth to which the sintered Au/Zn contact penetrates into the structure is typically 0.13 microns, or well within the cap layer and out of the p-type cladding and thus not deleterious to laser prformance. The problem of single-mode laser development was investigated and it was shown to be related to the growth habit over four different possible substrate configurations. The fabrication of constricted double heterojunctions, mesa stripe buried heterostructures, and buried heterostructures was discussed, and measurements were presented on the device properties of single-mode buried heterostructure lasers. Results include single spectral line emission at 3 mW and a threshold current of 60 mA.

Ladany, I.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Nitridation of silicon

Silicon powders with three levels of impurities, principally Fe, were sintered in He or H2. Non-densifying mechanisms of material transport were dominant in all cases. High purity Si showed coarsening in He while particle growth was suppressed in H2. Lower purity powder coarsened in both He and H2. The same three Si powders and Si /111/ single crystal wafers were nitrided in both N2 and N2/H2 atmospheres. Hydrogen increased the degree of nitridation of all three powders and the alpha/beta ratio of the lower purity powder. Some Si3N4 whiskers and open channels through the surface nitride layer were observed in the presence of Fe, correlating with the nitridation-enhancing effects of Fe. Thermodynamic calculations showed that when SiO2 is present on the Si, addition of H2 to the nitriding atmosphere decreases the amount of SiO2 and increases the partial pressure of Si-containing vapor species, that is, Si and SiO. Large amounts of NH3 and SiH4 were also predicted to form.

Shaw, N. J.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Development of high strength, high temperature ceramics

Improvement in the high-pressure turbopumps, both fuel and oxidizer, in the Space Shuttle main engine were considered. The operation of these pumps is limited by temperature restrictions of the metallic components used in these pumps. Ceramic materials that retain strength at high temperatures and appear to be promising candidates for use as turbine blades and impellers are discussed. These high strength materials are sensitive to many related processing parameters such as impurities, sintering aids, reaction aids, particle size, processing temperature, and post thermal treatment. The specific objectives of the study were to: (1) identify and define the processing parameters that affect the properties of Si3N4 ceramic materials, (2) design and assembly equipment required for processing high strength ceramics, (3) design and assemble test apparatus for evaluating the high temperature properties of Si3N4, and (4) conduct a research program of manufacturing and evaluating Si3N4 materials as applicable to rocket engine applications.

Hall, W. B.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Thermal shock resistance of silicon oxynitride

The thermal shock resistance of Si2N2O refractory material was studied. The thermal expansion coeff. is 3.55x10 to the -6th power at 20 to 800 C and 2.86x10 to the -6th power m/m/deg at 20 to 200 C. The breaking loads are high at high stress. Young's modulus E and the shear modulus G decrease linearly with increasing porosity. For dense material E sub o approx. = 216,500 N/mm2 and G approx = 90,600 N/mm2. The Vickers hardness of the dense material is comparable to that of sapphire. The results on thermal shock show that R, the breaking load, stays constant for T T sub c, the first cracks appear and R decreases sharply for T=T sub c. As the severity of the thermal shock is increased at T T sub c, a small no. of new, large-size cracks appears. The shock's cumulative effect is negligible, and repeated shocks do not change the cracks. The low values of the thermal expansion coefficient and Young's modulus and the high tension breaking load are considered. Sintered Si2N2O with 5% MgO shows excellent cracking resistance under thermal shock.

Glandus, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Magnetic shielding and vacuum test for passive hydrogen masers

Vibration tests on high permeability magnetic shields used in the SAO-NRL Advanced Development Model (ADM) hydrogen maser were made. Magnetic shielding factors were measured before and after vibration. Preliminary results indicate considerable (25%) degradation. Test results on the NRL designed vacuum pumping station for the ADM hydrogen maser are also discussed. This system employs sintered zirconium carbon getter pumps to pump hydrogen plus small ion pumps to pump the inert gases. In situ activation tests and pumping characteristics indicate that the system can meet design specifications.

Gubser, D. U.↗