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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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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Improving the Freight Productivity of a Heavy-Duty, Battery Electric Truck by Intelligent Energy Management

This project aimed to enhance the range and reduce the operating costs of battery electric Class 8 trucks traveling over 250 miles daily. This was achieved through the development and implementation of an intelligent-Energy Management System (i-EMS) that leverages vehicle and operations data, physics-aware machine learning algorithms, and vehicle-to-cloud (V2C) connectivity. The project hypothesized that advanced machine learning algorithms and real-time data analytics could significantly improve the energy efficiency and range of these trucks. Key objectives included developing a physics-aware machine learning algorithm, implementing an i-EMS with V2C connectivity and physics-aware spatial data analytics (PSDA), and validating the system’s effectiveness with fleet partners HEB Companies and Murphy Logistics. Extensive data collection from vehicle operations, including vehicle characteristics, road conditions, and payload, was conducted. A machine learning algorithm was developed to predict energy consumption and enable proactive decision-making. The i-EMS was implemented on two Volvo VNR BEVs, with operators receiving charging and routing recommendations. Charging stations were installed at depot locations in Texas and Minnesota, with an additional on-route charger in Minnesota. Significant findings included a 14% range improvement for Murphy Logistics on a highway-driving eco-route and a 22% range improvement for HEB Companies on a city-driving eco-route. The i-EMS utilized rule-based methods and physics-based algorithms to predict and reduce energy consumption, with real-time monitoring and analysis through V2C connectivity enabling proactive decision-making. The project demonstrated the feasibility and economic viability of battery electric Class 8 trucks for long-haul operations, showcasing the potential of physics-aware machine learning in optimizing energy management. The successful implementation of the i-EMS in real-world scenarios validates its practical application and effectiveness, paving the way for the widespread adoption of battery electric vehicles in the freight transportation industry.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

High-Entropy Borides under Extreme Environment of Pressures and Temperatures

The high-entropy transition metal borides containing a random distribution of five or more constituent metallic elements offer novel opportunities in designing materials that show crystalline phase stability, high strength, and thermal oxidation resistance under extreme conditions. We present a comprehensive theoretical and experimental investigation of prototypical high-entropy boride (HEB) materials such as (Hf, Mo, Nb, Ta, Ti)B2 and (Hf, Mo, Nb, Ta, Zr)B2 under extreme environments of pressures and temperatures. The theoretical tools include modeling elastic properties by special quasi-random structures that predict a bulk modulus of 288 GPa and a shear modulus of 215 GPa at ambient conditions. HEB samples were synthesized under high pressures and high temperatures and studied to 9.5 GPa and 2273 K in a large-volume pressure cell. The thermal equation of state measurement yielded a bulk modulus of 276 GPa, in excellent agreement with theory. The measured compressive yield strength by radial X-ray diffraction technique in a diamond anvil cell was 28 GPa at a pressure of 65 GPa, which is a significant fraction of the shear modulus at high pressures. The high compressive strength and phase stability of this material under high pressures and high temperatures make it an ideal candidate for application as a structural material in nuclear and aerospace fields.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1999

Noise and Bandwidth Measurements of Diffusion-Cooled Nb Hot-Electron Bolometer Mixers at Frequencies Above the Superconductive Energy Gap

Diffusion-cooled Nb hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers have the potential to simultaneously achieve high intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidths and low mixer noise temperatures for operation at THz frequencies (above the superconductive gap energy). We have measured the IF signal bandwidth at 630 GHz of Nb devices with lengths L = 0.3, 0.2, and 0.1 micrometer in a quasioptical mixer configuration employing twin-slot antennas. The 3-dB EF bandwidth increased from 1.2 GHz for the 0.3 gm long device to 9.2 GHz for the 0.1 gm long device. These results demonstrate the expected 1/L squared dependence of the IF bandwidth at submillimeter wave frequencies for the first time, as well as the largest EF bandwidth obtained to date. For the 0.1 gm device, which had the largest bandwidth, the double sideband (DSB) noise temperature of the receiver was 320-470 K at 630 GHz with an absorbed LO power of 35 nW, estimated using the isothermal method. A version of this mixer with the antenna length scaled for operation at 2.5 THz has also been tested. A DSB receiver noise temperature of 1800 plus or minus 100 K was achieved, which is about 1,000 K lower than our previously reported results. These results demonstrate that large EF bandwidth and low-noise operation of a diffusion-cooled HEB mixer is possible at THz frequencies with the same device geometry.

Wyss, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Fabrication of an Aluminum Based Hot Electron Mixer for Terahertz Applications

Aluminum based diffusion cooled hot electron bolometers (HEB) mixers, predicted to have better noise, bandwidth and to require less LO power than Nb based diffusion cooled HEBs, have been fabricated. Preliminary DC tests were performed. The bolometer elements consisted of short (0.1 to 0.3 micron), narrow (0.08 to 0. 15 micron) and thin (11 nm) aluminum wires connected to large contact pads consisting of a novel trilayer Al/Ti/Au. The patterns were defined by electron beam lithography and the metal deposition involved a double angle process, the Aluminum wires being deposited straight on and the pads being deposited at a 45 degree angle without breaking vacuum. The Al/Ti/Au trilayer was developed to provide a way of making contact between the aluminum wire and the gold antenna. The Titanium layer acts as a diffusion barrier to avoid damage of the Aluminum contact and bolometer wire and to lower the transition temperature of the pads to below that of the bolometer wire. The Au layer avoids the formation of an oxide on the Ti layer and provides good electrical contact to the IF/antenna structure. The resistance of the bolometers as a function of temperature was measured. It is clear that below the transition temperature of the wire (1.8K) but above the transition temperature of the contact pads (0.6K), the proximity effect drives most of the bolometer wire normal, causing a very broad transition. This effect should not affect the performance of the bolometers since they will be operated at a temperature below the TC of the pads. This is evident from the IV characteristics measured at 0.3K. RF characterization tests will begin shortly.

Echternach, P. M.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Microwave Mixing and if Bandwidth in Sub-Micron Long High -T(sub c) Hot - Electron Bolometers

The hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer made from a high-T(sub c) superconductor (HTS) was introduced recently as a competing alternative to a Schottky mixer. The HEB mixer would require 100-times less LO power and thus would be a desirable candidate for long-term observational missions such as atmospheric remote-sensing and planetary science. The required cooling temperatures between 65 K and 75 K can be achieved with available space-qualified coolers or even with passive radiative coolers.

Harnack, Oliver↗
NASA NTRS2001

HgCdTe Photoconductive Mixers for 2-8 THz

Heterodyne spectroscopy has been taken to wavelengths as short as 63 micrometers with Schottky-diode mixers. Schottkys, however, are relatively insensitive compared to superconducting mixers such as the hot-electron microbolometer (HEB), which has an effective quantum efficiency of 3% at 120 micrometers (2.5 THz). Although HEB sensitivities are bound to improve, there will always be losses associated with antenna coupling of radiation into sub-micron size devices. Another approach to far infrared (FIR) mixer design is to use a photoconductive device which can be made much larger than a wavelength, and thus act as its own antenna. For example, HgCdTe photodiodes have been used as mixers in the lambda = 10 micrometers band for over 25 years, with sensitivities now only a factor of 2 from the quantum-noise-limit. HgCdTe can also be applied at FIR wavelengths, but surprisingly little work has been done to date. The exception is the pioneering work of Spears and Kostiuk and Spears, who developed HgCdTe photomixers for the 20-120 micrometer region. The spectral versatility of the HgCdTe alloy is well recognized for wavelengths as long as 8-20 micrometers. What is not so recognized, however, is that theoretically there is no long wavelength limit for appropriately composited HgCdTe. Although Spears successfully demonstrated a photoconductive response from HgCdTe at 120 micrometers, this initial effort was apparently never followed up, in part because of the difficulty of controlling the HgCdTe alloy composition with liquid-phase-epitaxy (LPE) techniques. With the availability of precise molecular-beam-epitaxy (MBE) since the early 1990's, it is now appropriate to reconsider HgCdTe for detector applications longward of lambda = 20 micrometers. We recently initiated an effort to fabricate detectors and mixers using II-VI materials for FIR wavelengths. Of particular interest are device structures called superlattices, which offer a number of advantages for high sensitivity direct detectors and very long wavelength heterodyne mixers.

Betz, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Tunable All-Solid-State Local Oscillators to 1900 GHz

We present a status report of an ongoing effort to develop robust tunable all-solid-state sources up to 1900 GHz for the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI) on the Herschel Space Observatory. GaAs based multi-chip power amplifier modules at W-band are used to drive cascaded chains of multipliers. We have demonstrated performance from chains comprised of four doublers up to 1600 GHz as well as from a x2x3x3 chain to 1900 GHz. Measured peak output power of 23 (micro)W at 1782 GHz and 2.6 (micro)W at 1900 GHz has been achieved when the multipliers are cooled to 120K. The 1900 GHz tripler was pumped with a four anode tripler that produces a peak of 4 mW at 630 GHz when cooled to 120 K. We believe that these sources can now be used to pump hot electron bolometer (HEB) heterodyne mixers.ter (HEB) heterodyne mixers.

local oscillator↗
NASA NTRS2012

Terahertz Radiation Heterodyne Detector Using Two-Dimensional Electron Gas in a GaN Heterostructure

High-resolution submillimeter/terahertz spectroscopy is important for studying atmospheric and interstellar molecular gaseous species. It typically uses heterodyne receivers where an unknown (weak) signal is mixed with a strong signal from the local oscillator (LO) operating at a slightly different frequency. The non-linear mixer devices for this frequency range are unique and are not off-the-shelf commercial products. Three types of THz mixers are commonly used: Schottky diode, superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB), and superconductor-insulation-superconductor (SIS) junction. A HEB mixer based on the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed at the interface of two slightly dissimilar semiconductors was developed. This mixer can operate at temperatures between 100 and 300 K, and thus can be used with just passive radiative cooling available even on small spacecraft.

Karasik, Boris S.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Monolayer Graphene Bolometer as a Sensitive Far-IR Detector

In this paper we give a detailed analysis of the expected sensitivity and operating conditions in the power detection mode of a hot-electron bolometer (HEB) made from a few micro m(sup 2) of monolayer graphene (MLG) flake which can be embedded into either a planar antenna or waveguide circuit via NbN (or NbTiN) superconducting contacts with critical temperature approx. 14 K. Recent data on the strength of the electron-phonon coupling are used in the present analysis and the contribution of the readout noise to the Noise Equivalent Power (NEP) is explicitly computed. The readout scheme utilizes Johnson Noise Thermometry (JNT) allowing for Frequency-Domain Multiplexing (FDM) using narrowband filter coupling of the HEBs. In general, the filter bandwidth and the summing amplifier noise have a significant effect on the overall system sensitivity.

noise thermometry↗
NASA NTRS2005

Hot-Electron Bolometer Mixers on Silicon-on-Insulator Substrates for Terahertz Frequencies

A terahertz Hot-Electron Bolometer (HEB) mixer design using device substrates based on Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) technology is described. This substrate technology allows very thin chips (6 pm) with almost arbitrary shape to be manufactured, so that they can be tightly fitted into a waveguide structure and operated at very high frequencies with only low risk for power leakages and resonance modes. The NbTiN-based bolometers are contacted by gold beam-leads, while other beamleads are used to hold the chip in place in the waveguide test fixture. The initial tests yielded an equivalent receiver noise temperature of 3460 K double-sideband at a local oscillator frequency of 1.462 THz and an intermediate frequency of 1.4 GHz.

bolometer↗
NASA NTRS1998

Far-Infrared Heterodyne Spectrometer for SOFIA

This report summarizes work done under NASA Grant NAG2-1062 awarded to the University of Colorado. The project goal was to evaluate the scientific capabilities and technical requirements for a far-infrared heterodyne spectrometer suitable for the SOFIA Airborne Observatory, which is now being developed by NASA under contract to the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). The conclusions detailed below include our specific recommendations for astronomical observations, as well as our intended technical approach for reaching these scientific goals. These conclusions were presented to USRA in the form of a proposal to build this instrument. USRA subsequently awarded the University of Colorado a 3-year grant (USRA 8500-98-010) to develop the proposed Hot-Electron micro-Bolometer (HEB) mixer concept for high frequencies above 3 THz, as well as other semiconductor mixer technologies suitable for high sensitivity receivers in the 2-6 THz frequency band.

Betz, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Far-Infrared Heterodyne Spectrometer for Sofia

The project goal was to evaluate the scientific capabilities and technical requirements for a far-infrared heterodyne spectrometer suitable for the SOFIA Airborne Observatory, which is now being developed by NASA under contract to the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). The conclusions detailed below include our specific recommendations for astronomical observations, as well as our intended technical approach for reaching these scientific goals. These conclusions were presented to USRA in the form of a proposal to build this instrument. USRA subsequently awarded the University of Colorado a 3-year grant to develop the proposed Hot-Electron micro-Bolometer (HEB) mixer concept for high frequencies above 3 THz, as well as other semiconductor mixer technologies suitable for high sensitivity receivers in the 2-6 THz frequency band.

Betz, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Superconducting Nb DHEB Mixer Arrays for Far-Infrared Spectroscopy

We are developing a heterodyne focal plane array with up to eight elements to study lines of the interstellar medium and planetary atmospheres with frequencies of 2 THz and above. Our fabrication process utilizes selective ion milling techniques to produce Nb Diffusion-Cooled Hot Electron Bolometric (DHEB) mixers from a bilayer thin film of Au/Nb deposited on a silicon substrate. A micro-bridge of 10 nm thick Nb forms the HEB device. The first generation of devices with lateral dimensions of 100 nm by 80 nm were fabricated at the feed of a broadband spiral antenna with a frequency response designed for up to 16 THz. Harmonic multiplier sources becoming available within the next few years should have sufficient power to provide a local-oscillator source for small-format, quasi-optically coupled arrays of these mixers. First generation devices measured at our laboratory have demonstrated a critical temperature (Tc) of 4.8 K with a 0.5 K transition width. These DHEB mixers are expected to have an optimum operational temperature of 1.8-2.0 K. The current four element array mixer block will ultimately be replaced by a dual polarization slot-ring array configuration with up to eight elements.

Gerecht, E.↗
NASA NTRS2001

A Low-Noise NbTiN Hot Electron Bolometer Mixer

Hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer elements, based on niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN) thin film technology, have been fabricated on crystalline quartz substrates over a 20 nm thick AlN buffer layer. The film was patterned by optical lithography, yielding bolometer elements that measure about 1 micrometer long and between 2 and 12 micrometers wide. These mixer chips were mounted in a fixed-tuned waveguide mixer block, and tested in the 600 and 800 GHz frequency range. The 3-dB output bandwidth of these mixers was determined to be about 2.5 GHz and we measured a receiver noise temperature of 270 K at 630 GHz using an intermediate frequency of 1.5 GHz. The receiver has excellent amplitude stability and the noise temperature measurements are highly repeatable. An 800 GHz receiver incorporating one of these mixer chips has recently been installed at the Sub-Millimeter Telescope in Arizona for field test and for astronomical observations.

Tong, C. Edward↗
NASA NTRS2004

THIS: A Next Generation Tuneable Heterodyne Infrared Spectrometer for SOFIA

A new infrared heterodyne instrument has been developed which allows the use of both tuneable diode lasers (TDL) and quantum cascade lasers (QCL) as local oscillators (LO). The current frequency tuning range of our system extends from 900 to 1100/cm depending on the availability of lasers but is planned to be extended to 600/cm soon. The IF-bandwidth is 1.4 GHz using an acousto-optical spectrometer (AOS). The frequency resolution and stability of the system is approximately 10(exp 7). Currently, mercury-cadmium-telluride (MCT) detectors are used as mixers while new devices like quantum-well-infrared-photodetectors (QWIP) and hot-electron-bolometers (HEB) are investigated. The IF-bandwidth can be extended to about 3 GHz by using a new broadband acousto-optical spectrometer presently under development. The instrument is fully transportable and can be attached to any infrared or optical telescope. The semiconductor laser is stabilized to a Fabry-Perot ring-resonator, which is also used as an efficient diplexer to superimpose the local-oscillator and the signal radiation. As a first step measurements of trace gases in Earth's atmosphere and non-LTE emission from Venus' atmosphere were carried out as well as observations of molecular features in sunspots. Further astronomical observations from ground-based telescopes and the airborne observatory SOFIA are planned for the future. Of particular interest are molecules without a permanent dipole moment like H2, CH4, C2H2 etc.

Sonnabend, Guido↗