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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

A combined phase contrast imaging and heterodyne interferometer system for multiscale fluctuation measurements (invited)

In this work, a novel combined diagnostic capable of measuring multiscale density fluctuations that extend from magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) to the lower range of electron temperature gradient turbulence has been designed, installed, and operated at DIII-D. The combined diagnostic was constructed by adding a heterodyne interferometer to the pre-existing phase contrast imaging (PCI) system, both of which measure line-integrated electron density fluctuations. The port-space footprint is minimized via use of a single 10.6 μm probe beam. With temporal bandwidths in excess of 1 MHz, the PCI measures high-k (1.5 cm -1 < |k R | ≤ 25 cm -1 ) fluctuations with sensitivity 3×10 13 m -2 /$\sqrt{kHz}$, while the interferometer simultaneously measures low-k (|k R | < 5 cm -1 ) fluctuations with sensitivity 3×10 14 m -2 /$\sqrt{kHz}$. The intentional mid-k overlap has been empirically verified with sound-wave calibrations and allows quantitative investigation of multiscale effects that are predicted to be significant in the reactor-relevant T e ~ T i regime. Lastly, via correlation with the primary DIII-D interferometer, the toroidal mode numbers of core-localized MHD can be measured.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

The StarLight formation-flying interferometer system architecture

The StarLight Project, scheduled for a 6-month mission in 2006, will demonstrate the new technologies of spaceborne long-baseline optical interferometry and precision formation flying necessary for the Terrestrial Planet Finder and other future astropohysics missions.

StarLight Project interferometers↗

Description of the ISEE satellite-to-satellite kilometric wavelength interferometer system

The International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE) spacecraft 1 and 2 carry receivers for detecting electromagnetic waves with kilometric wavelengths. For selected receiver frequencies from 30 kHz to 2 MHz, a 10-kHz bandwidth channel is single-sideband mixed down to baseband. These analog data and a reference frequency, which is a submultiple of the local oscillator frequency, are transmitted to ground stations and tape recorded along with the precise time and frequency information. Cross correlation of these tape recorded signals constitutes a satellite-to-satellite interferometer with a fringe spacing of 0.4 to 41 arcmin (at a range of 10,000 to 100 km spacing between spacecraft for 250 kHz in frequency) and with a time-delay resolution of 32 microsec for a 10-kHz bandwidth, which gives an angular resolution of 3 min to 6 deg of arc. For kilometric radiation at earth, sources in the size range of 25 to 2500 km can be identified (from 20 earth radii) and located in relative position ranging from 0.02 to 2 earth radii, depending on spacecraft spacing. Reception and analysis of solar and Jovian bursts may also be possible.

Shawhan, S. D.↗

A holographic interferometer system for measuring density profiles in high-velocity flows

This paper describes a holographic interferometric technique for obtaining density measurements across a test gas that is traveling at a velocity of over 5500 m/sec in an expansion tube facility. Interferometric data describing the flow in the test section are obtained using a long coherence length CW argon laser in a holographic system and a rotating drum camera recorder. The object beam, which passes through the test section, intersects the reference beam at a small angle to form an interference pattern of about 170 lines/mm, and is recorded as a hologram. Before a test, this hologram is placed in its original position and rotated slightly so that an interference pattern is generated by the intersection of the reconstructed and real-time object beams.

Burner, A. W.↗

Precision geodesy using the Mark-III very-long-baseline interferometer system

Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) has been used to make precise measurements of the vector separation between widely separated antennas. The system for acquiring and processing VLBI data known as Mark-III is described. Tests of the system show it to have millimeter-level accuracy on short baselines; measurements of baselines longer than a few hundred kilometers suggest that accuracy is limited by the uncertainty in the calibration of tropospheric path delay to the level of a few centimeters. VLBI experiments conducted between 1976 and 1983 have demonstrated the stability of the North American plate by showing that there is no change in the distance between eastern California and Massachusetts at the level of a few millimeters per year or greater. Experiments made from 1980 to 1984 indicate that the distance from Massachusetts to Sweden is increasing by 1.7 + or - 1 cm/year where the quoted standard deviation includes the estimated effects of systematic errors.

Clark, T. A.↗

A Holographic Interferometer System for Measuring Density Profiles in High-Velocity Flows

This paper describes a holographic interferometric technique for obtaining density measurements across a test gas that is traveling at a velocity of over 5500 meters per second in an expansion tube facility. Interferometric data describing the flow in the test section are obtained using a long coherence length cw argon laser in a holographic system and a rotating drum camera recorder. The object beam, which passes through the test section, intersects the reference beam at a small angle (5 degrees) to form an interference pattern of about 170 lines per millimeter, and is recorded as a hologram. Before a test, this hologram is placed in its original position and rotated slightly so that an interference pattern is generated by the intersection of the reconstructed and real-time object beams. This interference pattern is adjusted to a series of bright, horizontal fringes having a spatial frequency of about 5 fringes per centimeter. During the few milliseconds it takes the test gas to pass through the test section, variations in the gas density across the 8.4-centimeter test section produce phase variations in the object beam and result in a varying interference pattern. A rotating drum camera with a 0.15-millimeter slit aligned perpendicular to the fringes is used to record the varying fringe shifts with a time resolution of about 3 microseconds. The average gas density across the test section is determined by measuring these fringe shifts.

Burner, Alpheus W.↗

Sensor system that uses embedded optical fibers

Sensor systems including an interferometer system are disclosed herein. In a general embodiment, the sensor system includes an optical fiber that is embedded into a sample, where the optical fiber has a reflective tip. The optical fiber is optically coupled to a sensor and a detector of the laser interferometer system. The sensor system further includes a computing device or circuit that is configured to receive electrical signals generated by the detector. The laser source is configured to emit light, which is coupled into the optical fiber. The light travels through the optical fiber until the light reaches the reflective tip, where it is reflected back through the optical fiber. The detector is impacted by the reflected light, and generates an electrical signal based upon the reflected light. The computing device generates a value that is indicative of a behavior of the sample based upon the electrical signal.

Chavez, Marcus Alexander↗