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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2019

Active Optical Remote Sensing Sensors and Instrumentation for NASA’s Future Earth and Space Science Measurements/Missions

Abstract—Active optical (Laser/Lidar) measurement techniques are critical for the future National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth, Planetary Science, Exploration, and Aeronautics measurements. The latest science decadal surveys recommend a number of missions requiring active optical systems to meet the science measurement objectives and the aeronautics community continues to use Laser/Lidar technologies to meet the aeronautics measurement objectives. This presentation will provide an overview of NASA efforts in developing and maturing state-of-the-art advanced solid-state flight laser/lidar systems for airborne and space-borne remote sensing measurements. The presentation will also provide details of a strategic approach for active optical technologies and techniques to meet the NASA’s future Earth and Space Science measurement ments for space-based applications.

Singh, Upendra N.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Polarization ray tracing in anisotropic optically active media

Procedures for performing polarization ray tracing through birefringent media are presented in a form compatible with the standard methods of geometric ray tracing. The birefringent materials treated include the following: anisotropic optically active materials such as quartz, non-optically active uniaxial materials such as calcite, and isotropic optically active materials such as mercury sulfide or organic liquids. Refraction and reflection algorithms are presented which compute both ray directions and wave directions. Methods for computing polarization modes, refractive indices, optical path lengths, and Fresnel transmission and reflection coefficients are also specified.

Mcclain, Stephen C.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Active optics for space astronomy.

Discussion of the segmented and deformable active optics approaches underlying some of the modern electrooptical techniques that are to be used in the design of future generations of giant-aperture orbital space telescopes. Combinations of laser interferometry and precise servomechanisms are shown to make possible the solution of such key problems of large monolithic mirrors in orbit as weight, thermal distortion, launchability, and material stability. The applicability of these active optics approaches to future giant-aperture space astronomy systems in the 200-inch to 400-inch diameter range is reviewed.

Wischnia, H. F.↗
DOE OSTI2011

Entangling unstable optically active matter qubits

In distributed quantum computation, small devices composed of a single or a few qubits are networked together to achieve a scalable machine. Typically, there is an optically active matter qubit at each node, so that photons are exploited to achieve remote entanglement. However, in many systems the optically active states are unstable or poorly defined. We report a scheme to perform a high-fidelity entanglement operation even given severe instability. The protocol exploits the existence of optically excited states for phase acquisition without actually exciting those states; it functions with or without cavities and does not require number-resolving detectors.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Initial Findings in Full-Shell Active Optics

The realization of active full-shell x-ray optics will provide ground-breaking capability for future missions. Future X-ray missions, such as Lynx, require high angular-resolution, large effective area, and as wide a field of view(FOV) as possible. It is currently not possible to perform high-resolution imaging of both wide and narrow FOVs with a single X-ray telescope. In this paper, we discuss the use of actuators to switch the optical surface of full-shell x-ray optics between prescriptions optimized for narrow-field and wide-field viewing, as well as correct for low-spatial-frequency errors in the optics. Previously, a pathfinder was developed using finite-element modeling(FEM). Using a combination of the model’s influence functions, the capacity of active full-shell optics was shown to switch between prescriptions with 92% accuracy. Another benefit of the analytical pathfinder was its ability to correct low-spatial frequency errors, which comprise a large percentage of the MSFC full-shell x-ray optics root-mean-square (RMS) slope error. In order to verify the pathfinder, a surface-parallel actuator was bonded to a nickel-replicated coupon. After the actuator was bonded to the coupon, the slope of the surface was measured while the actuator was activated. The proof-of-concept demonstrator development, the influence function data, and the resulting implications on the analytical pathfinder are reported and discussed.

X-ray optics↗
DOE OSTI2014

Complementary chiral metasurface with strong broadband optical activity and enhanced transmission

We present the design and realization of ultra-thin chiral metasurfaces with giant broadband optical activity in the infrared wavelength. The chiral metasurfaces consisting of periodic hole arrays of complementary asymmetric split ring resonators are fabricated by femtosecond laser two-photon polymerization. Enhanced transmission with strong polarization conversion up to 97% is observed owing to the chiral surface plasmons resulting from mirror symmetry broken. The dependence of optical activity on the degree of structural asymmetry is investigated. This simple planar metasurface is expected to be useful for designing ultra-thin active devices and tailoring the polarization behavior of complex metallic nanostructures.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Organometallic complexes of bulky, optically active, C 3 -symmetric tris(4 S -isopropyl-5,5-dimethyl-2-oxazolinyl)phenylborate (To P *)

A bulky, optically active monoanionic scorpionate ligand, tris(4S-isopropyl-5,5-dimethyl-2-oxazolinyl)phenylborate (To P* ), is synthesized from the naturally occurring amino acid l-valine as its lithium salt, Li[To P* ] (1). That compound is readily converted to the thallium complex Tl[To P* ] (2) and to the acid derivative H[To P* ] (3). Group 7 tricarbonyl complexes To P* M(CO) 3 (M = Mn (4), Re (5)) are synthesized by the reaction of MBr(CO) 5 and Li[To P* ] and are crystallographically characterized. The ν CO bands in their infrared spectra indicate that π back-donation in the rhenium compounds is greater with To P* than with non-methylated tris(4S-isopropyl-2-oxazolinyl)phenylborate (To P ). The reaction of H[To P* ] and ZnEt 2 gives To P* ZnEt (6), while To P* ZnCl (7) is synthesized from Li[To P* ] and ZnCl 2 . The reaction of To P* ZnCl and KOtBu followed by addition of PhSiH 3 provides the zinc hydride complex To P* ZnH (8). In this study, compound 8 is the first example of a crystallographically characterized optically active zinc hydride. We tested its catalytic reactivity in the cross-dehydrocoupling of silanes and alcohols, which provided Si-chiral silanes with moderate enantioselectivity.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Vibrational spectroscopic and non-linear optical activity studies on nicotinanilide : A DFT approach

The molecular structure of nicotinanilide was optimized by the DFT/B3LYP method with cc-pVTZ basis set using Gaussian 09 program. The first order hyperpolarizability of the molecule was calculated, which exhibits the higher nonlinear optical activity. The natural bond orbital analysis confirms the presence of intramolecular charge transfer and the hydrogen bonding interaction, which leads to the higher nonlinear optical activity of the molecule. The Frontier molecular orbitals analysis of the molecule shows that the delocalization of electron density occurs within the molecule. The lower energy gap indicates that the hydrogen bond formation between the charged species. The vibrational frequencies were calculated and assigned on the basis of potential energy distribution calculation using the VEDA 4.0 program and the corresponding vibrational spectra were simulated. Hence, the nicotinanilide molecule can be a good candidate for second-order NLO material.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS1975

Asymmetric adsorption by quartz - A model for the prebiotic origin of optical activity

One mechanism previously proposed for the abiotic accumulation of molecules of one chirality in nature is asymmetric adsorption on the chiral surfaces of optically active quartz crystals. Earlier literature in this field is reviewed, with the conclusion that previous investigations of this phenomenon, using optical rotation criteria, have afforded ambiguous results. We now have studied the adsorption of radioactive D- and L-alanine on powdered d- and l-quartz, using change in radioactivity level as a criterion for both gross and differential adsorption, d-Quartz preferentially adsorbed D-alanine from anhydrous dimethyl-formamide solution, and l-quartz L-alanine. The differential adsorption varied between 1.0 and 1.8%. The implications of these observations are discussed from the viewpoint of early chemical evolution and the origin of optically active organic compounds in nature.

Bonner, W. M.↗
NASA NTRS1981

A new experiment to investigate the origin of optical activity using a low energy positron beam of controlled helicity

Previous experiments undertaken in search of a correlation between the origin of optical activity in biological molecules and the helicity of beta particles emitted in nuclear beta decay have not provided any useful results. A description is presented of an experiment in which a low energy polarized positron beam of controlled helicity interacts with an optically active material to form positronium in vacuum. Advantages of the current study compared to the previous experiments are mainly related to a much greater sensitivity. Initially, it will be possible to detect a helicity-dependent asymmetry in triplet positronium formation of 1 part in 10,000. Improvements to better than 1 part in 100,000 should be attainable.

Gidley, D. W.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Active Optics for a Segmented Primary Mirror on a Deep-Space Optical Receiver Antenna (DSORA)

This article investigates the active optical control of segments in the primary mirror to correct for wavefront errors in the Deep-Space Optical Receiver Antenna (DSORA). Although an exact assessment of improvement in signal blur radius cannot be made until a more detailed preliminary structural design is completed, analytical tools are identified for a time when such designs become available. A brief survey of appropriate sensing approaches is given. Since the choice of control algorithm and architecture depends on the particular sensing system used, typical control systems, estimated complexities, and the type of equipment required are discussed. Once specific sensor and actuator systems are chosen, the overall control system can be optimized using methods identified in the literature.

Clymer, B. D.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Exploiting universal nonlocal dispersion in optically active materials for spectro-polarimetric computational imaging

Recent years have seen significant advancements in exploring novel light-matter interactions such as hyperbolic dispersion within natural crystals. However, current studies have predominantly concentrated on local optical response of materials characterized by a dielectric tensor without spatial dispersion. Here, we investigate the nonlocal response in optically-active crystals with screw symmetries, revealing their lossless, super-dispersive properties compared to traditional optical response functions. We leverage this universal nonlocal dispersion, i.e. the dispersion of optical rotatory power, to explore a novel spectral de-multiplexing scheme compared to conventional gratings, prisms and metasurfaces. We design and demonstrate an ‘Nonlocal-Cam’ - a camera that exploits nonlocal dispersion through sampling of polarized spectral states and the application of computational spectral reconstruction algorithms. The Nonlocal-Cam captures information in both laboratory and outdoor field experiments which is unavailable to traditional intensity cameras - the spectral texture of polarization. Merging the fields of nonlocal electrodynamics and computational imaging, our work paves the way for exploiting nonlocal optics of optically active materials in a variety of applications, from biological microscopy to physics-driven machine vision and remote sensing.

Wang, Xueji [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (Uni↗