Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “interferometers laser heterodyne interferometers”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2008

NASA Tech Briefs, November 2008

Topics covered include: Digital Phase Meter for a Laser Heterodyne Interferometer; Vision System Measures Motions of Robot and External Objects; Advanced Precipitation Radar Antenna to Measure Rainfall From Space; Wide-Band Radar for Measuring Thickness of Sea Ice; Vertical Isolation for Photodiodes in CMOS Imagers; Wide-Band Microwave Receivers Using Photonic Processing; L-Band Transmit/Receive Module for Phase-Stable Array Antennas; Microwave Power Combiner/Switch Utilizing a Faraday Rotator; Compact Low-Loss Planar Magic-T; Using Pipelined XNOR Logic to Reduce SEU Risks in State Machines; Quasi-Optical Transmission Line for 94-GHz Radar; Next Generation Flight Controller Trainer System; Converting from DDOR SASF to APF; Converting from CVF to AAF; Documenting AUTOGEN and APGEN Model Files; Sequence History Update Tool; Extraction and Analysis of Display Data; MRO DKF Post-Processing Tool; Rig Diagnostic Tools; MRO Sequence Checking Tool; Science Activity Planner for the MER Mission; UAVSAR Flight-Planning System; Templates for Deposition of Microscopic Pointed Structures; Adjustable Membrane Mirrors Incorporating G-Elastomers; Hall-Effect Thruster Utilizing Bismuth as Propellant; High-Temperature Crystal-Growth Cartridge Tubes Made by VPS; Quench Crucibles Reinforced with Metal; Deep-Sea Hydrothermal-Vent Sampler; Mars Rocket Propulsion System; Two-Stage Passive Vibration Isolator; Improved Thermal Design of a Compression Mold; Enhanced Pseudo-Waypoint Guidance for Spacecraft Maneuvers; Altimetry Using GPS-Reflection/Occultation Interferometry; Thermally Driven Josephson Effect; Perturbation Effects on a Supercritical C7H16/N2 Mixing Layer; Gold Nanoparticle Labels Amplify Ellipsometric Signals; Phase Matching of Diverse Modes in a WGM Resonator; WGM Resonators for Terahertz-to-Optical Frequency Conversion; Determining Concentration of Nanoparticles from Ellipsometry; Microwave-to-Optical Conversion in WGM Resonators; Four-Pass Coupler for Laser-Diode-Pumped Solid-State Laser; Low-Resolution Raman-Spectroscopy Combustion Thermometry; Temperature Sensors Based on WGM Optical Resonators; Varying the Divergence of Multiple Parallel Laser Beams; Efficient Algorithm for Rectangular Spiral Search; Algorithm-Based Fault Tolerance Integrated with Replication; Targeting and Localization for Mars Rover Operations; Terrain-Adaptive Navigation Architecture; Self-Adjusting Hash Tables for Embedded Flight Applications; Schema for Spacecraft-Command Dictionary; Combined GMSK Communications and PN Ranging; System-Level Integration of Mass Memory; Network-Attached Solid-State Recorder Architecture; Method of Cross-Linking Aerogels Using a One-Pot Reaction Scheme; An Efficient Reachability Analysis Algorithm.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1994

(abstract) A Miniature, High-Sensitivity, Electron-Tunneling Accelerometer

A prototype low-noise accelerometer has been fabricated with an electron-tunneling transducer. By measuring the tunneling current between an electrode on the proof mass and a feedback-controlled monitor electrode, very small accelerations can be detected with high responsivity. This particular prototype (10x10x1.5 mm) was designed for underwater acoustic measurement from a few hertz to 1 kHz. The measured responsivity below the fundamental device resonance at 100 Hz is roughly 1500 volts per m/s(sup 2) with a measured noise spectral density of 10(sup -6) m/s(sup 2) per root hertz or less between 30 and 300 Hz. The noise floor is controlled primarily by 1/f noise in the tunneling current although the noise floor reaches the theoretical molecular-agitation limit at 100 hertz. The responsivity and directivity of the device were measured in a standard gradient-hydrophone calibrator; the noise floor was determined in a vacuum-ionization chamber assembled from commercial off-the-shelf components; and the detailed dynamics of the proof-mass motion were examined using a heterodyne laser interferometer that was scanned across the surface and synchronously detected with respect to the excitation.

accelerometer electron tunneling acoustic measurem↗
NASA NTRS2005

Estimation of Cyclic Error Due to Scattering in the Internal OPD Metrology of the Space Interferometry Mission

A common-path laser heterodyne interferometer capable of measuring the internal optical path difference (OPD) with accuracy of the order of 10 pm was demonstrated at JPL. To achieve this accuracy, the relative power received by the detector that is contributed by the scattering of light at the optical surfaces should be less than -97 dB. A method has been developed to estimate the cyclic error caused by the scattering of the optical surfaces. The result of the analysis is presented.

scattering↗
NASA NTRS2008

Digital Receiver Phase Meter

The software of a commercially available digital radio receiver has been modified to make the receiver function as a two-channel low-noise phase meter. This phase meter is a prototype in the continuing development of a phase meter for a system in which radiofrequency (RF) signals in the two channels would be outputs of a spaceborne heterodyne laser interferometer for detecting gravitational waves. The frequencies of the signals could include a common Doppler-shift component of as much as 15 MHz. The phase meter is required to measure the relative phases of the signals in the two channels at a sampling rate of 10 Hz at a root power spectral density <5 microcycle/(Hz)1/2 and to be capable of determining the power spectral density of the phase difference over the frequency range from 1 mHz to 1 Hz. Such a phase meter could also be used on Earth to perform similar measurements in laser metrology of moving bodies. To illustrate part of the principle of operation of the phase meter, the figure includes a simplified block diagram of a basic singlechannel digital receiver. The input RF signal is first fed to the input terminal of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). To prevent aliasing errors in the ADC, the sampling rate must be at least twice the input signal frequency. The sampling rate of the ADC is governed by a sampling clock, which also drives a digital local oscillator (DLO), which is a direct digital frequency synthesizer. The DLO produces samples of sine and cosine signals at a programmed tuning frequency. The sine and cosine samples are mixed with (that is, multiplied by) the samples from the ADC, then low-pass filtered to obtain in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) signal components. A digital signal processor (DSP) computes the ratio between the Q and I components, computes the phase of the RF signal (relative to that of the DLO signal) as the arctangent of this ratio, and then averages successive such phase values over a time interval specified by the user.

Marcin, Martin↗
NASA NTRS2007

High-Accuracy, High-Dynamic-Range Phase-Measurement System

A digital phase meter has been designed to satisfy stringent requirements for measuring differences between phases of radio-frequency (RF) subcarrier signals modulated onto laser beams involved in the operation of a planned space-borne gravitational-wave-detecting heterodyne laser interferometer. The capabilities of this system could also be used in diverse terrestrial applications that involve measurement of signal phases, including metrology, navigation, and communications.

Shaddock, Daniel↗
NASA NTRS2017

Towards the Development of Low Power Arcjet for Use with Green Propellant

Conventional arcjet propellants are hydrazine and ammonia. Both are toxic and environmentally unfriendly, requiring the use of complicated handling logistics and increased cost. If successfully demonstrated in arcjets, the use of green propellants would alleviate these issues. This paper details improvements made to the design of a low-power arcjet to be used in testing. Diagnostic tools to be used to assess thruster performance were also developed. These include emission spectroscopy for the detection of thruster insulator erosion and a two-cord heterodyne laser interferometer to measure electron number densities and estimate the exit velocity of the propellant.

Moeller, Trevor M.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Estimation of cyclic error due to scattering in the internal OPD metrology of the Space Interferometry Mission

A common-path laser heterodyne interferometer capable of measuring the internal OPD with accuracy of the order of 10 picometers was demonstrated at JPL. To achieve this accuracy, the relative power received by the detector that is contributed by the scattering of light at the optical surfaces should be less than -97 dB. A method has been developed to estimate the cyclic error caused by the scattering of the optical surfaces. The result of the analysis is presented.

Zhao, Feng↗
NASA NTRS1999

Semiconductor Laser Line-width Measurements for Space Interferometry Applications

This work discusses results using the self-heterodyne delay atechnique to measure 1.3 um InP based DFB lasers. We will also address practical issues concerning detection and elimination of back reflections, choice of fiber length and resolution, and measurement of laser 1/f and current supply noise.

DFB laser delayed self-heterodyne interferometer l↗
NASA NTRS2005

Laser System for Precise, Unambiguous Range Measurements

The Modulation Sideband Technology for Absolute Range (MSTAR) architecture is the basis of design of a proposed laser-based heterodyne interferometer that could measure a range (distance) as great as 100 km with a precision and resolution of the order of 1 nm. Simple optical interferometers can measure changes in range with nanometer resolution, but cannot measure range itself because interference is subject to the well-known integer-multiple-of-2 -radians phase ambiguity, which amounts to a range ambiguity of the order of 1 m at typical laser wavelengths. Existing rangefinders have a resolution of the order of 10 m and are therefore unable to resolve the ambiguity. The proposed MSTAR architecture bridges the gap, enabling nanometer resolution with an ambiguity range that can be extended to arbitrarily large distances. The MSTAR architecture combines the principle of the heterodyne interferometer with the principle of extending the ambiguity range of an interferometer by using light of two wavelengths. The use of two wavelengths for this purpose is well established in optical metrology, radar, and sonar. However, unlike in traditional two-color laser interferometry, light of two wavelengths would not be generated by two lasers. Instead, multiple wavelengths would be generated as sidebands of phase modulation of the light from a single frequency- stabilized laser. The phase modulation would be effected by applying sinusoidal signals of suitable frequencies (typically tens of gigahertz) to high-speed electro-optical phase modulators. Intensity modulation can also be used

Dubovitsky, Serge↗
NASA NTRS2004

Laser Metrology in the Micro-Arcsecond Metrology Testbed

The Space Interferometer Mission (SIM), scheduled for launch in 2009, is a space-born visible light stellar interferometer capable of micro-arcsecond-level astrometry. The Micro-Arcsecond Metrology testbed (MAM) is the ground-based testbed that incorporates all the functionalities of SIM minus the telescope, for mission-enabling technology development and verification. MAM employs a laser heterodyne metrology system using the Sub-Aperture Vertex-to-Vertex (SAVV) concept. In this paper, we describe the development and modification of the SAVV metrology launchers and the metrology instrument electronics, precision alignments and pointing control, locating cyclic error sources in the MAM testbed and methods to mitigate the cyclic errors, as well as the performance under the MAM performance metrics.

interferometry↗