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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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A multi-channel heterodyne laser interferometer is proposed for the JPL Thermo-Opto-Mechanical Testbed, which requires the measurement of optical surface deformations at the sub-nanometer level.
A process for depositing nanometer-sized metal particles onto a substrate in the absence of aqueous solvents, organic solvents, and reducing agents, and without any required pre-treatment of the substrate, includes preparing an admixture of a metal compound and a substrate by dry mixing a chosen amount of the metal compound with a chosen amount of the substrate; and supplying energy to the admixture in an amount sufficient to deposit zero valance metal particles onto the substrate. This process gives rise to a number of deposited metallic particle sizes which may be controlled. The compositions prepared by this process are used to produce polymer composites by combining them with readily available commodity and engineering plastics. The polymer composites are used as coatings, or they are used to fabricate articles, such as free-standing films, fibers, fabrics, foams, molded and laminated articles, tubes, adhesives, and fiber reinforced articles. These articles are well-suited for many applications requiring thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, antibacterial activity, catalytic activity, and combinations thereof.
As part of a unique partnership program, Kennedy Space Center collaborated with a nearby business school to allow MBA students to examine and analyze the market potential for a selection of NASA-patented technologies. Following the semester, a group of students decided to form Winter Park, Florida-based Juntura Group Inc. to license and sell a technology they had worked with: a sensor capable of detecting position changes as small as 10 nanometers-approximately the thickness of a cell wall.
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Nulling interferometry is a promising technique for reducing a star's brightness relative to its immediate surroundings, with great potential to enable direct detections of extra-solar planets and zodiacal light.
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Solar constant based on spectral irradiance data from spectroradiometer and photoelectric filter radiometer
Cross sections for fluorescence production in carbon dioxide photoionization by 58.4 nm radiation, deriving emission spectra
Bacillus subtilis spores are highly resistant to harsh environments. Therefore, in the Apollo 16 Microbial Response to Space Environment Experiment (M191), these spores were exposed to space vacuum or solar ultraviolet irradiation, or both, to estimate the change of survival for terrestrial organisms in space. The survival of the spores was determined in terms of colony-forming ability. Comparison of the flight results with results of simulation experiments on earth applying high vacuum or ultraviolet irradiation, or both, revealed no remarkable difference. Simultaneous exposure to both these space factors resulted in a synergistic effect (that is, an ultraviolet supersensitivity). Therefore, the change of survival in space is assumed to depend on the degree of protection against solar ultraviolet irradiation.
Mean absolute intensities (spectral radiance) over 0.1 nm intervals between 225.2 nm and 319.6 nm at disk center and near the limb of the sun (mu = 0.23 + or - 0.04) are derived from the high spectral resolution measurements published by Kohl, Parkinson, and Kurucz. The corresponding limb-to-center ratios and spectral irradiance values are provided. A comparison with existing measurements of solar spectral radiance and spectral irradiance for the most part shows agreement within the estimated error limits, although some narrow band variations may be outside experimental errors. The contribution to the solar constant of the 230-305 nm band is derived to be 19.7 W/square m + or - 12%.
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Measurements of neutral silicon oscillator strengths (f-values) obtained by absorption and emission techniques have been combined using the numerical procedure of Cardon et al. (1979) to produce 108 f-values for the Si I lines between 163 and 410 nm. Beam-foil-lifetime measurements were employed to determine the absolute scale. The present measurements have uncertainties of about 0.07 dex (+ or - 16 percent) at the 1-sigma level of confidence. Good agreement is obtained between the results and previous data. The data also provide upper limits for the f-values of 22 other lines and information on the lifetimes for 36 levels in Si I.
The SOLSPEC experiment, planned for the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS 1) NASA mission, is described. The purpose of this experiment is the measurement of the absolute solar irradiances in the wavelength range from 180 to 3000 nm and the variabilities of the solar irradiances in this wavelength range. Measurements of the irradiances and variabilities are used in: (1) solar-terrestrial/planetary relationships, in particular aeronomy of the stratosphere and mesosphere; (2) climatoglogy; and (3) solar physics.
The high-resolution TEM detectability of lattice fringes from metal particles supported on substrates is impeded by the substrate itself. Single value decomposition (SVD) and Fourier filtering (FFT) methods were applied to standard high resolution micrographs to enhance lattice resolution from particles as well as from crystalline substrates. SVD produced good results for one direction of fringes, and it can be implemented as a real-time process. Fourier methods are independent of azimuthal directions and allow separation of particle lattice planes from those pertaining to the substrate, which makes it feasible to detect possible substrate distortions produced by the supported particle. This method, on the other hand, is more elaborate, requires more computer time than SVD and is, therefore, less likely to be used in real-time image processing applications.
While Slanger et al. (1988) have reported that the 248-nm KrF laser radiation generates ozone from oxygen, despite this wavelength's exceeding of the conventionally accepted photodissociation threshold of 242.4 for the ground electronic state, the initiating mechanism for this ozone formation remains obscure. It is presently suggested that the initiating step is the absorption of the 248-nm radiation by O2. In a reply to the present authors, Slanger et al. indicate that their original experiment should have been performed by introducing pure O2 into a baked cell, with the start time defined by the unblocking of the 248-nm laser.
Theoretical descriptions of the abundance and excitation of carbon monoxide in interstellar clouds require accurate data on the vacuum-ultraviolet absorption spectrum of the molecule. The 6.65 m spectrometer at the Photon Factory synchrotron light source was used to measure photoabsorption cross sections of CO features between 91.2 and 100.4 nm. These data were recorded at a resolving power of 170,000, more than 20 times greater than that used in previous work.
Amorphous Co:Si (1:2 ratio) films are electron gun-evaporated on clean Si(111), such as in a molecular beam epitaxy system. These layers are then crystallized selectively with a focused electron beam to form very small crystalline Co/Si2 regions in an amorphous matrix. Finally, the amorphous regions are etched away selectively using plasma or chemical techniques.
Differential absorption of laser radiation by various molecular species represents both a selective and a sensitive method of measuring specific atmospheric constituents. DIAL measurements can be carried out via two different means. Both involve using two laser pulses with slightly different wavelengths (lambda), (one lambda at a strong absorption line of the molecule of interest, the other detuned into the wing of the line), and comparing the attenuation of the pulses. One approach relies on scattering of the radiation from some conveniently located topographical target. In the other technique elastic scattering from atmospheric aerosols and particulates is used to return the radiation to the lidar receiver system. This case is referred to as the differential absorption and scattering technique, and is the technique we are interested in to measure water vapor at 940 nm. The 940 nm wavelength is extremely desirable to atmospheric scientist interested in accurate DIAL measurements of H2O in the upper and lower troposphere. Simulated measurements using approximately 940 nm and 815 nm lasers at a range of altitudes and experimental conditions are shown. By offering access to larger absorption cross-sections, injected seeded, 940 nm DIAL laser transmitters would allow for more accurate water profile measurements at altitudes from 6 to 16 km than is currently possible with 730 nm and 815 nm DIAL laser transmitters. We have demonstrated the operation of an injected seeded titanium-sapphire (TS) laser operating at approximately 940 nm with an energy of more than 90 mJ per pulse. The TS laser is pumped by a commercial, 600 mJ, 532 nm, 10 Hz Nd:YAG laser. The slope efficiency of the laser using a flat 50 percent R output coupler and a 10 m end-mirror is shown. The laser was injected seeded with a CW, AlGaAs, semiconductor diode laser which had an output of 83 mW. The CW diode seed beam was introduced into the TS laser cavity through a HR end-mirror. When the diode beam is aligned to the TS resonator, it controls the TS laser output wavelength and its spectral line width with the required resolution for DIAL applications. This work supports the need for the development of 940 nm, titanium-sapphire DIAL transmitters.