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DOE OSTI2026

Electronic Waste (E-Waste) Recycling: Barriers and Opportunities for State, Local, and Tribal Governments

Electronic waste, or e-waste, encompasses end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment, including computers, monitors, televisions, printers, cell phones, household appliances with electronic components, and small consumer devices containing batteries or circuitry. E-waste is one of the fastest-growing components of the U.S. waste stream, with nearly 8 million tons generated in 2022. E-waste presents two related public-interest considerations. First, e-waste contains economically and strategically important materials: base metals (copper, aluminum, iron, steel), precious metals (gold, silver, platinum group metals), and critical materials such as rare earth elements, gallium, and indium that appear on the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) 2025 List of Critical Minerals. Second, many electronic devices contain hazardous constituents - including lead, mercury, cadmium, and brominated flame retardants - as well as rechargeable batteries that can pose fire risks during handling. Effective management of these constituents helps protect workers, communities, and the environment. In the United States, it is estimated that less than 20% of e-waste is formally collected and recycled, leaving over 6 million tons landfilled or otherwise unrecovered. This fact sheet provides state and local decision-makers an overview of (1) e-waste composition and recoverable materials, (2) technology pathways used to recover those materials, and (3) examples of operational and partnership structures used to provide e-waste recycling capacity in the United States. It is intended to complement existing collection-program guidance available through U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other sources.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

NASA NTRS2000

The Mars Microprobe Mission: Advanced Micro-Avionics for Exploration Surface

The Mars Microprobe Mission is the second spacecraft developed as part of the New Millennium Program deep space missions. The objective of the Microprobe Project is to demonstrate the applicability of key technologies for future planetary missions by developing two probes for deployment on Mars. The probes are designed with a single stage entry, descent, and landing system and impact the Martian surface at speeds of approximately 200 meters per second. The microprobes are composed of two main sections, a forebody section that penetrates to a depth below the Martian surface of 0.5 to 2 meters, and an aftbody section that remains on the surface. Each probe system consists of a number of advanced technology components developed specifically for this mission. These include a non-erosive aeroshell for entry into. the atmosphere, a set of low temperature batteries to supply probe power, an advanced microcontroller to execute the mission sequence, collect the science data, and react to possible system fault conditions, a telecommunications subsystem implemented on a set of custom integrated circuits, and instruments designed to provide science measurements from above and below the Martian surface. All of the electronic components have been designed and fabricated to withstand the severe impact shock environment and to operate correctly at predicted temperatures below -100 C.

Blue, Randel↗

NASA NTRS2005

X2000 power system electronics development

The X2000 Power System Electronics (PSE) is a Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) task to develop a new generation of power system building blocks for potential use on future deep space missions. The effort includes the development of electronic components and modules that can be used as building blocks in the design of generic spacecraft power systems.

X2000↗

NASA NTRS1989

Technique for temperature compensation of eddy-current proximity probes

Eddy-current proximity probes are used in turbomachinery evaluation testing and operation to measure distances, primarily vibration, deflection, or displacment of shafts, bearings and seals. Measurements of steady-state conditions made with standard eddy-current proximity probes are susceptible to error caused by temperature variations during normal operation of the component under investigation. Errors resulting from temperature effects for the specific probes used in this study were approximately 1.016 x 10 to the -3 mm/deg C over the temperature range of -252 to 100 C. This report examines temperature caused changes on the eddy-current proximity probe measurement system, establishes their origin, and discusses what may be done to minimize their effect on the output signal. In addition, recommendations are made for the installation and operation of the electronic components associated with an eddy-current proximity probe. Several techniques are described that provide active on-line error compensation for over 95 percent of the temperature effects.

Masters, Robert M.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Applications of SPICE for modeling miniaturized biomedical sensor systems

This paper proposes a model for a miniaturized signal conditioning system for biopotential and ion-selective electrode arrays. The system consists of three main components: sensors, interconnections, and signal conditioning chip. The model for this system is based on SPICE. Transmission-line based equivalent circuits are used to represent the sensors, lumped resistance-capacitance circuits describe the interconnections, and a model for the signal conditioning chip is extracted from its layout. A system for measurements of biopotentials and ionic activities can be miniaturized and optimized for cardiovascular applications based on the development of an integrated SPICE system model of its electrochemical, interconnection, and electronic components.

Microelectrodes↗

NASA NTRS1991

Modeling of Space Station power system components and their interactions

The authors demonstrate that the functional modeling approach is feasible in modeling large-scale spacecraft power systems such as the Space Station electric power system (EPS). The functional models for the solar array sequential shunt unit and the battery charging/discharging unit are presented. The functional modeling approach has also been applied to simulate other major EPS components. The usefulness of this approach in system-level studies has been demonstrated by incorporating these models into a power system model and simulating the system behavior under various conditions. The simulation results are consistent with those obtained experimentally. With larger time step size and reduced model complexity, the computation time required by the functional modeling approach is short. Functional models are effective in simulation studies of system-level issues, especially for large-scale power systems including many power electronic components.

Tam, Kwa-Sur↗

NASA NTRS2011

Component-Level Electronic-Assembly Repair (CLEAR) System Architecture

This document captures the system architecture for a Component-Level Electronic-Assembly Repair (CLEAR) capability needed for electronics maintenance and repair of the Constellation Program (CxP). CLEAR is intended to improve flight system supportability and reduce the mass of spares required to maintain the electronics of human rated spacecraft on long duration missions. By necessity it allows the crew to make repairs that would otherwise be performed by Earth based repair depots. Because of practical knowledge and skill limitations of small spaceflight crews they must be augmented by Earth based support crews and automated repair equipment. This system architecture covers the complete system from ground-user to flight hardware and flight crew and defines an Earth segment and a Space segment. The Earth Segment involves database management, operational planning, and remote equipment programming and validation processes. The Space Segment involves the automated diagnostic, test and repair equipment required for a complete repair process. This document defines three major subsystems including, tele-operations that links the flight hardware to ground support, highly reconfigurable diagnostics and test instruments, and a CLEAR Repair Apparatus that automates the physical repair process.

Oeftering, Richard C.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Body of Knowledge (BOK): Gallium Nitride (GaN) Power Electronics for Space Applications

Gallium nitride (GaN), a wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor, has emerged as a very promising material for electronic components due to the tremendous advantages it offers compared to silicon (Si), such as power capability, extreme temperature tolerance, and high frequency operation. This presentation summarizes a body of knowledge (BOK) document in reference to the development and current status of GaN technology obtained via literature and industry surveys. It provides a listing of the major manufacturers and their capabilities, as well as government, industry, and academic parties interested in the technology. The presentation also discusses GaN's applications in the area of power electronics, in particular those geared for space missions. Finally, issues relevant to the reliability of GaN-based electronic parts are addressed and limitations affecting the full utilization of this technology are identified.

Boomer, Kristen↗

NASA NTRS2020

Body of Knowledge for Gallium Nitride Power Electronics

Gallium nitride (GaN), a wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor, has emerged as a very promising material for electronic components due to the tremendous advantages it offers compared to silicon (Si), such as power capability, extreme temperature tolerance, and high frequency operation. This report serves as a body of knowledge (BOK) in reference to the development and current status of GaN technology obtained via literature and industry surveys. It provides a listing of the major manufacturers and their capabilities, as well as government, industry, and academic parties interested in the technology. The document also discusses GaN’s applications in the area of power electronics, in particular those geared for space missions. Finally, issues relevant to the reliability of GaN-based electronic parts are addressed and limitations affecting the full utilization of this technology are identified. This BOK focuses mainly on power applications for GaN, but will also briefly mention radio frequency (RF) applications for completeness.

Gallium Nitride Power Electronics↗

NASA NTRS1972

Lunar roving vehicle thermal control system.

A thermal control system was incorporated into the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) to maintain temperature sensitive components within appropriate temperature limits during the translunar transportation phase, lunar surface operation, and quiescent periods between lunar traverses. This paper describes the thermal control system and discusses its thermal characteristics during all phases of operation. The basic concept is a passive system which stores internally generated energy during operation with subsequent radiation to space. The external environments are regulated by selected radiative surface finishes. Multi-layer insulation blankets, space radiators, flexible thermal straps, and fusible mass heat sinks were designed to control the temperatures of the electronic components.

Elliott, R. G.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Physics-of-Failure Approach to Prognostics

As more and more electric vehicles emerge in our daily operation progressively, a very critical challenge lies in accurate prediction of the electrical components present in the system. In case of electric vehicles, computing remaining battery charge is safety-critical. In order to tackle and solve the prediction problem, it is essential to have awareness of the current state and health of the system, especially since it is necessary to perform condition-based predictions. To be able to predict the future state of the system, it is also required to possess knowledge of the current and future operations of the vehicle. In this presentation our approach to develop a system level health monitoring safety indicator for different electronic components is presented which runs estimation and prediction algorithms to determine state-of-charge and estimate remaining useful life of respective components. Given models of the current and future system behavior, the general approach of model-based prognostics can be employed as a solution to the prediction problem and further for decision making.

Kulkarni, Chetan S.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Characterization of Modern Spacecraft Materials under Space-simulated Environment

External spacecraft materials play an important role in satellite protection from the harsh space environment. Research has shown that the physical, chemical, and optical properties of matter change continuously as a result of exposure to solar radiation and aggressive chemical species produced in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Thorough knowledge of the material properties evolution throughout a planned mission lifetime helps to improve the reliability of spacecraft. Moreover, the establishment of correlation factors between true space exposure and accelerated space weather experiments at ground facilities enables accurate prediction of on-orbit material performance based on laboratory-based testing. The presented work aims to evaluate the radiation effects of low Earth orbit (LEO) environment, namely, exposure to the high-energy electrons, atomic oxygen (AO), and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV), of several modern spacecraft materials. The studied materials represent the “flight duplicates” of samples that will be launched as a part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment Flight Facility (MISSE-FF) mission in 2022. MISSE-FF flight sample collection comprises different classes of polymers, including polyimides from the Kapton family, manufactured by E.I du Pont de Nemours and Co., Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) materials, liquid crystal polymers, PI/Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes (POSS), and carbon and glass fiber reinforced polymers. A sequential exposure approach was undertaken to allow monitoring of degradation induced by each environmental component (electrons, AO, and VUV) separately. Surface morphology, optical, and charge transport properties of selected materials were characterized using different techniques, namely, atomic force and scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet visible (UV/Vis) transmission, reflectance, Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF), and surface potential decay measurements.

Elena Plis↗

NASA NTRS2006

Universal Controller for Spacecraft Mechanisms

An electronic control unit has been fabricated and tested that can be replicated as a universal interface between the electronic infrastructure of a spacecraft and a brushless-motor (or other electromechanical actuator) driven mechanism that performs a specific mechanical function within the overall spacecraft system. The unit includes interfaces to a variety of spacecraft sensors, power outputs, and has selectable actuator control parameters making the assembly a mechanism controller. Several control topologies are selectable and reconfigurable at any time. This allows the same actuator to perform different functions during the mission life of the spacecraft. The unit includes complementary metal oxide/semiconductor electronic components on a circuit board of a type called rigid flex (signifying flexible printed wiring along with a rigid substrate). The rigid flex board is folded to make the unit fit into a housing on the back of a motor. The assembly has redundant critical interfaces, allowing the controller to perform time-critical operations when no human interface with the hardware is possible. The controller is designed to function over a wide temperature range without the need for thermal control, including withstanding significant thermal cycling, making it usable in nearly all environments that spacecraft or landers will endure. A prototype has withstood 1,500 thermal cycles between 120 and +85 C without significant deterioration of its packaging or electronic function. Because there is no need for thermal control and the unit is addressed through a serial bus interface, the cabling and other system hardware are substantially reduced in quantity and complexity, with corresponding reductions in overall spacecraft mass and cost.

Levanas, Greg↗

NASA NTRS2004

Fabrication of Channels for Nanobiotechnological Devices

A method, now undergoing development, of forming nanochannels in planar substrates is intended to enable the fabrication of advanced fluidic devices that could be integrated with complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) electronic circuits. Such integral combinations of fluidic and electronic components ("laboratory-on-a-chip" devices) could be used, for example, to detect individual molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and proteins. The width of a channel in such a device would be chosen so that molecules of the species of interest would move along the channel in single file. In this method, the fabrication of channels includes the use of such CMOS-compatible processes as chemical-mechanical polishing and oxide deposition. The layout of the channels in the substrate plane is determined by a single photolithographic process, but it is not a nanoscale lithographic process, and this process is not relied upon to define the thickness and width of the channels. Stating it from a slightly different perspective, unlike in the prior fabrication of electronic and fluidic devices involving the use of lithography to define microscale features, this process does not include the use of lithography to define nanoscale features. It is this aspect of the method that enables simplification of the process and, hence, a decrease in cost.

Lee, Choonsup↗

NASA NTRS2013

Data Transfer for Multiple Sensor Networks Over a Broad Temperature Range

At extreme temperatures, cryogenic and over 300 C, few electronic components are available to support intelligent data transfer over a common, linear combining medium. This innovation allows many sensors to operate on the same wire bus (or on the same airwaves or optical channel: any linearly combining medium), transmitting simultaneously, but individually recoverable at a node in a cooler part of the test area. This innovation has been demonstrated using room-temperature silicon microcircuits as proxy. The microcircuits have analog functionality comparable to componentry designed using silicon carbide. Given a common, linearly combining medium, multiple sending units may transmit information simultaneously. A listening node, using various techniques, can pick out the signal from a single sender, if it has unique qualities, e.g. a voice. The problem being solved is commonly referred to as the cocktail party problem. The human brain uses the cocktail party effect when it is able to recognize and follow a single conversation in a party full of talkers and other noise sources. High-temperature sensors have been used in silicon carbide electronic oscillator circuits. The frequency of the oscillator changes as a function of the changes in the sensed parameter, such as pressure. This change is analogous to changes in the pitch of a person s voice. The output of this oscillator and many others may be superimposed onto a single medium. This medium may be the power lines supplying current to the sensors, a third wire dedicated to data transmission, the airwaves through radio transmission, an optical medium, etc. However, with nothing to distinguish the identities of each source that is, the source separation this system is useless. Using digital electronic functions, unique codes or patterns are created and used to modulate the output of the sensor.

Krasowski, Michael↗

DOE OSTI2026

Advancing density functional tight-binding method for large organic molecules through equivariant neural networks

Semi-empirical quantum-mechanical (QM) methods have become valuable tools for studying complex (bio)molecular systems due to their balance between computational efficiency and accuracy. A key aspect of these methods is their parameterization, which not only governs the reliability of the results but also provides an opportunity to enhance their overall performance. In our previous work [J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2021, 11, 16], we advanced the third-order semi-empirical density functional tight-binding (DFTB3) method for computing multiple properties of small molecules by developing the machine learning (ML) potential NN rep to bridge the gap between DFTB3 electronic components and those of the hybrid DFT-PBE0 functional. To overcome the limitations of NN rep , we introduce the EquiDTB framework, which leverages physics-inspired equivariant neural networks (NN) to parameterize scalable and transferable many-body Δ TB potentials, replacing the standard pairwise DFTB repulsive potential. This advancement extends the applicability of our ML-corrected DFTB approach to larger molecules and non-covalent systems (including only C, N, O, and H atoms), going beyond the chemical space represented in the training QM datasets. The enhanced performance of EquiDTB over the standard TB methods is demonstrated by the accurate computation of the atomic forces of S66x8 molecular dimers, as well as their interaction energies. Moreover, EquiDTB can be effectively employed to explore the potential energy surfaces of large and flexible drug-like molecules—for example, to determine the minimum energy path between isomers, analyze structural transitions during dynamical simulations, compute vibrational modes, and investigate energetic rankings. The performance for single molecules slightly decreases when the DFTB electronic energy is reduced to first-order but remains superior to standard TB methods. Our work thus demonstrates that an optimal integration of an equivariant NN with QM datasets can advance the DFTB method while maintaining high efficiency, paving the way for reliable (bio)molecular simulations.

Medrano Sandonas, Leonardo [Technische Universität↗

DOE OSTI2024

Power Module Precursors and Prognostics

This project focuses on finding and utilizing electrical properties (precursors) of power electronic devices and modules whose changes have strong correlations with different modes and levels of degradations in order to realize online and lightweight state of health evaluation and fault diagnosis. Results from this project will contribute to higher safety, reliability, and power density of power electronic components. The approaches mainly include reviewing academic literature and industry practices for state of the art precursor identification and extraction, accelerated life cycles (ALC) of various power modules to create different degradations in-house, and developing techniques for gate-driver-integratable precursor detection circuit. In FY24, the results includes two sets of definitively detected aging precursors (on-state resistance and gate threshold voltage) for two sets of power modules respectively, controlled accelerated lifetime cycling of multiple silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) modules, and the development and validation of a gate voltage detection system.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

NASA NTRS2006

Power Actuation and Switching Module Test Results

The X2000 Power System Electronics (PSE) is a Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) task to develop a new generation of power system building blocks for use on future deep-space missions. The effort includes the development of electronic components and modules that can be used as building blocks in the design of generic spacecraft power systems. All X2000 avionics components and modules are designed for use in centralized or distributed spacecraft architectures. The Power Actuation and Switching Module (PASM) has been developed under the X2000 program. This component enables a modular and scalable design approach for power switching applications, which can result in a wide variety of power switching architectures using this simple building block. The PASM is designed to provide most of the necessary power switching functions of spacecraft for various Deep Space missions including future missions to Mars, comets, Jupiter and its moons. It is fabricated using an ASIC process that is tolerant of high radiation. The development included two application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and support circuitry all packaged using High Density Interconnect (HDI) technology. It can be operated in series or parallel with other PASMs. It can be used as a high-side or low-side switch and it can drive thruster valves, pyrotechnic devices such as NASA standard initiators, bus shunt resistors, and regular spacecraft component loads. Each PASM contains two independent switches with internal current limiting and over-current trip-off functions to protect the power subsystem from load faults. During turnon and turnoff each switch can limit the rate of current change (di/dt) to a value determined by the user. Three-way majority-voted On/Off commandability and full switch status telemetry (both analog and digital) are built into the module. This paper is a follow up to the one presented at he IECEC 2004 conference that will include the lessons learned and test results from the development.

X2000↗