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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1999

A Force to Reckon With

Through a licensing agreement with NASA, Face International Corporation has successfully commercialized ferroelectric actuator/sensor technology developed at Langley Research Center. Face International manufactures both ferroelectric actuators and sensors under the trademark "Thunder" (Thin Layer Composite Unimorph Ferroelectric Driver and Sensor). As actuators the Thunder technology provides a high level of movement not seen before in piezoelectric devices. Crystal structures generate electricity when stressed and move when voltage is applied. As sensors, the technology can be used in such applications as microphones, non-destructive testing, and vibration sensing. Thunder technology is being researched as a noise reduction device for aircraft engines. The technology is durable enough to be used in harsh environments, making it applicable to many commercial applications.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1997

Design and Development of an Optical Path Difference Scan Mechanism for Fourier Transform Spectrometers using High Displacement RAINBOW Actuators

A new piezoelectric drive mechanism has been developed for optical translation in space-based spectrometer systems. The mechanism utilizes a stack of RAINBOW high displacement piezoelectric actuators to move optical components weighing less than 250 grams through a one centimeter travel. The mechanism uses the direct motion of the piezoelectric devices, stacked such that the displacement of the individual RAINBOW actuators is additive. A prototype device has been built which utilizes 21 RAINBOWs to accomplish the necessary travel. The mechanism weighs approximately 0.6 kilograms and uses less than 2 Watts of power at a scanning frequency of 0.5 Hertz, significantly less power than that required by state-of-the-art motor systems.

Wise, Stephanie A.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Solution Growth and Characterization of Single Crystals on Earth and in Microgravity

Crystal growth has been of interest to physicists and engineers for a long time because of their unique properties. Single crystals are utilized in such diverse applications as pharmaceuticals, computers, infrared detectors, frequency measurements, piezoelectric devices, a variety of high-technology devices, and sensors. Solution crystal growth is one of the important techniques to grow a variety of crystals when the material decomposes at the melting point and a suitable solvent is available to make a saturated solution at a desired temperature. In this Technical Memorandum (TM) an attempt is made to give the fundamentals of growing crystals from solution including improved designs of various crystallizers. Since the same solution crystal growth technique could not be used in microgravity, the authors proposed a new cooled-sting technique to grow crystals in space. The authors experience from conducting two Space Shuttle solution crystal growth experiments are also detailed in this TM and the complexity of solution growth experiments to grow crystals in space are also discussed. These happen to be some of the early experiments performed in space, and various lessons learned are described. A brief discussion of protein crystal growth that shares basic principles of the solution growth technique is given, along with some flight hardware information for growth in microgravity.

Aggarwal, M. D.↗
NASA NTRS2008

NASA Tech Briefs, June 2008

Topics covered include: Charge-Control Unit for Testing Lithium-Ion Cells; Measuring Positions of Objects Using Two or More Cameras; Lidar System for Airborne Measurement of Clouds and Aerosols; Radiation-Insensitive Inverse Majority Gates; Reduced-Order Kalman Filtering for Processing Relative Measurements; Spaceborne Processor Array; Instrumentation System Diagnoses a Thermocouple; Chromatic Modulator for a High-Resolution CCD or APS; Commercial Product Activation Using RFID; Cup Cylindrical Waveguide Antenna; Aerobraking Maneuver (ABM) Report Generator; ABM Drag_Pass Report Generator; Transformation of OODT CAS to Perform Larger Tasks; Visualization Component of Vehicle Health Decision Support System; Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Uplink Analysis Tool; Problem Reporting System; G-Guidance Interface Design for Small Body Mission Simulation; DSN Scheduling Engine; Replacement Sequence of Events Generator; Force-Control Algorithm for Surface Sampling; Tool for Merging Proposals Into DSN Schedules; Micromachined Slits for Imaging Spectrometers; Fabricating Nanodots Using Lift-Off of a Nanopore Template; Making Complex Electrically Conductive Patterns on Cloth; Special Polymer/Carbon Composite Films for Detecting SO2; Nickel-Based Superalloy Resists Embrittlement by Hydrogen; Chemical Passivation of Li+-Conducting Solid Electrolytes; Organic/Inorganic Polymeric Composites for Heat-Transfer Reduction; Composite Cathodes for Dual-Rate Li-Ion Batteries; Improved Descent-Rate Limiting Mechanism; Alignment-Insensitive Lower-Cost Telescope Architecture; Micro-Resistojet for Small Satellites; Using Piezoelectric Devices to Transmit Power through Walls; Miniature Latching Valve; Apparatus for Sampling Surface Contamination; Novel Species of Non-Spore-Forming Bacteria; Chamber for Aerosol Deposition of Bioparticles; Hyperspectral Sun Photometer for Atmospheric Characterization and Vicarious Calibrations; Dynamic Stability and Gravitational Balancing of Multiple Extended Bodies; Simulation of Stochastic Processes by Coupled ODE-PDE; Cluster Inter-Spacecraft Communications; Genetic Algorithm Optimizes Q-LAW Control Parameters; Low-Impact Mating System for Docking Spacecraft; Non-Destructive Evaluation of Materials via Ultraviolet Spectroscopy; Gold-on-Polymer-Based Sensing Films for Detection of Organic and Inorganic Analytes in the Air; and Quantum-Inspired Maximizer.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2011

Growth and Characteristics of Bulk Single Crystals Grown from Solution on Earth and in Microgravity

The growth of crystals has been of interest to physicists and engineers for a long time because of their unique properties. Single crystals are utilized in such diverse applications as pharmaceuticals, computers, infrared detectors, frequency measurements, piezoelectric devices, a variety of high technology devices and sensors. Solution crystal growth is one of the important techniques to grow a variety of crystals when the material decomposes at the melting point and a suitable solvent is available to make a saturated solution at a desired temperature. In this chapter an attempt is made to give some fundamentals of growing crystals from solution including improved designs of various crystallizers. Since the same solution crystal growth technique could not be used in microgravity, authors had proposed a new cooled sting technique to grow crystals in space. Authors? experiences of conducting two space shuttle experiments relating to solution crystal growth are also detailed in this work. The complexity of these solution growth experiments to grow crystals in space are discussed. These happen to be some of the early experiments performed in space, and various lessons learned are described. A brief discussion of protein crystal growth that also shares basic principles of solution growth technique is given along with some flight hardware information for its growth in microgravity.

Aggarwal, M. D.↗
NASA NTRS2005

NASA Tech Briefs, June 2005

Topics covered include: Apparatus Characterizes Transient Voltages in Real Time; Measuring Humidity in Sealed Glass Encasements; Adaptable System for Vehicle Health and Usage Monitoring; Miniature Focusing Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer; Cryogenic High-Sensitivity Magnetometer; Wheel Electrometer System; Carbon-Nanotube Conductive Layers for Thin-Film Solar Cells; Patch Antenna Fed via Unequal-Crossed-Arm Aperture; LC Circuits for Diagnosing Embedded Piezoelectric Devices; Nanowire Thermoelectric Devices; Code for Analyzing and Designing Spacecraft Power System Radiators; Decision Support for Emergency Operations Centers; NASA Records Database; Real-Time Principal- Component Analysis; Fuzzy/Neural Software Estimates Costs of Rocket- Engine Tests; Multicomponent, Rare-Earth-Doped Thermal-Barrier Coatings; Reactive Additives for Phenylethynyl-Containing Resins; Improved Gear Shapes for Face Worm Gear Drives; Alternative Way of Shifting Mass to Move a Spherical Robot; Parylene C as a Sacrificial Material for Microfabrication; In Situ Electrochemical Deposition of Microscopic Wires; Improved Method of Manufacturing SiC Devices; Microwave Treatment of Prostate Cancer and Hyperplasia; Ferroelectric Devices Emit Charged Particles and Radiation; Dusty-Plasma Particle Accelerator; Frozen-Plug Technique for Liquid-Oxygen Plumbing; Shock Waves in a Bose-Einstein Condensate; Progress on a Multichannel, Dual-Mixer Stability Analyzer; Development of Carbon- Nanotube/Polymer Composites; Thermal Imaging of Earth for Accurate Pointing of Deep-Space Antennas; Modifications of a Composite-Material Combustion Chamber; Modeling and Diagnostic Software for Liquefying- Fuel Rockets; and Spacecraft Antenna Clusters for High EIRP.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2003

Multimode Broad-Band Patch Antennas

Microstrip patch antennas of a proposed type would be tunable over broad wavelength ranges. These antennas would be attractive for use in a variety of microwave communication systems in which there are requirements for transmission and/or reception at multiple, widely separated frequencies. Prior efforts to construct tunable microstrip patch antennas have involved integration of microstrip circuitry with, variously, ferrite films with magneticfield tuning, solid-state electronic tuning devices, or piezoelectric tuning actuators. Those efforts have been somewhat successful, but have yielded tuning ranges of 20 percent and smaller much smaller than needed in typical practical cases. Like prior microstrip patch antennas (both tunable and non-tunable), the proposed antennas would have instantaneous bandwidths of about 1 percent of their nominal or resonance frequencies. However, these would be tunable over much broader frequency ranges as much as several octaves, depending on specific designs. They could be fabricated relatively simply and inexpensively by use of conventional photolithography, and without need for integration with solid-state electronic or piezoelectric control devices. An antenna as proposed (see figure) would include a microstrip patch radiating element on a thin ferroelectric film on a semiconductor substrate with a ground-plane conductor on the underside of the substrate. The ferroelectric film could be, for example, SrTiO3 with a thickness of the order of 1 or 2 micrometers.

Romanofsky, Robert R.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Observation of interface piezoelectricity in superconducting devices on silicon

The development of superconducting quantum processors relies on understanding and mitigating decoherence in superconducting qubits. Piezoelectric coupling contributes to decoherence by mediating energy exchange between microwave photons and acoustic phonons. Although bulk centrosymmetric materials like silicon and sapphire are non-piezoelectric and commonly used as qubit substrates, the lack of centrosymmetry at interfaces may induce piezoelectric losses. This effect was predicted decades ago but never experimentally observed in superconducting devices. Here, we report interface piezoelectricity at aluminum-silicon junctions and demonstrate it as a significant loss channel in superconducting devices. Using aluminum interdigital transducers on silicon, we observe piezoelectric transduction from room to millikelvin temperatures, with an effective electromechanical coupling factor K 2 ≈ (3 ± 0.4) × 10−5%, comparable to weakly piezoelectric substrates. Modeling shows this mechanism limits qubit quality factors to Q ~ 10 4 − 10 8 , depending on surface participation and mode matching. These findings reveal interface piezoelectricity as a major dissipation channel and highlight the need for heterostructure and phononic engineering in next-generation superconducting qubits.

Zhou, Haoxin [University of California, Berkeley, ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Piezoelectric deformable photonic devices

A CMOS-compatible actuator platform for implementing phase, amplitude, and frequency modulation in silicon nitride photonic integrated circuits via piezo-optomechanical coupling using tightly mechanically coupled aluminum nitride actuators is disclosed. The platform, which may be fabricated in a CMOS foundry, enables scalable active photonic integrated circuits for visible wavelengths, and the piezoelectric actuation functions without performance degradation down to cryogenic operating temperatures. A number of devices are possible, including ring modulator devices, phase shifter devices, Mach-Zehnder interferometer devices, directional coupler devices (including tunable directional coupler devices), and acousto-optic modulator and frequency shifter devices, each of which can employ the same AlN actuator platform. As all of these devices can be built on the same AlN actuator platform, numerous optical functions can be implemented on a single die.

Eichenfield, Matt↗
NASA NTRS1994

Surface acoustic wave oxygen pressure sensor

A transducer for the measurement of absolute gas-state oxygen pressure from pressures of less than 100 Pa to atmospheric pressure (1.01 x 10(exp 5) Pa) is based on a standard surface acoustic wave (SAW) device. The piezoelectric material of the SAW device is coated with a compound which will selectively and reversibly bind oxygen. When oxygen is bound by the coating, the mass of the coating increases by an amount equal to the mass of the bound oxygen. Such an increase in the mass of the coating causes a corresponding decrease in the resonant frequency of the SAW device.

Oglesby, Donald M.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Integration of semiconductor membranes with piezoelectric substrates

Piezoelectrically actuated devices constructed from thin semiconductor membranes bonded directly to piezoelectric substrates are provided. Methods for fabricating these devices are also provided. The bonding of the semiconductor to the piezoelectric material does not require the use of any intermediate layers, such as bonding agents.

Lagally, Max G.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Enabling novel space and terrestrial applications using transducing materials at JPL

Transducing materials are being used in many aspects of our daily life serving as actuators, sensors, displays, communications and other components of commercial mechanisms. At JPL, such materials are being used to enable novel space and terrestrial applications. This effort involves mostly the use of piezoelectric, electroactive polymers (EAP), and shape memory alloys (SMA). The piezoelectric based devices and mechanisms that were developed include ultrasonic motors, piezopump, ultrasonic/sonic drilledcorer (USDC), and ferrosource. Further, the electroactive polymers were used to demonstrate a gripper, wiper, lifter and haptic interfaces. The research and develop tasks consists of analytical modeling, experimental corroboration, material characterization as well as devices and mechanisms design, construction and demonstration.

electroactive↗
DOE OSTI2021

Hybrid printing of wearable piezoelectric sensors

Piezoelectricity provides an ideal electromechanical mechanism with emerging applications in wearable devices due to its simplicity and self-powered nature. However, the 3D printing of piezoelectric devices still faces many challenges, including material printability, high energy poling process, and low dimensional accuracy. This study demonstrates, for the first time, a tellurium nanowire-based piezoelectric device fabricated by a hybrid printing method integrating highly complementary aerosol jet printing and extrusion printing in a single printing platform. The aerosol-jet-printed tellurium nanowire demonstrates piezoelectric properties without the need for any poling processing due to the unique properties of the tellurium nanowires. The silver nanowire electrodes printed by aerosol jet printing demonstrate excellent conductivity and stretchability without the need for sintering. An extrusion method is employed to print the silicone films, which serve as the stretchable substrate and the electrical insulation layers between the printed tellurium and silver. The printed wearable piezoelectric devices were attached to a human wrist to detect different hand gestures and to a human neck to detect heartbeat without using an external power source. In conclusion, the fully printed, sintering-free and poling-free, and stretchable piezoelectric device opens enormous opportunities for facile integration with a broad range of printed electronics and wearable devices.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Nuclear reactor radiation and temperature effects on piezoelectric surface acoustic wave devices

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators were characterized in-situ in a nuclear reactor environment at high temperature. Devices based on lithium niobate (LiNbO 3 ), aluminum nitride (sc-AlN), and thin-film aluminum nitride on sapphire substrate (AlN/sapphire) were tested up to 400 °C temperature and 1.9 × 10 12 n/cm 2 s neutron flux. Shifts in device resonant frequency were detected in response to temperature and neutron flux. Devices undergo a frequency change when exposed to neutron flux. At 300 °C, AlN/sapphire produced the strongest neutron flux response about 1.02 ppm at 1.27 × 10 12 n/cm 2 s neutron flux (5.7 × 10 4 rad-Si/hr neutron dose rate), compared to 0.30 ppm for LiNbO 3 and 0.17 ppm for sc-AlN. While the transient kinetics in response to step change in neutron flux support the defect-accumulation mechanism, the concurrent measurement of device temperature using resistive temperature sensor suggests additional heating caused by absorption of gamma rays can also play a role. These results make SAW devices attractive candidates for sensor applications in extreme environments.

Aluminum nitride↗
DOE OSTI2023

Systems and methods for piezoelectric, electronic, and photonic devices with dual inversion layers

An apparatus comprising a substrate, one or more nanowire pillars, each having a base portion and a tip portion, a first electrode connected to the tip portions of the one or more nanowire pillars, an internal hollow cavity positioned between the substrate and the first electrode, such that at least a portion of each of the one or more nanowire pillars extend through the internal hollow cavity, and a second electrode proximate the first side of the substrate. High-performance broadband photodetectors and other optoelectronics for converting light to electricity with enhanced absorption and carrier collection.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Mechanical Purcell filters for microwave quantum machines

In circuit quantum electrodynamics, measuring the state of a superconducting qubit introduces a loss channel, which can enhance spontaneous emission through the Purcell effect, thus decreasing the qubit lifetime. This decay can be mitigated by performing the measurement through a Purcell filter, which strongly suppresses signal propagation at the qubit transition frequency. If the filter is also well-matched at the readout cavity frequency, it will protect the qubit from decoherence channels without sacrificing measurement bandwidth. In this work, we propose and analyze design for a mechanical Purcell filter, which we also fabricate and characterize at room temperature. The filter is composed of an array of nanomechanical resonators in thin-film lithium niobate, connected in a ladder topology, with series and parallel resonances arranged to produce a bandpass response. Their modest footprint, steep band edges, and lack of cross talk make these filters an appealing alternative to analogous electromagnetic versions currently used in microwave quantum machines.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS1990

Torque sensor having a spoked sensor element support structure

Piezoelectric sensor devices are attached across pairs of circularly arranged spokes arrayed on the periphery of an annular ring. The sensor devices each include a preloaded steel ball mounting arrangement for mounting a piezoelectric sensor element. A first circular interface plate on one side of the sensor structure attaches to alternate one of the spokes, and a circular interface plate on the opposite side of the same diameter as the first interface plate attaches to the remaining spokes.

Lurie, Boris J.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Piezoelectric Resonator with Two Layers

A piezoelectric resonator device includes: a top electrode layer with a patterned structure, a top piezoelectric layer adjacent to the top layer, a middle metal layer adjacent to the top piezoelectric layer opposite the top layer, a bottom piezoelectric layer adjacent to the middle layer opposite the top piezoelectric layer, and a bottom electrode layer with a patterned structure and adjacent to the bottom piezoelectric layer opposite the middle layer. The top layer includes a first plurality of electrodes inter-digitated with a second plurality of electrodes. A first one of the electrodes in the top layer and a first one of the electrodes in the bottom layer are coupled to a first contact, and a second one of the electrodes in the top layer and a second one of the electrodes in the bottom layer are coupled to a second contact.

Stephanou, Philip J.↗