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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 559 records · Page 31

A 100Mbps coherent optical link demonstration using frequency stabilized solid state lasers

The design, implementation, and performance evaluation of a 100Mbps binary phase shift keying (BPSK) coherent optical link using frequency stabilized solid state lasers is described. In this demonstration, the transmitted data is binary phase modulated at 100Mbps using an external resonant cavity phase modulator. At the receiving end, the signal is detected using a balanced heterodyne detector. An auxiliary frequency tracking loop (FTL) is used to help the initial frequency acquisition before handing over to the carrier phase tracking loop. The FTL is implemented using a delay line discriminator, and the detected frequency error is fed back to the local oscillator laser to close the tracking loop. Phase coherent reception is achieved by synchronizing the carrier phase using a Costas tracking loop. The demonstration showed that a high data rate phase coherent optical link can be implemented using frequency stabilized solid state lasers.

Chen, CHIEN-C.↗

1999 Shuttle Small Payloads Symposium

The 1999 Shuttle Small Payloads Symposium is a combined symposia of the Get Away Special (GAS), Space Experiment Module (SEM), and Hitchhiker programs, and is proposed to continue as an annual conference. The focus of this conference is to educate potential Space Shuttle Payload Bay users as to the types of carrier systems provided and for current users to share experiment concepts.

Daelemans, Gerard↗

High Mobility SiGe/Si n-Type Structures and Field Effect Transistors on Sapphire Substrates

SiGe/Si n-type modulation doped field effect transistors (MODFETs) fabricated on sapphire substrates have been characterized at microwave frequencies for the first time. The highest measured room temperature electron mobility is 1380 sq cm/V-sec at a carrier density of 1.8 x 10(exp 12)/sq cm for a MODFET structure, and 900 sq cm/V-sec at a carrier density of 1.3 x 10/sq cm for a phosphorus ion implanted sample. A two finger, 2 x 200 micron gate n-MODFET has a peak transconductance of 37 mS/mm at a drain to source voltage of 2.5 V and a transducer gain of 6.4 dB at 1 GHz.

Alterovitz, Samuel A.↗

Relative Sensor with 4Pi Coverage for Formation Flying Missions

The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) pre-project, an element of NASA s Origins program, is currently developing two architectures for a mission to search for earth-like planets around nearby stars. One of the architectures being developed is the Formation Flying Interferometer (FFI). The FFI is envisioned to consist of up to seven spacecraft (as many as six "collectors" with IR telescopes, and a "combiner") flying in precise formation within +/-1 cm of pre-determined trajectories for synchronized observations. The spacecraft-to-spacecraft separations are variable between 20 m and 100 m or more during observations to support various configurations of the interferometer in the planet-finding mode. The challenges involved with TPF autonomous operations, ranging from formation acquisition and formation maneuvering to high precision formation control during science observations, are unprecedented. In this paper we discuss the development of the formation acquisition sensor, which uses novel modulation and duplexing schemes to enable fast signal acquisition, multiple-spacecraft operation, and mitigation of inherent jamming conditions, while providing precise formation sensing and integrated radar capability. This approach performs delay synthesis and carrier cycle ambiguity resolution to improve range measurement, and uses differential carrier cycle ambiguity resolution to make precise bearing angle measurements without calibration maneuvers.

Tien, Jeffrey Y.↗

Relative Sensor with 4(pi) Coverage for Formation Flying Missions

The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) pre-project, an element of NASA's Origins program, is currently developing two architectures for a mission to search for earth-like planets around nearby stars. One of the architectures being developed is the Formation Flying Interferometer (FFI). The FFI is envisioned to consist of up to seven spacecraft (as many as six 'collectors' with IR telescopes, and a 'combiner') flying in precise formation within f 1 cm of pre-determined trajectories for synchronized observations. The spacecraft-to-spacecraft separations are variable between 20 m and 100 m or more during observations to support various configurations of the interferometer in the planet-finding mode. The challenges involved with TPF autonomous operations, ranging from formation acquisition and formation maneuvering to high precision formation control during science observations, are unprecedented. In this paper we discuss the development of the formation acquisition sensor, which uses novel modulation and duplexing schemes to enable fast signal acquisition, multiple-spacecraft operation, and mitigation of inherent jamming conditions, while providing precise formation sensing and integrated radar capability. This approach performs delay synthesis and carrier cycle ambiguity resolution to improve range measurement, and uses differential carrier cycle ambiguity resolution to make precise bearing angle measurements without calibration maneuvers.

formation flying sensors↗

The reuse of logistics carriers for the first lunar outpost alternative habitat study

The Systems Definition Branch deals with preliminary concepts/designs of various projects currently in progress at NASA. One of these projects is called the First Lunar Outpost. The First Lunar Outpost (FLO) is a proposed permanent lunar base to be located on the moon. In order to better understand the Lunar Habitat, a detailed analysis of the lunar environment as well as conceptual studies of the physical living arrangements for the support crew is necessary. The habitat will be inhabited for a period of 45 days followed by a six month dormant period. Requirements for the habitat include radiation protection, a safe haven for occasional solar flare storms, an airlock module and consumables to support a crew of 4 with a schedule of 34 extra vehicular activities. Consumables in order to sustain a crew of four for 45 days ranges from 430 kg of food to only 15 kg for personal hygiene items. These consumables must be brought to the moon with every mission. They are transported on logistics carriers. The logistics carrier must be pressurized in order to successfully transport the consumables. Refrigeration along with other types of thermal control and variation in pressure are defined by the list of necessary consumables. The objective of the proposed work was to collaborate the Habitat Team with their study on Logistic Carriers as possible alternatives for additional habitable volume. Options for possible reuses was also determined. From this analysis, a recommended design is proposed.

Vargas, Carolina↗

Payload carrier systems for conducting sortie mode science

The capabilities and characteristics of the payload carriers developed to provide structural and operational interfaces between the Space Shuttle and the various types of experiments designed to operate in the sortie mode are discussed. The Spacelab is a flexible laboratory system composed of interchangeable elements that can be put together in eight different combinations of pallets and pressurized modules, and provides considerable standard services to users in such areas as equipment installation, power distribution, thermal control, command and data management, software, pointing systems and crew participation. A modular three-axis pointing control system designated the Annular Suspension and Pointing System, is being developed to provide additional pointing capabilities to those payloads that require capabilities not provided by the Spacelab instrument pointing system. Two engineering models of the Spacelab pallet have been designated Orbital Flight Test Pallets which, together with a special experiment support structure, are intended for initial and operational payloads that do not constitute a complete Spacelab mission. The simplest and smallest payload carriers are the Getaway Special cans, intended for small, self-contained, self-sufficient payloads, and the orbiter middeck lockers. In this way, most of the user requirements for Shuttle sortie missions identified to date can be fulfilled.

Jean, O. C.↗

Biotechnological advances in algae-based foods: applications in nutrition and microbiome health

Algae are a sustainable, nutrient-rich resource with growing potential in food biotechnology. Their ability to thrive in diverse environments makes them a promising alternative to conventional crops. Rich in proteins, essential fatty acids, and bioactive compounds, algae support the development of functional foods, including plant-based meat and seafood alternatives. Advances in synthetic biology and fermentation have enhanced algal nutrient profiles and enabled novel applications. Algae-derived polysaccharides, such as alginate, fucoidan, laminarin, and porphyran, exhibit prebiotic effects by modulating the gut microbiota and promoting SCFA production. Enzymatic hydrolysis efficiently produces bioactive oligosaccharides, while engineered microbial systems support scalable production. Algae also enable synbiotic food development by serving as both prebiotic substrates and probiotic carriers.

Yu, Sora↗

Microwave beamed power technology improvement

The magnetron directional amplifier was tested for (1) phase shift and power output as a function of gain, anode current, and anode voltage, (2) background noise and harmonics in the output, (3) long life potential of the magnetron cathode, and (4) high operational efficiency. Examples of results were an adequate range of current and voltage over which 20 dB of amplification could be obtained, spectral noise density 155 dB below the carrier, 81.7% overall efficiency, and potential cathode life of 50 years in a design for solar power satellite use. A fabrication method was used to fabricate a 64 slot, 30 in square slotted waveguide array module from 0.020 in thick aluminum sheet. The test results on the array are discussed.

Brown, W. C.↗

High-field transport properties of InAs(x)P(1-x)/InP (x = 0.3-1.0) modulation doped heterostructures at 300 and 77 K

Detailed measurements at 300 and 77 K have been made of the high-field transport properties of pseudomorphic InAsP/InP modulation-doped heterostructures grown by low-pressure organometallic CVD. The high-field channel velocities are comparable to or better than that of InGaAs/InAlAs heterostructures, and the transport properties of InAs/InP heterostucture suggest that carriers remain confined in the channel even at high fields.

Yang, D.↗

From linear mechanics to nonlinear mechanics

Consideration is given to the techniques used in telecommunication where a nonlinear system (the modulator) results in a linear transposition of a signal. It is then shown that a similar method permits linearization of electromechanical devices or nonlinear mechanical devices. A sweep function plays the same role as the carrier wave in radio-electricity. The linearizations of certain nonlinear functionals are presented.

RESEARCH TECHNIQUE, MATHEMATICS↗

High Mobility SiGe/Si n-MODFET Structures and Devices on Sapphire Substrates

Si/Ge/Si n-type modulation doped field effect structures and transistors (n-MODFET's) have been fabricated on r-plane sapphire substrates. Mobilities as high as 1380 cm(exp 2)/Vs were measured at room temperature. Excellent carrier confinement was shown by Shubnikov-de Haas measurements. Atomic force microscopy indicated smooth surfaces, with rm's roughness less than 4 nm, similar to the quality of SiGe/Si n-MODFET structures made on Si substrates. Transistors with 2 micron gate lengths and 200 micron gate widths were fabricated and tested.

Mueller, Carl↗

A review of ionospheric effects on Earth-space propagation

A short description is given of each ionospheric total electron content (TEC) effect upon radio waves, along with a representative value of the magnitude of each of these effects under normal ionospheric conditions. A discussion is given of the important characteristics of average ionospheric TEC behavior and the temporal and spatial variability of TEC. Radio waves undergo several effects when they pass through the Earth's ionosphere. One of the most important of these effects is a retardation, or group delay, on the modulation or information carried on the radio wave that is due to its encounter with the free, thermal electrons in the Earth's ionosphere. Other effects the ionosphere has on radio waves include: radio frequency (RF) carrier phase advance; Doppler shift of the RF carrier of the radio wave; Faraday rotation of the plane of polarization of linearly polarized waves; angular refraction or bending of the radio wave path as it travels through the ionosphere; and amplitude and phase scintillations.

Klobuchar, J. A.↗

Diode laser array

A diode laser array comprises a substrate of a semiconductor material having first and second opposed surfaces. On the first surface is a plurality of spaced gain sections and a separate distributed Bragg reflector passive waveguide at each end of each gain section and optically connecting the gain sections. Each gain section includes a cavity therein wherein charge carriers are generated and recombine to generate light which is confined in the cavity. Also, the cavity, which is preferably a quantum well cavity, provides both a high differential gain and potentially large depth of loss modulation. Each waveguide has a wavelength which is preferably formed by an extension of the cavity of the gain sections and a grating. The grating has a period which provides a selective feedback of light into the gain sections to supporting lasing, which allows some of the light to be emitted from the waveguide normal to the surface of the substrate and which allows optical coupling of the gain sections. Also, the grating period provides an operating wavelength which is on the short wavelength side of the gain period of the gain sections required for laser oscillation. An RF pulse is applied so as to maximize the magnitude of the loss modulation and the differential gain in the gain sections. The array is operated by applying a DC bias to all the gain sections at a level just below the threshold of the gain sections to only one of the gain sections which raises the bias in all of the gain sections to a level that causes all of the gain sections to oscillate. Thus, a small bias can turn the array on and off.

Carlson, Nils W.↗

More About Fixed-Lag Smoothers For Tracking Carriers

Performance in presence of fades improved. Report amplifies and extends subject matter of "Performance of Fixed-Lag Phase-Smoothing Algorithms" (NPO-17202). Fixed-lag smoothers also used to mitigate effects of short, deep fades, including multipath effects, in mobile or fixed terrestrial receivers of frequency- or phase-modulated signals.

Kumar, Rajendra↗

Solution‐Processed Spin‐Polarized Light‐Emitting Diodes of Colloidal Quantum Wells and Magnetic Nanoparticles

Electrical injection of spin-polarized carriers into semiconductors enables circularly-polarized emission from spin-polarized light-emitting diodes (spin-LEDs). The incredible level of tunability of magnetic and electronic properties in colloidal nanocrystals offers unprecedented opportunities for the modulation of polarization of light in solution-processed spin-LEDs based on magnetic nanoparticles unlike epitaxially grown spin-LEDs restricted by a very limited range of materials for their exploitation, and solution-processed spin-LEDs based on chiral molecules, which do not allow the modulation of polarization in general. Here, it is shown that electrical injection of spin-polarized electrons from magnetic Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles into CdSe/CdZnS core/shell colloidal quantum wells (CQWs) in solution-processed LEDs that allows for polarization modulation of electroluminescence. In this structure, a monolayer of face-down oriented CQWs is deposited as an active layer to avoid polarization losses due to the hopping of the electrons between the CQWs before the radiative recombination process. In this solution-processed spin-LED, the circular polarization reaches 4.5% at 3 K and survives up to 100 K. A net circular polarization is observed at zero magnetic field up to 100 K because of the remnant magnetization of the Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles. This new colloidal spin-LED architecture presents significant prospects for future solution-processed advanced opto-spintronic devices.

circularly polarized electroluminescence↗

A generalized formulation of minimum shift keying modulation

The modulator structure consisting of a single-input two-output sequential transducer whose output sequences control the modulated signal in the manner s(t) = x(i)p(t) + y(i)q(t) is considered. Here, iT is less than or equal to t, which is less than iT + T, where T is the modulation bit duration and where x(i) and y(i) take values in /+1, -1, 0/. The behavior of a sequential transducer is characterized by means of a 'trellis'. It is shown that, provided only that the 'carriers' p(t) and q(t) have the same energy in every bit interval, the optimum demodulator for the additive white Gaussian noise channel need process the received signal over only two bit intervals in making each data bit decision. It is demonstrated that particular choices of the sequential transducer yield differential minimum shift keying and differential staggered quadriphase shift keying. Possible generalizations of this approach are discussed.

Massey, J. L.↗

622-Mbps Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Digital Modem Implemented

Future generation space communications systems feature significantly higher data rates and relatively smaller frequency spectrum allocations than systems currently deployed. This requires the application of bandwidth- and power-efficient signal transmission techniques. There are a number of approaches to implementing such techniques, including analog, digital, mixed-signal, single-channel, or multichannel systems. In general, the digital implementations offer more advantages; however, a fully digital implementation is very difficult because of the very high clock speeds required. Multichannel techniques are used to reduce the sampling rate. One such technique, multicarrier modulation, divides the data into a number of low-rate channels that are stacked in frequency. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), a form of multicarrier modulation, is being proposed for numerous systems, including mobile wireless and digital subscriber link communication systems. In response to this challenge, NASA Glenn Research Center's Communication Technology Division has developed an OFDM digital modem (modulator and demodulator) with an aggregate information throughput of 622 Mbps. The basic OFDM waveform is constructed by dividing an incoming data stream into four channels, each using either 16- ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) or 8-phase shift keying (8-PSK). An efficient implementation for an OFDM architecture is being achieved using the combination of a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) at the transmitter to digitally stack the individual carriers, inverse DFT at the receiver to perform the frequency translations, and a polyphase filter to facilitate the pulse shaping.

Kifle, Muli↗