Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “spatial arrays”

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 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Hydrogen Wide Area Monitoring of LH2 Releases at HSE for the PRESHLY Project

The characterization of liquid hydrogen (LH2) releases has been identified as an international research priority to expand the safe use of hydrogen as an energy carrier. Empirical field measurements such as those afforded by Hydrogen Wide Area Monitoring (HyWAM) can elucidate the behavior of LH2 releases, which can then be used to support and validate dispersion models. HyWAM can be defined as the quantitative three-dimensional spatial and temporal profiling of planned or unintentional hydrogen releases. The NREL Sensor Laboratory developed a HyWAM based upon a distributed array of hydrogen Sensors. The NREL Sensor Laboratory and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) formally committed to collaborate on profiling GH2 and LH2 releases, which allowed for the integration of the NREL HyWAM into the HSE LH2 release behavior investigation supported by the FCH JU Prenormative Research for the Safe Use of Liquid Hydrogen (PRESLHY) program. A HyWAM system consisting of 32 hydrogen measurement points and co-located temperature sensors were distributed downstream of the LH2 release apparatus developed by HSE. In addition, there were proximal wind and weather monitors. In a separate presentation at this conference "HSE SD Experimental Summary for the Characterisation, Dispersion and Electrostatic Hazards of LH2 for the PRESLHY Project" HSE researchers summarize the experimental apparatus and experimental protocols utilized in the HSE LH2 releases that were performed under the auspices of PRESLHY. To supplement the HSE presentation, this presentation will focus on the spatial and temporal behavior LH2 releases as measured by the NREL HyWAM. Correlations to ambient conditions, such as wind speed and direction, plume temperature and hydrogen concentrations will be discussed in addition to the design and performance of the NREL HyWAM, and its potential for improving hydrogen facility safety.

HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS1991

Quantitative characterization of the spatial distribution of particles in materials: Application to materials processing

Inhomogeneities in the spatial distribution of second phase particles in engineering materials are known to affect certain mechanical properties. Progress in this area has been hampered by the lack of a convenient method for quantitative description of the spatial distribution of the second phase. This study intends to develop a broadly applicable method for the quantitative analysis and description of the spatial distribution of second phase particles. The method was designed to operate on a desktop computer. The Dirichlet tessellation technique (geometrical method for dividing an area containing an array of points into a set of polygons uniquely associated with the individual particles) was selected as the basis of an analysis technique implemented on a PC. This technique is being applied to the production of Al sheet by PM processing methods; vacuum hot pressing, forging, and rolling. The effect of varying hot working parameters on the spatial distribution of aluminum oxide particles in consolidated sheet is being studied. Changes in distributions of properties such as through-thickness near-neighbor distance correlate with hot-working reduction.

Parse, Joseph B.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Characterization of Pixelated Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride Detectors for Astrophysical Applications

Comparisons of charge sharing and charge loss measurements between two pixelated Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride (CdZnTe) detectors are discussed. These properties along with the detector geometry help to define the limiting energy resolution and spatial resolution of the detector in question. The first detector consists of a 1-mm-thick piece of CdZnTe sputtered with a 4x4 array of pixels with pixel pitch of 750 microns (inter-pixel gap is 100 microns). Signal readout is via discrete ultra-low-noise preamplifiers, one for each of the 16 pixels. The second detector consists of a 2-mm-thick piece of CdZnTe sputtered with a 16x16 array of pixels with a pixel pitch of 300 microns (inter-pixel gap is 50 microns). This crystal is bonded to a custom-built readout chip (ASIC) providing all front-end electronics to each of the 256 independent pixels. These detectors act as precursors to that which will be used at the focal plane of the High Energy Replicated Optics (HERO) telescope currently being developed at Marshall Space Flight Center. With a telescope focal length of 6 meters, the detector needs to have a spatial resolution of around 200 microns in order to take full advantage of the HERO angular resolution. We discuss to what degree charge sharing will degrade energy resolution but will improve our spatial resolution through position interpolation.

Gaskin, Jessica↗
DOE OSTI2026

Spatiotemporal Thermal Coupling in VO 2 Device Arrays

Correlated oxides such as VO 2 exhibit an electrically driven insulator–metal transition (IMT) that underlies their promise for neuromorphic and memory devices. Yet the IMT is not a uniform bulk process but a spatiotemporal phenomenon in which local heating nucleates filaments, contracts or dissolves them with the electric field, and couples to the environment. In this work, we directly image the VO 2 IMT dynamics by mid-wave infrared, thermography synchronized with electrical transport, resolving device temperature with micrometer spatial and microsecond temporal resolution. At the single-device level, we capture the full cycle of filament nucleation, contraction, and relaxation during current/voltage-driven resistive switching. At the array level, we show that heat propagates across etched gaps with an effective length scale of ∼131 µm, enabling cooperative behaviors among electrically isolated devices. Short-range distanced devices exhibit mutual filament attraction and sequential dissolution, while long-range distanced devices differentiate into distinct roles: drivers that initiate switching, cooperative responders that undergo assisted self-oscillations, and passive reporters that record the thermal field. Furthermore, these results reframe thermal crosstalk, long regarded as parasitic, as an intrinsic coupling channel and design principle for organizing collective switching behaviors, with direct implications for emergent circuit functionality in neuromorphic and unconventional computing architectures.

coupling↗
NASA NTRS2013

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Beam Measurements and the Microwave Brightness Temperatures of Uranus and Saturn

We describe the measurement of the beam profiles and window functions for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), which operated from 2007 to 2010 with kilopixel bolometer arrays centered at 148, 218, and 277 GHz. Maps of Saturn are used to measure the beam shape in each array and for each season of observations. Radial profiles are transformed to Fourier space in a way that preserves the spatial correlations in the beam uncertainty to derive window functions relevant for angular power spectrum analysis. Several corrections are applied to the resulting beam transforms, including an empirical correction measured from the final cosmic microwave background (CMB) survey maps to account for the effects of mild pointing variation and alignment errors. Observations of Uranus made regularly throughout each observing season are used to measure the effects of atmospheric opacity and to monitor deviations in telescope focus over the season. Using the WMAP-based calibration of the ACT maps to the CMB blackbody, we obtain precise measurements of the brightness temperatures of the Uranus and Saturn disks at effective frequencies of 149 and 219 GHz. For Uranus we obtain thermodynamic brightness temperatures T(149/U) = 106.7 +/- 2.2 K and T(219/U) = 100.1 +/- 3.1 K. For Saturn, we model the effects of the ring opacity and emission using a simple model and obtain resulting (unobscured) disk temperatures of T(149/S) = 137.3 +/- 3.2 K and T(219/S) = 137.3 +/- 4.7 K.

Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT)↗
DOE OSTI2021

Topological Phases in Graphene Nanoribbons Tuned by Electric Fields

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) possess distinct symmetry-protected topological phases. Here we show, through first-principles calculations, that by applying an experimentally accessible transverse electric field, certain boron and nitrogen periodically codoped GNRs have tunable topological phases. The tunability arises from a field-induced band inversion due to an opposite response of the conduction- and valence-band states to the electric field. With a spatially varying applied field, segments of GNRs of distinct topological phases are created, resulting in a field-programmable array of topological junction states, each may be occupied with charge or spin. Our findings not only show that electric field may be used as an easy tuning knob for topological phases in quasi-one-dimensional systems, but also provide new design principles for future GNR-based quantum electronic devices through their topological characters.

1-dimensional systems↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Scalable & Non-Destructive Characterization Strategy to Study Semiconductor/Dielectric Interfaces and Predict Wafer-Level Device Performance

The defect density present at the dielectric-semiconductor interface in an MOS structure directly influences the channel carrier characteristics in semiconductor devices, especially in wide bandgap material systems used in power devices. While these trap defects are typically quantified through electrical characterization of MOS-capacitor test structures, this treatment offers very little insight into the physical nature of interface defects. Such shortcomings demand a physical characterization strategy to guide fabrication optimization. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is suggested as a viable technique to determine chemical data for dielectric interfaces formed using atomic layer deposition (ALD) on GaN substrates. Previously, 1-D XPS characterization has confirmed the presence of a Ga x O y interlayer between ALD dielectrics and the GaN substrate. In this work, XPS data is serially collected to form 2-D images of an ALD-Al 2 O 3 /GaN interface as a proof-of-concept experiment for in-situ XPS quality monitoring during ALD processing. The information provided by this work reveals some of the challenges for incorporating XPS characterization as an in-situ strategy during fabrication of GaN-based devices. Separately, electrical mapping of a 2-D array of ALD-Al 2 O 3 /GaN MOS-capacitor devices provide a means to quantify the spatial variations in interface quality across a single wafer. Physical characterization techniques, such as time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy, provide additional chemical information about the Al 2 O 3 /Ga x O y /GaN structure that complement the electrical mapping results. This analysis shows that a higher Ga x O y content correlates with higher interface state defects for trap energies deep in the band gap.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1985

Observations on the propagation, growth, and predictability of Gulf Stream meanders

During a three-year period, Gulf Stream positions determined by satellite infrared imagery on a grid northeast of Cape Hatteras have been correlated against 'inlet' path parameters (displacement from the mean position, angle, and curvature) monitored by an array of inverted echo sounders. By cross-spectral calculations between these measurements, the downstream coherences, phase speeds, and spatial growth rates were determined. The downstream path predictability from these inlet parameters was tested in a multiple input linear response model. The most energetic meanders, with periods of 33-50 days, remained highly coherent for 300 km downstream, roughly the dominant wavelength, with marginal coherence again at 500-575 km. Phase speeds are frequency dependent and decrease with distance downstream. For the 50- (33) day meanders, phase speeds decreased from 10 (17) km/d at the inlet to 6 (8) km/d at a distance downstream of about 550 km. The average growth rate (spatial e-folding wave number) over the entire region is 1.3 x 10 to the -3rd per km. Within 300 km of the inlet, the multiple coherence accounts for 55-65 percent of the total path-displacement variance, with displacement and angle being the best individual predictors in the first and last halves of this region, respectively.

Vazquez, J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Finite difference simulations of seismic scattering Implications for the propagation of short-period seismic waves in the crust and models of crustal heterogeneity

Synthetic seismographs that were obtained by the finite difference method are presently applied to the study of elastic and acoustic wave scattering in two-dimensional media with random spatial variations in seismic velocity. The seismograms are analyzed to determine the variation in travel times and waveforms across arrays of receivers. The random media with Gaussian and exponential correlation functions considered differ in the spectral falloff of their velocity fluctuations at wavelengths smaller than 2pi times the correlation distance. It is found that alternative models of crustal heterogeneity can be tested by improved measurements of the frequency dependence of the crustal Q at frequencies greater than about 1 Hz, assuming that scattering is responsible for most of the attenuation at such frequencies.

Frankel, A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Geodynamics laser ranging system: Performance simulations and development of the EOS facility

The NASA Geodynamics Laser Ranging System is a spaceborne multicolor laser ranger to be used for studying regional and local scale crustal movements and will provide a capability for height profiling of ice-sheets, land terrains, cloud-tops, and other surfaces. Ranging measurements to retroreflector targets will produce intersite distances and relative heights with subcentimeter accuracy over baselines up to several hundred kilometers long. Arrays containing up to a few hundred targets can be surveyed nearly simultaneously. Altimetric profiling can be performed with spatial resolution of 80m and vertical accuracy of 10cm with the latter depending on the roughness and slope of the terrain.

Cohen, S. C.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Near-infrared mapping of spiral barred galaxies

In external galaxies, near-infrared emission originates from stellar populations, hot dust, free-free emission from H+ regions, gaseous emission, non-thermal nucleus if any. Because of the low extinction compared to the visible, infrared wavelengths are useful to probe regions obscured by dust such as central parts where starburst phenomena can occur because of the large quantity of matter. The results presented were obtained with a 32 x 32 InSb charge injection device (CID) array cooled at 4K, at the f/36 cassegrain focus of the 3m60 Canada-France-Hawaii telescope with a spatial resolution of 0.5 inches per pixel. The objects presented are spiral barred galaxies mapped at J(1.25 microns), H(1.65 microns) and K(2.2 microns). The non-axisymetric potential due to the presence of a bar induces dynamical processes leading to the confinement of matter and peculiar morphologies. Infrared imaging is used to study the link between various components. Correlations with other wavelengths ranges and 2-colors diagrams ((J-H), (H-K)) lead to the identification of star forming regions, nucleus. Maps show structures connected to the central core. The question is, are they flowing away or toward the nucleus. Observations of M83 lead to several conclusions. The star forming region, detected in the visible and the infrared cannot be very compact and must extend to the edge of the matter concentration. The general shape of the near-infrared emission and the location of radio and 10 micron peaks suggest the confinement of matter between the inner Linblad resonances localized from CO measurements about 100 and 400 pc. The distribution of color indices in the arc from southern part to the star forming region suggests an increasing amount of gas and a time evolution eventually triggered by supernova explosions. Close to the direction of the bar, a bridge-like structure connects the arc to the nucleus with peculiar color indices. Perhaps, this structure can be linked to a height velocity component seen in UV and we can attribute it to a jet and/or a matter flow along the bar toward the nucleus, fuelling it. NGC 1068 is the nearest Seyfert 2 galaxy. It has been a subject of many studies at all wavelengths. This object was mapped at J, H, K, L and M, and in polaro-imagery. Results are given.

Gallais, P.↗
NASA NTRS1994

High power diode laser Master Oscillator-Power Amplifier (MOPA)

High power multiple quantum well AlGaAs diode laser master oscillator - power amplifier (MOPA) systems were examined both experimentally and theoretically. For two pass operation, it was found that powers in excess of 0.3 W per 100 micrometers of facet length were achievable while maintaining diffraction-limited beam quality. Internal electrical-to-optical conversion efficiencies as high as 25 percent were observed at an internal amplifier gain of 9 dB. Theoretical modeling of multiple quantum well amplifiers was done using appropriate rate equations and a heuristic model of the carrier density dependent gain. The model gave a qualitative agreement with the experimental results. In addition, the model allowed exploration of a wider design space for the amplifiers. The model predicted that internal electrical-to-optical conversion efficiencies in excess of 50 percent should be achievable with careful system design. The model predicted that no global optimum design exists, but gain, efficiency, and optical confinement (coupling efficiency) can be mutually adjusted to meet a specific system requirement. A three quantum well, low optical confinement amplifier was fabricated using molecular beam epitaxial growth. Coherent beam combining of two high power amplifiers injected from a common master oscillator was also examined. Coherent beam combining with an efficiency of 93 percent resulted in a single beam having diffraction-limited characteristics. This beam combining efficiency is a world record result for such a system. Interferometric observations of the output of the amplifier indicated that spatial mode matching was a significant factor in the less than perfect beam combining. Finally, the system issues of arrays of amplifiers in a coherent beam combining system were investigated. Based upon experimentally observed parameters coherent beam combining could result in a megawatt-scale coherent beam with a 10 percent electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency.

Andrews, John R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Evidence for HCO(+) infall toward T Tauri?

High spectral and spatial resolution observations of the HCO(+) molecule toward the T Tau binary system obtained with the Owens Valley Millimeter Array reveal a broad emission line profile (V(sub LSR) = 7.2 km s(exp -1), Delta V = 2.0 km s(exp -1)) upon which a narrow, redshifted absorption feature (V(sub LSR) = 8.5 km s(exp -1), Delta V approximately equals 0.5 km s(exp -1)) is superposed. One possible interpretation of the absorption is that it rises from infall of molecular cloud envelope material onto the immediate circumbinary region, which would imply that large-scale dynamic accretion processes are still active well into the optically visible stages of star formation. Provided the mass is deposited at radii sufficiently close to the young stars, estimates of the accretion rates indicate that infall may add enough material to the system to account for the FU Orionis type flares recently observed in T Tau in approximately less than 100 yr.

Van Langevelde, Huib Jan↗
NASA NTRS1996

Spectroscopic Measurement of the Flows in an Arc-Jet Facility

To provide the proper test conditions for various applications, the characteristics of arcjet test facilities should be known. To determine the operational characteristics of an arcjet facility, emission spectroscopy measurements have been performed and analyzed in a previous study. As an extension of the study, radiation from the free stream and the shock layer of 15 cm diameter blunt-body test articles is measured under different test conditions in the NASA Ames 20 MW Arcjet Facility. The test gas is a mixture of argon and air or N2 and argon. To capture the spatially resolved emission spectra along the stagnation streamline of the blunt-body, a CCD camera (1024 x 256 array) with .275 m Czerny-Turner spectrograph is used. The optical system is calibrated in situ using tungsten and deuterium radiation sources. The emission measurements supplement the existing data base and will help provide better understanding of the equilibration processes in the shock layer region.

Park, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Optical Tweezers and Optical Trapping Improved for Future Automated Micromanipulation and Characterization

Optical trap arrays are being developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center for holding, manipulating, and optically interrogating arrays of nanotube sensors. The trap arrays, for example, might be used to arrange arrays of chemical sensors for insertion onto a chip in liquid, air, and vacuum environments. Neural-network-controlled spatial light modulators (SLMs) are to generate and control the trap positions and trap profiles in three dimensions.

Wrbanek, Susan Y.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Dust Production and Particle Acceleration in Supernova 1987A Revealed with ALMA

Supernova (SN) explosions are crucial engines driving the evolution of galaxies by shock heating gas, increasing the metallicity, creating dust, and accelerating energetic particles. In 2012 we used the Atacama Large Millimeter/ Submillimeter Array to observe SN1987A, one of the best-observed supernovae since the invention of the telescope. We present spatially resolved images at 450 μm, 870 μm, 1.4 mm, and 2.8 mm, an important transition wavelength range. Longer wavelength emission is dominated by synchrotron radiation from shock-accelerated particles, shorter wavelengths by emission from the largest mass of dust measured in a supernova remnant (>0.2 Solar Mass). For the first time we show unambiguously that this dust has formed in the inner ejecta (the cold remnants of the exploded star's core). The dust emission is concentrated at the center of the remnant, so the dust has not yet been affected by the shocks. If a significant fraction survives, and if SN 1987A is typical, supernovae are important cosmological dust producers.

Particle↗
NASA NTRS2017

Experimental Setup for the Laboratory Investigation of Micrometeoroid Ablation Using a Dust Accelerator

A facility has been developed to simulate the ablation of micrometeoroids in laboratory conditions. An electrostatic dust accelerator is used to generate iron particles with velocities of 10-70 kilometers. The particles are then introduced into a chamber pressurized with a target gas, where the pressure is adjustable between 0.01 and 0.5 Torr, and the particle partially or completely ablates over a short distance. An array of biased electrodes above and below the ablation path is used to collect the generated ions/electrons with a spatial resolution of 2.6 centimeters along the ablating particles path, thus allowing the study of the spatiotemporal evolution of the process. For completely ablated particles, the total collected charge directly yields the ionization coefficient of a given dust material-target gas combination. The first results of this facility measured the ionization coefficient of iron atoms with N2, air, CO2, and He target gases for impact velocities greater than 20 kilometers per second, and are reported by Thomas et al. The ablation chamber is also equipped with four optical ports that allow for the detection of the light emitted by the ablating particle. A multichannel photomultiplier tube system is used to observe the ablation process with a spatial and temporal resolution of 0.64 centimeters and 90 nanoseconds. The preliminary results indicate that it is possible to calculate the velocity of the ablating particle from the optical observations, and in conjunction with the spatially resolved charge measurements allow for experimental validation of ablation models in future studies.

Thomas, Evan↗
NASA NTRS1989

The Owens Valley solar array

Solar microwave emission contains essential information for the study of the coronal magnetic structure of active regions and of thermal and nonthermal flare electrons. To exploit this potential requires BOTH imaging and spectroscopy with sufficient resolution to resolve spatial and spectral features. The VLA provides excellent solar imaging (when in the C and D configurations) but inadequate spectral coverage. The existing Owens Valley system has excellent spectral coverage but imaging that is adequate only for very simple sources. The Owens Valley system is currently undergoing an expansion, which when completed in October 1990 will provide a SOLAR-DEDICATED 5 antenna array (10 baselines). By using frequency-synthesis, this will provide a significant imaging capability in addition to its current spectral coverage.

Hurford, G. J.↗