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Results for “Optical gratings”

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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2001

Application of a Fiber Optic Distributed Strain Sensor System to Woven E-Glass Composite

A distributed strain sensing system utilizing a series of identically written Bragg gratings along an optical fiber is examined for potential application to Composite Armored Vehicle health monitoring. A vacuum assisted resin transfer molding process was used to fabricate a woven fabric E-glass/composite panel with an embedded fiber optic strain sensor. Test samples machined from the panel were mechanically tested in 4-point bending. Experimental results are presented that show the mechanical strain from foil strain gages comparing well to optical strain from the embedded sensors. Also, it was found that the distributed strain along the sample length was consistent with the loading configuration.

Anastasi, Robert F.↗
NASA NTRS1980

General optics evaluation program

Computer program GENOPTICS is generalized aid for analysis and evaluation of optical systems that employ lenses, mirrors, diffraction gratings, and other geometrical optical surfaces. It can exactly trace up to 800 rays through as many as 40 surfaces. Results can be used to compute third order aberation coefficients including spheric contributions.

Howell, B. J.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Advanced Meteorological Temperature Sounder (AMTS) study

The results of a system definition study (theoretical) for an Advanced Meteorological Temperature Sounder (AMTS) is described. From the data the atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles can be determined over the entire earth's surface with a spatial resolution of 45 km. x 45 km; amounts and type of cloud cover as well as surface temperatures of the earth are also determined. The major purpose of the study was to determine the feasibility of cooling twenty-eight detectors to the 80-90 Kelvin region by means of a radiative cooler. Other related considerations were achieving high signal-to-noise ratios, maximizing optical throughput through the grating spectrometer, and reducing preamplifier noise. A detailed optical design of an f/5 Ebert-Fastie spectrometer was carried out to verify that image quality is adequate; field lenses near the spectrometer focal plane were designed to image the grating onto the smallest size detectors for each channel.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1999

Stratified Volume Diffractive Optical Elements as Low-Mass Coherent Lidar Scanners

Transmissive scanning elements for coherent laser radar systems are typically optical wedges, or prisms, which deflect the lidar beam at a specified angle and are then rotated about the instrument optical axis to produce a scan pattern. The wedge is placed in the lidar optical system subsequent to a beam-expanding telescope, implying that it has the largest diameter of any element in the system. The combination of the wedge diameter and asymmetric profile result in the element having very large mass and, consequently, relatively large power consumption required for scanning. These two parameters, mass and power consumption, are among the instrument requirements which need to be minimized when designing a lidar for a space-borne platform. Reducing the scanner contributions in these areas will have a significant effect on the overall instrument specifications, Replacing the optical wedge with a diffraction grating on the surface of a thin substrate is a straight forward approach with potential to reduce the mass of the scanning element significantly. For example, the optical wedge that will be used for the SPAce Readiness Coherent Lidar Experiment (SPARCLE) is approximately 25 cm in diameter and is made from silicon with a wedge angle designed for 30 degree deflection of a beam operating at approx. 2 micrometer wavelength. The mass of this element could be reduced by a factor of four by instead using a fused silica substrate, 1 cm thick, with a grating fabricated on one of the surfaces. For a grating to deflect a beam with a 2 micrometer wavelength by 30 degrees, a period of approximately 4 micrometers is required. This is small enough that fabrication of appropriate high efficiency blazed or multi-phase level diffractive optical gratings is prohibitively difficult. Moreover, bulk or stratified volume holographic approaches appear impractical due to materials limitations at 2 micrometers and the need to maintain adequate wavefront quality. In order to avoid the difficulties encountered in these approaches, we have developed a new type of high-efficiency grating which we call a Stratified Volume Diffractive Optical Element (SVDOE). The features of the gratings in this approach can be easily fabricated using standard photolithography and etching techniques and the materials used in the grating can be chosen specifically for a given application, In this paper we will briefly discuss the SVDOE technique and will present an example design of a lidar scanner using this approach. We will also discuss performance predictions for the example design.

Chambers, Diana M.↗
NASA NTRS1983

High efficiency spectrographs for the EUV and soft X-rays

The use of grazing incidence optics and reflection grating designs is shown to be a method that improves the performance of spectrographs at wavelengths shorter than 1200 A. Emphasis is laid on spectroscopic designs for X ray and EUV astronomy, with sample designs for an objective reflection grating spectrograph (ORGS) and an echelle spectrograph for wavelengths longer than 100 A. Conical diffraction allows operations at grazing incidence in the echelle spectrograph. In ORGS, the extreme distance of X ray objects aids in collimating the source radiation, which encounters conical diffraction within the instrument, proceeds parallel to the optical axis, and arrives at the detector. A series of gratings is used to achieve the effect. A grazing echelle is employed for EUV observations, and offers a resolution of 20,000 over a 300 A bandpass.

Cash, W.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Apparatus and method for creating a photonic densely-accumulated ray-point

An optical apparatus includes an optical diffraction device configured for diffracting a predetermined wavelength of incident light onto adjacent optical focal points, and a photon detector for detecting a spectral characteristic of the predetermined wavelength. One of the optical focal points is a constructive interference point and the other optical focal point is a destructive interference point. The diffraction device, which may be a micro-zone plate (MZP) of micro-ring gratings or an optical lens, generates a constructive ray point using phase-contrasting of the destructive interference point. The ray point is located between adjacent optical focal points. A method of generating a densely-accumulated ray point includes directing incident light onto the optical diffraction device, diffracting the selected wavelength onto the constructive interference focal point and the destructive interference focal point, and generating the densely-accumulated ray point in a narrow region.

Park, Yeonjoon↗
NASA NTRS1992

Advanced optical instruments technology

The science objectives for proposed NASA missions for the next decades push the state of the art in sensitivity and spatial resolution over a wide range of wavelengths, including the x-ray to the submillimeter. While some of the proposed missions are larger and more sensitive versions of familiar concepts, such as the next generation space telescope, others use concepts, common on the Earth, but new to space, such as optical interferometry, in order to provide spatial resolutions impossible with other concepts. However, despite their architecture, the performance of all of the proposed missions depends critically on the back-end instruments that process the collected energy to produce scientifically interesting outputs. The Advanced Optical Instruments Technology panel was chartered with defining technology development plans that would best improve optical instrument performance for future astrophysics missions. At this workshop the optical instrument was defined as the set of optical components that reimage the light from the telescope onto the detectors to provide information about the spatial, spectral, and polarization properties of the light. This definition was used to distinguish the optical instrument technology issues from those associated with the telescope, which were covered by a separate panel. The panel identified several areas for optical component technology development: diffraction gratings; tunable filters; interferometric beam combiners; optical materials; and fiber optics. The panel also determined that stray light suppression instruments, such as coronagraphs and nulling interferometers, were in need of general development to support future astrophysics needs.

Shao, Mike↗
NASA NTRS2013

Pushing the Boundaries of X-ray Grating Spectroscopy in a Suborbital Rocket

Developments in grating spectroscopy are paramount for meeting the soft X‐ray science goals of future NASA X‐ray Observatories. While developments in the laboratory setting have verified the technical feasibility of using off‐plane reflection gratings to reach this goal, flight heritage is a key step in the development process toward large missions. To this end we have developed a design for a suborbital rocket payload employing an Off‐Plane X‐ray Grating Spectrometer. This spectrometer utilizes slumped glass Wolter‐1 optics, an array of gratings, and a CCD camera. We discuss the unique capabilities of this design, the expected performance, the science return, and the perceived impact to future missions.

McEntaffer, Randall L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Planar Rowland spectrometer for fiber-optic wavelength demultiplexing

A planar Rowland spectrometer was fabricated and characterized as a wavelength demultiplexer for multimode fiber-optic applications. The spectrometer consisted of a planar multimode glass waveguide with two curved end faces and a cylindrical concave attached to one of the end faces. Semiconductor lasers with wavelengths between 0.825 and 0.845 micron were used for the measurements. Cross-talk isolation between two adjacent fibers with center-to-center separation of 175 microns (100 A in wavelength difference) was measured to be 18 dB. The device's performance was limited by grating diffraction efficiency, optical aberration, waveguide dispersion, and waveguide losses.

Yen, H. W.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Low-Energy Microfocus X-Ray Source for Enhanced Testing Capability in the Stray Light Facility

Research toward high-resolution, soft x-ray optics (mirrors and gratings) necessary for the next generation large x-ray observatories requires x-ray testing using a low-energy x-ray source with fine angular size (<1 arcsecond). To accommodate this somewhat demanding requirement, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has procured a custom, windowless low-energy microfocus (approximately 0.1 mm spot) x-ray source from TruFocus Corporation that mates directly to the Stray Light Facility (SLF). MSFC X-ray Astronomy team members are internationally recognized for their expertise in the development, fabrication, and testing of grazing-incidence optics for x-ray telescopes. One of the key MSFC facilities for testing novel x-ray instrumentation is the SLF. This facility is an approximately 100-m-long beam line equipped with multiple x-ray sources and detectors. This new source adds to the already robust compliment of instrumentation, allowing MSFC to support additional internal and community x-ray testing needs.

Gaskin, Jessica↗
NASA NTRS1989

Monolithic Arrays of Grating-Surface-Emitting Diode Lasers and Quantum Well Modulators for Optical Communications

The electro-optic switching properties of injection-coupled coherent 2-D grating-surface-emitting laser arrays with multiple gain sections and quantum well active layers are discussed and demonstrated. Within such an array of injection-coupled grating-surface-emitting lasers, a single gain section can be operated as intra-cavity saturable loss element that can modulate the output of the entire array. Experimental results demonstrate efficient sub-nanosecond switching of high power grading-surface-emitting laser arrays by using only one gain section as an intra-cavity loss modulator.

Carlson, N. W.↗
NASA NTRS2016

An Integral Field Spectrograph Utilizing Mirrorlet Arrays

An integral field spectrograph (IFS) has been developed that utilizes a new and novel optical design to observe two spatial dimensions simultaneously with one spectral dimension. This design employs an optical 2-D array of reflecting and focusing mirrorlets. This mirrorlet array is placed at the imaging plane of the front-end telescope to generate a 2-D array of tiny spots replacing what would be the slit in a traditional slit spectrometer design. After the mirrorlet in the optical path, a grating on a concave mirror surface will image the spot array and provide high-resolution spectrum for each spatial element at the same time; therefore, the IFS simultaneously obtains the 3-D data cube of two spatial and one spectral dimensions. The new mirrorlet technology is currently in-house and undergoing laboratory testing at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Section 1 describes traditional classes of instruments that are used in Heliophysics missions and a quick introduction to the new IFS design. Section 2 discusses the details of the most generic mirrorlet IFS, while section 3 presents test results of a lab-based instrument. An example application to a Heliophysics mission to study solar eruptive events in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths is presented in section 4 that has high spatial resolution (0.5 arc sec pixels) in the two spatial dimensions and high spectral resolution (66 m) across a 15 spectral window. Section 4 also concludes with some other optical variations that could be employed on the more basic IFS for further capabilities of this type of instrument.

Chamberlin, Phillip C.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Monitoring of Thermal Protection Systems and MMOD using Robust Self-Organizing Optical Fiber Sensing Networks

The general aim of this work is to develop and demonstrate a prototype structural health monitoring system for thermal protection systems that incorporates piezoelectric acoustic emission (AE) sensors to detect the occurrence and location of damaging impacts, such as those from Micrometeoroid Orbital Debris (MMOD). The approach uses an optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor network to evaluate the effect of detected damage on the thermal conductivity of the TPS material. Following detection of an impact, the TPS would be exposed to a heat source, possibly the sun, and the temperature distribution on the inner surface in the vicinity of the impact measured by the FBG network. A similar procedure could also be carried out as a screening test immediately prior to re-entry. The implications of any detected anomalies in the measured temperature distribution will be evaluated for their significance in relation to the performance of the TPS during reentry. Such a robust TPS health monitoring system would ensure overall crew safety throughout the mission, especially during reentry.

Fiber Optic Sensors↗
NASA NTRS2013

Monitoring of Thermal Protection Systems Using Robust Self-Organizing Optical Fiber Sensing Networks

The general aim of this work is to develop and demonstrate a prototype structural health monitoring system for thermal protection systems that incorporates piezoelectric acoustic emission (AE) sensors to detect the occurrence and location of damaging impacts, and an optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor network to evaluate the effect of detected damage on the thermal conductivity of the TPS material. Following detection of an impact, the TPS would be exposed to a heat source, possibly the sun, and the temperature distribution on the inner surface in the vicinity of the impact measured by the FBG network. A similar procedure could also be carried out as a screening test immediately prior to re-entry. The implications of any detected anomalies in the measured temperature distribution will be evaluated for their significance in relation to the performance of the TPS during re-entry. Such a robust TPS health monitoring system would ensure overall crew safety throughout the mission, especially during reentry

Structural Health Monitoring↗
NASA NTRS1977

Large-Scale periodic solar velocities: An observational study

Observations of large-scale solar velocities were made using the mean field telescope and Babcock magnetograph of the Stanford Solar Observatory. Observations were made in the magnetically insensitive ion line at 5124 A, with light from the center (limb) of the disk right (left) circularly polarized, so that the magnetograph measures the difference in wavelength between center and limb. Computer calculations are made of the wavelength difference produced by global pulsations for spherical harmonics up to second order and of the signal produced by displacing the solar image relative to polarizing optics or diffraction grating.

Dittmer, P. H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

A Far Infrared Echelle Spectrometer for the Kuiper Airborne Observatory

A liquid-helium-cooled grating spectrometer (CGS) is being developed as a facility instrument for the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO), primarily to study for infrared lines originating in the interstellar medium. A maximum resolving power of approximately 6000 is achieved by means of a 45 cm long Echelle grating and is optically capable of operating in the spectral range from 25 to 300 microns. An array of detectors is used to simultaneously measure a line and the adjacent continuum from astronomical sources. Currently six detectors allow measurements in the 30 to 120 micron spectral band. The instrument, its operation, and its performance are described.

Erickson, E. F.↗
NASA NTRS1985

An FIR cooled grating spectrometer for the Kuiper Airborne Observatory

The design and performance of a liquid-He-cooled spectrometer being developed for the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) to study FIR lines originating in the interstellar medium are discussed. Currently, the spectrometer contains six Ge:Ga photoconductor detectors mounted in integrating cavities and cooled to about 3 K; the collimator focal plane has space for 39 such detectors. The instrument achieves a maximum resolving power of 6000 by means of a 45-cm long echelle grating and is optically capable of operating in the spectral range 25-300 microns. A laboratory spectrum of water vapor, an atmospheric water absorption feature measured from the KAO with Mars as a source, and the forbidden O(2+) emission from W51-IRS1 are shown.

Erickson, E. F.↗