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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1997

Deep Space One: NASA's First Deep-Space Technology Validation Mission

Under development for launch in July 1998, Deep Space One (DS1) is the first flight of NASA's New Millennium Program, Chartered to validate selected technologies required for future low-cost space science programs. Advanced technologies chosen for validation on DS1 include solar electric propulsion, high-power solar concentrator arrays, autonomous on-board optical navigation, two low-mass science instrument packages, and several telecommunications and microelectronics devices.

Deep↗
NASA NTRS2017

Exotic Optical Fibers and Glasses: Innovative Material Processing Opportunities in Earth's Orbit

Exotic optical fibers and glasses are the platform material for photonics applications, primarily due to their superior signal transmission (speed, low attenuation), with extending bandwidth deep into the infrared, exceeding that of silica fibers. Gravitational effects (convection sedimentation) have a direct impact on the phase diagram of these materials and influence melting properties, crystallization temperatures, and viscosity of the elemental mix during the manufacturing process. Such factors constitute limits to the yield, transmission quality, and strength and value of these fibers; they also constrain the range of applications. Manufacturing in a gravity-free environment such as the Earth’s Orbit also helps with other aspects of the fabrication process (i.e., improved form factor of the manufacturing unit, sustainability). In this article, revolutionary developments in the field of photonics over the past decade merge with the paradigm shift in the privatization of government-owned capabilities supporting a more diverse infrastructure (parabolic, suborbital, orbital), reduced price, and increased frequency to access space and the microgravity environment. With the increased dependence on data (demand, bandwidth, efficiency), space and the microgravity environment provide opportunities for optimized performance of these exotic optical fibers and glasses underlying the development of enabling technologies to meet future data demand. Existing terrestrial markets (Internet, telecommunications, market transactions) and emerging space markets (onorbit satellite servicing, space manufacturing, space resources, space communications, etc.) seem to converge, and this innovative material processing opportunity of exotic optical fibers and glasses might just be that ‘‘killer app’’: technologically competitive, economically viable, and with the ability to close the business case.

Ioana Cozmuta↗
NASA NTRS2018

Space and Earth Terminal Sizing for Future Mars Missions

NASA is investigating potential communications architectures to support future missions to Mars, with a time horizon out to about 2040. We examined a wide range of Earth-surface, Earth-orbiting, Mars-orbiting, and Mars-landed assets with both radio frequency and optical capabilities, and estimated the size, weight, power, and comparative cost of spacecraft telecommunications subsystems along with their comparative costs. Link attributes needed to achieve a fixed set of desired data rate capabilities were derived, assuming a planned set of Earth stations. For the trunk link from Mars to Earth, the required return data rates considered were 50, 75, 125, and 250 Mbps, and the required forward data rates considered were 30 and 50 Mbps. For proximity links, the required forward and return data rates (symmetric) ranged from 0.36 Mbps to 100 Mbps. The communication channels considered were UHF (75 cm wavelength) for proximity links only, and X-band (3.6 cm wavelength), Kaband (0.81 cm wavelength), and optical (808, 976, 1064, and 1550 nm wavelength) for both proximity and trunk links. Optical solutions provided substantial size and spectrum constraint advantages, but mixed advantages and disadvantages on mass and power. System cost was lower if the RF capability of space assets was increased to permit the number of arrayed RF Earth stations to be limited to two.

MacNeal, Bruce↗
DOE OSTI2021

Telecommunication-wavelength two-dimensional photonic crystal cavities in a thin single-crystal diamond membrane

We demonstrate two-dimensional photonic crystal cavities operating at telecommunication wavelengths in a single-crystal diamond membrane. We use a high-optical-quality and thin (~300 nm) diamond membrane, supported by a polycrystalline diamond frame, to realize fully suspended two-dimensional photonic crystal cavities with a high theoretical quality factor of ~8 × 10 6 and a relatively small mode volume of ~2(λ/n) 3 . The cavities are fabricated in the membrane using electron-beam lithography and vertical dry etching. We observe cavity resonances over a wide wavelength range spanning the telecommunication O- and S-bands (1360–1470 nm) with Q factors of up to ~1800. Our method paves the way for on-chip diamond nanophotonic applications in the telecommunication-wavelength range.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Strain-engineered high-responsivity MoTe 2 photodetector for silicon photonic integrated circuits

In integrated photonics, specific wavelengths are preferred such as 1550 nm due to low-loss transmission and the availability of optical gain in this spectral region. For chip-based photodetectors, layered two-dimensional (2D) materials bear scientific and technologically relevant properties such as electrostatic tunability and strong light-matter interactions. However, no efficient photodetector in the telecommunication C-band has been realized with 2D transition metal dichalcogenide materials due to their large optical bandgap. Furthermore, we demonstrate a MoTe 2 -based photodetector featuring strong photoresponse (responsivity = 0.5 A/W -1 ) operating at 1550 nm in silicon photonics enabled by strain engineering the 2D material. Non-planarized waveguide structures show a locally-induced bandgap change of 0.2 eV inside MoTe 2 , resulting in large photo-response, in an otherwise photo-inactive medium when unstrained. Unlike Graphene-based photodetectors relying on a gapless band structure, this photodetector shows a ~100X improved dark current, enabling an efficient noise equivalent power of 90 pW/Hz -0.5 . Such strain-engineered integrated photodetector provides new opportunities for integrated optoelectronic systems.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Perturbative second-order optical susceptibility of bulk materials: a symmetry-enforced return to non-orthogonal localized basis sets

The second-order optical susceptibility of semiconductors $\chi^{(2)}_{ijk}(-2\omega;\omega,\omega)$ finds application in metrology, spectroscopy, telecommunications, material characterization, and quantum information. Pioneering calculations of $\chi^{(2)}_{ijk}(-2\omega;\omega,\omega)$ utilized non-orthogonal Gaussian orbitals centered at atoms. That formulation transitioned into plane-wave-based algorithms as time went by. As of late, nevertheless, multiple tools for calculating optical susceptibilities have recast the problem using Wannier (i.e. localized) orbitals, making a comeback onto frameworks based on localized basis sets. Here, in this work, we present an approach for calculating $\chi^{(2)}_{ijk}(-2\omega;\omega,\omega)$ reliant on numerical pseudo-atomic orbitals (PAOs) within perturbation theory in the velocity gauge. Its salient feature is a calculation of ‘Slater–Koster-like’ two-center integrals of the momentum operator in between PAOs identified by symmetry. The approach was successfully tested on paradigmatic cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) and gallium arsenide, for which linear responses are contributed as well.

Huamán, Angiolo [Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Distributed Acoustic Sensing for Whale Vocalization Monitoring: A Vertical Deployment Field Test

Abstract There is growing interest in floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) technology, where turbines are installed on floating structures anchored to the seabed, allowing wind energy development in areas unsuitable for traditional fixed-platform turbines. Responsible development requires monitoring the impact of FOWTs on marine wildlife, such as whales, throughout the operational lifecycle of the turbines. Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS)—a technology that transforms fiber-optic cables into vibration sensor arrays—has been demonstrated for acoustic monitoring of whales using seafloor telecommunications cables. However, no studies have yet evaluated DAS performance in dynamic, engineered environments, such as floating platforms or moving vessels with complex, dynamic strain loads, despite their relevance to FOWT settings. This study addresses that gap by deploying DAS aboard a boat in Monterey Bay, California, where a fiber-optic cable was lowered using a weighted and suspended mooring line, enabling vertical deployment. Humpback whale vocalizations were captured and identified in the DAS data, noise sources were identified, and DAS data were compared to audio captured by a standalone hydrophone attached to the mooring line and a nearby hydrophone on a cabled observatory. This study is unique in: (1) deploying DAS in a vertical deployment mode, where noise from turbulence, cable vibrations, and other sources posed additional challenges compared to seafloor DAS applications; (2) demonstrating DAS in a dynamic, nonstationary setup, which is uncommon for DAS interrogators typically used in more stable environments; and (3) leveraging looped sections of the cable to reduce the noise floor and mitigate the effects of excessive cable vibrations and strain. This research demonstrates DAS’s ability to capture whale vocalizations in challenging environments, highlighting its potential to enhance underwater acoustic monitoring, particularly in the context of renewable energy development in offshore environments.

Saw, Jaewon↗
NASA NTRS1994

The SILEX experiment system operations

The European Space Agency is going to conduct an inter orbit link experiment which will connect a low Earth orbiting satellite and a Geostationary satellite via optical terminals. This experiment has been called SILEX (Semiconductor Inter satellite Link EXperiment). Two payloads will be built. One called PASTEL (PASsager de TELecommunication) will be embarked on the French Earth observation satellite SPOT4. The future European experimental data relay satellite ARTEMIS (Advanced Relay and TEchnology MISsion) will carry the OPALE terminal (Optical PAyload Experiment). The principal characteristic of the mission is a 50 Megabits flow of data transmitted via the optical satellite link. The relay satellite will route the data via its feeder link thus permitting a real time reception in the European region of images taken by the observation satellite. The PASTEL terminal has been designed to cover up to 9 communication sessions per day with an average of 5. The number of daily contact opportunities with the low earth orbiting satellite will be increased and the duration will be much longer than the traditional passes over a ground station. The terminals have an autonomy of 24 hours with respect to ground control. Each terminal will contain its own orbit model and that of its counter terminal for orbit prediction and for precise computation of pointing direction. Due to the very narrow field of view of the communication laser beam, the orbit propagation calculation needs to be done with a very high accuracy. The European Space Agency is responsible for the operation of both terminals. A PASTEL Mission Control System (PMCS) is being developed to control the PASTEL terminal on board SPOT4. The PMCS will interface with the SPOT4 Control Centre for the execution of the PASTEL operations. The PMCS will also interface with the ARTEMIS Mission Control System for the planning and the coordination of the operation. It is the first time that laser technology will be used to support inter-satellite links in Europe. Due to the complexity and experimental character of this new optical technology, the SILEX experiment control facilities will be designed to allow as much operational flexibility as possible.

Demelenne, B.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Optical Filter Assembly for Interplanetary Optical Communications

Ground-based, narrow-band, high throughput optical filters are required for optical links from deep space. We report on the development of a tunable filter assembly that operates at telecommunication window of 1550 nanometers. Low insertion loss of 0.5 decibels and bandwidth of 90 picometers over a 2000 nanometers operational range of detectors has been achieved.

optical filters↗
DOE OSTI2024

Discovery of atomic clock-like spin defects in simple oxides from first principles

Virtually noiseless due to the scarcity of spinful nuclei in the lattice, simple oxides hold promise as hosts of solid-state spin qubits. However, no suitable spin defect has yet been found in these systems. Using high-throughput first-principles calculations, we predict spin defects in calcium oxide with electronic properties remarkably similar to those of the NV center in diamond. These defects are charged complexes where a dopant atom — Sb, Bi, or I — occupies the volume vacated by adjacent cation and anion vacancies. The predicted zero phonon line shows that the Bi complex emits in the telecommunication range, and the computed many-body energy levels suggest a viable optical cycle required for qubit initialization. Notably, the high-spin nucleus of each dopant strongly couples to the electron spin, leading to many controllable quantum levels and the emergence of atomic clock-like transitions that are well protected from environmental noise. Specifically, the Hanh-echo coherence time increases beyond seconds at the clock-like transition in the defect with 209 Bi. Our results pave the way to designing quantum states with long coherence times in simple oxides, making them attractive platforms for quantum technologies.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1993

The Vision Machines

The thoughts of computer scientists at LeRC on the direction that computer development is taking and future implications are explored. Experts discuss the coming information superhighway and technologies such as fiber optics and neural networks. The impact of future computers on education, laboratory research, telecommunications, and science visualization.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2023

Optically Excited Lasing in a Cavity‐Based, High‐Current‐Density Quantum Dot Electroluminescent Device

Abstract Laser diodes based on solution‐processable materials can benefit numerous technologies including integrated electronics and photonics, telecommunications, and medical diagnostics. An attractive system for implementing these devices is colloidal semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). The progress towards a QD laser diode has been hampered by rapid nonradiative Auger decay of optical‐gain‐active multicarrier states, fast device degradation at high current densities required for laser action, and unfavorable competition between optical gain and optical losses in a multicomponent device stack. Here we resolve some of these challenges and demonstrate optically excited lasing from fully functional high‐current density electroluminescent (EL) devices with an integrated optical resonator. This advance has become possible due to excellent optical gain properties of continuously graded QDs and a refined device architecture, which allows for highly efficient light amplification in a thin, EL‐active QD layer.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cloud Droplet Measurement System for the ARM Tethered Balloon System (TBS) Field Campaign Report

The Mesa Photonics' cloud droplet measurement system (CDMS) performs in situ measurement of droplet size distribution and droplet number density in clouds. These characteristics are important cloud microphysical properties that are critical input parameters for atmospheric models and are also useful for proper calibration and validation of performance of other atmospheric measurement instrumentation. This small campaign was the first project (out of two) that involved integration of the CDMS into the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility’s tethered balloon system (TBS) and its initial testing at the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) atmospheric observatory. The follow-up campaign (AFC07016) involved testing of the CDMS under relevant conditions at the third ARM Mobile Facility (AMF3) at Oliktok Point, Alaska and making in situ measurements in clouds. The goal of this small field campaign was to deploy the CDMS on the ARM TBS, demonstrate its integrity and compatibility with the TBS, and test the wireless telecommunication system in preparation for subsequent in-cloud measurements at ARM’s North Slope of Alaska (NSA) observatory at Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow). The specific technical objectives included: (1) Integration of the Mesa Photonics' CDMS into the ARM TBS, (2) testing of the wireless telecommunication system of the CDMS, (3) evaluating the data acquisition software and image processing algorithms especially under high-background-illumination conditions, and (4) testing the ruggedness of the instrument's optical alignment and other performance characteristics. All objectives have been successfully met. The mounting hardware was designed and built mostly at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), which allowed reliable mounting of the CDMS on the TBS and co-locating the CDMS with other instruments. The field tests were performed by the principal investigator (PI) in collaboration with the TBS operational crew led by D. Dexheimer. The field testing demonstrated good compatibility of the CDMS with the TBS. During the TBS flights, the crew did not experience any operational issues with the CDMS. The instrument demonstrated reliable operational characteristics, including sufficient battery life and good thermal management. The wireless telecommunication system has been successfully tested at TBS flight altitudes of up to 1000 m. During all flights, the CDMS raw data were wirelessly transmitted to the ground station and processed in real time. The ruggedness of the instrument's optical alignment was evaluated by performing calibration of the CDMS (using Mesa Photonics' fixed-size monodisperse droplet generator) before and after the campaign. The calibration was stable within the instrument's measurement precision. In summary, the campaign demonstrated good compatibility of the Mesa Photonics' CDMS with the ARM TBS. The flight tests confirmed the mechanical integrity of the CDMS and stability of its optical layout, as well as reliability of the wireless telecommunication system. Successful completion of this campaign provided a solid basis for the next campaign (AFC07016, November 2020), that involved testing of the CDMS during in-cloud TBS flights at AMF3 at Oliktok Point.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2012

Technology Development for High Efficiency Optical Communications

Deep space optical communications is a significantly more challenging operational domain than near Earth space optical communications, primarily due to effects resulting from the vastly increased range between transmitter and receiver. The NASA Game Changing Development Program Deep Space Optical Communications Project is developing four key technologies for the implementation of a high efficiency telecommunications system that will enable greater than 10X the data rate of a state-of-the-art deep space RF system (Ka-band) for similar transceiver mass and power burden on the spacecraft. These technologies are a low mass spacecraft disturbance isolation assembly, a flight qualified photon counting detector array, a high efficiency flight laser amplifier and a high efficiency photon counting detector array for the ground-based receiver.

Space Receiver↗
NASA NTRS2019

The Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE): Technical Overview II

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) will add polarization to the properties (time, energy, and position) observed in x-ray astronomy. A NASA Astrophysics Small Explorer (SMEX) in partnership with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), IXPE will measure the 2–8-keV polarization of a few dozen sources during the first 2 years following its 2021 launch. The IXPE Observatory includes three identical x-ray telescopes, each comprising a 4-m-focal-length (grazingincidence) mirror module assembly (MMA) and a polarization-sensitive (imaging) detector unit (DU), separated by a deployable optical bench. The Observatory’s Spacecraft provides typical subsystems (mechanical, structural, thermal, power, electrical, telecommunications, etc.), an attitude determination and control subsystem for 3-axis stabilized pointing, and a command and data handling subsystem communicating with the science instrument and the Spacecraft subsystems.

X-ray astronomy↗
NASA NTRS2018

Development of an Optical Slice for an RF and Optical Software Defined Radio

A key component in the Integrated Radio and Optical Communications project at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) is the radio frequency (RF) and optical software defined radio (SDR). A NASA RF SDR might consist of a general purpose processor to run the Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) Architecture for radio command and control, a reconfigurable signal processing device such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) which houses the waveform, and a digital to analog converter for (DAC) transmitting data. Prior to development, SDR architecture trades on how to combine the RF and optical elements were studied. A modular architecture with physically separate RF and optical hardware slices was chosen and the optical slice of an SDR was designed and developed. The Harris AppSTAR("TM") platform, which consists of an FPGA processing platform with a mezzanine card targeted for RF communications, was used as the base platform in prototyping the optical slice. A serially concatenated pulse position modulation (SCPPM) optical waveform was developed. The waveform follows the standard described in the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Optical Communions Coding and Synchronization Red Book. A custom optical mezzanine printed circuit board card was developed at NASA GRC for optical transmission. The optical mezzanine card replaces the DAC, which is used in the transmission of RF signals. This paper describes RF and optical SDR architecture trades, the Harris AppSTAR("TM") platform, the design of the SCPPM waveform, and the development of the optical mezzanine card.

optical communications↗
NASA NTRS2018

Development of an Optical Slice for an RF and Optical Software Defined Radio

A key component in the Integrated Radio and Optical Communications project at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) is the radio frequency (RF) and optical software defined radio (SDR). A NASA RF SDR might consist of a general purpose processor to run the Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) Architecture for radio command and control, a reconfigurable signal processing device such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) which houses the waveform, and a digital to analog converter (DAC) for transmitting data. Prior to development, SDR architecture trades on how to combine the RF and optical elements were studied. A modular architecture with physically separate RF and optical hardware slices was chosen and the optical slice of an SDR was designed and developed. The Harris AppSTARTM platform, which consists of an FPGA processing platform with a mezzanine card targeted for RF communications, was used as the base platform in prototyping the optical slice. A serially concatenated pulse position modulation (SCPPM) optical waveform was developed. The waveform follows the standard described in the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Optical Communications Coding and Synchronization Red Book. A custom optical mezzanine printed circuit board card was developed at NASA GRC for optical transmission. The optical mezzanine card replaces the DAC, which is used in the transmission of RF signals. This paper describes RF and optical SDR architecture trades, the Harris AppSTAR platform, the design of the SCPPM waveform, and the development of the optical mezzanine card.

Nappier, Jennifer M.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Picosecond Synchronization System for the Distribution of Photon Pairs Through a Fiber Link Between Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratories

Here we demonstrate a three-node quantum network for C-band photon pairs using 2 pairs of 59 km of deployed fiber between Fermi and Argonne National Laboratories. The C-band pairs are directed to nodes using a standard telecommunication switch and the detection system is synchronized to picosecond scale timing resolution using a coexisting O-or L-band optical clock distribution system. We measure a reduction of coincidence to-accidental ratio (CAR) of the C-band pairs from 51 ± 2 to 5.3 ± 0.4 due to Raman scattering of the O-band clock pulses. Despite this reduction, the CAR is nevertheless suitable for quantum networks.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗