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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 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1987

The UCB/MPE Cassegrain Submillimeter Heterodyne Spectrometer

The UCB/MPE Submillimeter Heterodyne Spectrometer is a system for astronomical spectroscopy in the high-frequency atmospheric windows from 500 to 1000 GHz. It contains a molecular laser local oscillator, a cooled Schottky open structure mixer, a quasi-optical coupling system, and an acoustooptical spectrometer. The compact receiver mounts at the Cassegrain focus of large infrared astronomical telescopes. The receiver noise temperature on the telescope is approximately 3500 K (DSB) during observations of the CO J = 7-6 line at 806.652 GHz. The spectrometer's frequency resolution and instantaneous bandwidth (less than 2 MHz resolution across 1.1 GHz) are well suited for observations of molecular emission lines from a variety of astronomical sources.

Harris, A. I.↗
NASA NTRS1987

A V-grooved AlGaAs/GaAs passivated pn junction

A passivated, V-grooved GaAs solar cell offers important advantages in terms of improved optical coupling, higher short-circuit current, and increased tolerance to particle radiation when compared to the planar cell configuration. An AlGaAs epilayer has been deposited on a p-type GaAs epilayer grown on an n-type V-grooved GaAs surface using MOCVD. A wet chemical etching process was used to produce a V-pattern with a 7.0-micron periodicity. Reflectivity measurements substantiate the expected decrease in solar reflectance. Scanning electron microscopy techniques were used to confirm the presence of the AlGaAs layer and verify the existence of a pn junction.

Bailey, S. G.↗
NASA NTRS1989

BIN Diode For Submillimeter Wavelengths

Diode formed by selective doping during epitaxial growth, starting with semi-insulating substrate. Use of high-mobility semiconductors like GaAs extends cutoff frequency. Either molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) or organometallic chemical-vapor deposition used to form layers of diode. Planar growth process permits subsequent fabrication of arrays of diodes by standard photolithographic techniques, to achieve quasi-optical coupling of submillimeter radiation. Useful for generation of harmonics or heterodyne mixing in receivers for atmospheric and space spectroscopy operating at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. Used as frequency doublers or triplers, diodes of new type extend frequency range of present solid-state oscillators.

Maserjian, J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A V-grooved GaAs solar cell

V-grooved GaAs solar cells promise the benefits of improved optical coupling, higher short-circuit current, and increased tolerance to particle radiation compared to planar cells. A GaAs homojunction cell was fabricated by etching a V-groove pattern into an n epilayer (2.1 x 10 to the 17th power per cu cm) grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on an n+ substrate (2.8 x 10 to the 18th power per cu cm) and then depositing and MOCVD p epilayer (4.2 x 10 to the 18th power per cu cm). Reflectivity measurements on cells with and without an antireflective coating confirm the expected decrease in reluctance of the microgrooved cell compared to the planar structure. The short circuit current of the V-grooved solar cell was 13 percent higher than that of the planar control.

Bailey, S. G.↗
NASA NTRS1989

The GaAs solar cells with V-grooved emitters

Geometrically structured surfaces have become increasingly important to solar cell efficiency improvements and radiation tolerance. Gallium arsenide solar cells with a V-grooved front surface which demonstrate improved optical coupling and higher short-circuit current compared to planar cells were fabricated. GaAs homojunction cells were fabricated by organometallic chemical vapor deposition (OMCVD) on an n+ substrate. The V-grooves were formed on the surface with an anisotropic etch, and an n-type buffer and p-type emitter were grown by OMCVD, followed by ohmic contacts. Reflectivity measurements show significantly lower reflectance for the microgrooved cell compared to the planar structure. The short circuit current of the V-grooved solar cell is consistently higher than that of the planar controls.

Bailey, Sheila G.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A V-grooved GaAs solar cell

V-grooved GaAs solar cells promise the benefits of improved optical coupling, higher short-circuit current, and incrased tolerance to particle radiation compared to planar cells. A GaAs homojunction cell was fabricated by etching a V-groove pattern into an n-epilayer (2.1 x 10 to the 17th power per cu cm) grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on an n+ substrate (2.8 x 10 to the 18th power per cu cm) and then depositing an MOCVD p epilayer (4.2 x 10 to the 18th power per cu cm). Reflectivity measurements on cells with and without an antireflective coating confirm the expected decrease in reflectance of the microgrooved cell compared to the planar structure. The short-circuit current of the V-grooved solar cell was 13 percent higher than that of the planar control.

Bailey, S. G.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Balloon borne in-situ detection of OH in the stratosphere from 37 to 23 km

The OH number density in the stratosphere has been measured over the altitude interval of 37 to 23 km at midday via a balloon-borne gondola launched from Palestine, Texas on July 6, 1988. OH radicals are detected with a laser-induced fluorescence instrument employing a 17-kHz-repetition-rate copper vapor laser-pumped dye laser optically coupled to an enclosed flow, in-situ sampling chamber. OH abundances ranged from 88 + or - 3l pptv in the 36 to 35 km interval to 0.9 + or - 0.8 pptv in the 24 to 23 km interval. The stated uncertainty includes that from both measurement precision and accuracy. Simultaneous detection of ozone and water vapor densities was carried out with separate on-board instruments.

Stimpfle, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Hybrid gas scintillation proportional counter/phoswich detector for hard X-ray astronomy

A concept is presented for a balloon-borne imaging hybrid proportional counter/phoswich detector of medium to hard X-rays. The phoswich would be optically coupled to the exit window of the proportional counter, and both detectors would use a common position-sensitive readout. It is anticipated that such a detector could combine the good energy and position resolution and excellent background rejection ability of the proportional counter for incident photon energies less than 100 keV with the extended response of the phoswich for higher energies. The phoswich could also be used to reject Compton scattering events in the proportional counter. This detector concept is studied using numerical simulations of a 400 sq cm square prototype detector. Results from this simulation indicate that current levels of proportional counter and phoswich performance are attainable at small cost in quantum efficiency, compared to a bare phoswich detector.

Grindlay, Jonathan E.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Self-Oscillating Inductive Boost Regulator

Improved voltage regulator designed for use in solar photovoltaic dc power system utilizing flywheel for energy storage. Includes self-oscillating inductive voltage-boosting circuit, which regulates withdrawal of energy from flywheel and motor/generator when output of solar cells insufficient to maintain load voltage at specified level of 150 Vdc. Features include optical coupling and rapid response.

Paulkovich, John↗
NASA NTRS1991

Self-Injection Locking Of Diode Lasers

Simple optical coupling scheme locks array of gain-guided diode lasers into oscillation in single mode and with single-lobed output beam. Selective feedback from thin etalon self-injection-locks array into desired mode. One application of new scheme for pumping of neodymium: yttrium aluminum garnet lasers with diode-laser arrays.

Hemmati, H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Pulse-Width-Modulating Driver for Brushless dc Motor

High-current pulse-width-modulating driver for brushless dc motor features optical coupling of timing signals from low-current control circuitry to high-current motor-driving circuitry. Provides high electrical isolation of motor-power supply, helping to prevent fast, high-current motor-driving pulses from being coupled through power supplies into control circuitry, where they interfere with low-current control signals.

Salomon, Phil M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

An imaging system for PLIF/Mie measurements for a combusting flow

The equipment required to establish an imaging system can be divided into four parts: (1) the light source and beam shaping optics; (2) camera and recording; (3) image acquisition and processing; and (4) computer and output systems. A pulsed, Nd:YAG-pummped, frequency-doubled dye laser which can freeze motion in the flowfield is used for an illumination source. A set of lenses is used to form the laser beam into a sheet. The induced fluorescence is collected by an UV-enhanced lens and passes through an UV-enhanced microchannel plate intensifier which is optically coupled to a gated solid state CCD camera. The output of the camera is simultaneously displayed on a monitor and recorded on either a laser videodisc set of a Super VHS VCR. This videodisc set is controlled by a minicomputer via a connection to the RS-232C interface terminals. The imaging system is connected to the host computer by a bus repeater and can be multiplexed between four video input sources. Sample images from a planar shear layer experiment are presented to show the processing capability of the imaging system with the host computer.

Wey, C. C.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Spatiospectral and picosecond spatiotemporal properties of a broad area operating channeled-substrate-planar laser array

Spatiospectral and spatiotemporal properties of an eight-element channeled-substrate-planar laser array are investigated in both CW and pulsed operating conditions. The closely spaced CSP array with strong optical coupling between array elements is characterized by a broad area laserlike operation determined by its spatial mode spectra. The spatiotemporal evolution of the near and far field exhibits complex dynamic behavior in the picosecond to nanosecond domain. Operating parameters for the laser device have been experimentally determined. These results provide important information for the evaluation of the dynamic behavior of coherent semiconductor laser arrays.

Yu, NU↗
NASA NTRS1979

A low-cost solar-cell front contact using trapped silver mesh and electrostatic bonding

A new system to provide a contact with a silver mesh trapped between the cell and an encapsulating glass cover is described. Borosilicate glass is joined to the cell by electrostatic bonding during which the glass is deformed around the silver mesh to form a permanent optically coupled integral bond to the cell. The hermetic seal prevents the silver from oxidizing and destroying the electrical contact formed during the bonding process. It is demonstrated that electrostatic glass/silicon bonds have excellent stability under a variety of accelerated environmental tests. Electrostatic bonds to thin films of AL2O3, Ta2O5, and ZrO2 on glass can be used to make antireflective coatings for solar cells manufactured by this process. Test solar cells were manufactured by electrostatic bonding with good curve fill factors and efficiencies of 10 percent.

Landis, Geoffrey A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

More About V-Grooved GaAs Solar Cells

NASA technical memorandum presents additional information about experimental devices described in "V-Grooved GaAs Solar Cell" (LEW-14954). Experimental V-groove cells exhibited improved optical coupling and greater short-circuit current.

Bailey, S. G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

SIRTF focal plane technologies

The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) will have three science instruments, the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) which will obtain multispectral images between 1.8 micron and 26 microns, the Infrared Spectrometer (IRS) which is a set of two dispersive spectrometers covering the wavelength range between 2.5 and 200 microns, and the Multiband Imaging Photometer for SIRTF (MIPS) which is a general-purpose photometric instrument which operates between 30 and 1,200 microns. Taken together, the full wavelength range of these instruments extends from 1.8 micron to 1,200 microns, equivalent to nearly a factor of 700 in photon energy and diffraction limited image size. In addition to supporting this unprecedented spectral and optical coupling requirement, the SIRTF detectors must operate at lower temperatures than previously demonstrated and be optimized for new levels of performance in order to achieve the goals of the science mission. Thus, development of the detector arrays for the SIRTF instruments is one of the most challenging aspects of the instrument development activities.

Capps, Richard W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

[STS-43 Post Flight Press Conference]

The flight crew (Blaha, Baker, Low, Adamson, and Lucid) present and discuss their STS-43 Space Shuttle Mission in this press conference video. This mission was the first flight to deploy the Tracking Data and Relay Satellite (TDRS), the primary payload. A large number of secondary payload experiments were performed. The included: several cell tissue growth and enzyme analysis experiments; a Lower Body Negative Pressure Experiment; optic coupling and flame front propagation/combustion physics experiments; The Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Experiment (SHARE) for the Space Station; a crystal control device evaluation; a software and hardware systems checkout for the Shuttle; some flight tests of the new orbiter auto-pilot system; some materials tests on polymer membranes; the Zero Gravity physics experiments; and the Space Shuttle Backscatter Ultraviolet Experiment. Earth views included: the Kuwait oil fires; cloud cover; and B/W lightning footage.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1998

Characterization of an Ozone DIAL Receiver for Operation on an Unpiloted Atmospheric Vehicle

Laser remote sensing from aircraft has become a very important technique for observing ozone in the environment. NASA Langley has an active aircraft based research program which presently uses Nd:YAG-pumped dye lasers that are then doubled into the UV to probe both the stratosphere and troposphere for ozone using the differential absorption lidar (DIAL) technique. This large system can only fly on large (NASA DC-8, Electra) aircraft and has been deployed on many missions throughout the world. In the future it will be desirable to fly autonomous, lightweight, compact ozone DIAL instruments on unpiloted atmospheric vehicles (UAV) aircraft. Such aircraft could fly at high altitudes for extended times collecting science data without risk to the operator. Cost for such missions may be substantially reduced over present large aircraft based missions. Presently there are no ozone DIAL systems capable of flying on an UAV aircraft. In order to facilitate UAV missions, small more efficient laser transmitters need to be developed that emit approximately 25mJ near 300nm for each of the DIAL 'on' and 'off' line pulses. Also lightweight, compact DIAL receiver systems need to be built and demonstrated. Such receiver systems may incorporate fiber optic coupled telescopes for maximum light gathering capability per unit area, high quantum efficiency gated photomultiplier tubes with reasonable gain and very narrow-band filters for background light rejection with high light throughput. A compact high-performance 16-bit digitizer and a data storage system are also required. A conceptional design of such a UAV DIAL instrument is presented. Here a pulsed UV laser emits pulses into the atmosphere where elastic scattering occurs which results in light being scattered into the receiver telescope. The subject of this paper is the design, construction and testing of a robust, compact ozone DIAL receiver system that would be a prototype for eventual use in a UAV aircraft.

Goldschmidt, Soenke↗