SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “photo responsiveness”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 records

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1985

GaAs Schottky barrier photo-responsive device and method of fabrication

A gallium arsenide photo-responsive device is provided with an intermediate, transparent layer of a refractory metal or alkaline earth metal forming a tenacious bond between a non-hydroscopic oxide layer and a noble metal Schottky barrier layer. The device has a gallium arsenide substrate with a predetermined type conductivity and a gallium arsenide epitaxial layer with the same type conductivity but a lower charge carrier concentration grown on the substrate. The oxide layer is formed to cover the epitaxial layer, and the transparent metal layer followed by the noble metal layer are deposited upon the oxide layer. An interdigitated ohmic contact is then formed upon the noble metal layer.

Alcorn, G. E.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Integrated photo-responsive metal oxide semiconductor circuit

An infrared photoresponsive element (RD) is monolithically integrated into a source follower circuit of a metal oxide semiconductor device by depositing a layer of a lead chalcogenide as a photoresistive element forming an ohmic bridge between two metallization strips serving as electrodes of the circuit. Voltage from the circuit varies in response to illumination of the layer by infrared radiation.

Jhabvala, Murzban D.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Radiation sensitive solid state switch

A mechanically operable solid state switch suited for use in achieving a variable circuit-switching function is described. This switch is characterized by an annular array of photoresponsive switching devices, disposed in communication with an included source of radiation, and a plurality of interchangeable, mechanically operable interrupter disks. Each disk has a predetermined pattern of transparent and opaque portions. Operative displacement of each disk serves to make and break selected electrical circuits through the photo responsive devices of said array.

Hutto, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Effect of impurities and processing on silicon solar cells. Volume 1: Characterization methods for impurities in silicon and impurity effects data base

Two major topics are treated: methods to measure and evaluate impurity effects in silicon and comprehensive tabulations of data derived during the study. Discussions of deep level spectroscopy, detailed dark I-V measurements, recombination lifetime determination, scanned laser photo-response, conventional solar cell I-V techniques, and descriptions of silicon chemical analysis are presented and discussed. The tabulated data include lists of impurity segregation coefficients, ingot impurity analyses and estimated concentrations, typical deep level impurity spectra, photoconductive and open circuit decay lifetimes for individual metal-doped ingots, and a complete tabulation of the cell I-V characteristics of nearly 200 ingots.

Hopkins, R. H.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Investigation of semiconductor clad optical waveguides

The properties of semiconductor-clad optical waveguides based on glass substrates were investigated. Computer modeling studies on four-layer silicon-clad planar dielectric waveguides indicated that the attenuation and mode index should behave as exponentially damped sinusoids as the silicon thickness is decreased below one micrometer. This effect can be explained as a periodic coupling between the guided modes of the lossless structure and the lossy modes supported by the high refractive index silicon. The computer studies also show that both the attenuation and mode index of the propagating mode are significantly altered by conductivity charges in the silicon. Silicon claddings were RF sputtered onto AgNO3-NaNO3 ion exchanged waveguides and preliminary measurements of attenuation were made. An expression was developed which predicts the attenuation of the silicon clad waveguide from the attenuation and phase characteristics of a silicon waveguide. Several applications of these clad waveguides are suggested and methods for increasing the photo response of the RF sputtered silicon films are described.

Batchman, T. E.↗

NASA NTRS2004

4H-SiC UV Photo Detector with Large Area and Very High Specific Detectivity

Pt/4H-SiC Schottky photodiodes have been fabricated with the device areas up to 1 sq cm. The I-V characteristics and photo-response spectra have been measured and analyzed. For a 5 mm x 5 mm area device leakage current of 1 x 10(exp 15)A at zero bias and 1.2 x 10(exp 14)A at -IV have been established. The quantum efficiency is over 30% from 240nm to 320nm. The specific detectivity, D(sup *), has been calculated from the directly measured leakage current and quantum efficiency data and are shown to be higher than 10(exp 15) cmHz(sup 1/2)/W from 210nm to 350nm with a peak D(sup *) of 3.6 x 10(exp 15)cmH(sup 1/2)/W at 300nm.

Yan, Feng↗

NASA NTRS2000

High responsivity CMOS imager pixel implemented in SOI technology

Availability of mature sub-micron CMOS technology and the advent of the new low noise active pixel sensor (APS) concept have enabled the development of low power, miniature, single-chip, CMOS digital imagers in the decade of the 1990's.

front-illuminated high responsivity CMOS high-phot↗

NASA NTRS1994

The gravitational plant physiology facility-Description of equipment developed for biological research in spacelab

In January 1992, the NASA Suttle mission STS 42 carried a facility designed to perform experiments on plant gravi- and photo-tropic responses. This equipment, the Gravitational Plant Physiology Facility (GPPF) was made up of a number of interconnected units mounted within a Spacelab double rack. The details of these units and the plant growth containers designed for use in GPPF are described. The equipment functioned well during the mission and returned a substantial body of time-lapse video data on plant responses to tropistic stimuli under conditions of orbital microgravity. GPPF is maintained by NASA Ames Research Center, and is flight qualifiable for future spacelab missions.

Heathcote, D. G.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Wavenumber-frequency Spectra of Pressure Fluctuations on a Generic Space Vehicle Measured via Unsteady Pressure-Sensitive Paint

Time histories of pressure fluctuations on a generic, hammerhead space vehicle model were measured using unsteady Pressure-Sensitive Paint (uPSP). The test was conducted in the 11-foot transonic wind tunnel of NASA Ames Research Center over a Mach number range of 0.6 M 1.2, and angles of attack of -4 4. The model was coated with a porous binder and PtTFPP-based porous polymer paint. An elaborate system of four high-speed cameras, and forty LED lamps was used for image acquisition. Various steps for image registration, reduction of shot noise, photogrammetry procedure to map images from the four cameras on a grid for the model, and finally a calibration procedure to convert the measured fluctuations in light intensity to fluctuating pressure, are discussed in the paper. The calibration process using a set of unsteady pressure sensors mounted on the model, was found to overcome some of the inherent problems of the fast response paint, such as rapid photo-degradation, non-linearity in pressure response, and significant temperature sensitivity. Comparison of spectra of pressure fluctuations between UPSP and pressure sensors demonstrated the ability of the paint to faithfully follow fluctuations up to 10 kHz, the maximum attempted. It was also found that the camera bit-depth and the illumination level limited the lowest measurable levels of pressure fluctuations to around 140dB. The large data set exposed various critical transonic flow physics not seen before, such as a coupling of the shock motion on the Payload Fairing (PF) with the separated flow region on the upper stage of the launch vehicle, and upstream convection of pressure fluctuation on PF at certain Mach numbers. The data also confirmed the expectation of a general lowering of the coefficient of pressure fluctuation with Mach number. The availability of the data set on a dense, regularly-spaced, surface grid allowed for the calculation of wavenumber-frequency (k-) spectra via straightforward applications of Fourier transform. The k- spectra were compared for the separated flow regions on the Second Stage, and the shock-boundary layer interactions on PF. The former showed self-similarity with Mach number while the latter was distinctly different, and confirmed the upstream propagation of pressure fluctuations. The k- spectra were dominated by the convected fluctuations; the acoustic domain was not discernable. These data, valuable for the vibro-acoustics analysis of aerospace vehicles, are believed to be the first obtained for the transonic flight regime, and pave the path for application on production models of aerospace vehicles.

buffet↗

NASA NTRS1974

An automated remote marshland water-sampling station

Station may be made to turn on and off remotely in response to radio, audio, photo, or other suitable signals, as well as by hard-wire switching. Station will remain operational under conditions of 4-foot tidal variations, along with 4-foot wave action, and will withstand hurricane-force winds without toppling over.

Thomas, D. F.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Soil, water, and vegetation conditions in south Texas

The author has identified the following significant results. Field spectral measurements and laboratory densitometric measurements showed that tree canopy reflectance differences among the Marrs, Redblush, and Valencia varieties in the visible spectral region were due to their different leaf chlorophyll concentrations. Field measurements of visible light reflectance were directly related to the tonal responses on infrared color photos of the varietal tree canopies. Consequently, densitometric measurements of the foliage on the infrared color transparency with red-filtered light successfully discriminated among the three varieties. Reflectance measurements with a field spectroradiometer on nine dates the growing season of two wheat varieties, Milam and Penjamo, documented their spectra over the 0.45 to 2.50 micron wavelength interval associated with plant cover and physiological development. An image analyzer system was used to optically planimeter the percentage of soil background, vegetation and shadow in the vertical photographs taken within the FOV of the spectroradiometer on each measurement date.

Wiegand, C. L.↗

NASA NTRS2023

Pulse Response of the Short-Wave Infrared Detection System of the Ocean Color Instrument for the NASA PACE Mission

The Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) on NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission is a hyperspectral Earth imager with a spatial resolution of 1 km x 1 km and a spectral resolution of 5 nm in 2.5 nm steps over 342-887 nm. In addition, OCI provides 7 discrete bands in the 940-2260 nm Short-Wave InfraRed (SWIR) range. The front-end optical imager is a rotating mirror-based system that images the ground scene onto a slit with an instantaneous field of view of 16 km x 1 km. For the SWIR bands, the slit-image is re-imaged onto a 16x1 micro-lens array that effectively acts as the focal plane since each lens element is fiber coupled to wavelength filtered InGaAs and HgCdTe Photo Diodes (PDs). The pulse response of the detection system is critical to OCI SWIR performance. We find that PDs introduce an inherent slow tail in the pulse response due to slow diffusion moving carriers in their n and p regions. We show that this introduces response errors ranging from 1 down to 0.01 % for up to tens of science pixels after the pulse depending on the PD design and materials. It is shown that the response is distinctly different for the InGaAs and HgCdTe PDs. We explain how the front-end design can further increase this error. Finally, we detail the cause of the slow pulse response tail, how to model it, its impact on OCI performance and how it is characterized and corrected to meet OCI requirements.

ocean color↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Pulse Response of the Short-Wave Infrared Detection System of the Ocean Color Instrument for the NASA Pace Mission

ocean color↗

NASA NTRS2015

Charge Analyzer Responsive Local Oscillations

The first transatlantic radio transmission, demonstrated by Marconi in December of 1901, revealed the essential role of the ionosphere for radio communications. This ionized layer of the upper atmosphere controls the amount of radio power transmitted through, reflected off of, and absorbed by the atmospheric medium. Low-frequency radio signals can propagate long distances around the globe via repeated reflections off of the ionosphere and the Earth's surface. Higher frequency radio signals can punch through the ionosphere to be received at orbiting satellites. However, any turbulence in the ionosphere can distort these signals, compromising the performance or even availability of space-based communication and navigations systems. The physics associated with this distortion effect is analogous to the situation when underwater images are distorted by convecting air bubbles. In fact, these ionospheric features are often called 'plasma bubbles' since they exhibit some of the similar behavior as underwater air bubbles. These events, instigated by solar and geomagnetic storms, can cause communication and navigation outages that last for hours. To help understand and predict these outages, a world-wide community of space scientists and technologists are devoted to researching this topic. One aspect of this research is to develop instruments capable of measuring the ionospheric plasma bubbles. Figure 1 shows a photo of the Charge Analyzer Responsive to Local Oscillations (CARLO), a new instrument under development at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). It is a frequency-domain ion spectrum analyzer designed to measure the distributions of ionospheric turbulence from 1 Hz to 10 kHz (i.e., spatial scales from a few kilometers down to a few centimeters). This frequency range is important since it focuses on turbulence scales that affect VHF/UHF satellite communications, GPS systems, and over-the-horizon radar systems. CARLO is based on the flight-proven Plasma Local Anomalous Noise Environment (PLANE) instrument, previously flown on a U.S. Air Force low-Earth orbiting satellite, which successfully measured ion turbulence in five frequency decades from 0.1 Hz to 10 kHz (fig 2).

Krause, Linda Habash↗

NASA NTRS1989

Contamination effects of GPS Navstar solar array performance

The solar arrays on Navstars 1 to 6 have been limiting the electrical power capabilities in the extended life (beyond the 5 year design life). The departure from predicted performance consists of an extra 2.5 percent per year degradation beyond the radiation model estimates. This degradation is unusual in showing a linear rather than exponential decay with time. The performance of the arrays on these satellites has been examined in order to predict future behavior and to make refined projections on the Navstar 7 to 11 solar arrays. Evidence obtained from flight experiments on Navstar 5 and 6, and from laboratory experiments, suggests that contamination of the solar arrays while on orbit may be responsible. The evidence for photo-induced contamination of spacecraft surfaces is presented, and the effect on solar array output in the case of the GPS satellites is shown to be consistent with the observed anomalies.

Marvin, Dean C.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Photo-Curing: UV Radiation curing of polymers

The Polymers Branch of the Materials Division is dedicated to the development of high-performance for a variety of applications. Areas of significant interest include high- temperature polymers, low density, and high strength insulating materials, conductive polymers, and high density polymer electrolytes. This summer our group is working diligently on a photo-curing project. There is interest in the medical community feel the need for a new and improved balloon that will be used for angioplasty (a form of heart surgery). This product should maintain flexibility but add many other properties. Like possibly further processability and resistance to infection. Our group intends on coming up with this product by using photo-enolization (or simply, photo-curing) by Diels-Alder trapping. The main objective was to synthesize a series of new polymers by Diels-Alder cycloaddition of photoenols with more elastomeric properties. Our group was responsible for performing the proper photo-curing techniques of the polymers with diacrylates and bismaleimides, synthesizing novel monomers, and evaluating experimental results. We attempted to use a diacrylate to synthesize the polymer because of previous research done within the Polymers Branch here at NASA. Most acrylates are commercially available, have more elastometric properties than a typical rigid aromatic structure has and they contain ethylene oxides in the middle of their structure that create extensive flexibility. The problem we encountered with the acrylates is that they photo chemically and thermally self polymerize and create diradicals at low temperatures; these constraints caused a lot of unnecessary side reactions. We want to promote solely, diketone polymerization because this type of polymerization has the ability to cause very elastic polymers. We chose to direct our attention towards the usage of maleimides because they are known for eliminating these unnecessary side reactions.

Inman, Christina A.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Phase-locked servo system

A phase lock servo system is described for synchronizing the rotation of a slip ring assembly with the rotation of an air bearing table so that a minimum of torque will be imparted through cables extending from the slip ring assembly to the air bearing table as such is rotated. The system includes two servo loops. The first servo loop includes a rate gyroscope carried on the air bearing table which generates a signal through a summing junction to be compared with a signal coming from a tachometer coupled to the slip ring assembly. The corrective signal is applied to a torque motor for rotating the slip ring assembly. The second servo loop includes a pair of photo detector cells which generate pulses responsive to the rotation of the air bearing table and slip ring assembly which are fed through a phase detector, and a variable gain amplifier to the summing junction circuit to provide a fine adjustment for rotating the slip ring assembly.

Burdin, C.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Use of LANDSAT 2 data technique to estimate silverleaf sunflower infestation

The feasibility of the technique using the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (LANDSAT-2) multispectral scanner (MSS) was tested; to distinguish silverleaf sunflowers (Helianthus argophyllus Torr. and Gray) from other plant species and to estimate the hectarage percent of its infestation. Sunflowers gave high mean digital counts in all four LANDSAT MSS bands that were manifested as a pinkish image response on the LANDSAT color composite imagery. Photo- and LANDSAT-estimated hectare percentages for silverleaf sunflower within a 23,467 ha study area were 9.1 and 9.5%, respectively. The geographic occurrence of sunflower areas on the line-printer recognition map was in good agreement with their known aerial photographic locations.

Richardson, A. J.↗