Award Data

Practical, low-cost, broadband 20GHz, high dynamic range, "inear analog photonic links" are needed in many DoD communications, radar, and surveillance applications. This effort is to develop a new type of linearized optical modulator for broadband multi-octave operation to be used to enhance the dynamic range of the wideband RF photonic link.

Stirling Technology Company (STC) has developed several Free-Piston Stirling Engine (FPSE) generators with outputs ranging from 10 W to 3 kW. These engines are very quiet, adaptable to virtually any fuel, and can run continuously. However, existing units are relatively heavy. STC proposes to leverage over 2 decades of development into a Special Operations Power System (SOPS) that directly addresse ...

This Phase I STTR effort involves harnessing the power of accelerated corrosion for the purpose of safely neutralizing small arms caches. A key part of the fight against irregular forces is finding their hidden small arms caches and either removing or destroying them. When removal is not possible or practical, destruction in place is the alternative. During Phase I, Lynntech, in collaboration w ...

The remarkable sensitivity, compactness, low cost, low power-consumption, scalability, and versatility of microcantilever sensors make this technology possibly the best solution for container screening. In Phase I, Nevada Nanotech Systems (NNTS) successfully demonstrated all components of a prototype sensor system for measuring the concentrations of unlawful or hazardous materials in shipping con ...

The elimination or suppression of filaments through the use of photonic crystal structures is proposed in this STTR. Filament formation is a well-known problem in high-power, broad area semiconductor diode lasers, often leading to catastrophic failure of the diodes. The diode failure also normally results in a system failure in the systems in which the diodes are employed. By using a bi-direct ...

In this proposal, nLight and their collaborator, Eric Johnson, of CREOL, seek to address the main limitations in generating phased arrays by using very high power single mode tapered devices that are phase locked via long “coupling” lasers. The individual diodes would be phase aligned by careful control of their drive current – this would fine-tune the phase to bring it into alignment. The c ...

Special Operations forces (SOF) operate in all weather conditions. It has identified a need for a micro-cooling system that can be vehicle mounted and man-portable, as well as provide a capability to cool vehicle mounted communications and electronics equipment. To meet the needs of SOF the system must be small, lightweight, quiet, low power, and gasless. We propose a compact micro-cooling system ...

Systems and Processes Engineering Corporation (SPEC) will build and test a solar-regenerative energy storage (RES) system for high-altitude airship applications scaled to provide 160 kW-hr of energy storage with a 16-hour maximum annual discharge and 24-hour charge/discharge cycle. System design incorporates low-loss power conversion and management that maximizes power delivery efficiency and impr ...

We propose to demonstrate tunable Fabry-Perot filter (TFPF) for hyperspectral imaging sub-systems that can be integrated in surveillance, target recognition and threat warning systems. The MEMS TFPF employs a novel electrostatic actuator made that provides high accuracy tuning with compactness, low-weight, digital tuning, and high speed.

Williams-Pyro, Inc. (WPI) has designed and successfully demonstrated a proof-of-concept of the Distributed Automatic Reconfigurable Transponder (DART) that will be capable of achieving distributed multi-nodal voice/data communication for fire fighters. In Phase 2 we will focus on developing a fully functional system that reduces communication failure while maintaining a robust and flexible system. ...