Award Data

Passive microwave sensors aboard satellites provide valuable information regarding weather conditions by measuring atmospheric attenuation over a broad range of frequencies from 0-200 GHz. Additional ground-based sensors are desirable to provide complementary upward looking measurements that can be used to refine existing attenuation models. Operating over such a large bandwidth, however, places ...

A novel composite structure based low cost opaque armor material and associated manufacturing/installation method are proposed. This process offers immediate field upgrade potential to Non Standard Commercial Vehicles (NSCV) capable of advancing into denied areas while operating indistinguishably from indigenous platforms. Our innovative armor installation procedure has already been shown to incr ...

To address the limitations of diagnostic equipment for chemical and biological warfare agent threats, Voxtel proposes to further develop low-cost, rapid biological-threat-reporting optical nanomaterials for a tag-track-and-locate system to consistsing of five components: 1) nanocrystal nanobeacons, a series of covert threat-functionalized optical identifiers with near-infrared through short-wave i ...

Spectroscopic ellipsometry is recognized as the gold standard in noncontact characterization of the refractive index and thickness of a thin optical film or film stack on a substrate. However, it suffers from a number of shortcomings, perhaps the most important of which is the time required to perform a single measurement. Moreover, manufacturers are interested in comprehensive evaluation of thin ...

In the proposed effort, we will leverage this extensive experience and capabilities to realize a frequency agile mmW radiometer that can cover the range of DC-110 GHz and can be scaled to DC-200 GHz under Phase II. Ours is a photonic system that multiplies and up-coverts a low-frequency reference signal onto an optical carrier (laser) using EO modulation, then uses the modulation sidebands to inj ...

Quantifying oceanic CO2 uptake and ocean acidification and understanding their impact on global climate and ocean ecology are key goals of NOAA’s climate change research programs. NOAA’s request for Development of a long-term Lagrangian pH and pCO2 drifter (SBIR Subtopic 8.3.1C) aims to address these goals by developing technology that measures both pCO2 and pH that can be widely deployed in t ...

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the U.S. Strategic Command Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (SCC-WMD) requires transformational materials technology to support the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) of personnel and materials associated with weapons of mass destruction (WMD) development, manufacturing, and proliferation. Voxtel, Inc. proposes to fa ...

This SBIR Phase I effort will establish the feasibility of fabricating advanced waveguide structures in potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) capable of efficiently generating 25 to 40 mW of frequency converted light in the 395 to 480 nm. The key innovation in this effort is to utilize KTP waveguides in a single-pass frequency doubling device to efficiently produce the desired laser wavelengths and po ...

This NIST Phase II SBIR effort will two low noise single photon detectors using MgO doped LiNbO3 (LN) periodically poled waveguides and a 980nm (or similar appropriate wavelength) pump to up convert 1550nm photons to 600nm to allow for detection by photomultiplier tube (PMT). The key innovation is using low noise periodically poled waveguides with a long wavelength (1800nm) pump leading to higher ...

For ultra high-speed, ultra low-power applications in DoD space and weapons systems, devices and circuits fabricated from III–V semiconductor compounds offer significant advantages over silicon-based technology. However, the uncertainty in single-event-effect (SEE) response of compound semiconductor technologies forces the use of empirically-based hardening techniques with penalties in increased ...