Award Data

ABSTRACT: Space solar power systems range in size from the International Space Station with 8 solar arrays producing 84,000 watts all the way down to body-mounted single wafers on individual cubesats. The current state-of-the-art relies on multi-junction gallium arsenide or inverted metamorphic cells affixed to rigid structural panels. The need for a low-mass, high energy output solar array for ...

ABSTRACT: Solar arrays play a key role in the operation of spacecrafts and unmanned aerial vehicles. Traditionally, inorganic semiconductor based solar arrays have been used for space applications because of their highest efficiencies. However, these solar arrays have several major limitations like extremely high cost, low specific power and large stowage volume. Organic photovoltaic (OPV) module ...

ABSTRACT: MicroLink and its collaborators, Rochester Institute of Technology and Magnolia Solar, will develop a high-efficiency, single-junction, epitaxial lift-off (ELO) GaAs solar cell by incorporating nano-scale features, such as quantum dots and optically functional textures, within the solar cell structure. The principal technical objective of the project is to increase the AM0 efficiency o ...

ABSTRACT: CU Aerospace (CUA) and team partner the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) propose to perform research, development and demonstration of experimental quenching free measurements of heat-release in a realistic highly turbulent plasma-assisted flame. Kinetics models will be correspondingly updated and detailed 3D multiphysics simulations will be validated by the measuremen ...

ABSTRACT: Due to increasing communications demand for tactical mission operations force the DoD to initiative to migrate the existing circuit-switched, bent-pipe satellite communication systems to the onboard packet switched satellite systems using Internet Protocols. The new approach offers significant flexibility and performance gain, but there are still tough challenges, e.g., high bit error r ...

ABSTRACT: Given the results obtained in the Phase I effort, we are now in a position to advance to the next generation of High Power Phased Array Transceiver Systems. The new approach proposed here is to use enough elements in the phased array to ensure that significant wavefront compensation performance can be obtained with only piston commands. A system of this nature can be developed in two ...

ABSTRACT: We propose a new fiber WDM fabrication method for single mode high power fiber laser. Our new approach will enable kW operation for both single mode fiber WDM and PCF WDM. At the end of Phase I, a proof of concept experiment will be demonstrated. In phase II, we will target at delivery of a reliable prototypes for both step index fiber WDM and PCF WDM. BENEFIT: The WDM is a key compon ...

ABSTRACT: Recent experimental data from a number of DoD supported research programs have indicated that highly repetitive bursts of high peak power pulses are likely to enable or enhance important physical processes, such as combustion, boundary layer flow, and the generation of high power EM waves. Since many of these applications are mobile, the pulsed power source needs to be sufficiently com ...

ABSTRACT: Living systems rely on pervasive vascular networks to enable a plurality of biological function, exemplified by natural composite structures that are lightweight, high-strength, and capable of mass and energy transport. In contrast, synthetic composites possess high strength-to-weight ratios but lack the dynamic functionality of their natural counterparts. CU Aerospace, with team partne ...

ABSTRACT: The innovation proposed is a computationally-tractable, physics-based, portable turbulent combustion modeling strategy for application to a wide range of Air Force aero-propulsive systems, including augmentors, liquid rockets and scramjets. This modeling strategy will be implemented within an Application Programming Interface (API) library suitable for easy integration within Air Force ...