Award Data

The primary objective of CU Aerospace's Phase II work will be to experimentally characterize the ElectriCOIL flow using advanced diagnostics and to demonstrate lasing of this electrically assisted chemical iodine laser. CU Aerospace (CUA) and theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) believe that it is possible to construct a highly efficient electric generation scheme to provide the pr ...

Over the past few decades, computational electromagnetics (CEM) researchers have been making steady progress towards the development of efficient algorithms, such as the Method of Moments (MoM), for simulating scattering from electrically large targets. Unfortunately, such techniques have proved too computationally demanding because they require the solution of an often very large and dense matri ...

Photonic crystals have led the way for miniaturizing application specific optical integrated circuit (ASOIC) to a scale comparable to the wavelength of light which in turn made them a good candidate for next generation high-density optical systems and interconnects. Polymer based Photonic Crystal structures have potential applications in optical integrated circuits, optoelectronics, optical switch ...

High-performance HgCdTe infrared focal plane arrays (IRFPAs) sensing in the long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) region and advanced structures such as multi-color detectors required for future generation IRFPAs are highly desirable for various Air Forceapplications. Such device architectures require not only reliable extrinsic n- and p-type doping of HgCdTe but also the precise control of composition ...

Next-generation satellites require increased payload mass and power budget capabilities. Ultra lightweight, 40% efficient solar cells employing Silicon substrates will allow for a significant power level scale up for a fixed solar panel size. The purpose of this proposal is to successfully demonstrate a high-efficiency Si-based solar cell technology. To achieve this goal, we ultimately will dev ...

Hybrid Plastics proposes to develop a low cost, and versatile method for shielding commercial and military single crystal solar cells from damage against proton and electron radiation. Hybrid Plastics also proposes to develop a related coating variant for the protection of thin film photovoltaics against atomic oxygen, vacuum ultraviolet radiation and improved voltage stand-off. The technical appr ...

In this proposal we exploit the remote sensing attributes of ultrasound to conduct heat transfer studies on hypersonic propulsion components and vehicle materials. In the Phase I program, we have successfully demonstrated the viability of the ultrasonic method to measure surface temperature, local temperature and heat flux. In a series of laboratory studies, we have remotely measured surface temp ...

A compact heavy fueled engine is progressing from a desire to a requirement. A miniature Meyer Nutating Disk Engine provides the means of propulsion that the military has been seeking. An unmanned air vehicle (UAV) will have capabilities that are not currently possible with present internal combustion engines. The miniature high power density Meyer Nutating Disk Engine designed during the Phase I ...

The significance of the innovation in this Phase II SBIR is the development of a low cost lightweight multi-bandgap GaAs semiconductor material for high efficiency multijunction solar cells for space applications. This effort will advance space solar cell development by improvements in the efficiency and weight of GaAs based solar cells. This will be accomplished by applying our lift-off proces ...

High performance infrared detectors with cutoff wavelength above 16 micrometers are highly needed for many applications such as early detection of long range missiles, pollution monitoring, and astronomy. Currently available detectors with high quantumefficiency and high uniformity in this wavelength range are extrinsic silicon detectors which have to be cooled below 10K. Here, we propose novel te ...