Award Data

The proposed effort will investigate optimized modulation formats, error-correction codes and coherent operation to improve high-bandwidth undersea communications. Analysis suggests that these methods can provide significant improvement over current optical communications methods.

The formation and use of optical filaments resulting from high-power, ultrashort pulses propagating within the atmosphere is currently an active area of research for military and commercial applications. Optical filaments can be used to ionize molecules and atoms and produced related spectral emissions. Importantly, the range at which the filament formation occurs within the atmosphere can be cont ...

This Phase I STTR program will develop and test anode supported, low temperature, protonic solid electrolyte fuel cell (AS-LT-PSOFC) with high electrochemical efficiency, high degree of hydrogen (H) utilization, low operating temperature, and reversible operation characteristics. The novel proton-conducting fuel cell technology pursued in this project has improved electrochemical efficiency deriv ...

This Phase I STTR ARMY project proposes the development of advanced processes to mix solutions of low melting temperature sublimable solid eutectic materials with nano-sized metal flake powders and then solidify these slurries into a desired shape compact. The main project goals are to accomplish good metal flake powder deagglomeration in the liquid eutectic phase, to attain good densification aft ...

The objective of this proposal is to further develop IV-VI PbSnSe detectors epitaxially grown on Si substrates. The motivation of fabricating IV-VI detector arrays on Si is based on the following advantages of IV-VI Pb-salt semiconductors. (1) The large dielectric constant helps screen and localize the defect related effects. (2) The epitaxial material on Si is highly uniform, and thus the cutoff ...

The high strength to weight and elasticity properties of spider silk make it of significant interest for the production of advanced fibers for military and civilian applications. Plants may offer the only feasible mechanism to produce quantities of spider silk proteins sufficient to sustain large scale manufacturing of these high performance fibers. Successful implementation of bioengineered spid ...

Hypergolic propellant gels offer improved safety and performance flexibility. However, their longer ignition delays endanger engine health and preclude widespread use. Understanding the physical and chemical paths to ignition can enable improving ignition and realizing favorable IM characteristics of gels. ORBITEC and JHU propose targeted laboratory and modeling experiments to elucidate phenome ...

Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC), with the assistance of SRI International under subcontract, propose to develop new and innovative environmentally-benign oxidizers to replace ammonium perchlorate (AP) in solid propellant formulations. These innovative oxidizers will not contain halogens and shall have equivalent or improved performance, reduced water solubility/mobility, and reduced to ...

Red teaming is a technique that has been used successfully for some time in the military community to uncover system vulnerabilities or to find exploitable gaps in operational concepts, such as new weapon systems or tactics. Red teaming is currently a human intensive technique that typically brings together experts relevant to the system under consideration and who are then charged with identifyin ...

Renaissance Sciences Corporation, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Night Readiness, LLC propose to demonstrate the feasibility of enhanced integrated pose estimation technologies for intelligent projector units (IPUs) that will improve the robustness and overall capabilities of deployable training systems based on IPUs. The IPUs cooperate to create a single seamless wide-area ( ...