Award Data

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will develop a new system for fabrication and manipulation of carbon nanotube (CNT) composites. The system will use holographic optical trapping (HOT) with a spatial light modulator (SLM) and a new form of nano-controlled photo-polymerization. This tool will allow the creation of a new class of carbon-nanotube polymer composite materials wit ...

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will address the critical need for low driving voltage, adaptive materials providing large phase retardation (for ultraviolet, visible, and infrared wavelengths) within a sub-millisecond time frame. Two technologically innovative tasks will be pursued in parallel and then merged, resulting in the creation of a new class of optical materials - ...

NanoSonic has demonstrated that Shape Memory Metal RubberTM (SM-MR) adaptive skins exhibit reconfigurable and durable RF properties. It is hypothesized that such morphing skins shall also exhibit durable radiation resistance upon morphing; a property that few, if any, flexible materials offer. Typical highly filled or metal evaporated nanocomposites crack and spall upon flexation, and cannot be ...

Concern over CO2 emissions and global greenhouse effects has prompted new uses for reclaimed CO2 effluent from coal fired power plants. Similarly, volatile organic solvent emissions have prompted an initiative to identify cleaner solvents for high performance polymer processing, particularly when such processing requires large volumes of environmentally unfriendly, toxic organic solvents. Furthe ...

This DOE SBIR/STTR program will result in the commercialization of a low-cost anostructured composite thermoelectric device. Such devices represent the next generation solution for an increasingly strained energy market by converting existing waste heat into electrical power. More waste heat is generated by the combination of industry and automobiles than the total contribution of all renewable en ...

The tracking of critical flow features (CFFs) such as stagnation point, flow separation, shock, and transition in flight provides insight into actual aircraft performance/safety. Sensing of these CFFs across flight regimes involves numerous challenges such as a wide temperature/pressure range from subsonic to hypersonic flows. Tao Systems, Mesoscribe Technologies and Virginia Tech propose to devel ...

Firefly, in collaboration with Rochester Institute of Technology, proposes an STTR program for the development of a wide-bandgap GaP-based space solar cell capable of efficient operation at temperatures above 300oC. Efficiency enhancement will be achieved by the introduction of InGaP quantum wells within the active region of the wide-gap base material. The introduction of these nanoscale features ...

Firefly, in collaboration with Rochester Institute of Technology, proposes an STTR program for the development of a space solar cell having record efficiency exceeding 40% (AM0) by the introduction of nanowires within the active region of the current limiting sub-cell. The introduction of these nanoscale features will enable realization of an intermediate band solar cell (IBSC), while simultaneous ...

The NASA Constellation program has a need to non-destructively test (NDT) non-metallic materials (foams, Shuttle Tile, Avcoat, etc) for defects such as delaminations and voids. While imaging systems at terahertz frequencies (0.3 to 3 THz) have been demonstrated for 2D imaging of similar materials, they have not yet demonstrate full 3D volumetric imaging. To meet this need, LongWave Photonics pro ...

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project aims to develop roll-to-roll processing of highly efficient, thin film photovoltaics on inexpensive polycrystalline substrates. The innovation lies in an architecture that yields near-single-crystalline thin films even on polycrystalline substrates. This innovation will be combined with the benefits of hot wire chemical vapor deposit ...