Award Data

THE SUCCESSFUL GROWTH OF GAAS ON SILICON SUBSTRATES USING DOUBLE SELECTIVE LIQUID EPITAXIAL (DSLE) PROCESS HAS RECENTLY BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. THESE RESULTS SET THE STAGE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EXTREMELY USEFUL MATERIAL--LARGE PLANAR WAFERS OF SMOOTH GAAS ON SILICON. DOUBLE SELECTIVE LIQUID PHASE EPITAXY COULD SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY LATTICE MISMATCH AND DIFFERENTIAL THERMAL EXP ...

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH POWER, HIGH REPETITION RATE CLOSING SWITCHES HAS RECENTLY BECOME IMPORTANT FOR MANY PULSED POWER APPLICATIONS. HISTORICALLY, HIGH REPETITION RATE SWITCHES FOR PULSED POWER APPLICATIONS HAVE EITHER BEEN SPARK GAPS OR THYRATRONS. THYRATRONS HAVE HIGH REPETITION RATES, BUT ARE LIMITED TO LOW VOLTAGES AND LOW CURRENT. CONVERSELY, SPARK GAPS CAN CARRY HIGH CURRENTS AND STAND-OFF ...

MANY OF THE SYSTEMS FOR SDI INVOLVE PULSE POWER AND HIGH VOLTAGE SYSTEMS, INCLUDING LASERS, PARTICLE BEAM ACCELERATORS, AND RAILGUNS. ONE OF THE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS YET TO BE SOLVED IN DEVELOPING OPERATIONAL SDI SPACECRAFT IS THE MANAGEMENT OF ELECTRIC FIELDS WITHIN THE SPACECRAFT, THE PRIMARY WEAPON SYSTEM, AND ITS POWER SUPPLY AND CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT. THE ELF CODES UNIQUELY HAVE THE ABILITY ...

POLYMERIC OR CERAMIC INSULATORS CONVENTIONALLY ARE BEING USED IN HIGH VOLTAGE PULSED SYSTEMS. NEW APPROACHES ARE NEEDED THAT WOULD REDUCE INSULATORS RING THICKNESSES AND INCREASE CORRESPONDING GRADING RINGS FLASHOVER VOLTAGE. SUCH AN APPROACH WOULD POSSESS IN COMPARISON TO CONVENTIONAL INSULATORS: HIGHER SURFACE FLASHOVER FIELD STRENGTH; SMALLER PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS FOR EQUIVALENT VOLTAGE HOLDOFF; ...

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH POWER, LOW IMPEDANCE, LIGHTWEIGHT ENERGY STORAGE TRANSMISSION LINES FOR PULSE-POWER APPLICATIONS IS CRUCIAL FORSMALLER, LIGHTWEIGHT, SPACE-BASED, PULSE-POWER SYSTEMS. DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH DIELECTRIC ENERGY STORAGE LINE TECHNOLOGY WOULD GREATLY REDUCETHE SIZE, WEIGHT, AND COMPLEXITY OF PULSE POWER SYSTEMS UTILIZING THESE TYPES OF COMPONENTS. EFFICIENT TRANSPORT OF 400KV, 100K ...

AstroPower is developing a two-junction monolithic tandem solar cell composed of (AlxGa1-x)0.51In.49P lattice matched to GaAs for use as the top cell in a three-junction, two-terminal tandem stack. This tunable bandgap material system is capable of current matching, at 2.03eV, in a two-junction monolithic tandem solar cell two terminal design of (AlxGa1-x)0.51In0.49P/GaAs yielding a best case pred ...

A compact x-ray laser driver with a high repetition rate is the subject of this phase I project. Most existing x-ray laser drivers are huge (1000s of square feet of floor space), expensive ($10,000,000+), have a low repetition rate (1/hr), are complex and require several PhDs to keep them working. Thus applications of present x-ray lasers are limited. In contrast, the proposed laser will occupy on ...

Sarcos is currently developing a technology that can lead to low-cost millimeter-scale gyroscopes, multi axis inertial sensors, and very compact laser scanning devices. This technology, called Micro Disk Systems (MDS), is based on levitating a small disk above a VLSI substrate using electrostatic fields. AC stabilization of the fields ensures that the disk position remains suitable, and field-base ...

An extremely sensitive, low power, high durability solid state atomic oxygen sensor system with the potential for cost effective fabrication is proposed. It should lead to 1) improved understanding of the levels of atomic oxygen encountered during space missions; 2)quantification of the effects of atomic oxygen on a variety of materials in the space environment; 3) a warning mechanism for potentia ...