Award Data

In this Phase II SBIR effort we will dramatically reduce the size, weight, and power requirements of a passive millimeter wave imaging system based on optical upconversion. To this end, we will integrate custom silicon-germanium low noise amplifiers that have been designed to efficiently couple with our high performance lithium niobate upconversion modules. In Phase I we analyzed the design requ ...

Large farms and feedlot operations produce large quantities of manure in a small area. Anaerobic digester units capable of producing pipeline quality methane installed at each farm or dairy could be instrumental in eliminating the difficulties associated with the transport of manure off site. If consumed properly, use of manure-derived fuels can also protect against environmental problems such as ...

Directed Energy (DE) systems offer the promise of dramatic improvements in capability for self defense and area defense systems along with an enhanced precision strike and engagement capability. Unfortunately, turbulence causes the beam to break up at the target, significantly limiting the range of DE systems and limiting their availability to benign turbulence conditions. Adaptive Optical (AO) ...

We construct a frequency stabilized laser which will generate 10 GHz microwaves with Phase noise -100 dBC/Hz at 1 Hz, or equivalently, an optical frequency with an Allan Deviation of 8e-16 and a drift rate of

Despite continuous improvements in military tactics and technology, casualties still remain. Phase I examined the idea of the “first five firefights” to identify if Soldiers have an increased likelihood of becoming a casualty during the initial days of their tour. Research consisted of gathering and compiling Soldier fatality data, conducting interviews (individual and group) with Soldiers and ...

Commodity graphics processing units (GPUs) offer tremendous computational throughput for relatively little cost. They have been shown to outperform microprocessors in the important metrics of FLOPS/dollar, FLOPS/Watt, and FLOPS/unit space and have already been applied to a wide range of numerically intense problems. In Phase I of this project, we demonstrated their potential to enhance complex C ...

The DoD is heavily dependent on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for worldwide military operations. The GPS signal is subject to a variety of potential degradations, such as path loss (e.g., foliated or indoor environments), multipath (e.g., urban canyon or in-building), and interference (intentional or unintentional). There are many military applications where a group of GPS users may operat ...

The purpose of this proposal is to produce high-power, narrow-linewidth (~1 MHz or less), robust, turnkey laser sources that will meet the requirements of emerging cold-atom sensors. The goal of this Phase II effort is to develop a frequency-agile diode laser system with an output power of 1000 mW. This single-laser source can be modulated with sidebands at up to 10 GHz for repumping operations, ...

There continues to be a need for low cost production and shipment of fuel-grade ethanol from agricultural sources. Ethanol from agricultural sources has many advantages including developing fuel independence and significantly reducing greenhouse gases. Also, bio-ethanol has significant value as an oxygenated and octane improver. Although ethanol from agricultural sources has many advantages, th ...

This Phase II project is the continuation of the successful Phase I effort on developing new negative index metamaterials for future optics applications. The proposed technology will tackle those problems associated with existing metamaterial designs, including their need for using advanced nanofabrications, strong energy dissipation associated with the use of metals, and cost ineffectiveness, by ...