Award Data

Optonicus proposes development of the TAP-LAM (Test Article Printing with Laser Additive Manufacturing for Threat Surrogate Target Production) powder bed fusion and directed energy depositions systems. The TAP-LAM metal additive manufacturing system will advance strategic missile defense system testing capabilities by improving 3D printing methods to rapidly produce large-scale threat surrogate ta ...

Metallic additive manufacturing (AM) is an attractive technology for the production of lethality test articles due to the potential for significantly reduced lead time and manufacturing cost.However, in order to be effective in providing accurate lethality data, the properties of the AM material have to match closely the properties of conventionally manufactured alloys found in real threat targets ...

Magnesium alloys have 35% lower density compared to aluminum, with improved temperature stability compared to high strength aluminum.They can also be fabricated with minimum gauge thicknesses considerably thinner than fiber composites, and are weldable, with much higher impact resistance.Traditional magnesium alloys, however, have had lower strengths than more developed aluminum alloys.Powder meta ...

The development and integration of three unique and innovative algorithm prototypes into a"Fused Track and Characterization Schema"are proposed. This Schema will encompass the determination of signatures and characteristics of objects that can be identified by RF and EO/IR Sensors in order to enable multi-sensor data fusion and correlation. The first algorithm, the"3D Pose Estimation"Algorithm, p ...

Antimony containing III-V semiconducting compounds are particularly attractive for the fabrication of a wide variety of electronic and optoelectronic devices such as photo detectors operating in the long wave infrared wavelength (12-32µm) range. The production of epi quality GaSb wafers still remains one of the important problems for rapid commercialization of GaSb devices. Sinmat Inc. proposes a ...

Gallium Nitride (GaN) substrates are ideal materials for fabrication of high-power and high-frequency devices based on III-V materials. The current state-of-the-art Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) methods are plagued by several challenges, including, surface charge affects due to surface contamination, and sub-surface damages, which can limit the quality of III-V devices. Furthermore, there is ...

The primary objective of the proposed research is to develop proof of concept of a software programmable X-Band radar system using low cost antenna array technology with digital beamforming architecture based on multiple receiver channels. The performance objectives will aim at a minimum of 400 MHz instantaneous bandwidth and a minimum instantaneous dynamic range of 52 dB. The objective of the t ...

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) seeks technical investigations related to the development and application of advanced electronic materials, processes, and devices to meet its need for radiation hardened, high performance electronics for critical space and missile applications. With the advent of smaller transistor dimensions and reductions in price per bit, significant changes in materials and pr ...

This Phase I STTR program seeks a new fabrication method to produce stronger (>100 kpsi) and tougher (>10 MPa m1/2) ultra high temperature Ta-Hf-C-based composites (UHTC) with an outstanding oxidation resistance for use as thermal protection systems for hypersonic applications, as well as for advanced rocket nozzle throat components. UES will apply a novel "Top Down" approach to control the micro ...

Higher efficiency solar cells are needed to reduce mass, volume, and cost of DoD space missions. However, to achieve higher efficiency and radiation hardness of the best to date multi-junction photovoltaic (PV) devices, several challenges must be addressed. This project aims to develop: 1) Quantum Well (QW)-based multi-junction cell that exhibits enhanced efficiency, and 2) Radiation-hardened PV c ...