Award Data

PLASMA ETCHING IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT METHODS USED FORPATTERNING OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS AND FOR FABRICATION OF VLSI CIRCUITS. CRITICAL TO THE UNDERSTANDING AND FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESSES SUCH AS PLASMA ETCHING IS THE AVAILABILITY OF DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS THAT PERMIT STUDY AND EVENTUAL MONITORING OR CONTROL OF THE PROCESS. SOUTHWEST SCIENCES, INC. PROPOSES TO STUDY THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUCH I ...

EXISTING INSTRUMENTATION FOR CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF GAS MIXTURES DO NOT PROVIDE THE CAPABILITY FOR REAL-TIME MEASUREMENT OF A BROAD RANGE OF SPECIES AT TRACE (PPB) CONCENTRATION LEVELS. SUCH A CAPABILITY IS IMPORTANT IN MANY APPLICATIONS IN ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH, POLLUTION CONTROL, TOXIC GAS SENSING, AND INDUSTRIAL PROCESS MONITORING. ALTHOUGH SPECIALIZED LASER METHODS HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED FOR MEAS ...

LARGE QUANTITIES OF TOXIC HYDROGEN CHLORIDE (HCL) GAS ARE EMITTED DURING SOME MISSILE LAUNCHES, POSING A SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD TO LAUCH SITE PERSONNEL. EXISTING INSTRUMENTATION FOR MEASURING HCL CONCENTRATIONS DOES NOT HAVE ADEQUATE TIME RESPONSE OR SENSITIVITY, AND IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO INTERFERENCES FROM OTHER MISSILE EXHAUST GASES. WE PROPOSE A NEW INSTRUMENTATION CONCEPT FOR LAUNCH SITE MEASURMENT ...

MEASUREMENTS OF ATMOSPHERIC HUMIDITY IN COLD REGIONS OR WINTER FIELD ENVIRONMENTS ARE DIFFICULT USING EXISTING METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTATION. IN GENERAL, PRESENT FIELD INSTRUMENTS FOR UNTENDED HUMIDITY MEASUREMENTS ARE PLAGUED BY LOW SENSITIVITY AND DRIFTS IN CALIBRATION, RESULTING IN POOR ACCURACY AND LOW RELIABILITY. WE PROPOSE A NEW INSTRUMENTATION CONCEPT FOR FIELD MEASUREMENT OF HUMIDITY, BA ...

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INTEGRATED OPTICS IS THE ANALOG OF INTEGRATED ELECTRONICS IN SEMICONDUCTOR CIRCUITS USED FOR COMMUNICATIONS PURPOSES. INTEGRATED OPTICS HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED WITH COMPONENTS THAT ARE COMBINED INTO SIMPLE HYBRID CIRCUITS, HOWEVER MONOLITHIC OPTICS HAS BEEN IMPEDED THROUGH DIFFICULTIES IN CONSTRUCTING COMPONENTS IN A SINGLE MATERIALS SYSTEM. GAAS AND ITS ALLOYS HOLD PROMISE AS CANDIDATES FOR MONOLIT ...

INFRARED DETECTORS OF HIGH QUANTUM EFFICIENCY ARE LIMITED TO OPERATING TEMPERATURES LOWER THAN 60K. THIS PROPOSAL PRESENTS A COUNTERDOPED DETECTOR WHICH WILL OPERATE ABOVE LIQUID NITROGEN TEMPERATURE AND THUS REDUCE THE SIZE AND WEIGHT OF THE COOLING SYSTEM USED FOR THE DETECTOR IN AN EARTH-ORBITING SPACECRAFT. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PHASE I PROGRAM WILL BE TO DEVELOP EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL C ...

MANUFACTURING ORGANIZATIONS EMPLOY A LARGE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE IN DESIGNING AND MANUFACTURING A PRODUCT. THE TOTAL KNOWLEDGE INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS IS: -DISTRIBUTED IN DIVERSE ELEMENTS SUCH AS TRADITIONAL SOFTWARE TOOLS, EXPERT SYSTEM TOOLS, DATABASES, MANUALS, AND EXPERT PROJECT MEMBERS, -INHOMOGENEOUS IN NATURE, RANGING FROM DESCRIPTIVE TO PRESCRIPTIVE, MANAGERIAL TO TECHNICAL, AND SHALLOW TO DE ...