Award Data

Wave-optics simulations are critical tools for analysis of laser directed energy systems. The primary method for conducting these simulations is to evaluate the Fresnel diffraction integral using the angular spectrum method based on the fast Fourier transform (FFT). While FFTs are considered computationally efficient, their use in the Fresnel integral results in difficult grid constraints includin ...

Target tracking and aimpoint maintenance are critical functions within a laser directed energy system. Traditionally, the optical sensor is a conventional camera viewing an actively illuminated target. In the absence of turbulence, it is still difficult to point the laser weapon to a specific hit spot when there are no features in the required direction. Further, atmospheric turbulence scintillate ...

MZA partnered with the Michigan Technological University (MTU) proposes development and testing of key components for our unified Atmospheric Refractivity and Turbulence Sensor (ARTS.) Software upgrades will be made to MZA’s DELTA-Sky sensor to enable atmospheric refraction measurements in addition to existing turbulence profiling. The illuminator assembly to implement the ARTS probe laser ...

This proposal will outline a bi-directional software defined Free Space Optics (FSO) laser communications testbed with flexible optical elements and reprogrammable waveform and signal processing elements. Vulcan Wireless Inc. currently manufacturers a 1550nm, eye safe, software defined Laser Communications Testbed MD-LC-1 and will use this as a basis for the Phase 1 effort. We will also be teaming ...

The Phase II effort will be to clearly demonstrate the feasibility and build a prototype of a noncontact, high-quality holographic polarimetry system with pixel level depth and Mueller matrix information with a user-friendly interface to image and display this data. The measurements of each data product will be validated with trusted truth samples. The system will be reproducible and will have a d ...

Sensors based on chip-scale atomic devices (CSADs) offer portability, manufacturability, and high performance for precision navigation and timing (PNT) missions. Key systems for PNT including atom interferometric gyroscopes (AIG) and atomic clocks. Ongoing advances and innovations in photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are directly relevant to CSADs. Different material bases have been used in PICs ...

Large ground-based telescopes require adaptive optics (AO) to correct for distortions introduced by atmospheric turbulence. In order to function, the AO system must track a bright point source. Although a natural star may be used, full sky coverage requires an artificial beacon created with a laser. The most common type of laser guide star (LGS) employs the mesospheric layer of sodium atoms at an ...

This effort seeks verification tools and techniques to ensure safety and stability of spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) algorithms, particularly the attitude control system integrated with autonomy software. Advanced control algorithms and autonomy are increasingly necessary to enable responsiveness of fleets of vehicles to attitude constraints and object avoidance. Verus Researc ...

To meet the requirements of the AF18A-T015 solicitation, MaXentric and University of California San Diego are proposing the development of a low loss, high linearity capacitor. The tunable capacitor target is a compact integrated design, capable of a tuning range up to 4:1, with a minimum Q of 80 at 4 GHz, and handling up to 20W CW. During phase I, UCSD studied a novel varactor structure to improv ...

New, innovative laser spectroscopy technology will be developed for performance quantification and combustion characterization in a Rotational Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE). The effort will push the state of the art in tunable laser absorption spectroscopy to enable fast time response diagnostics of the extreme pressure and temperature conditions of an RDRE.