Award Data

As the warfighter is increasingly using more highly integrated instruments, e.g. a laser rangefinder (LRF) combined with a laser designator and an imager, the need to decrease the size of these components becomes more important.Compact small munition applications of rangefinders particularly place an emphasis on size of the optical front end.In order to make the transceiver more compact, special a ...

Waste generation at forward bases creates significant challenges; its disposal presents an economic cost with no direct benefit and its accumulation or burning is a health hazard. The bioconversion of waste into useful compounds could save thousands annually for every soldier and tens of millions in capital expenditure. However, widespread adoption is impeded by low conversion efficiency. We propo ...

Near-Field Scanning Microwave Microscopy (SMM) is a technique relying on a raster scan of a microwave probe across a sample surface, while measuring its reflected microwave signal. The existing technologies are limited to the surface analysis, and are not compatible with liquid environment. These limitations are addressed by the proposed wideband 3D tomography SMM with sub-surface analysis capabil ...

Achieving strong and durable polymer adhesion to inorganic substrates under various environmental conditions is challenging. The required long-term durability tests are over long time- and length-scales, beyond the capability of current modeling, and extensive experimental testing is needed. Currently, no commercially available method exists for monitoring how a polymer/substrate system evolves du ...

The goal of this program is to develop and construct a thin, light weight, low power, large aperture, electro-optic (EO) transmissive scanner that utilizes electro-optically active nanomaterial structures, suitable for UAVs platform. The nano-material beam-steering technology aperture system offers an ultra-thin Size, Weight, and Power (SWAP) to fit on UAV;s airframe and achieve ultrafast and wide ...

The proposed Phase I research seeks to develop innovative tunable IR filters based on phase change plasmonic composite materials. Concepts for a switchable device that is capable of providing dynamic narrowband spectral properties within the 3-12 micron wavelength range will be developed.

Integration of kinetic training and cyber training will provide a unified platform for combined cyberspace/kinetic battlefield training for our warfighters. Such a training platform will support high-fidelity, multi-factor simulated engagements in which the trainee can be exposed to all domains that are simultaneously interacting with each other. Existing approaches do not accurately reflect the d ...

Ultra-short pulse lasers have advantages over continuous-wave lasers for directed-energy applications due to the high peak powers that can be reached. Directed-energy weapons are profoundly limited by the aberrations caused by atmospheric turbulence and current adaptive optics can correct for these aberrations only when the propagation medium is reciprocal. Unfortunately, nonlinear effects in the ...

LongWave Photonics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Virginia Diodes are proposing the use of the Terahertz Quantum-Cascade Lasers (QCL) combined with a Schottky diode detector for high dynamic range heterodyne imaging. Two single-mode, distributed feedback (DFB) QCLs with milliwatt power levels will be used as local oscillator and illumination for imaging. The QCLs will be downconverte ...

This Navy STTR Phase I proposal presents an parallel AM tool to eliminate conventional scanning strategy. A 2D MEMS array is used to shape both in time domain and spatial domain to obtain the desired pattern for layer by layer process. Modeling is used to study in-process melting evolution versus powder and beam properties. It provides quantitative characterization of the AM system to guide the de ...