Award Data

THE POTENTIAL TO ACHIEVE HIGH INSULATING VALUE BY THE USE OF EVACUATED GLASS MICROSPHERES HAS BEEN KNOWN FOR SOME TIME. THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH IS TO SOLVE THE PRINCIPAL OBSTACLE TO THEIR USE, WHICH HAS BEEN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMMERCIALLY VIABLE TECHNIQUE TO PRODUCE EVACUATED MICROSPHERES. IF HOLLOW GLASS MICROSPHERES CAN BE EVACUATED AND COATED COST-EFFECTIVELY, THEIR UTILITY AS INSULATI ...

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MECHANICAL SYSTEM SIMULATION (MSS) IS THE TECHNOLOGY USED TO ANALYZE SYSTEMS UNDERGOING LARGE OVERALL MOTION, SUCH AS AN AUTOMOBILE GOING OVER A POTHOLE OR A SPACE SHUTTLE PERFORMING SATELLITE RETRIEVAL. MSS FORMULATIONS LEAD TO A COUPLED SET OF DIFFERENTIAL AND ALGEBRAIC EQUATIONS CALLED INDEX-3 DAE. INDEX REDUCTION METHODS (IRM) ARE EMPLOYED TO SIMPLIFY AND SOLVE THESE EQUATIONS. THREE FACTOR ...

RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING AND DEMONSTRATING A MODEL FOR SCALABLE HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING SOFTWARE WHICH COMBINES TWO EXISTING COMPUTING PARADIGMS. THE FIRST IS A MODEL FOR DYNAMIC LOAD BALANCING THAT HAS BEEN TESTED ON MULTIPLE-INSTRUCTION MULTIPLE-DATA (MIMD) MACHINES. THE SECOND IS A REUSABLE SOFTWARE DESIGN CALLED A "FRAMEWORK." THE FRAMEWORK IS AN OBJECT-BASED SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE THAT ...

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RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING NUCLEAR/PARTICLE DETECTORS USING NEW FAST HEAVY INORGANIC SCINTILLATORS. THESE MATERIALS ARE OF TWO CLASSES: (1) BRIGHT CERIUM-ACTIVATED CRYSTALS - YAP, GAO, AND GSO - WHICH COULD DISPLACE THALLIUM DOPED SODIUM AND CESIUM IODIDE IN CERTAIN APPLICATIONS. THE CURRENT YAP CRYSTALS (UP TO 50 X 50 X 10 MM(3) HAVE MEASURED EFFICIENCIES, RESOLUTIONS, BRIGHTNESSES, AND MECHANI ...

AN INNOVATIVE ALTERNATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL APPROACHES TOWARD CHLOROFLUOROCARBON AND HALON DESTRUCTION (SUCH AS OXIDATIVE THERMAL PROCESSES) IS BASED ON APPLICATION OF THE TECHNOLOGY OF RADIOFREQUENCY (RF) GLOW DISCHARGE PLASMA TREATMENTS OF ORGANIC MATERIALS TO CFCS AND HALONS. IN ORDER TO EXPAND ON SOME VERY SLIGHT PRECEDENCE FOR RF PLASMA POLYMERIZATION OF CFCS, RESEARCHERS ARE DEMONSTRATING THE ...

THE HYDROXYL RADICAL (OH) PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN THE PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF BOTH THE TROPOSPHERE AND THE STRATOSPHERE. IT IS THE PRIMARY OXIDIZING AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REMOVAL OF MOST TRACE GASES INCLUDING CO AND CH4. SINCE THE OH RADICAL DETERMINES THE LIFETIMES AND, THUS, THE CONCENTRATIONS OF MANY CHEMICAL SPECIES, ACCURATE DETERMINATION OF OH CONCENTRATION IS PIVOTAL IN UNDERSTANDING ATMOSPHERI ...

ULTRAFAST LASERS (LASERS THAT GENERATE PULSES WITH DURATIONS OF ~10 PICOSECONDS OR LESS) HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS IN BIOCHEMISTRY, CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING. UNFORTUNATELY, THESE SYSTEMS ARE DIFFICULT TO USE LARGELY BECAUSE ULTRAFAST LASER PULSES ARE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO CHARACTERIZE AND FEW TECHNIQUES ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. THOSE THAT ARE AVAILABLE USUALLY AR ...

LASER APPLICATION FOR NONCONTACT TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT OF A SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER IS BEING DEVELOPED. THE TECHNIQUE CAN BE APPLIED FOR EITHER CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (CVD) OR BY RAPID THERMAL PROCESSING (RTP) SYSTEMS. THE METHOD IS BASED ON THERMAL EXPANSION OF A SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER, AND USES SPECKLE PATTERNS GENERATED FROM THE BACK (ROUGH SURFACE) OF THE WAFER. SPECKLE PATTERNS ARE GENERATED ...