2,659 research outputs found
Coherence properties of infrared thermal emission from heated metallic nanowires
Coherence properties of the infrared thermal radiation from individual heated
nanowires are investigated as function of nanowire dimensions. Interfering the
thermally induced radiation from a heated nanowire with its image in a nearby
moveable mirror, well-defined fringes are observed. From the fringe visibility,
the coherence length of the thermal emission radiation from the narrowest
nanowires was estimated to be at least 20 um which is much larger than expected
from a classical blackbody radiator. A significant increase in coherence and
emission efficiency is observed for smaller nanowires.Comment: 4 pages,figures include
Propagation of thermal excitations in a cluster of vortices in superfluid 3He-B
We describe the first measurement on Andreev scattering of thermal
excitations from a vortex configuration with known density, spatial extent, and
orientations in 3He-B superfluid. The heat flow from a blackbody radiator in
equilibrium rotation at constant angular velocity is measured with two quartz
tuning fork oscillators. One oscillator creates a controllable density of
excitations at 0.2Tc base temperature and the other records the thermal
response. The results are compared to numerical calculations of ballistic
propagation of thermal quasiparticles through a cluster of rectilinear
vortices.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Thermophotovoltaic space power system, phase 3
Work performed on a research and development program to establish the feasibility of a solar thermophotovoltaic space power generation concept was summarized. The program was multiphased. The earlier work is summarized and the work on the current phase is detailed as it pertains to and extends the earlier work. Much of the experimental hardware and materials development was performed on the internal program. Experimental measurements and data evaluation were performed on the contracted effort. The objectives of the most recent phase were: to examine the thermal control design in order to optimize it for lightweight and low cost; to examine the concentrator optics in an attempt to relieve pointing accuracy requirements to + or - 2 degrees about the optical axis; and to use the results of the thermal and optical studies to synthesize a solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) module design that is optimized for space application
Modulated infrared radiant source
A modulated, infrared radiant energy source was developed to calibrate an airborne nadir-viewing pressure modulated radiometer to be used to detect from Earth orbit trace gases in the troposphere. The technique used an 8 cm long, 0.005 cm diameter platinum-iridium wire as an isothermal, thin line radiant energy source maintained at 1200 K. A + or - 20 K signal, oscillating at controllable frequencies from dc to 20 Hz, was superimposed on it. This periodic variation of the line source energy was used to verify the pressure modulated radiometer's capability to distinguish between the signal variations caused by the Earth's background surface and the signal from the atmospheric gases of interest
A metamaterial frequency-selective super-absorber that has absorbing cross section significantly bigger than the geometric cross section
Using the idea of transformation optics, we propose a metamaterial device
that serves as a frequency-selective super-absorber, which consists of an
absorbing core material coated with a shell of isotropic double negative
metamaterial. For a fixed volume, the absorption cross section of the
super-absorber can be made arbitrarily large at one frequency. The double
negative shell serves to amplify the evanescent tail of the high order incident
cylindrical waves, which induces strong scattering and absorption. Our
conclusion is supported by both analytical Mie theory and numerical finite
element simulation. Interesting applications of such a device are discussed.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure
Photon noise limited radiation detection with lens-antenna coupled Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors
Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) have shown great potential for
sub-mm instrumentation because of the high scalability of the technology. Here
we demonstrate for the first time in the sub-mm band (0.1...2 mm) a photon
noise limited performance of a small antenna coupled MKID detector array and we
describe the relation between photon noise and MKID intrinsic
generation-recombination noise. Additionally we use the observed photon noise
to measure the optical efficiency of detectors to be 0.8+-0.2.Comment: The following article has been submitted to AP
Measurement of the Blackbody Radiation Shift of the 133Cs Hyperfine Transition in an Atomic Fountain
We used a Cs atomic fountain frequency standard to measure the Stark shift on
the ground state hyperfine transiton frequency in cesium (9.2 GHz) due to the
electric field generated by the blackbody radiation. The measures relative
shift at 300 K is -1.43(11)e-14 and agrees with our theoretical evaluation
-1.49(07)e-14. This value differs from the currently accepted one
-1.69(04)e-14. The difference has a significant implication on the accuracy of
frequency standards, in clocks comparison, and in a variety of high precision
physics tests such as the time stability of fundamental constants.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 2 table
Conceptual design study for Infrared Limb Experiment (IRLE)
The phase A engineering design study for the Infrared Limb Experiment (IRLE) instrument, the infrared portion of the Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere Explorer (MELTER) satellite payload is given. The IRLE instrument is a satellite instrument, based on the heritage of the Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) program, that will make global measurements of O3, CO2, NO, NO2, H2O, and OH from earth limb emissions. These measurements will be used to provide improved understanding of the photochemistry, radiation, dynamics, energetics, and transport phenomena in the lower thermosphere, mesosphere, and stratosphere. The IRLE instrument is the infrared portion of the MELTER satellite payload. MELTER is being proposed to NASA Goddard by a consortium consisting of the University of Michigan, University of Colorado and NASA Langley. It is proposed that the Space Dynamics Laboratory at Utah State University (SDL/USU) build the IRLE instrument for NASA Langley. MELTER is scheduled for launch in November 1994 into a sun-synchronous, 650-km circular orbit with an inclination angle of 97.8 deg and an ascending node at 3:00 p.m. local time
Thermal emittance enhancement of graphite-copper composites for high temperature space based radiators
Graphite-copper composites are candidate materials for space based radiators. The thermal emittance of this material, however, is a factor of two lower than the desired emittance for these systems of greater than or equal to 0.85. Arc texturing was investigated as a surface modification technique for enhancing the emittance of the composite. Since the outer surface of the composite is copper, and samples of the composite could not be readily obtained for testing, copper was used for optimization testing. Samples were exposed to various frequencies and currents of arcs during texturing. Emittances near the desired goal were achieved at frequencies less than 500 Hz. Arc current did not appear to play a major role under 15 amps. Particulate carbon was observed on the surface, and was easily removed by vibration and handling. In order to determine morphology adherence, ultrasonic cleaning was used to remove the loosely adherent material. This reduced the emittance significantly. Emittance was found to increase with increasing frequency for the cleaned samples up to 500 Hz. The highest emittance achieved on these samples over the temperature range of interest was 0.5 to 0.6, which is approximately a factor of 25 increase over the untextured copper emittance
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