Consortium for materials development in space

The status of the Consortium for Materials Development in Space (CMDS) is reviewed. Individual projects are outlined and the status of Get Away Special (GAS) 105 is summarized

INVESTIGATION OF POLYMER NANOCOMPOSITES WITH SILICON DIOXIDE FILLERS AS HELIUM COOLED HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING CABLE DIELECTRICS

In this thesis, three polymer nanocomposite configurations are fabricated for investigation as dielectrics in helium-cooled high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cables. Polyimide, polyamide, and polymethyl methacrylate are utilized as host polymers. The composite samples are synthesized through an in situ process, dispersing silicon dioxide nanoparticles throughout the polymer hosts. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were employed to validate the synthesis of each composite configuration. Thin film samples of each configuration were also tested for their dielectric strength at both room (300 K) and cryogenic (92 K) temperatures. When going from room to cryogenic temperatures, all materials demonstrated a significant increase in dielectric strength. This increase in strength is explained through an expanded, temperature dependent breakdown model. Currently, apparatuses necessary for further material validation as cable coatings, as well as at temperatures as low as 55 K, have been designed and are being manufactured for further experimentation. The continued efforts of this research can ultimately lead to the ideal polymer nanocomposite configuration for use as an HTS cable dielectric

Small business innovation research. Abstracts of 1988 phase 1 awards

Non-proprietary proposal abstracts of Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects supported by NASA are presented. Projects in the fields of aeronautical propulsion, aerodynamics, acoustics, aircraft systems, materials and structures, teleoperators and robots, computer sciences, information systems, data processing, spacecraft propulsion, bioastronautics, satellite communication, and space processing are covered

MgB2 Thin-Film Bolometer for Applications in Far-Infrared Instruments on Future Planetary Missions

A SiN membrane based MgB2 thin-film bolometer, with a non-optimized absorber, has been fabricated that shows an electrical noise equivalent power of 256 fW/square root Hz operating at 30 Hz in the 8.5 - 12.35 micron spectral bandpass. This value corresponds to an electrical specific detectivity of 7.6 x 10(exp 10) cm square root Hz/W. The bolometer shows a measured blackbody (optical) specific detectivity of 8.8 x 10(exp 9) cm square root Hz/W, with a responsivity of 701.5 kV/W and a first-order time constant of 5.2 ms. It is predicted that with the inclusion of a gold black absorber that a blackbody specific detectivity of 6.4 x 10(exp 10) cm/square root Hz/W at an operational frequency of 10 Hz, can be realized for integration into future planetary exploration instrumentation where high sensitivity is required in the 17 - 250 micron spectral wavelength range

Index to NASA Tech Briefs, 1975

This index contains abstracts and four indexes--subject, personal author, originating Center, and Tech Brief number--for 1975 Tech Briefs

Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors for Quantum Photonic Integrated Circuits on GaAs

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are very promising as integrated detectors for future quantum photonic integrated circuits. In this work, main technological challenges for the integration of NbN based SNSPDs onto GaAs based phonic circuits are addressed. A new approach to improve the performance of meander style SNSPDs based on a variable thickness is introduced and the first full integration of a quantum photonic chip on a scalable monolithic platform is demonstrated