A spontaneous Raman scattering optical fiber sensor was developed for a specific need of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for long-term detection and monitoring of the purity of liquid oxygen (LO(2)) in the oxidizer feed line during ground testing of rocket engines. The Raman peak intensity ratios for liquid nitrogen (LN(2)) and LO(2) with varied weight ratios (LN(2)/LO(...

The Space Shuttle Integrated Main Propulsion System (IMPS) consists of the External Tank (ET), Orbiter Main Propulsion System (MPS), and Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs). The IMPS is tasked with the storage, conditioning, distribution, and combustion of cryogenic liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LO2) propellants to provide first and second stage thrust for achieving orbital velocity. ...

The paper reports on studies and results about the implementation of a novel type of Cryogenic Current Comparator (CCC), designed for work at liquid nitrogen temperature. The studies are particularly aimed at the realization of the CCC shield by means of an extended thick film of the YBCO high-temperature superconductor (HTS), deposited onto a metallic substrate with the HVOF technique. Recent ...

Electron mobilities in supercritical and liquid helium were investigated as a function of the density. The mobilities were derived from I(V) curves measured in a high-pressure cryogenic cell using a corona discharge in point-plane electrode geometry for charge generation. The presented data spans a wide pressure and temperature range due to the versatility of our experimental set-up. Where data...

We describe the design and calibration of an external cryogenic blackbody calibrator used for the first two flights of the Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission (ARCADE) instrument. The calibrator consists of a microwave absorber weakly coupled to a superfluid liquid helium bath. Half-wave corrugations viewed 30° off axis reduce the return loss below −35 dB withi...

We are developing low power cryogenic readout integrated circuits (ROICs) for large format far-infrared image sensors using fully-depleted-silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) CMOS technology. We have evaluated the characteristics of MOS FETs fabricated by the FD-SOI CMOS technology and have found that both p-ch and n-ch FETs show good static performance below the liquid helium temperature, where n-ch...

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is well established machining technique mainly used to machine complex geometries on difficult-to-machine materials and high strength temperature resistant alloys. In the present research, the objective is to study the shape of the electrode and establish the application of liquid nitrogen in reducing distortion of the electrode during electrical discharge m...

We describe a sensor for the measurement of thin dielectric layers capable of operation in a variety of environments. The sensor is obtained by microfabricating a capacitor with interleaved aluminum fingers, exposed to the dielectric to be measured. In particular, the device can measure thin layers of solid frozen from a liquid or gaseous medium. Sensitivity to single atomic layers is achievabl...

Extra-large nanochannel formation in the internal structure of cationic cubosome nanoparticles results from the interplay between charge repulsion and steric stabilization of the lipid membrane interfaces and is evidenced by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM) and synchrotron radiation small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The swollen cubic symmetry of the lipid nanoparticles e...

Using intense magnetic pressure, a method was developed to launch flyer plates to velocities in excess of 20 km/s. This technique was used to perform plate-impact, shock wave experiments on cryogenic liquid deuterium ( L-D(2)) to examine its high-pressure equation of state. Using an impedance matching method, Hugoniot measurements were obtained in the pressure range of 30-70 GPa. The results of...