SBIR-STTR Award

Re-generable Field Emission Cathodes
Award last edited on: 12/28/2016

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
NASA : GRC
Total Award Amount
$124,752
Award Phase
1
Solicitation Topic Code
S3.03
Principal Investigator
Jason M Makela

Company Information

Aerophysics Inc

1402 East Sharon Avenue Suite 206
Houghton, MI 49931
   (906) 370-2376
   jdsommer@mtu.edu
   N/A
Location: Single
Congr. District: 01
County: Houghton

Phase I

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: ----    Completed: ----
Phase I year
2013
Phase I Amount
$124,752
A significant challenge in scaling micro-propulsion devices up to 100s of Watts as well as scaling macro devices down to sub-kiloWatt level is the lack of a compatible neutralizer technology in the meso scale. Sub-kiloWatt EP systems require cathode technology that can produce sufficient current while consuming little or no gas or power. The most promising technology for meso-scale neutralizers is field emission. In field emission, electrons are extracted directly from a cold bulk solid material by an intense applied electric field at the solid-vacuum interface with no gas flow and no heating required. While many methods have been proposed to incorporate field-emission neutralizers in EP systems, the inherent fragility of the technology – specifically the reliance on solid structures with nanometer-radius tips – ensures that device failure due to tip degradation will be a near certainty for any application depending on field emission cathodes. The goal of research proposed here is to develop arrays of field-emission neutralizers for use in sub-1-kW EP that eliminate tip degradation not through attempts to minimize tip wear, but instead by incorporating self-assembling nanostructures that can repeatedly re-generate damaged emitter tips in space and fully restore the functionality of a damaged or degraded device.

Phase II

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: ----    Completed: ----
Phase II year
----
Phase II Amount
----