Date: Jan 01, 2012 Source: ARMY SBIR Success Story (
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The Army strives to build smaller, lighter and less costly systems with enhanced performance, but the tradeoff has historically been that these devices place greater demands on power supplies. As a result, there are major efforts to develop more energetic compact power supplies. TRS Technologies has developed high energy density componentsfor the Ferroelectric Generators which provides two to three times more power output than state-of-the-art materials. This was accomplished by using advanced processing methods to fabricate high density ferroelectric ceramics with significantly increased energy storage capabilities that can potentially U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense provide our Soldiers with valuable new tools to disrupt enemy Command/Army Forces Strategic Command communications, destroy electronically stored information, and disrupt vehicle operations.
Ferroelectric generators are fairly simple devices mostly consisting of a small energy storage unit. When electrically polarized, they store energy in the form of bound electric charge. When the FEG is shocked, the material is depolarized, releasing this stored charge to an output circuit. There has been and continues to be active research to further develop FEGs as very compact power supplies for a variety of loads including antennas, neutron generators, and detonator arrays.The Army is working to develop new types of munitions, both lethal and less than lethal which will depend on this type ofinnovative electrical power.
Technology Transition:
This technology is being transitioned into a device being developed by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command under a $1.1M Phase III contract. TRS Technologies is using this technology to develop pulse power components for counter Improvised Explosive Devices, directed energy weapons, and multipoint detonation systems to be used on mobile platforms such as vehicles, aircraft, missiles, and projectiles. These materials are enabling electromagnetic pulse weapons to remotely defeat IEDs and suicide bombs in a less than lethal manner with limited collateral damage. This processing method also results in devices that are small enough to be man-portable, yet powerful enough to disrupt electronicsover significant ranges.
