Recent advances of high power solid state lasers promises necessary laser power levels required for the Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) systems. However, inefficiencies of the laser components still generate too much waste heat to be managed by conventional liquid cooling…
The inductors along with capacitors and resistors, inductors are one of the three passive elements that are the foundations of all electronics. An inductor works by inducing a magnetic field as an electric current flows through its coil of wire.…
Modern warfare is increasingly dependent on microelectronics capabilities that sense the environment, convert the signals into data streams, process the information, and generate a response. In this sense, Aerospace and Defense (A-D) systems are quite similar to commercial systems that…
Thermoelectric energy harvesting mainly depends on the operation of the thermoelectric generator (TEG). A thermoelectric (TE) device can directly convert heat emanating from the Sun, radioisotopes, automobiles, industrial sectors, or even the human body to electricity. A TEG converts heat…
In 1911, a Dutch scientist discovered a class of materials which, at temperatures near absolute zero, could conduct electricity with no resistance and therefore zero loss of power. These materials called Superconductors have unique properties including, Zero resistance to direct…
The piezoelectric effect was discovered by brothers Pierre and Jacques Curie in 1880, and named after the Greek word piezein, that means to press or squeeze. They found that certain crystals were able to generate an electrical charge when mechanically…
Materials with superior strength, density and resiliency properties are important for the harsh environments in which Department of Defense platforms, weapons and their components operate. Recent scientific advances have opened up new possibilities for material design in the ultrahigh pressure…
The need for more energy-efficient computers is urgent. The Department of Energy projects that, with the computer chip industry expected to expand to several trillion dollars in the next few decades, energy use by computers could skyrocket from 3 percent…
REEs are a series of chemical elements found in the Earth’s crust that are essential components of many technologies, including electronics, computer and communication systems, transportation, health care, and national defense. Rare Earths Elements (REE) are incorporated into many sophisticated…
Today, silicon microchips underlie every aspect of digital computing. Now Moore’s Law is stuttering, and the world’s supercomputer builders are confronting an energy crisis. But those big gains using silicon seem to have ended, with the high-end Intel Core i7…