GLTRS--Glenn
TITLE AND SUBTITLE:
Electrical Devices and Circuits for Low Temperature Space Applications

AUTHOR(S):
R.L. Patterson, A. Hammoud, J.E. Dickman, S. Gerber, E. Overton, and M. Elbuluk

REPORT DATE:
October 2003

FUNDING NUMBERS:
WBS-22-297-60-17

PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES):
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field
Cleveland, Ohio 44135-3191

PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER:
E-14159

SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES):
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, DC 20546-0001

REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED:
Technical Memorandum

SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER:
NASA TM-2003-212600

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES:
Prepared for the International Workshop on Thermal Detectors for Space Based Planetary, Solar, and Earth Science Applications sponsored by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Adelphi, Maryland, June 19-20, 2003. R.L. Patterson, J.E. Dickman, and E. Overton, NASA Glenn Research Center; A. Hammoud, QSS Group, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio 44135; S. Gerber, ZIN Technologies, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio 44135; and M. Elbuluk, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325. Responsible person, R.L. Patterson, organization code 5480, 216-433-8166.

ABSTRACT:
The environmental temperature in many NASA missions, such as deep space probes and outer planetary exploration, is significantly below the range for which conventional commercial-off-the-shelf electronics is designed. Presently, spacecraft operating in the cold environment of such deep space missions carry a large number of radioisotope or other heating units in order to maintain the surrounding temperature of the on-board electronics at approximately 20 °C. Electronic devices and circuits capable of operation at cryogenic temperatures will not only tolerate the harsh environment of deep space but also will reduce system size and weight by eliminating or reducing the heating units and their associate structures; thereby reducing system development cost as well as launch costs. In addition, power electronic circuits designed for operation at low temperatures are expected to result in more efficient systems than those at room temperature. This improvement results from better behavior in the electrical and thermal properties of some semiconductor and dielectric materials at low temperatures. An on-going research and development program on low temperature electronics at the NASA Glenn Research Center focuses on the development of efficient electrical systems and circuits capable of surviving and exploiting the advantages of low temperature environments. An overview of the program will be presented in this paper. A description of the low temperature test facilities along with selected data obtained from in-house component testing will also be discussed. On-going research activities that are being performed in collaboration with various organizations will also be presented.

SUBJECT TERMS:
Electronics; Power; Low temperature; Cryogenic

NUMBER OF PAGES:
11

PDF AVAILABLE FROM URL:
2003/TM-2003-212600.pdf ( 218 KB )
This page contains an Adobe® Acrobat® Reader PDF file. The PDF documents have been created to show thumbnails of each page. If the thumbnails do not display properly, download the file to the hard drive and view through Acrobat® Reader. You can download Acrobat® Reader for free.

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Suggestions or questions about this site can be directed to:

NASA official: Technical Publications Manager, Sue.E.Butts@nasa.gov

Web curator: Caroline.A.Rist@grc.nasa.gov

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Electrical Devices and Circuits for Low Temperature Space Applications GLTRS--Glenn
TITLE AND SUBTITLE:
Electrical Devices and Circuits for Low Temperature Space Applications

AUTHOR(S):
R.L. Patterson, A. Hammoud, J.E. Dickman, S. Gerber, E. Overton, and M. Elbuluk

REPORT DATE:
October 2003

FUNDING NUMBERS:
WBS-22-297-60-17

PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES):
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field
Cleveland, Ohio 44135-3191

PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER:
E-14159

SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES):
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, DC 20546-0001

REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED:
Technical Memorandum

SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER:
NASA TM-2003-212600

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES:
Prepared for the International Workshop on Thermal Detectors for Space Based Planetary, Solar, and Earth Science Applications sponsored by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Adelphi, Maryland, June 19-20, 2003. R.L. Patterson, J.E. Dickman, and E. Overton, NASA Glenn Research Center; A. Hammoud, QSS Group, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio 44135; S. Gerber, ZIN Technologies, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio 44135; and M. Elbuluk, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325. Responsible person, R.L. Patterson, organization code 5480, 216-433-8166.

ABSTRACT:
The environmental temperature in many NASA missions, such as deep space probes and outer planetary exploration, is significantly below the range for which conventional commercial-off-the-shelf electronics is designed. Presently, spacecraft operating in the cold environment of such deep space missions carry a large number of radioisotope or other heating units in order to maintain the surrounding temperature of the on-board electronics at approximately 20 ¡C. Electronic devices and circuits capable of operation at cryogenic temperatures will not only tolerate the harsh environment of deep space but also will reduce system size and weight by eliminating or reducing the heating units and their associate structures; thereby reducing system development cost as well as launch costs. In addition, power electronic circuits designed for operation at low temperatures are expected to result in more efficient systems than those at room temperature. This improvement results from better behavior in the electrical and thermal properties of some semiconductor and dielectric materials at low temperatures. An on-going research and development program on low temperature electronics at the NASA Glenn Research Center focuses on the development of efficient electrical systems and circuits capable of surviving and exploiting the advantages of low temperature environments. An overview of the program will be presented in this paper. A description of the low temperature test facilities along with selected data obtained from in-house component testing will also be discussed. On-going research activities that are being performed in collaboration with various organizations will also be presented.

SUBJECT TERMS:
Electronics; Power; Low temperature; Cryogenic

NUMBER OF PAGES:
11

PDF AVAILABLE FROM URL:
2003/TM-2003-212600.pdf ( 218 KB )
This page contains an Adobe® Acrobat® Reader PDF file. The PDF documents have been created to show thumbnails of each page. If the thumbnails do not display properly, download the file to the hard drive and view through Acrobat® Reader. You can download Acrobat® Reader for free.

NASA NASA GLTRS--Glenn

A service of the NASA Glenn Research Center Logistics and Technical Information Division

Suggestions or questions about this site can be directed to:

NASA official: Technical Publications Manager, Sue.E.Butts@nasa.gov

Web curator: Caroline.A.Rist@grc.nasa.gov

Privacy Policy and Important Notices