Press Release

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), in collaboration with Wayne State University (WSU), has been awarded a research program from the U.S. Army to develop a low cost blast surrogate testing device that can be used to evaluate next generation personal protective equipment (PPE).

PSI’s approach will provide a surrogate model to evaluate damage to the brain, lungs and neurosensory system from a blast wave event. The low cost approach will provide the ability to automatically acquire data and share it to a cloud-computing platform for remote analysis. Reduced cost will be achieved by using modern 3D printing techniques and by developing/sourcing low cost sensorsto monitor forces on the brain within the skull. Collaboration with WSU will enable the testing of the blast surrogate and establish algorithms to identify potential organ damage.

The successful development of the blast surrogate testing device will result in a high fidelity model that can be used to test PPE for the military, for industrial heavy machinery applications, and sports medicine. Another goal is to provide improved collision data feedback for the automotive industry. Concussions resulted from collisions and repetitive head injuries lead to long-term physical and mental degradation. The auto industry would have a higher fidelity platform to understand damage to the head and torso after a car accident. This surrogate will also be useful to evaluate the severity of collisions in contact sports and assist in development of PPE to minimize head and torso trauma.

For more information, contact:

Mr. William Kessler
Vice President, Applied Optics
kessler@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003

Press Release

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), in collaboration with a University of Texas, Austin, has been awarded a research program from the U.S. Army to develop thin-absorber avalanche photodiodes based on digital alloys of AlInAsSb for high-performance photodetection.

The AlInAsSb quaternary alloy system allows for compositional grading throughout the device structure, enabling novel photodiode architectures inaccessible with other III-V alloy systems. PSI’s team will grow, fabricate, and characterize both single pixels and pixel arrays of AlInAsSb avalanche photodiodes based on a thin-absorber architecture for dark current suppression. The thin-absorber architecture, combined with additional innovations in the avalanche multiplication region, will simultaneously enable low-voltage, high-gain, low-noise, and low dark current operation. This will enable integration with Si CMOS readout circuitry for low power-consumption digital infrared focal plane arrays.

Successful commercialization of thin-absorber AlInAsSb avalanche photodiodes photodetection in the extended short-wave infrared band will meet growing defense-oriented demand for low-noise digital night vision, targeting and tracking imaging systems, and satellite imagers, as well as non-defense needs such as biological imaging systems and automotive LIDAR. Since no current commercial products are available to meet simultaneous requirements for performance, cost, and operating temperature, development of thin-absorber AlInAsSb avalanche photodiode arrays will be disruptive by enabling new sensing and imaging capabilities.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Joel Hensley
Vice President, Photonics
hensley@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003

Press Release

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a contract from the Office of the Secretary of Defense to develop an atom interferometer accelerometer specially designed to improve inertial navigation systems on dynamic Department of Defense platforms such as aircraft, ships, and spacecraft. This technology addresses a key vulnerability in modern navigation technology, maintaining global position information despite the denial or disruption of GPS signals, by enabling improved inertial measurement performance.

Atom interferometers in laboratory settings have demonstrated highly accurate acceleration measurements, but are commonly limited to single-axis operation, require alignment with local gravity, and offer low dynamic range. The Recycling Fast-Response Atom Interferometer for Navigation (ReFRAIN) introduces a new architecture that enables rapid measurements of the full acceleration vector while operating in any orientation while on a moving platform. In addition, the architecture is specifically designed to provide sensitivity, dynamic range, bandwidth, and bias stability for operation compatible with supporting navigation-grade or strategic-grade inertial navigation systems. An initial demonstration of the novel architecture will enable production of an engineering prototype with the size, weight, and power compatible with modern inertial instruments by leveraging parallel in-house innovations in laser and ultra-high vacuum technology.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Julia Dupuis
Vice President, Tactical Systems
jdupuis@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003

Press Release

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc (PSI) announces it has been selected by SpaceWERX for a STTR Phase I to investigate how its enhanced electrodynamic tethers for high altitude deorbit operations might enable In-space Service Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities being explored by the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and United States Space Force (USSF) through the Orbital Prime program.

Orbital Prime was created to accelerate the commercial ISAM market toward a use case of Active Debris Remediation. The Air Force Research Laboratory and SpaceWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and losing bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. The DAF began offering ‘The Open Topic’ SBIR/STTR program in 2018 which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded and now on August 23, 2022, PSI will start its journey to create and provide innovative capabilities that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.

About PSI’s Enhanced Electrodynamic Tethers for High Altitude Deorbit Operations
PSI’s passive high altitude electrodynamic tether deorbit system will be capable of deorbiting satellites at end of life. PSI anticipates a fully functional system reaching TRL9 within 2-3 years of program initiation, with commercial production and installation on defense and commercial payloads available concurrent with completion of the follow-on program. The program will result in a low size, weight, cost and zero-power technology for resident space object deorbit for payloads ranging from cubesats to smallsats from higher altitude orbits than is currently achievable.

Rapid, affordable, reliable, safe, and sustainable deorbit of satellites and other space hardware from higher orbits will benefit the civilian commercial and scientific space enterprise as much as it does defense by reducing the risk of space asset collision with end-of-life satellites and debris. When coupled with solar arrays, it will permit orbit raising and station keeping capability without consumables. This zero-power end-of-mission deorbit technology will permit maximum possible mission operation times. For more information, contact jdupuis@psicorp.com

About AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force and United States Space Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space, and cyberspace force. With a workforce of more than 11,000 across nine technology areas and 40 other operations across the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit: www.afresearchlab.com.

About SpaceWERX
SpaceWERX is the Space component of AFWERX (a program office at the Air Force Research Laboratory -AFRL) which connects innovators across government, industry and academia. Through innovation and collaboration with our nation’s top subject-matter experts and harnessing the power of ingenuity of internal talent, by expanding technology, talent, and transition partnerships for rapid and affordable commercial and military capability. Additional information is available at: https://www.spacewerx.us/.

About SpaceWERX Orbital Prime
SpaceWERX Orbital Prime leverages a diverse industry partnership engagement strategy to identify nascent space technology sectors that, if “primed”, could advance U.S. national security and economic prosperity. Prime engagement is not limited to government investment, but also allows SpaceWERX to address key policy concerns as well as offer testbeds and platforms to advance capabilities. The first Space Prime effort, Orbital Prime will invigorate the In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) market using Active Debris Remediation (ADR) as a use case for the foundational technologies. Learn more at https://spacewerx.us/space-prime/.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Julia Dupuis
Vice President, Tactical Systems
jdupuis@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003

Press Release

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a research program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to work in collaboration with anesthesiologists from Beth Israel Deaconess (BID) Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and develop a novel approach for guiding safer delivery of pain and/or anesthetic drugs during epidural procedures (EPs).

Epidural injections are typically used to treat pain from herniated discs, spinal stenosis, chemical discs, chronic pain secondary to post-cervical surgery syndrome, and chronic neck pain of discogenic origin. They are also regularly used to alleviate pain related to birth. However, when not properly performed, the epidural injections can have negative side effects, such as severe headache, infection, and even nerve damage. Serious side effects may also occur, including stroke, paralysis, or loss of vision.

PSI is developing a new technology based on a novel optical sensing technique to assess tissue composition and optimize the force applied to the needle and get its safe insertion into the epidural space, while the monitoring of the pulsatile pressure in the epidermal space is being developed for evaluating proper positioning of the drug delivery catheter. This technology will allow for safer delivery of pain and/or anesthetic drugs during epidural procedures, which would significantly improve patient outcome and reduce further health complications. As epidural procedures are common, this technology will be extremely valuable for hospitals and pain clinics.

For more information, contact:

Mr. William Kessler
Vice President, Applied Optics
kessler@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003

Press Release

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a program from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to design and build a conformal heat exchanger for installation in spaces of opportunity within a small modular reactor. The heat exchanger will demonstrate specific power and power density substantially better than the state-of-the-art.

For heat engine power plants used to generating electricity, heat transfer and heat rejection are one of the primary capital expenditures as well as some of the largest, heaviest, and least volumetrically versatile components of the entire plant. It is necessary to reconsider heat exchanger requirements for the Small Modular Reactor and other weight and volume limited applications. The heat exchanger must fit into confined space and have fewer, smaller components and must have reduced Operations and Maintenance costs.

In the past, the cost and complexity of heat exchangers has been inversely proportional due to the difficulties inherent in manufacturing finely-detailed welded or brazed structures. To address this problem, PSI is using additive manufacturing to produce a heat exchanger that uses a fractal branching design without any increase in cost compared to a traditional design with equal performance. The branching design provides extremely large surface area per volume, maximizing the heat transfer area that can be included in a confined space.

Applications for the additively-manufactured heat exchanger technology include regenerative heat exchangers, condensers, component cooling, and letdown heat exchangers. The design is not a one-size-fits-all scheme, but instead the general design architecture is readily tailored to purpose. This modularity is due to the parametric design, which allows capacity rate matching between streams, geometric flexibility, and different flow mediums (for example steam, liquid metal, CO2, or molten salt and water). This unique design optimization combined with responsive manufacturing means that the heat exchanger technology could be a replacement for many of the different types of heat exchangers found in power plants and many vehicles to reduce cost and volume allocations.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Sean Torrez
Area Manager, Deployable Technologies
storrez@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003

Newsletter

Newsletter

Many of PSI’s technology platforms are dedicated to making people safer – from health, climate, energy, or security threats. We are proud that we are also working to improve the safety of the first responders who put our safety ahead of their own. This newsletter describes a collaboration with the DoD and local firefighters for improved safety in their operation.

PSI Team Works to Improve Firefighter Decontamination Technology

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), in collaboration with the Illinois Fire Services Institute (IFSI), Bergeron Protective Clothing (BPC) and the Lawrence Fire Department, and with the support of Army Research Lab (ARL), is developing a novel detergent and field application kit for improving firefighter decontamination practices.

Firefighting is an inherently dangerous job. In addition to the physical hazards, many airborne chemicals produced during building fires are known carcinogens. It has been shown that exposure to these chemicals is the underlying cause of increased cancer risk among firefighters (up to two times greater cancer risk relative to the general population). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and heavy metals (HMs) are the three major classes of carcinogens present in smoke. These chemicals adhere to firefighter turnout gear (boots, helmets, and jackets) in the process of extinguishing a fire. There is no universal methodology to decontaminate turnout gear, and strategies vary by organization and locale, often leading to inconsistent and unproven decontamination practices.

PSI successfully executed a research program in which we formulated a detergent that met all objectives for efficient PAH, HM and VOC removal. PSI’s key innovation is the combination and formulation of three detergent components, each individually selected to target a different contaminant class: a PAH solubilizer, a heavy metal scavenger and a base soap to produce a poly-aromatic and heavy metal removal (PAHM) detergent. PSI identified components that are shown to be compatible with aqueous cleanup processes, non-toxic, non-corrosive, environmentally friendly, inexpensive, and comply with NFPA 1851, the National Fire Protection Association’s governing standard for gear maintenance and decontamination.
Decontam
Scanning electron microscope images showing a piece of firefighter turnout gear (left) before decontamination and (right) after decontamination. Heavy metal contaminants are indicated by the green and blue traces. No heavy metals are detected after the decontamination was performed with the PSI detergent

The team is now one year into the Phase II program. We have optimized the detergent formulation, demonstrated that the detergent has no negative impacts on firefighter gear performance, and are now working with third parties to verify performance. The next year of the program will focus on best practices for implementation of the detergent and commercialization of the new formulation. We are working with our partners to demonstrate the detergent efficacy by testing it in the field.
If you are interested in learning more about this exciting project, contact Dr. David Gamliel at dgamliel@psicorp.com

Firefighters
PSI staff members work with Firefighters at the Lawrence Fire Department to better understand the complexities of firefighter decontamination

Contract News

PSI recently received the following research contracts from The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA):

Photonic Integrated Raman Spectrometer (PIRS) – PSI, in collaboration with an academic partner, is developing a Photonic Integrated Raman Spectrometer (PIRS) for low-SWaP spectroscopy applications. A silicon nitride photonics platform will be used to develop a dual-stage spectrometer that enables simultaneous high bandwidth and high resolution spectroscopy with direct readout. The on-chip spectrometer developed within this program is a key component for low size, weight, and power spectroscopy applications including fluorescence, absorption, and Raman spectroscopy. These devices will form key components of ultra-compact chemical sensors capable of detecting biomolecules and hazardous chemical agents.

Self-Propelled Energetic Electron Dispensers (SPEEDs) for Deorbit Applications – PSI is developing passive and active enhancements to existing heritage electrodynamic tether smallsat deorbit systems. Passive coatings based on flexible materials with negative electron affinity-enhanced triple point electron emitters will enable deorbit of smallsats and other payloads during end-of-life at altitudes up to 1200km by increasing the passively generated current through electrodynamic tethers. The innovation is applicable to all smallsats, and possibly larger payloads such as spent rocket stages. Related technology is being used to develop cold cathode electron emitters to drive higher, controllable currents through existing tether systems. The application is controlled, rapid, propellantless deorbit of payloads, minimizing further pollution of low Earth orbit and mitigating risk of spacecraft collisions.

Deep UV Raman Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer for Depth Resolved Small Body Ice Core Analysis – PSI is developing a compact, solid-state ultraviolet spatially offset Raman sensor with a diagnostic core retrieval system. The UV Raman sensor, currently under development at PSI, utilizes a UV laser (266 nm) that has been developed by Q-Peak. The current UV Raman design will be modified to include a digital micromirror device in order to collect spatially offset Raman signal at varying penetration depths within a material. This system will be paired with a small core retrieval system to allow for initial diagnostic testing of areas on small bodies, such as comet nuclei, to determine where larger cores should be collected and returned to Earth.

Ground Based Uplink and Beacon Laser for Long-Range Communications – For deep space optical communications at astronomical distances such as Mars and beyond, a multi-kW average power laser that can be coded to send data is needed. Optical communication will revolutionize space-based science and exploration capabilities by supplying data rates up to 100 times faster than the currently used radio frequency based systems. PSI is developing a simple and innovative fiber design that can produce > 3 kW of average power and 6 kW of peak power at 50% duty cycle. This ability will generate the optical power efficiently, aim the narrow beam accurately enough to illuminate a receiver on Earth, and collect and detect the received optical signal with minimal loss after passing through the atmosphere. A fundamental concept of operation is the deep space transceiver that uses an uplink beacon from Earth as a reference for pointing the downlink.

Photonic Integrated Circuit Assisted Single Photon Detectors (PICA SPDs) – PSI and our academic partner will develop Photonic Integrated Circuit Assisted-Single Photon Detectors (PICA-SPDs) to increase the bandwidth and timing resolution of single-photon detectors (SPDs). Realizing low size, weight and power (SWaP) SPDs with high saturation-rates and high timing-resolutions are critical for deploying of quantum technology in space. To overcome the challenge of increasing both the timing resolution and saturation rate of SPD arrays, our unique active-approach leverages high-speed, low-loss PIC modulators. The development of quantum communications and networks are a key technology to enable secure communication, sensor arrays, and quantum computer networks. PSI’s technology will allow NASA to increase the bandwidth of both free-space and fiber quantum links. High saturation rate and low-jitter single-photon detectors are also a general-purpose tool for a range of applications, from quantum networks and communication links, to imaging and healthcare applications.

PSI also recently received the following research contracts from The Missile Defense Agency (MDA):

C/SiC Foam Pintles – PSI will develop an innovative composite pintle architecture to meet high temperature and high strength needs of future MDA systems. The architecture combines existing high temperature fiber-reinforced ceramics with a novel insulating material. The resulting element will have high axial and bending strength at the relevant operating temperatures, but axial low thermal conductivity, protecting the valve actuator for the extreme heat of the engine operation. PSI’s pintle architecture will enable higher temperature fuels to be used in rocket motor systems to enable higher speed and/or greater range. Successful demonstration of the insulator in pintles will be the first step toward broader insulation applications in composite hypersonic vehicle bodies. Applications in these vehicles include build-ups in aeroshells, structural insulation and thermal protection systems for embedded electronic systems.

IM Compliant High-Energy Hydride Propellants – PSI is developing safe Insensitive Munitions (IM) Compliant, high performance solid rocket propellants for advanced interceptor capabilities with significantly increased delta-velocity. PSI’s innovative propellant formulations capitalize on novel ingredient technologies that provide for 10% increase in Isp relative to state-of-the-art aluminized hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene / ammonium perchlorate composite propellants. Analysis of boost stage and upper stage propulsion systems using PSI’s propellant show that up to 12.5% and 20% performance improvements can be achieved, respectively. The successful development of PSI’s IM Compliant High specific impulse (Isp) propellant formulations would be directly applicable to all ongoing DoD propellant and munition programs aimed at high burn, extended range, and decreased time-to-target. PSI’s high-energy fuel ingredient could also be of benefit to air-breathing propulsion technology including solid fuel ramjets. The increased ramjet propulsion performance, provided by PSI’s fuel technology, would enhance operational capabilities in the form of extended range and faster time-to-target.
For more contract news, visit www.psicorp.com/news.