NASA SBIR 2003 Solicitation

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Junqing Ma
jma@tjtechnologies.com
3850 Research Park Drive Suite A
Ann Arbor, MI 48108-2240
(734)213-1637
U.S. Citizen or Legal Resident: Yes

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Capacitor size and reliability are often limiting factors in pulse power, high speed switching, and power management and distribution (PMAD) systems. T/J Technologies is addressing these limitations through the development of nanocomposite polypropylene films with enhanced dielectric strength, dielectric coefficient and thermal stability. These improvements translate to better performance, including higher energy density, higher volumetric efficiency, and increased working temperature. During phase I of this program, T/J Technologies demonstrated novel nanocomposite dielectric films with a >100% increase in dielectric strength as compared with conventional polypropylene materials, while also realizing modest improvements in dielectric constant. Future work in phase II will focus on transitioning this new film into a higher volumetric efficiency power filter capacitor technology that will reduce the size and enhance the reliability of NASA PMAD subsystems. The major target for Phase II is to develop and demonstrate an ultra-thin capacitor film with high volumetric efficiency (>50% improvement over State-of-the-art polypropylene capacitors), high temperature (>125?aC), low dissipation factor, and excellent mechanical properties (windability). This research will enable the development of lighter, more reliable PMAD subsystems for NASA space missions. Other commercial and defense applications include pulse power conditioning for high power electronics and high voltage AC systems.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (LIMIT 100 WORDS)
Other commercial and defense applications include pulse power conditioning for high power electronics and high voltage AC systems involving high power electronics pulse-duty circuits, high frequency filtering, high frequency inverters, solid state switch snubbers, and SCR commutation circuits.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (LIMIT 100 WORDS)
This research will enable the development of lighter, more reliable PMAD subsystems for NASA space missions.