Mercurous Halide Crystals Growth in the International Space Station (ISS)

We propose the growth of Acousto-Optic crystals such as Hg2Cl2, Hg2Br2, and Hg2I2. These crystals are very promising material and extremely suitable for the fabrication of Acousto-Optic devices such as Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter, Acousto-Optic Modulator, and Acousto-Optic Q-Switches, etc. The crystal growth process is divided into two stages: One is source material purification and the other is crystal growth. We will upgrade the purification furnace for high-purity level and grow 3 kinds of crystals using the high-purity source material. Consequently, we will produce novel 3 large diameter crystals. Also, we will simulate 3D software for getting the ideal thermal profile for boundary conditions of the ISS. Then, we can develop new crystal growth furnace for the micro-gravity condition. In addition, the development of the growth furnace model has to be considered for micro-gravity environment and the quality of the grown crystal grown in the ISS would be highly improved. The actual growth furnace will be built when the Phase II program is started.

AOTF Spectrometer and Imaging Devices for potential NASA Applications include Planetary Missions to Mars, Comets, and Moons Exploration.

AOTF or AOM for Non-NASA Commercial Applications include Material Exploration, Target Detection, Industry Processing Monitoring and controlling.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.