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Completed TRL 3 (started at 3, targeting 6)
The objective of this proposal is to develop and demonstrate a scalable UHF-band transmitter capable of operation in extreme high temperatures and pressures in hostile and corrosive environments of Venus, Mercury and interior of gas giants. The transmitter development/ demonstration will be carried out by InnoSys, Inc. and JPL using InnoSys' Solid State Vacuum Devices (SSVD), which are termed solid state devices due to the microfabrication of the triode or transistor within the vacuum. For the last 20 years, InnoSys has developed SSVD based power amplifiers and voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) for commercial/government customers. Internal SSVD elements and devices are capable of operating at temperatures that far exceed any semiconductor device. Vacuum packaged SSVD triodes have been proven to operate reliably in >500 C and extreme high radiation environments with no measurable change in performance. Additionally, they have been shown to survive the shock and vibrations experienced in a missile launch and have been proven to operate over an 8+ decade range of vacuum from ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) to 10-3 Torr H2 and Helium (He) with no adverse effects. The SSVD coupled with microwave planar high temperature passive components will be used for the transmitter development. The transmitter will operate without additional environmental protection in Venus surface ambient conditions and will have power consumption <90W, operating frequency >300MHz within UHF-band, output power >30W, and bandwidth >1MHz. Although vacuum packaged SSVDs have demonstrated extreme environment survivability, they have not been tested within the corrosive gasses or high-pressures of Venus surface conditions. Risks associated with environmental exposure include diffusion through the enclosure and corrosion of enclosure materials leading to possible loss of vacuum. The risks will be addressed through design (using materials known to survive exposure), modeling, environmental exposure (passive and active), and post-exposure evaluation. For the last 20 years, InnoSys has used as primary packaging material ceramics proven by others to be compatible with Venus' surface. One area of focus will be on metal seals and electrodes for the packaged transmitter. As long as the enclosure is able to maintain acceptable vacuum within the package, the internal electronics are only exposed to elevated temperatures. To address issues associated with temperature dependent changes in capacitance and inductance, we will use vacuum capacitors and vacuum core inductors. The complete oscillator, modulator, power amplifier and associated passives that constitute the transmitter circuits will be designed for operating multiple years. To achieve a transmitter with an operational life of 60 days or longer, we will focus on the following activities: (1) Design and fabrication of packaging enclosure, and testing of the fabricated packaged SSVD inside the vacuum sealed packages, at 500 C in air, at 500 C and 92 bars (CO2) and finally emulated Venus environment in the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) Glenn Extreme Environments Rig (GEER). (2) In parallel, the SSVD based transmitter circuit will be developed by InnoSys and tested at 500 C. The packaged test articles and transmitter will be evacuated to UHV and continuously heated to 600 C with an exterior pressure of 4000 Torr He for 6+weeks and monitored for residual He levels inside the package before sealing as part of studying the diffusion/permeation of He at 600 C into the evacuated vacuum package. After passing this test, it will be sealed for further testing. JPL will develop software and hardware to verify the transmitter operation in various stages during the process and finally in GRC GEER chamber. During these tests any degradation of the material over time will be characterized and if needed mitigations applied to meet mission requirements. These risk reduction tests will increase the transmitter TRL from current 3 to 6.
Developing Instrument or spacecraft technology to improve measurements for future planetary science missions
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