Silicon Germanium Alloy Photovoltaics for 1.06 Micron Wireless Power Transmission, Phase I

In this Phase I SBIR effort, Structured Materials Industries, Inc. (SMI)will design, fabricate, and test more efficient photovoltaics for 1.06 micron wavelength wireless power transmission (WPT) systems. The need for such photovoltaics is well understood by SMI and builds upon our exiting WPT efforts, which have highlighted the requirement for efficient, cost-effective, and thin-able photovoltaics with a peak absorption matched to the output of available high power Nd:YAG lasers at 1.06 microns. The proposed work will address this need by developing SiGe photocells to help enable WPT implementation for both ground based and space based applications.

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.