Elemental and Chemical State Analysis, XPS, for In-Situ Materials Analysis on Mars, Phase I

This innovation is the design of a monochromatic x-ray source to be used in a mission compatible XPS spectrometer. Existing x-ray sources for XPS are large, require high power and a will have difficulty meeting the vibration specifications for a mission type instrument. The small x-ray sources developed for medical applications are exciting but are designed for high energy x-rays and require refractory anodes. This program will develop a new design suitable for mission applications. It will focus on small sources similar to the medical devices that will use low power. The monochromator will be designed for low mass and use a feedback based stabilization to keep it aligned independent of temperature and vibrations associated with missions launch. The feedback system will use x-ray detectors in a plane near the sample to since the x-ray beam direction and an interment angular vibration to make sure the monochromator is on the optimum angle for diffraction. After a suitable design is implemented with thermal electron sources, a nanotube excitation sources will be considered.

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.