Highly Integrated Terahertz Receiver for Small Satellite Remote Sensing
Project Description
Water and atomic oxygen render Earth’s atmosphere opaque in most of the terahertz (THz) band, but those very species are of intense interest to astrophysicists, planetary scientists and Earth scientists. This project will advance the state of the art Schottky diode receiver technology to develop THz receivers suitable for CubeSats. Micromachining will be used to repackage state of the art modular receivers into integrated systems that will reduce both mass and volume by more than an order of magnitude while preserving signal to noise performance.
More »Anticipated Benefits
Several scientific applications in astrophysics, planetary science, and Earth observing that could take advantage of Schottky receiver systems if they could be reduced in size and mass sufficiently to fly on a CubeSat. One primary motivation for all three scientific areas involves the detection of water vapor. Water vapor lines at 557 GHz and in the 1100-1200 GHz bands are excellent diagnostics of water vapor in the interstellar medium, the Earth’s atmosphere, and in the atmospheres of other planetary bodies.
More »Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona State University-Tempe (ASU) | Lead Organization |
Academia
Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions (ANNH)
|
Tempe, Arizona |
| Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) | Supporting Organization | FFRDC/UARC | Pasadena, California |
| Sierra Lobo, Inc. | Supporting Organization |
Industry
Minority-Owned Business,
Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)
|
Fremont, Ohio |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Arizona
-
California
-
Ohio
