Coatings

We are developing a pulsed plasma based thin-film coating process (EDP, or Energetic Deposition Process) that is superior to sputtering and thermal evaporation processes. Our process delivers ions to the coated surface that are more energetic than sputtering and thermal evaporation sources. The EDP produces films that adhere better and are less porous, making them superior for many applications. Thin-films of pure metals and oxides are used in many applications such as optical filters and ceramic coatings for pipes.

Sources

We have developed a Pulsed Plasma Device called the Dense Plasma Focus (DPF). The DPF is a dense, hot burst of ionized gas that emits a short pulse of soft x-rays or neutrons. This pulse is produced by driving a current of hundreds of kiloamperes through a cold gas such as Deuterium, Neon or Argon. The current heats the gas and the magnetic field due to the current crushes the gas to produce a small spot of very hot, ionized plasma. Conditions inside this spot are similar to those found in the sun. This hot spot lives only for a few billionths of a second. Repetitive pulsing of the current gives an average power of neutrons or soft x-rays that is useful to search for explosives in cargo containers or to make patterns on Silicon chips that are finer than those printed today using ultraviolet lasers. The DPF soft x-ray source might also find applications in medical microscopy (imaging of living cells). Longer range plans are to make such a device emit harder, more penetrating x-rays, for use in medical x-ray imaging or for the fabrication of very small (MEMS) devices.

Thrusters

We have developed a new type of propulsion engine for small spacecraft. Our Vacuum Arc Thruster (VAT), a Pulsed Plasma Device, is able to push small spacecraft around when they are already in orbit. A spacecraft in near Earth orbit is buffeted by the tiniest of drag forces and its orbit is also perturbed by the gravity of other objects, such as the moon, the sun, Jupiter and other celestial objects. To stay in its desired orbit and to point where it must, the spacecraft needs a tiny little jog from time to time. Our VAT provides little impulse bits for this purpose. In the near future the VAT could become the workhorse engine for attitude adjustment and station keeping of small spacecraft such as communication satellites.

Switches

AASC is developing a new type of very high voltage switch. This switch uses a diamond membrane to gate power on and off. Its niche is in Power Electronics, where high voltages (thousands of volts) and high currents (thousands of amperes) are used. Diamond stands-off higher voltages, and switches currents on and off more rapidly than today's Silicon semiconductor switches. At Megawatt and higher power levels, our diamond switches might find commercialization potential in three identified market sectors: military directed energy weapons and radar, electric train transportation systems, and utility power distribution substations. The key to this market penetration is further development of a trigger for the diamond switch. This trigger, which gates the switch on and off, is a bright, ultraviolet flashlamp. The flashlamp is itself a Pulsed Plasma Device, for which AASC has specific expertise that gives us a competitive edge over many established manufacturers of much lower power flashlamps. As we develop this flashlamp further, we may open up other commercial opportunities in environmental remediation, biocides, paint removal and food processing.