Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

About: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a other organization based out in Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Laser & Microstructure. The organization has 5817 authors who have published 9157 publications receiving 292559 citations. The organization is also known as: Wright-Patterson AFB & FFO.

Electro-optical switching characteristics of volume holograms in polymer dispersed liquid crystals

Abstract: Electrically switchable volume holograms lead to the possiblity of real-time electro-optical control of diffractive optic components. We report here on the development of a novel photopolymer-liquid crystal composite material system for writing in a fast single step, high diffraction efficiency volume holograms, capable of switching in applied electric fields of low voltage. Switching of a first-order Bragg diffracted beam into the zero-order with an applied field of ~10 V/µm was observed. With the addition of a surfactant to our pre-polymer syrup, we observed lowering of the switching fields to ~5 V/µm. We report response times for switching and relaxation in the order of microseconds. Low voltage, high resolution scanning electron microscopy studies show that the Bragg gratings formed consist of periodic polymer dispersed liquid crystal planes. The addition of surfactant leads to formation of very uniform small (20–40 nm) nematic droplets. A simple model based on the shape of the liquid crystal droplets...

X-Ray Band Spectra and Molecular-Orbital Structure of Rutile Ti O 2

Abstract: A complete molecular-orbital energy-level diagram for Ti${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ is empirically deduced from the combined $\mathrm{Ti}{L}_{\mathrm{III}}$, $\mathrm{Ti}K$, and $\mathrm{O}K$ x-ray emission and absorption band spectra. All of the occupied and vacant orbitals within 25 eV of ${E}_{F}$ are located on a relative energy scale. The titanium $3d$, $4s$, and $4p$ states and the oxygen $2s$ and $2p$ states all play important roles in the chemical bonding and all have specific influences on the x-ray bands. The deduced energy-level diagram is also shown to be compatible with the optical-absorption, photoconductivity, optical-reflectivity, and ultraviolet photoemission spectra.

Adaptive Mo2N/MoS2/Ag Tribological Nanocomposite Coatings for Aerospace Applications

Abstract: Reactively sputtered Mo2N/MoS2/Ag nanocomposite coatings were deposited from three individual Mo, MoS2, and Ag targets in a nitrogen environment onto Si (111), 440C grade stainless steel, and inconel 600 substrates. The power to the Mo target was kept constant, while power to the MoS2 and Ag targets was varied to obtain different coating compositions. The coatings consisted of Mo2N, with silver and/or sulfur additions of up to approximately 24 at%. Coating chemistry and crystal structure were evaluated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), which showed the presence of tetragonal Mo2N and cubic Ag phases. The MoS2 phase was detected from XPS analysis and was likely present as an amorphous inclusion based on the absence of characteristic XRD peaks. The tribological properties of the coatings were investigated in dry sliding at room temperature against Si3N4, 440C stainless steel, and Al2O3. Tribological testing was also conducted at 350 and 600 °C against Si3N4. The coatings and respective wear tracks were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical microscopy, profilometry, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and micro-Raman spectroscopy. During room temperature tests, the coefficients of friction (CoF) were relatively high (0.5–1.0) for all coating compositions, and particularly high against Si3N4 counterfaces. During high-temperature tests, the CoF of single-phase Mo2N coatings remained high, but much lower CoFs were observed for composite coatings with both Ag and S additions. CoF values were maintained as low as 0.1 over 10,000 cycles for samples with Ag content in excess of 16 at% and with sulfur content in the 5–14 at% range. The chemistry and phase analysis of coating contact surfaces showed temperature-adaptive behavior with the formation of metallic silver at 350 °C and silver molybdate compounds at 600 °C tests. These adaptive Mo2N/MoS2/Ag coatings exhibited wear rates that were two orders of magnitude lower compared to Mo2N and Mo2N/Ag coatings, hence providing a high potential for lubrication and wear prevention of high-temperature sliding contacts.