Active Signal Technologies, Inc. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: Phase II of the present program will produce capacitors and modules that meet the Air Forc

Description

Phase II of the present program will produce capacitors and modules that meet the Air Force need for ultra-stable electrical properties (loss<0.1%, permittivity ~2,000<+/- 5% from -55 300 degrees C) with high insulation resistance (>>1-OhmF at 250 degrees C), and graceful performance degradation. Initial optimization work by the team of Active Signal Technologies, Alfred University, Novacap and Lockheed Martin will enable a down-selection between two dielectric formulations and two alternative processing routes based on full characterization and testing of MLCs and 6 - 10-uF modules prepared from the candidate systems scaled up and fabricated in a manufacturing plant. One material system uses niobium substitution of the baseline NBT dielectric while the other integrates the outstanding properties of a high-temperature-stable (NBT-ST) and a low-temperature-stable (PMN-ST) dielectric material. Module development will proceed from a compact low inductance prototype developed in Phase I through iterations of fuse development at the 6 and 10-uF scale to demonstrate individual drop-out of failing capacitors under extreme testing conditions without energetic or propagating damage to the remainder of the module. The down-selected dielectric system will be further refined and used to prepare a large batch of ~1-uF capacitors for manufacture of the final deliverable 20-uF fused module.