Laser Float-Zone Process Improvements

Penn Laboratories, Inc.

Dahlonega, GA

Laser heated Melt Modulation^TM technique
for ceramic fiber growth

• A furnace was designed and constructed to evaluate laser heated ceramic fiber growth
• Multi-Wave^TM pyrometer was developed for use in this furnace
• Pyrometer measures temperatures up to 3000^oC in an area as small as 75 microns, at a distance of 30 mm from the target, with field of view approximately 2,000 microns

• The Multi-Wave^TM pyrometer, The Multi-Wave^TM HT-1C, is currently commercially available
• NASA Glenn purchased two Multi-Wave^TM pyrometers for fiber research at a total cost of $30K

• Technology applied in NASA’s High Temperature Engine Material Program (HITEMP)
• USAF Office of Scientific Research is applying the technology at the Wright Laboratory Materials Directorate in the Edge-Defined Film-fed Growth (EFG) project

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Curator: SBIR Support