Lower-Cost UV Detection Technology

ISSInternational Space Station Testing Advances UV Detector System to Commercialization

ISS NATIONAL LAB OPPORTUNITY

A new UV detector system required long-term testing across the solar UV spectrum, which is difficult and expensive to do on Earth.

Ozark Integrated Circuits, Inc. (Ozark IC) developed a smart sensing ultraviolet (UV) detector system, UV eXtreme Node™ (XNode™), designed to operate in hostile environments. Standard UV detectors require signal amplification, but the high responsivity of XNode eliminates this need, significantly reducing the technology’s cost. However, before Ozark IC could commercialize XNode, it needed validation testing across the solar UV spectrum, and there are very few viable options for doing this on Earth.

Industries:
Aerospace, Automobile,
Aviation, Oil and Gas

Strategic Focus Area:
Technology Development

Research Area:
Remote Sensing

Institution:
Ozark Integrated Circuits, Inc.

IMPACTFUL OUTCOME

Ozark IC used a platform on the exterior of the ISS to successfully validate its UV detector system in the harsh space conditions.

The ISS National Lab facilitates access to extreme conditions in low Earth orbit(Abbreviation: LEO) The orbit around the Earth that extends up to an altitude of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Earth’s surface. The International Space Station’s orbit is in LEO, at an altitude of approximately 250 miles., including unfiltered UV radiation, to test technology for use in harsh environments. Through testing on the ISS, Ozark IC advanced the technology readiness level(Abbreviation: TRL) A measurement system used to assess the maturity level of a particular technology. There are nine technology readiness levels, and technology progresses from TRL 1 to TRL 9. (TRL) of its UV XNode to a TRL of 9, signaling readiness for commercialization. Additionally, to manage data obtained during the investigation, Ozark IC developed a new method to capture and analyze performance measurements and created visualization software that is now a core tool the company uses both internally and with customers.

INVESTIGATOR

Jim Holmes
Chief technology officer, Ozark IC

Reproducing the solar UV spectrum in the laboratory is difficult, dangerous, and expensive, especially for long-term endurance testing of UV detectors. The MISSE Flight FacilityThe Materials International Space Station Experiment Flight Facility is a hardware platform on the exterior of the ISS that provides exposure to the harsh space conditions for the accelerated testing of materials and technologies with important applications both in space and on Earth. This ISS National Lab commercial facility is owned and operated by Aegis Aerospace. provided Ozark IC with unique, year-long access to the solar UV spectrum without atmospheric attenuation or variation.

– Jim Holmes, Ozark IC

APPLICATION

XNode™ could serve as a cost-efficient space-based UV detector system for applications in remote sensing, space exploration, and industries on Earth.

Remote sensing applications include early wildfire detection in remote areas and improved detection of ocean-based oil spills. On Earth, a UV detector capable of operating in extreme conditions could be valuable to jet and diesel engine makers for engine health monitoring and real-time fuel analysis. The XNode could also have applications in future space exploration, such as rovers on the surface of Venus.

Note: This content is abridged from an article originally published in Upward,
the official magazine of the ISS National Lab.