99--TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY NASA LANGLEYS PIEZOELECTRIC FIBERCOMPOSITE ACTUATOR PORTFOLIO

NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. NASA provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses. THE TECHNOLOGY: The NASA Langley Composite Actuator portfolio utilizes a NASA-patented (US 6,629,341) and commercialized Macro Fiber Composite (MFC) piezoelectric fiber composite actuator platform. This actuator platform enables compact, lightweight electroactive actuators, which can be broadly applied to a variety of actuator applications. NASA Langley has developed novel patent-pending actuator designs using the MFC actuator platform and other piezoelectric fiber composites to advance the performance of tunable fiber-optic lasers for distributed Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensing. The use of distributed fiber-optic-based sensors has enabled robust, low-cost, intrinsically safe measurement of physical parameters like stress, temperature, pressure, and the presence of certain chemicals. However, widely tunable, mode-hop-free, narrow band laser sources are required to interrogate current NASA-built distributed FBG sensing systems, and traditional diode- and fiber-based lasers cannot meet these requirements. When an optical fiber containing FBGs is strained by the NASA Langley MFC actuators, it shifts the reflected wavelength of the FBG and can be used to tune an optical fiber laser to a specific, mode-hop-free, narrowband output. In addition to providing a wide (4 nm and larger) tuning range, the NASA actuators can also tune the fiber laser at high frequencies (up to 100 Hz), which enables the high-speed interrogation required for NASA distributed sensing systems. The invention is can be configured for applications requiring larger (>25 nm) displacements, yet can be provided in a smaller, lighter form factor than microstages. To express interest in this opportunity, please respond to [email protected] with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this FBO notice and your preferred contact information. Please also provide the nature of your interest in the technology along with a brief background of your company. For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at http://technology.nasa.gov/ . These responses are provided to members of NASA Langleys Office of Strategic Analysis and Business Development OSACB for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. If direct licensing interest results from this posting, OSACB will follow the required formal licensing process of posting in the Federal Register. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.