Nanodielectrics for High Power Capacitors and Passive Applications

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project seeks to develop and commercialize novel nanodielectrics with the internal structure enabling extremely high values of the dielectric constant. Lightweight, compact, high energy density capacitors capable of operation at several MJ per pulse and repetition rates on the order of 100 pps bursts are needed for directed energy weapons. High altitude operation places extra physical and structural demands on power components. Nanostructured dielectrics offer the opportunity to tailor the dielectric material on the nanometer scale to provide tremendous improvements in electrical, mechanical and thermal properties. The innovation is based on exploiting 1) Gor’kov-Eliashberg and 2) ferroelectric all-solid phase transition effects in dielectrics. The fabrication approach is economical and scalable. Phase I work is planned to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach by fabricating and testing capacitors utilizing novel nanodielectrics.