RUGGED AMTEC POWER SYSTEM UTILIZING A THIN FILM SOLID ELECTROLYTE

ALKALI METAL THERMAL TO ELECTRIC CONVERTER (AMTEC) TECHNOLOGY HOLDS PROMISE AS AN ADVANCED POWER CONVERSION SYSTEM FOR AEROSPACE AN TERRESTRIAL APPLICATIONS. IT OFFERS HIGH EFFICIENCY AND HIGH TEMPERATURE IN A MODULAR CONFIGURATION, AND CAN BE MADE VERY RUGGED AND COMPACT BY EMPLOYING THIN FILM SOLID ELECTROLYTES ON POROUS METAL SUBSTRATES. THIS PROPOSAL DEVELOPS AND DEMONSTRATES THE THIN FILM ELECTROLYTE, AND DESIGNS A SYSTEM BASED UPON IT. IN PHASE I, THIN FILMS OF BETA-ALUMINA SOLID ELECTROLYTE WILL BE DEPOSITED BY SPUTTERING. THE IONIC CONDUCTIVITY OF THE THIN FILM WILL BE STUDIED AS A FUNCTION OF SPUTTERING POWER, APPLIED BIAS, BACKFILL GAS COMPOSITION AND PRESSURE, AND SYSTEM GEOMETRY. SUBSTRATES WILL BE PREPARED WHICH WILL MIMIC THE SURFACE STRUCTURE AND CHEMISTRY USED IN AN ACTUAL AMTEC DESIGN. THE COATED SUBSTRATES WILL BE CHARACTERIZED FOR IONIC CONDUCTIVITY, FILM STRUCTURE AND FILM CHEMISTRY. A DEPOSITION PROCEDURE TO MAXIMIZE IONIC CONDUCTIVITY WILL BE DEVELOPED. SCOPING DESIGN STUDIED WILL BE PERFORMED. IN PHASE II, THE COATING COMPOSITION IDENTIFIED IN PHASE I WILL BE DEVELOPED AND A PROTOTYPE PROOF OF PRINCIPLE TEST WILL BE PERFORMED. A DESIGN WILL BE DEVELOPED THAT MAKES OPTIMUM USE OF THE THIN FILM ADVANTAGES.