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MIT Researchers 3D Print Plasma Sensors Using Glass-Ceramic Material https://ift.tt/jVcWD2g A team of researchers from MIT fabricated what they say are the first fully digitally manufactured plasma sensors, known as retarding potential analyzers (RPAs), for orbiting spacecraft. Satellites use this type of sensor to investigate the ion energy distribution and chemical composition of the atmosphere, which means they can help scientists study climate change, and even predict the weather. The team published a paper on their work, “Compact retarding potential analyzers enabled by glass-ceramic vat polymerization for CubeSat and laboratory plasma diagnostics,” in Additive Manufacturing.
My first job out of college was as an associate producer for the local CBS affiliate; I helped write and organize stories for different newscasts, then went in the booth and made sure everything ran smoothly during the live broadcast. Sometimes a story would break during the show, so I’d have to drop a less important piece to make room for the new one, or if we were running long, I would cut the lottery numbers for the night. But one thing you can’t cut is weather, especially in Ohio, where the forecast can change on a dime, and predicting it takes a lot of work. 3D printing has been used to help with weather research before, and I’m sure it will be again. The first time an RPA was used in a space mission was back in 1959, so it’s not a new concept. These versatile sensors can detect the charged particles floating in plasma, enabling them to measure energy and conduct chemical analyses from onboard an orbiting spacecraft. As plasma passes through the tiny holes in the electrically charged meshes of the sensor, all particles are stripped away until ions are all that’s left, which then create an electric current that’s measured and analyzed by the sensor. The housing structure that aligns the RPA’s meshes is important, as it has to be electrically insulating, as well as able to hold up under drastic, sudden temperature changes. The MIT researchers used a 3D printable glass-ceramic material called Vitrolite—used often in the colorful tiles you see in art deco buildings—to make RPA components, as the material displays the necessary properties. Not only is it more durable than more conventional sensor materials like thin-film coatings and silicon, but it can also withstand temperatures up to 800°C, unlike the polymers in semiconductor RPAs that typically start melting at 400°C.
Most of the time when you’re 3D printing ceramics, a laser powder bed system is used, but according to the MIT researchers, the high heat can cause weak points and leave the material coarse. The team instead used vat polymerization, which builds a 3D structure one layer at a time by repeatedly submerging it into a vat of liquid material—Vitrolite in this case—and curing each layer with UV light. This technology can print smooth, complex, pore-free ceramic shapes, which is exactly what the researchers needed. They were able to print laser-cut meshes with unique shapes, so that the holes would perfectly line up once inside the RPA housing; this allows more ions to pass through and results in higher-resolution measurements. In the paper, the team did note that binder jetting could be used to 3D print the metallic parts of the sensor, though they did not have access to the necessary equipment during the study to try it out. Instead, they outsourced those parts.
The team designed four unique designs for the sensor prototypes, because they could be fabricated so quickly and at low cost; these qualities make the sensors a good fit for low-power, lightweight CubeSats, which are used often for environmental monitoring and communication. One of the designs was great at capturing and measuring a wide range of plasma, while another was better at sensing very dense and cold plasma.
The researchers found that their 3D printed and laser-cut hardware performed just as well as the more expensive semiconductor plasma sensors manufactured in a cleanroom over several weeks. Using 3D printing makes it possible to produce these high-precision sensors for much less time and money.
Velásquez-García has more in mind for these sensors in the future, such as decreasing the layer thickness or pixel size in the glass-ceramic vat polymerization process to make even more precise hardware, or using artificial intelligence to optimize the design of the sensors for specific use cases, like majorly reducing their mass while keeping them structurally sound. Additionally, he says that 3D printing the entirety of the sensors would make them compatible with in-space manufacturing. The post MIT Researchers 3D Print Plasma Sensors Using Glass-Ceramic Material appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/Z4zTcoA August 12, 2022 at 07:10AM
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