Development of a solar-powered infrared injection laser microminiature transmitting system

Conference · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5156491

Falter, D D; Alley, G T; Falter, K G; Rochelle, J M; Valentine, K H; Westbrook, R D; Jellison, Jr, G E; Fleming, P H ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)

A solar-powered infrared microminiature transmitting system is being developed to provide scientists with a tool to continuously track and study Africanized bees. Present tracking methods have limited ranges and lack the capability of continuously tracking individual insects. Preliminary field tests of a stationary prototypic transmitter have demonstrated a range of 1.1 km. The basic design consists of an array of nine 1-mm{sup 2} solar cells, which collect energy for storage in a 1.0-{mu}F tantalum chip capacitor. When the capacitor has been charged to a sufficient level, the circuitry that monitors the capacitor voltage level wakes up'' and fires a 5-{mu}s pulse through an 840-nm GaAlAs injection laser diode. The process is then repeated, making the signal frequency (which ranges from 50 to 300 Hz) dependent on solar luminance. The solar cells, capacitor, and laser diode are mounted in hybrid microcircuit fashion directly on the silicon substrate containing the CMOS control and driver circuitry. The transmitter measures {approximately}4 {times} 6 mm and weighs {approximately}65 mg. The receiving system is based on an 8-in. telescope and a Si PIN diode detector. 8 refs., 10 figs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/ER
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5156491
• Report Number(s): CONF-891261-2; ON: DE90005672
• Resource Relation: Conference: International conference on lasers '89, New Orleans, LA (USA), 3-8 Dec 1989
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
42 ENGINEERING
BEES
MONITORING
SOLAR CELLS
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
AGRICULTURE
DATA TRANSMISSION
DESIGN
HEALTH HAZARDS
INFRARED SPECTRA
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PLANNING
SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS
USES
ANIMALS
ARTHROPODS
COMMUNICATIONS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
EQUIPMENT
HAZARDS
HYMENOPTERA
INDUSTRY
INSECTS
INVERTEBRATES
LASERS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
POWER PLANTS
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLID STATE LASERS
SPECTRA
TESTING
320303* - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Industrial & Agricultural Processes- Equipment & Processes
426000 - Engineering- Components
Electron Devices & Circuits- (1990-)