SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Proposal Summary: Enig Associates, Inc. is proposing a compact VLF transmitter system to address Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center applications and for dual use applications for Navy, Army, and commercial market. The proposed VLF transmitter, having successfully completed its Phase I proof-of-concept demonstration with subcontractor, Georgia Tech, can be combined with current state of the art, compact, and sensitive VLF receiver to enable two-way communications in many Air Force applications including nuclear forces communications and space applications of VLF wave excitation in magnetosphere. The proposed system is composed of compact vacuum tube antenna and filled with electron beam which is modulated by applied VLF. Output signal strength is scalable with antenna length and electron beam current. Power output is 100 times of magnitude larger than the conventional VLF loop transmitter with similar size and current. The data throughput is also significantly higher than the conventional VLF transmitter, because the proposed VLF transmitter signal is generated by electron beam current and it is not limited by fundamental bandwidth limitation of electrically small antenna. We propose to design, build, and test VLF transmitter in a vacuum test chamber and a portable vacuum tube system for dual purpose Air Force applications of airborne nuclear force applications on earth and radiational belt remediation by VLF excitation in space to satisfy the Air Force customer’s requirement.
