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Nano
Goes Magnetic to Attract Big Business
Industrial Productivity and Manufacturing Technology
Originating Technology/NASA Contribution
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Glenn
Research Center engineers assemble a NASA Evolutionary
Xenon Thruster (NEXT) for testing. This thruster
is a next-generation propulsion system that could
revolutionize the way NASA sends science missions
deep into the solar system. The thruster is built
to use xenon gas and electrical power to drive spacecraft. |
Glenn
Research Center has combined state-of-the-art electrical
designs with complex, computer-aided analyses to develop
some of today’s most advanced power systems, in space and
on Earth. The center’s Power
and On-Board Propulsion Technology Division is the brain behind many of these power systems.
For space, this division builds technologies that help power
the International
Space Station, the Hubble
Space Telescope,
and Earth-orbiting
satellites. For Earth, it has woven advanced
aerospace power concepts into commercial energy applications
that include solar and nuclear power generation, battery
and fuel cell energy storage, communications and telecommunications
satellites, cryocoolers, hybrid and electric vehicles, and
heating and air-conditioning systems.
Whether it is energizing the latest space-bound propulsion
systems or providing energy for terrestrial purposes, Glenn’s
power-generation technology gives NASA the boost it needs
to achieve its missions in both realms.
Partnership
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Inframat
Corporation is an emerging technology company founded
in 1996 to develop nanostructured materials to improve
performance and extend the life of coated components
used throughout the global infrastructure. These
materials include magnetic nanocomposites with superior
magnetic properties and a plasma spray nanocoating,
seen here being applied by a spray gun onto a steel
roller. |
In 1999, Inframat Corporation received funding and technical
support from Glenn, in the form of Phase I and Phase II Small
Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts, to fabricate
high-frequency, soft magnetic/ceramic nanocomposites in order
to advance the magnetic performance of the Space Agency’s
electronic, power-generating equipment. According to the
Farmington, Connecticut-based company, if these nanocomposites
could feasibly be developed, they could yield improved properties
over conventional ferrites, including a combination of higher
magnetic permeability, higher electrical resistivity, and
lower magnetic loss. (Found in electronic devices, a ferrite
is any group of magnetic substances that consist essentially
of ferric oxide combined with the oxides of one or more metals
and have high magnetic permeability and electrical resistivity.)
Inframat claimed that, over the past half-century, conventional
ferrites have been the only type of magnetic material for
high-frequency applications, adding that they perform relatively
poorly at high frequencies. These ferrites are also known
to deteriorate when exposed to large demagnetizing fields
at low temperatures.
Inframat went to work on manufacturing nanocomposite materials
with various magnetic frequencies, using a wet-chemical synthesis
technique. The intent was to create technology that could
have a major impact on NASA’s power management and distribution
applications, as well as within the commercial market.
While the technology did not come to fruition during the
NASA SBIR effort, Inframat was able to make the most out
of what it had learned during this entire experience, as
well as the funding it received, to later resolve some outstanding
technical issues and create an enabling technology for commercial
applications.
Product Outcome
While electronic systems are trending toward multifunctionality
and increased miniaturization at higher speeds and lower
costs than ever before, they can still have their limitations.
For example, current inductive (power) components in a traditional
semi-conducting chip can be a major impediment for the mass
miniaturization
of electronics, due to the fact that conventional, micro-sized,
magnetic materials can only be used properly at very low
frequencies.
The limitations of conventional magnets become significant
in high-frequency applications (above 1 megahertz), because
their permeability, or magnetic-quality factor, starts to
decrease as frequency increases, thereby increasing their
deterioration exponentially.
To transcend these limitations and propel to a new level
the manufacturing, cost, weight, performance, and reliability
improvements demanded of high-frequency electronic devices
and inductors, Inframat has spun off a company called Embedded
Nanomagnetics, Inc. This new enterprise is commercializing
Inframat’s revolutionary nanocomposite advancements under
the brand name
M-power. According to Inframat, the M-power brand name is
representative of one of the key power advantages of Embedded
Nanomagnetics products: “…the fact that they deliver up to
10 times more inductive value and efficiency than conventional
magnetic materials of the same size.”
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Telecommunications
is a part of Embedded Nanomagnetics, Inc.’s initial
market focus. Pictured here is a microtransformer
for DC-DC converters in cell phone applications.
Image
courtesy of Drs. P.M. Raj and Lixi Wan. |
For the designing and manufacturing of M-power nanocomposites,
Inframat and Embedded Nanomagnetics have a proprietary process
in place that enables extremely dense packing of nanoscale
magnetic particles into a magnetic paste or film. When configured
as a nanomagnetic paste, for instance, the material is capable
of achieving the high-inductance values that are required
for embedded power circuit board applications (applications
for which high-inductance values cannot be accomplished using
thin film techniques). In this case, the paste can simply
be silk-screened onto a circuit board. On the other hand,
when configured as a thin film, the material can achieve
high-inductance values for applications that are dependent
on semiconductor wafers, instead of circuit boards.
The M-power magnetic material has demonstrated that it can
maintain high permeability with extremely low core loss (loss
caused by a magnetization of the core and its resistance
to magnetic flux) and excellent electrical properties, even
at high frequencies extending into the gigahertz range (1,000
megahertz equals 1 gigahertz). This design possesses soft
magnetic properties that Inframat considers “far superior”
to those of conventional ferrites, thus, it enables “much
greater flexibility” in tailoring magnetic and electric parameters
in a wide range of applications.
Device use for M-power materials include: power converters,
antennas, broadband filters, sensors, digital packing converters,
radiofrequency switches, microwave and millimeter wave circulators,
sound-suppressors, hybrid integrated circuits, and semiconductor
wafers. These applications cover a broad spectrum of commercial
markets, such as telecommunications, computers, consumer
electronics, automotives, aerospace, defense, power generation,
and industrial operations.
Embedded Nanomagnetics is initially focusing on the electronics,
telecommunications, and defense markets, as it has attracted
the attention of several market leaders in these industries.
One of these leaders, Tagent Corporation, is working to integrate
the M-power materials into small, cost-effective radio frequency
identification systems intended for fully automated electronic
tag reading and item tracking.
Inframat® is a registered trademark of Inframat Corporation.
M-power™ is a trademark of Inframat Corporation.
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