TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY: Sensing Magnetic Fields (DRC-TOPS-17)

NASA's Technology Transfer Program solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. NASA provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses . THE TECHNOLOGY: Innovators at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center have developed an optical waveguide fiber Bragg grating (FBG) that is sensitive to an external magnetic field. The technology allows direct coupling of the external field to the electromagnetic (EM) wave propagating in the fiber, bypassing the need to first measure strain. The properties of the waveguide material are directly and incontrovertibly influenced when exposed to an external field. In contrast to other FBG-based methods that detect external fields via a mechanical change (e.g., magnetostriction-induced strain), this innovation uses ferromagnetic nanoparticles to achieve a direct coupling of the external field to the optical behavior of the fiber. Thus, the technology can be used as a sensor to detect and map magnetic fields. Alternately, a known magnetic field can be applied to create a particular optical transmission behavior in the waveguide, thus creating an optical switch or selective filter. To express interest in this opportunity, please submit a license application through NASA's Automated Technology Licensing Application System (ATLAS) by visiting https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/DRC-TOPS-17 If you have any questions, please contact NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center's Technology Transfer Office at [email protected] with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this FBO notice and your preferred contact information. For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at https://technology.nasa.gov/ These responses are provided to members of NASA's Technology Transfer Program for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice .