FUNCTION: Conducts research on high-frequency microwave processing of materials using a highpower, continuous-wave (CW), 83-GHz, quasi-optical beam system for rapid, selective sintering, heat treatment, modification, coating, and joining of ceramics and metals, and production of nanocrystalline metals and ceramics. DESCRIPTION: A free-space-propagating, quasi-optical beam of intense polarized millimeter-wave radiation is produced by an 83-GHz, 15-kW, CW industrial gyrotron and injected into a sealed processing chamber (1.5 m long × 1.2 m high × 0.9 m wide) where it is focused onto the workpiece. Beam intensities up to 10 kW/cm 2 can be achieved, the beam power is variable up to 15 kW, and the pulse length is variable from 1 s to CW operation. Minimum spot size (0.5 cm), area illumination (20 × 20 cm), and strip illumination (0.5 × 20 cm) of the workpiece can be achieved using focusing mirrors. Various processing atmospheres can be used and workpieces can be heated rapidly to temperatures exceeding 2000 °C. INSTRUMENTATION: The Gycom Ltd. 15 kW gyrotron and associated dc power supply and cryogen-free, superconducting 3 T magnet are controlled and monitored by a LabVIEW™ PC-based system that acquires and analyzes a wide range of instrumentation output and includes a large number of safety interlocks. Workpiece temperature diagnostics include single- and two-color pyrometers, and up to eight K- and S-type thermocouples. Processes can be monitored in real time and recorded via a video camera within the processing chamber.

FUNCTION: Develops and evaluates the effectiveness of high-power microwave waveforms for the disruption of electronic systems. Included in the facility are an anechoic chamber, gigahertz transverse electromagentic (GTEM) cell, associated RF sources and instruments, and a 32-processor Beowulf cluster. High-power RF frequencies between 0.6 and 100 GHz may be used inside the anechoic chamber, while frequencies between 0.6 and 20 GHz may be used inside the GTEM cell. Simulation and analysis may be carried out with the Beowulf cluster. DESCRIPTION: The facility is used to test the response of electronic systems to high-power RF waveforms. Primary interest is in the disruption of the function of a system using out-of-band waveforms, i.e., waveforms with frequenciesthat are not the normal operating frequencies of the device. One of the objectives is to find waveforms that may disrupt a large number of systems with power levels that are as low as possible. Positioners are available to displace device(s) under test or the radiating antenna to obtain angular information. The performance of the system is monitored to determine the portion of the system that was affected by the RF waveform. More invasive instrumentation may also be used to determine point of entry. The facility is also used to develop techniques that will harden systems to RF attack. Once RF susceptibilities and RF entry points are determined, hardening techniques may be evaluated to determine the level of protection provided. INSTRUMENTATION: The facility contains sources, RF measurement equipment, and data acquisition instrumentation. Available RF sources include high-power traveling wave tubes (TWTs), solid-state devices, and magnetrons to provide both continuous and short-pulse high-power RF. Horn antennas covering multiple frequency ranges of interest are also available. Survey meters are available for measuring RF inside and outside the chamber along with a variety of power meters and associated probes. High-speed scopes and spectrum analyzers are also available for the measurement and analysis of waveforms. A network analyzer may also be used to carry out circuit measurements.

FUNCTION: Develops and tests novel user interfaces for 3D virtual simulators and first-person shooter games that make user interaction more like natural interaction in the real world. The goal is to design and implement interfaces that give users close to the same ability to move and coordinate actions as they have in the real world. The current emphasis is on developing interfaces to train Marines in tactics, techniques, and procedures for urban combat. DESCRIPTION: The facility supports the development of a range of user interfaces, from high-end body-driven interfaces that fully track the user and present the image through a head-mounted display to device-driven interfaces such as one that customizes the control mapping of a conventional dual joystick game pad to give the user the ability to independently specify direction of viewing and direction of movement. The Immersive Simulation Laboratory (ISL) maintains a distributed simulation system for use as a testbed. It is networked and allows multiple users to interact in the virtual world simultaneously. It was originally developed as part of ONR's VIRTE (Virtual Technologies and Environments) program and is modified in-house as new features are needed. The interface software component is developed in-house and includes a flexible interface that allows for the rapid prototyping of new interface designs. INSTRUMENTATION: Components support the development of new user interfaces that meet the evolving needs of the Navy and Marine Corps. The lab has a variety of motion capture systems, including inertial and passive and active optical; head-mounted displays; large screen displays; input control devices such as game pads and joysticks; graphics and audio rendering computers; and simulation software. ISL also has customized equipment including instrumented Airsoft rifles that register trigger pulls and a custombuilt mechanical centering harness that limits the drift of a standing user wearing a headmounted display.

FUNCTION: Enables scientists to measure the infrared (IR) signature of scale aircraft or ship models in a controlled environment, to test the effectiveness of new signature suppression coatings, and to validate IR signature codes against range imagery. Simulates the IR environment from sea level to 30,000-ft altitudes, and provides viewing angles representative of standard IR threats, versatile control of scale model temperatures and orientations, and a low-cost alternative to IR field testing. DESCRIPTION: The NRL Infrared Range Facility is a unique national user facility that serves the IR signature community. The range is a 14-ft-diameter, temperaturecontrolled, cylindrical enclosure that is treated withhigh-emittance coatings on the inner walls. The enclosure is surrounded by a 20-ft-diameter thermal chamber. Test articles are inserted through the roof of the chamber and can be viewed over a range of elevation angles from -20° to +45°. The test article itself can be rotated through ±180°, tilted through ±45°, and temperaturecontrolled through a variety of heaters and temperatureconditioned fluids. A midwave infrared (MWIR) source is available for semiquantitative solar simulations. The dry air atmosphere within the chamber has a dewpoint of approximately -70 °C and a CO 2 level of below 1 ppm. Low CO 2 levels are needed to minimize absorption in the CO2 absorption doublet near 4.2 μm. The low dewpoints are needed to minimize frost formation on the chamber walls when configured for high-altitude conditions (long-wavelength infrared, LWIR). The chamber walls used to simulate the zenith sky can attain temperatures as low as -110 °C. The sky panels are coated with a new type of flocked black coating with a hemispherical reflectance below 0.2% throughout the IR. Without such a coating, the thermal radiation from the warm Earth panels would reflect from the sky panels and overwhelm the emitted radiation from the sky. INSTRUMENTATION: State-of-the-art focal plane array cameras, low-temperature blackbodies, hemispherical directional reflectometers, and laser-based scatterometers for measuring the bidirectional distribution function.