P.N. Kumta, M. Criado, J. Ohodnicki, A. Roy, N. Joy
University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Keywords:
There is a critical need for advanced materials ranging from metals, semiconductors, magnetics, and refractory dielectrics for varied applications comprising bioresorbable scaffolds and implants for hard and soft tissue engineering, stem cell plasticity, and organoid engineering, advanced electronics and optics, magnetics, sensors and actuators, transportation and construction, aerospace, navy, and military applications. Economic manufacturing of advanced materials with performance metrics meeting the required application specific needs is vital for the U.S. national security, maintaining U.S. leadership in manufacturing, and job creation. Many of these advanced semiconductors processed on earth suffer from gravity-induced limitations affecting purity, homogeneity, microstructure, and defects in the processed materials, adversely affecting the performance metrics. Despite significant research in science and technology of materials, processing and manufacturing on earth, the performance metrics of these advanced materials have reached a ceiling. Microgravity, however, offers tremendous opportunities for overcoming these limitations and opens new avenues for economic manufacturing complemented by artificial intelligence and machine learning generating high-quality advanced semiconductors meeting and exceeding the performance limits on earth. Endless prospects also exist for developing new business, marketing and distribution model strategies. This presentation will outline the unique prospects offered by in-space manufacturing of advanced materials.