Executive SummaryThe goal of this year's collegiate rocket competition was to design and successfully launch a one-stage, high-powered rocket that, during its ascent, would transmit live video from a downward looking camera to a ground based receiver. In order to be considered a successful launch, the rocket was to attain an altitude near 3000 feet, electronically deploy a recovery parachute attached to all parts of the rocket, succeed in transmitting live video throughout the ascent, and safely land in a flyable condition.To achieve these requirements, the UWL Physics Rocket Team used OpenRocket to sketch a design that best fit the specifications of the competition. After it was discovered that programs such as OpenRocket are capable of doing the brunt of the theoretical work, it was decided that the majority of the essential components of our rocket would be hand built to increase the feeling of personal accomplishment. The design of our rocket utilizes a dual deployment recovery system, with the bottom section housing a custom made motor mount, the middle section housing the electronics for recording flight data, and the top-most section housing the equipment for the recording and transmitting of live video. Design FeaturesRocket design. The design of the rocket began with meeting the requirement of lifting a payload to 3000 ft (915 m) simply and efficiently. After researching the basic elements of rocket design and construction, a single minimum diameter, dual deployment type was selected. Upon receiving the list of motors available and reviewing initial flight simulations, we found that the J357 38mm motor was best suited to reaching the target altitude. Based on the size of the video system components, a 98mm (4in) diameter blue tube airframe was chosen. The rocket design consists of four sections, the nosecone and payload bay, the main recovery bay, the flight electronics bay and the booster with drogue chute.The nosecone is an ogive shape and is fastened to the airframe with removable plastic rivets. The video system is housed just below the nosecone on a removable sled constructed from 3/16 inch plywood and 1/2 inch plywood bulkheads. The payload bay uses as little metal as possible, to keep inference with the transmission antenna at a minimum. The rear bulkhead of the sled holds an eye-bolt serving as the forward attachment point of the main parachute recovery harness. The payload sled is held inside the airframe between the nosecone and a glued in blue tube coupler.Continuing downward, the main recovery bay holds the main parachute, a Top Flight Recovery 60 in. Crossfire nylon parachute and a 9 meter 1 in. tubular nylon recovery harness. The aft attachment point for the harness is the electronics bay. The e-bay is built from a blue tube coupler and two 1/2 inch plywood bulkheads connected with 1/4 inch threaded rods. A sled for the altimeter, battery, arming switches and flight data recorder is attached to the rods. The e-bay serves as the central structure of the rocket and all components are tethere...

Abstract:We report on a novel detection scheme that uses semiconductor quantum dots and electrical resonance to detect single photons of light. Here, a quantum-dot, optically gated field-effect transistor (QDOGFET) is used as the resistive element of a resonant RLC (resistor-inductor-capacitor) circuit. A photon is detected when it photocharges a quantum dot, thus modifying the resistance of the QDOGFET and altering the resonance condition of the surrounding circuit. Because the circuit functions as a bandpass filter, rejecting much of the electrical noise that can obscure weak photo-induced signals, the RLC detection scheme is sensitive enough to detect individual photons of light. IntroductionThe ability to detect single photons of light is fundamental to quantum information science and technology, is extremely useful for astronomical measurements, and may also lead to enhanced deep-space communication systems. In addition to being crucial measurement tools for experiments in quantum optics (Di Giuseppe et al., 2003;Waks et al., 2004;Achilles et al., 2006;, single-photon detectors (SPDs) are needed for quantum communication systems based on quantum-key distribution (Brassard et al., 2000;Hiskett et al., 2006) and form the basis for certain strategies for quantum computing (Knill et al., 2001). In addition, arrays of SPDs are being developed to capture the faint images produced by telescopes (Romani et al., 1999), and they may also find use in the receivers of advanced laserbased (so called 'lasercom') systems that can transmit information at high speeds over interplanetary distances (Boroson et al., 2004;Mendenhall et al., 2007;Hemmati et al., 2007). For all of these applications, desired detector characteristics include high detection rates, low dark counts, high detection efficiency, low timing jitter, and photon-number resolving capability. In addition, SPDs should be compact, exhibit low power consumption, and be tolerant to changes in temperature and other environmental conditions.