Martin Marietta Corporation

Burnham Stokes

Max Amon

A method and apparatus for holding a line of sight in a scanning imaging system wherein there is continuous relative movement between the field of view of the system and an image plane. A descan mechanism temporarily holds a line of sight within a field of regard as a scanning mechanism such as a gimbal continuously moves imaging optics relative to the object space. The descan mechanism descans the image, the descan mechanism's relative movement being opposite to the direction of movement of the gimbal, so as to hold a line of sight for a time period and thereafter snap to a new field of view to thereafter descan the new line of sight for another time period. With the present invention a scanning system can be used with an imaging device requiring time integration for greater sensitivity, such as a staring electronic detector array or photographic film, without necessitating the physical scanning motion to be cyclically stopped and restarted.

Stabilized step/stare scanning device

A three-color optical detector has independent bias and readout for the colors. The three-color detector includes a substrate and first, second, and third detector layers stacked one on top of another and the substrate. Each detector layer is designed to operate at a respective predetermined bias and to absorb incident light having wavelengths in a respective range. A plurality of conductive layers are interleaved among the three detector layers and the substrate in such a way that the respective biasses can be applied to the detector layers and signals generated by the detector layers can be accessed. A two-dimensional array of such three-color optical detectors is also described that is connected to an electronic device, such as a multiplexer, for applying the predetermined biasses and reading out the signals. The electronic device is disposed on a separate substrate and is electrically connected to the detectors on a pixel-by-pixel basis by a set of metallic bump bonds. The separate substrate includes a conducting metallization pattern for electrically connecting to predetermined ones of the conductive layers of the three-color detectors.

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Altamonte Springs, FL, United States of America

Burnham Stokes