Raytheon Company

Hughes Electronics Corporation

Hughes Aircraft Company

Raytheon Canada Limited

Conrad Stenton

Gabor Devenyi

Stephen P Shaffer

Richard Chin

John William Bowron

Margarete Neumann

Alexandre Lifchits

Melvin Francis

Gary Mladjan

Gerard Desroches

Edward Benneyworth

Richrd Henzelt

Lothar Scheld

John Reid

Eric Ao

A light-beam-scanning system includes two counter-rotating prism wheels. Each prism wheel has a set of prisms at its periphery, selected so that prisms of equal half-angle deflections are sequentially aligned. A light transceiver structure directs a light beam parallel to the rotational axes of the prism wheels and at a distance from the rotational axes so that the light beam passes through the aligned prisms. A prism-wheel drive is operable to drive the prism wheels in opposite rotational directions.

Light-beam-scanning system utilizing counter-rotating prism wheels

An optical system with a tilted window. The novel optical system includes a first optical element for receiving an input signal and generating an output signal; a first window adapted to transmit the output signal, the first window being tilted at an angle relative to an axis normal to an optical axis of the system; and a second window adapted to compensate for the first window. In an illustrative embodiment, the first window is an input window of a camera adapted to detect the output signal and is tilted such that reflections from and within the window do not strike detector elements of the camera. In a preferred embodiment, the second window has similar thickness and optical properties as the first window, and is positioned in the optical path of the input signal, tilted at an angle designed to compensate for the first window.

System and method for improving performance of optical systems with tilted windows

A reticle illumination system. The novel system includes a fluid material adapted to absorb incident energy and emit fluorescent light to illuminate a target surface, and a first light source for providing the incident energy to pump the fluid material. In an illustrative embodiment, the target surface is a prism surface upon which a reticle is disposed, and the fluid material is a cement or epoxy doped with a fluorescent dye or a suspension of nanodots. The fluorescent cement is applied to the target surface behind the reticle and has an index of refraction matching that of the prism. The system may also include one or more additional light sources that transmit light into the cement and illuminate the reticle either directly or by pumping the fluorescent cement.

Multiple source reticle illumination

A reticle illumination system. The novel system includes a first light source adapted to output light toward a target surface and a material having a predetermined index of refraction disposed between the first light source and the target surface for coupling light from the first light source to the target surface. In an illustrative embodiment, the material is a glue or epoxy having an index of refraction matching that of the target surface, and the target surface is a prism surface upon which a reticle is disposed. The system also includes a second light source adapted to output light into the material such that the light is reflected and scattered off of an exit end of the fiber, and/or off of scattering centers distributed throughout the material, towards the target surface.

System and method for reticle illumination

An optical sight includes an optical train with a reticle having a reticle substrate, and a reticle relief pattern in the reticle substrate having a relief surface oriented so that the relief surface faces an output end of the optical sight. A layer of a barrier material that is opaque to visible light is deposited upon the relief surface. There is a wavelength-converting material within the reticle relief pattern that converts a non-visible excitation wavelength to visible light. A light source of the non-visible excitation wavelength controllably illuminates the wavelength-converting material. The optical train prevents the non-visible wavelength from propagating out of the input end of the optical train.

Optical sight having obscured reticle illumination

An optical element is fabricated and inspected by forming a spherical-segment surface in a light-transparent blank at a first end thereof with a spherical-segment center on an element axis of the light-transparent blank. A trial parabolic surface is formed in a lateral surface of the light-transparent blank with a trial-surface parabolic focus coincident with the spherical segment center. The trial parabolic surface is inspected by directing a source light beam from a light source through the light-transparent blank parallel to the element axis and against the trial parabolic surface, whereupon a reflected light beam reflects back substantially parallel to the source light beam but oppositely directed to the source light beam. The reflected light beam is optically interfered with the source light beam to produce an interference pattern. The shape of the trial parabolic surface is corrected responsive to observations of the interference pattern to produce a final parabolic surface having a final parabolic focus coincident with the spherical-segment center.

Method of fabricating and inspecting a transparent optical element having a parabolic optical-quality lateral surface

An optical zoom lens mechanism is arranged along an optical axis and produces a zooming effect by a transverse movement of transparent elements perpendicular to the optical axis. A first lens group has two adjacent, rotationally nonsymmetric transparent first optical lens plates that are each rotationally nonsymmetric relative to the optical axis, and a first-group drive is operable to move the first optical lens plates together and relative to each other in a first-movement radial direction relative to the optical axis. A second lens group has two adjacent, rotationally nonsymmetric transparent second optical lens plates that are each rotationally nonsymmetric relative to the optical axis, and a second-group drive is operable to move the second optical lens plates together and relative to each other in a second-movement radial direction relative to the optical axis. The second-movement radial direction is angularly rotated from the first-movement radial direction by a nonzero, preferably about 90 degrees, rotational angle about the optical axis. The first optical lens plates and the second optical lens plates are shaped so that the relative movement of the first optical lens plates and second optical lens plates produces an optical zoom relative to a focal surface. The drives may be driven by a controller, such as a feedback controller having an imaging sensor located at the focal surface, and a microprocessor controller receiving an output of the imaging sensor and having a control output signal set operably connected to the drives.

Orthogonal movement lateral shift zoom lens

An air-gap optical structure is fabricated by depositing a metallic spacer structure on a first transmissive optical element, and then contacting a second transmissive optical element to the spacer structure so that the spacer structure lies between the first transmissive optical element and the second transmissive optical element and defines an air gap therebetween. A first layer of the spacer structure contacts the first transmissive optical element, and a second layer of the spacer structure contacts the first layer. The first layer is preferably deposited by vapor deposition and is relatively thin, and the second layer is preferably electroless deposited and is relatively thick. The total thickness of the spacer structure is typically from about 5 to about 15 micrometers.

Air-gap optical structure having the air gap defined by a layered spacer structure

A number of optical devices are fabricated by forming a pattern of channels on a first side of a substrate to define a plurality of mesas on the first side of the substrate. A thin-film optical structure is deposited onto each of the mesas. An excess thickness of the substrate is removed from each thin-film optical device, preferably by temporarily affixing a temporary support to the tops of each thin-film optical structure, removing an excess amount of the substrate from a second side of the substrate so that the thin-film optical devices are isolated from each other but affixed to the temporary support, and separating the tops of the thin-film optical structures from the temporary support.

Fabrication of thin-film optical devices

A structure ( ) is located relative to a reference surface ( ) using an optical target ( ) affixed to the structure ( ) and having a reflective angular-reference hologram ( ) thereon with an effective angular orientation. An alignment light beam ( ) is directed perpendicular to the reference surface ( ) and incident upon the angular-reference hologram ( ) on the optical target ( ), and a signal return of the alignment light beam ( ) is received at a measurement location. The angular orientation of the structure ( ) is adjusted to achieve a signal return of the alignment light beam ( ) corresponding to an alignment of the alignment light beam ( ) to the effective angular orientation of the reflective angular-reference hologram ( ). Multiple reflective angular-reference holograms ( ) may be spatially superimposed upon each other in the optical target ( ) or spatially separated from each other on the optical target ( ).

Method for locating a structure using holograms

An interferometric testing system for testing an optical system includes an interferometer which outputs a light beam and analyzes the returned light beam, and a multiple plane reference mirror which reflects the light beam corresponding to the image point transmitted by the optical system back through the optical system to thereby generate the interference. According to one aspect of the invention, the multiple plane reference mirror reflects the light beam back along the arrival path of the light beam. According to another aspect of the invention, the multiple plane reference mirror comprises a holographic multiple plane reference mirror. The interferometric testing method is also described.

Multiple plane reference mirror for interferometric testing of optical systems

An interferometric testing system and method employing a multiple-aperture hologram. In an illustrative embodiment, the inventive optical testing system includes an interferometer which outputs a planar light beam and analyzes a reflected selected light beam. A multiple-aperture hologram generates N image points in an image plane of the optical system responsive to the planar light beam. A retro-reflector reflects a selected one of N light beams corresponding to the N image points transmitted by the optical system back through the optical system to generate the selected light beam. According to one aspect of the present invention, the multiple-aperture hologram includes N apertures generating the N image points and one of the N apertures overlaps at least one other of the N apertures. According to another aspect of the invention, the multiple-aperture hologram intersects a plane perpendicular to an axis defined by the centers of the interferometer and the retro-reflector.

Multi-aperture hologram for backwards testing of optical systems

A method and apparatus for testing elliptical mirrors is provided which reduces the length of the test apparatus by half, provides for precise location of the focus of the interferometer beam, and precise measurement of the distance between foci of the elliptical mirror under test. A small reflective sphere (10) with an optical passageway (15) through its center is used to locate the focal point (f.sub.2) of the interferometer (5) within interferometric precision. A plane mirror (30) is placed half way between the focal points of the ellipse (20) under test with one of the elliptical foci coincident with the interferometer focal point (f.sub.2). The elliptical mirror (20) under test is placed with reflective concave surface facing away from the interferometer (5) to receive light reflected from the plane mirror (30). The optical passageway (15) is sized to emit a volume of light to fill the elliptical mirror surface (22) after reflection from the plane mirror (30). The optical passageway (15) is also sized for the sphere (10) to reflect substantially all of the light incident upon it from the ellipse (20).

Compact interferometric test system for ellipses

The present invention provides a lens holder (14) for a lens under test (26) in an in-line hologram interferometric test apparatus (10) which includes a flat reflective surface (34) for rotationally positioning the lens under test (26) and a parabolic reflective surface (32) for translationally positioning the lens under test (26). According to this configuration, the lens holder (14) is translationally positioned using the parabolic reflective surface (32) to reflect radiation to a focal point (24) along the hologram (22). The hologram (22) returns the radiation to the parabolic reflective surface (32) which reflects it back to the interferometer (12) at a precise distance and position using normal interferometric techniques. The lens under test (26) is rotationally positioned by pivoting the lens holder (14), both in tip and in tilt, so that the flat reflective surface (34) is nulled to the interferometer (12). Thereafter, the lens holder (14) is correctly positioned relative to the hologram (22) and interferometer (12) so that when the lens under test (26) is seated on the lens holder (14), its aspherical shape can be tested.

Growing community of inventors

Midland, Canada

Conrad Stenton