Hughes Aircraft Company

Times Fiber Communications, Inc.

United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

Douglas A Pinnow

Richard L Abrams

Anthony L Gentile

Hugh L Garvin

David M Henderson

James F Lotspeich

Arlie G Standlee

Gary E Miller

Arthur J Timper

Ronald R Stephens

An imaging apparatus which permits the use of a transverse electrode electro-optic tunable filter (TEOTF), despite its obscured aperture, to produce a high quality image. The imaging apparatus includes a suitable conventional anamorphic input optical system in combination with a stacked plurality of TEOTFs in which the platelet of each TEOTF is made of an electro-optic material of a known index of refraction (such as CdS of an index of .about.2.4), and is clad between its surface and its electrodes with a material having a lower index of refraction than the platelet material (such as SiO.sub.2 of an index of .about.1.5).

Imaging apparatus for transverse electrode electro-optic tunable filter

An information distribution system is disclosed. The system is composed of hub distribution centers which are connected to a plurality of individual subscribers by fiber optic cable or bidirectional coaxial cable. The system is particularly suitable for CATV distribution but may also be adapted to provide telephone, mail, radio and other services to the subscribers through the same cable connection with the hub distribution center.

Information distribution system

There is disclosed a fiber optic waveguide which is particularly suited for infrared radiation transmission at extended wavelengths. The core of the waveguide is fabricated from heavy ionic compounds selected from metal halides in order to achieve such extended infrared transparency. While it is impossible to prepare these materials into optical fibers using conventional fiber drawing techniques, the present invention teaches how such materials may be prepared into optical fibers using an extrusion process at elevated temperatures and high pressures.

Infrared transmitting fiber optical waveguide extruded from halides of

Plastic clad optical fibers and their method of production are disclosed. The fibers are formed of a core of doped silica and a silicone resin cladding.

Plastic clad optical fibers

A thin film polarizer for dividing electromagnetic energy into two mutually orthogonal components with a high degree of selectivity. A plurality of wire grids having an interelement spacing of less than one wavelength is supported by a substrate of electrically insulative material. The substrate is invisible to the wavelength of the polarized electromagnetic energy. The planar wire grids are substantially parallel and spaced less than one wavelength therebetween to achieve an efficient and compact thin film polarizer. The process of this invention for forming the plurality of wire grids comprises photolithographically defining each grid layer by the interference pattern of at least two coherent beams such as laser beams, one forming step being required for each grid, an anti-reflective layer being inserted between adjacent grid layers.

High selectivity thin film polarizer

Electronically tunable optical filters are disclosed wherein a spatially varying dc electric field is applied to successive regions of a birefringent crystalline medium disposed between a pair of suitably oriented polarizers along the path of a light beam to be filtered. The dc electric field, which may be either parallel or perpendicular to the light path, electro-optically produces in the birefringent medium an effective oscillation of the optic axis of the medium about the pass direction of the input polarizer in a plane perpendicular to the light path as a function of distance along the light path with a predetermined spatial variation to achieve a desired filter transmission characteristic. The electric field is generated from programmable control voltages to provide a wide variety of filter passband or stopband characteristics.

Electro-optic tunable optical filter

There is disclosed a laser instrument which uses an infrared fiber optical waveguide to transmit a high power carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide laser beam for treating a selected part of the body. In one important application of the instrument, the laser beam is transmitted to the interior of the human body to perform surgical functions.

Medical laser instrument for transmitting infrared laser energy to a

There is described a hermetic coaxial cable particularly adapted to be produced in miniature form and having a completely solid cross section with a solid metal central conductor, a tubular metal outer conductor, and a continuous glass dielectric insulator therebetween.

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Pacific Palisades, CA, United States of America

Douglas A Pinnow