The Boeing Company

Rockwell International Corporation

Frederick R Vachss

Robert Alan Smith

Mohsen Khoshnevisan

William H Southwell

John H Hong

Mark D Ewbank

Joseph Malus

A tunable laser source has a first laser source to generate a low power continuous wave laser light having a wavelength &#x3bb;. A second laser source generates a low power continuous wave laser light having a wavelength &#x3bb;. A pump laser source generates a high power pulsed laser light having a wavelength &#x3bb;. A first optical parametric amplifier (OPA) receives the laser light having a wavelength &#x3bb;and the laser light having a wavelength &#x3bb;and generates a high power pulsed laser light having a wavelength &#x3bb;. A second optical parametric amplifier (OPA) receives the laser light having a wavelength &#x3bb;and the laser light having a wavelength &#x3bb;to and generates a high power pulsed laser light having a wavelength &#x3bb;. A difference frequency generator (DFG), receives the high power pulsed laser light having a wavelength &#x3bb;and the high power pulsed laser light having a wavelength &#x3bb;and provides a high power pulsed laser light having a wavelength &#x3bb;wherein &#x3bb;/(&#x3bb;).

Tunable narrow linewidth laser source

A target gas sensing system includes a single source at a first location for generating two light beams having first and second frequencies wherein the difference between the first and second frequencies is the Raman frequency of the target gas. A difference frequency generator outputs the two light beams having the first frequency, the second frequency, and a third light beam having a third frequency that is the difference between the first and second frequencies. The first, second, and third light beams are directed toward the target gas. An input optic directs light from the third light beam, after interacting with the target gas, to a receiver for absorption spectroscopy processing, directs a fourth light beam from the target gas to a receiver for coherent anti-Stokes Raman processing, wherein the fourth light beam has a frequency of twice the first frequency minus the second frequency.

Cars/absorption dual mode electro-optic sensor

A multiple path light source has a first and second laser source that generate low power continuous wave laser beam at wavelength &#x3bb;1 and &#x3bb;2 respectively. A pump laser source generates a high power pulsed narrow linewidth laser beam at wavelength &#x3bb;0. A first pair of DFGs convert the low power continuous laser beams at &#x3bb;1 and &#x3bb;2 to high peak power pulsed laser beams at wavelengths &#x3bb;1 and &#x3bb;2, and generate pulsed laser beams at wavelength &#x3bb;1=&#x3bb;1*&#x3bb;0/(&#x3bb;1&#x2212;&#x3bb;0) and &#x3bb;2=&#x3bb;2*&#x3bb;0/(&#x3bb;2&#x2212;&#x3bb;0). A second pair of DFGs receives the high peak power pulsed laser beams at &#x3bb;1 and &#x3bb;2 and the pulsed laser beams at &#x3bb;1and &#x3bb;2and generates laser beams at wavelength &#x3bb;3=&#x3bb;1*&#x3bb;2/(&#x3bb;2&#x2212;&#x3bb;1) and &#x3bb;3=&#x3bb;1*&#x3bb;2/(&#x3bb;2&#x2212;&#x3bb;1). A beam splitter combines the high power pulsed laser beam at wavelength &#x3bb;3 with the high power pulsed laser beam at wavelength &#x3bb;3to form a single laser light.

Multiple path infrared energy source

An automotive rear view mirror system comprises passive optical elements (which may include lenses, but must include one or an odd number of mirrors) configured to provide a wide field of view with a negative optical element having a small width dimension mounted externally and close to the body of the vehicle. In a basic embodiment, a small negative optical element, such as a convex mirror, is mounted outside the vehicle, and a larger positive optical element, such as a convex lens, is placed inside the vehicle. The optical elements are positioned to be substantially confocal, with the distance between them equal to the difference in their focal lengths, so as to cancel the curvature of field generated by the external element. The internal element magnifies the image to a size comparable to that obtained with a standard external flat mirror. Alternative embodiments that are optically equivalent may incorporate a more compact 'folding' of the optical path by using at least one additional mirror placed between the external and internal optical elements, thus allowing the elements to be configured more compactly and placed out of the driver's way in the passenger compartment. Because the system does not require a large side-mounted outside mirror as is commonly used on present-day vehicles, the external element may be integrated into the body line of the vehicle to improve aerodynamics, styling, and safety.

Automotive rear view mirror system

An optical device is provided for detecting the degree of obscuring moisture or precipitation on the windshield of an automotive vehicle. A source of light, such as a light emitting diode (LED) or a laser diode, is positioned to illuminate the windshield. An optical imager and detector array senses light emitted by the source, either transmitted or reflected by the windshield, and imaged on the array. The light source and detector may be positioned in convenient, out-of-the-way locations inside or outside the windshield. When the windshield is free of obscuring precipitation, light from the source is imaged on a sensor of the array aligned with the optical axis of the imager. When obscuring moisture or precipitation is present on the windshield, light is scattered such that significant portions are imaged on sensors off the optical axis of the imager. The amount and spatial distribution of light received off the optical axis provides an indication of the degree of obscuration caused by light scattering moisture or precipitation present on the windshield. The detector is connected to the windshield wiper system of the vehicle to control activation of the wiper based on the optical detection of obscuring moisture or precipitation on the windshield.

Optical detector for windshield wiper control

A photorefractive device is provided for converting an image-bearing incoherent input beam to a high contrast coherent output beam the intensity of which varies as the square of the input intensity pattern. The device uses an incoherent image beam to write a holographic grating directly in a photorefractive medium. In one embodiment, a parallel, laterally displaced, telecentric system of lenses is used to split a quasi-monochromatic, incoherent image-bearing beam into two equal components. The two components are superimposed at the surface of the photorefractive medium to produce the hologram. In a second embodiment, the incoherent input beam is directed through a physically translating external grating to write the hologram in the photorefractive medium. The moving grating improves the diffraction efficiency of the hologram under the influence of an applied electric field and stabilizes the temporal response characteristics for signal processing. In both embodiments, the photorefractive medium is exposed to a coherent beam that picks up the image from the hologram and produces a coherent output beam having a high contrast replica of the input image.

Growing community of inventors

Thousand Oaks, CA, United States of America

Frederick R Vachss