USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Paul S Lebow

Thomas G Giallorenzi

Keith A Snail

Abbie T Watnik

An apparatus for illuminating or masking an object and a method of using same. The apparatus includes a spatial light modulator transmitting, a structured pulsed laser beam from a pupil plane to at least one image plane in a field of view. The apparatus further includes a lidar detector receiving reflected laser beam reflected from the at least one image plane. For example, the lidar detector detects range, position, and/or time data for at least one object of interest or at least one object of disinterest. Using the detected data, the spatial light modulator illuminates object of interest or masks an object of disinterest, depending on a user's application.

Real-time processing and adaptable illumination lidar camera using a spatial light modulator

A method and system are described for illuminating a target with a laser source with a wide-area illuminating beam. A conjugator can receive a reflected, imprinted wavefront from the target that is imprinted with effects from beam distortions and obstructions between the laser source and the target. The conjugator can then generate a hologram. A directed laser beam can then be generated to the target by reading the generated hologram with a second reference beam creating a time-reversed wavefront that can be generated with high gain. The time-reversed wavefront can retrace the path that originated from the laser source to the target, and can reverse the effects of beam distortions and obstructions. Finally, an enhanced return can be received from the target with a receiver, and a time-gating switch can be utilized that selectively selects a particular range of return wavefronts that include wavefronts that reached the target.

Time-gated image reconstruction using phase conjugation

A lighting apparatus is presented, having a Lambertian or quasi-Lambertian light source with an emitter side, as well as a reflector structure having an output side and a reflective surface with a concave parabolic contour that reflects light from the emitter side of the light source to provide Lambertian or quasi-Lambertian output light from the output side.

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Annapolis, MD, United States of America

Paul S Lebow