The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 10, 2023
Filed:
Jan. 19, 2021
Raytheon Company, Waltham, MA (US);
Gerald P. Uyeno, Tucson, AZ (US);
Mark K. Lange, Tucson, AZ (US);
Sean D. Keller, Tucson, AZ (US);
Benn H. Gleason, Tucson, AZ (US);
Zachary D. Barker, Marana, AZ (US);
Craig O. Shott, Benson, AZ (US);
Eric Rogala, Tucson, AZ (US);
Raytheon Company, Waltham, MA (US);
Abstract
Small angle optical beam steering is performed using a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Micro-Mirror Array (MMA) that minimizes diffraction for a specified steering angle, Generally speaking, this is accomplished with a MEMS MMA that exhibits a 'piston' capability to translate individual mirrors in addition to the tip and tilt capabilities. Adjacent mirrors can be tipped/tilted to the specified steering angle and then translated by a requisite amount to approximate a continuous surface. For a specified steering angle, the MEMS MMA is partitioned into one or more sections with each section including the maximum number of mirrors that can be grouped together and actuated to approximate a continuous surface given a maximum translation z. As a result, the only edge discontinuities exist between adjacent sections thereby minimizing distortion for a given steering angle.