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:
Oct. 23, 2001
Filed:
Oct. 06, 1999
Michel Papuchon, Villebon S/Yvette, FR;
Denis Rabault, Boulogne Billancourt, FR;
Martin Defour, Croissy S/Seine, FR;
Jean-Paul Pocholle, La Norville, FR;
Thomson-CSF, Paris, FR;
Abstract
A device for harmonizing a laser beam path with an observation path for a target includes a laser that generates a laser beam; a first optical element that directs a first part of the laser beam toward the target along the laser beam path while directing a second part of the laser beam toward a conversion device; and a second optical element that directs a converted beam from the conversion device to a sensor that receives the converted beam and an image from the target. The conversion device includes a photoluminescent material that converts the second part of the laser beam into a converted radiation having a wavelength within a spectral band of the sensor, and an optical assembly that focuses the second part of the laser beam into the photoluminescent material and that collects at least a portion of the converted radiation to form the converted beam. The photoluminescent material can include photoluminescent ions such as erbium ions, or a semiconductor material such as indium arsenide. The photoluminescent material can include two materials, wherein the first material has a photoluminescence lifetime greater than a pulse duration of the pulsed laser beam, and the second material has an emission spectrum of photoluminescence covering at least a portion of a sensitivity spectral band of the sensor. The conversion device can also include a non-linear material that frequency converts the second part of the laser beam into an intermediary radiation having a wavelength shorter than the laser beam, and where the photoluminescent material converts the intermediary radiation into the converted radiation.