Agile optical beam steering system
US4823402A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 21, 1986 |
| Grant date | Apr 18, 1989 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 21, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04B10/11
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A beam deflection system for use in optical radar, communications, or optical display apparatus, having the ability to scan multiple "target" clusters that are widely scattered over a large angular field. In its transmission mode of operation, the system switches a laser beam sequentially across an array of focal elements, moving the beam at high speed, since total beam movement across the array is limited to only a few degrees. The system includes an expansion telescope, which expands the succession of beams from the array of focal elements and directs them onto an array of larger, movable optical elements, such as gimbaled mirrors, which direct the successive beams toward scattered target areas in a large angular field. The system also includes a beam scanning device, for "microscanning" the beam through a number of separately resolvable positions within the field of view of each of the array of focal elements.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.