Optical power limiter utilizing nonlinear refraction

US5986828A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army · US

Inventors

• Gary L. Wood · Rural Hall, US
• Edward J. Sharp · Fort Washington, US
• Richard R. Shurtz, II · Fairfax, US
• Mary Jayne Miller · Kettering, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Nov 1, 1988
• Grant date: Nov 16, 1999
• Expiry date: Nov 1, 2008

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G02F1/3511
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A power limiter is provided consisting of two cells of optically transparent material having a low index of refraction, but a large third order susceptibility to electric polarization. The input cell has a positive susceptibility which self-focuses intense radiation beams (i.e., laser beams) and the output cell has a negative susceptibility which scatters the even more intense self-focused beam by self-defocussing.