Scene generation using surface plasmon polaritons
AssigneeTruventic, LLC
InventorPedro N. Figueiredo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An infrared scene generator can generate a second infrared scene representative of a first infrared scene by emitting a beam of electromagnetic radiation onto a plurality of prism-coupled electrically conductive elements that modulate a portion of the beam incident thereon with surface plasmon polaritons based on parameters of the first infrared scene to yield a modulated beam that produces the second infrared scene.
Claims20
A scene generator comprising:
- an infrared emitter that emits a beam of infrared radiation;
- an optical device on which the beam is incident, the optical device including at least one prism and an array of electrically conductive elements, the electrically conductive elements being respectively separated from the at least one prism by an adjustable distance, wherein the optical device modulates an intensity of the beam by selectively exciting dissipative surface plasmon polaritons on the electrically conductive elements and reflects a modulated beam therefrom;
- and
- a controller storing a first infrared scene and program instructions to adjust the distances in such a way that the modulated beam produces a second infrared scene representative of the first infrared scene.
A scene generator comprising:
- a data file including infrared intensity values of pixels of a first infrared scene;
- an infrared emitter that emits a collimated, monochromatic, and linearly-polarized beam of infrared radiation;
- an optical device on which the beam is incident, the optical device including at least one prism and an array of electrically conductive elements, the electrically conductive elements being respectively separated from the at least one prism by individually adjustable distances, wherein the optical device modulates an intensity of the beam by selectively exciting dissipative surface plasmon polaritons on the electrically conductive elements and reflects a modulated beam therefrom;
- and
- a controller storing program instructions operable to adjust the distances in such a way that the modulated beam produces a second infrared scene representative of the first infrared scene, the second infrared scene having two-dimensional spatial components corresponding with locations of the pixels of the first infrared scene, the infrared intensity values of the two-dimensional spatial components being based on the infrared intensity values of the pixels of the first infrared scene.
A method comprising generating a second infrared scene representative of a first infrared scene by emitting a beam of electromagnetic radiation onto a plurality of prism-coupled electrically conductive elements that modulate a portion of the beam incident thereon with surface plasmon polaritons based on parameters of the first infrared scene, yielding a modulated beam that produces the second infrared scene.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.