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US 12,399,346 B2Granted
Optical device with thermally conductive fingers and related method
AssigneesUniversity of Central Florida Research Foundation, Inc., USA as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsChandraika Sugrim, Aravinda Kar
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An optical device may include an optical body having first and second opposing sides, and passageways extending between the first and second opposing sides. The optical device includes a mirror layer carried by the optical body adjacent the second opposing side, thermally conductive fingers extending in the passageways, and a heatsink carried by the optical body adjacent the first opposing side and coupled to the thermally conductive fingers.
Claims18
An optical device comprising:
- an optical body having
- first and second opposing sides,
- a plurality of passageways extending between the first and second opposing sides, and
- a peripheral flange at the second opposing side defining a recess therein, the optical body comprising contiguous and integral glass material;
- a plurality of optical layers carried by the optical body entirely within the recess, the plurality of optical layers comprising
- a mirror layer, and
- an uppermost cover layer over the mirror layer, and aligned with and to be flush with uppermost portions of the peripheral flange;
- a plurality of thermally conductive fingers extending in the plurality of passageways;
- a thermistor abutting the plurality of optical layers and being within the optical body;
- a heatsink carried by the optical body adjacent the first opposing side and coupled to the plurality of thermally conductive fingers;
- an active cooling device carried by the heatsink;
- and
- a controller coupled to the thermistor and the active cooling device, the controller configured to
- sense a temperature of the mirror layer, and
- activate the active cooling device when the temperature of the mirror layer exceeds a threshold value.
12 more elements
A method for making an optical device comprising:
- using additive manufacturing with a glass material to form an optical body having
- first and second opposing sides,
- a plurality of passageways extending between the first and second opposing sides, and
- a peripheral flange at the second opposing side defining a recess therein, the optical body comprising contiguous and integral glass material;
- forming a plurality of optical layers carried by the optical body entirely within the recess, the plurality of optical layers comprising
- a mirror layer, and
- an uppermost cover layer over the mirror layer, and aligned with and to be flush with uppermost portions of the peripheral flange;
- forming a plurality of thermally conductive fingers extending in the plurality of passageways;
- coupling a thermistor to abut the plurality of optical layers and being within the optical body;
- coupling a heatsink to be carried by the optical body adjacent the first opposing side and to the plurality of thermally conductive fingers
- coupling an active cooling device to be carried by the heatsink;
- and
- coupling a controller to the thermistor and the active cooling device, the controller configured to
- sense a temperature of the mirror layer, and
- activate the active cooling device when the temperature of the mirror layer exceeds a threshold value.
12 more elements
A smart optical device comprising:
- an optical body having
- first and second opposing sides,
- a plurality of passageways extending between the first and second opposing sides, and
- a peripheral flange at the second opposing side defining a recess therein, the optical body comprising contiguous and integral glass material;
- a plurality of optical layers carried by the optical body entirely within the recess, the plurality of optical layers comprising
- a mirror layer, and
- an uppermost cover layer over the mirror layer, and aligned with and to be flush with uppermost portions of the peripheral flange;
- a plurality of thermally conductive fingers extending in the plurality of passageways;
- a thermistor abutting the plurality of optical layers and being within the optical body;
- a heatsink carried by the optical body adjacent the first opposing side and coupled to the plurality of thermally conductive fingers;
- a photodiode within the optical body and configured to sense fluence throughput;
- an active cooling device carried by the heatsink;
- and
- a controller coupled to the thermistor and the active cooling device, the controller configured to
- continuously sense a temperature of the mirror layer, and
- activate the active cooling device when the temperature of the mirror layer exceeds a threshold value.
13 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.