Micro-electro-mechanical system (mems) micro-mirror array steered laser transmitter and situational awareness sensor with wavelegth conversion
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorsBenn H. Gleason, Gerald P. Uyeno, Sean D. Keller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A steerable laser transmitter and active situational awareness sensor that achieves SWaP-C, steering rate and spectral diversity improvements by scanning a beam with a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Micro-Minor Array (MMA). One or more sections of non-linear material (NLM) positioned in the optical path (e.g. as annular sections around a conic mirror or as reflective optical coatings on the MMA) are used to convert the wavelength of the beam to a different wavelength while preserving the steering of the beam. The MEMS MMA may include piston actuation of the mirrors to shape the spot-beam.
Claims21
A laser device, comprising:
- a laser configured to generate a beam of optical radiation at an input wavelength;
- a fixed mirror having a first conic section oriented along an optical axis;
- a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Micro-Mirror Array (MMA) positioned to receive the beam, said MEMS MMA comprising a plurality of mirrors responsive to command signals to at least tip and tilt in two degrees-of-freedom (2 DOF) to cause the optical radiation to be focused into a spot-beam on the first conic section of the fixed mirror and to re-direct and steer the spot-beam in two-dimensions about the optical axis on the first conic section of the fixed mirror to scan a field-of-regard (FOR) around the optical axis;
- and
- a first optical non-linear material (NLM) in an optical path of the spot-beam to convert the input wavelength to a different first output wavelength while preserving the steering of the spot-beam over the FOR.
A laser device, comprising:
- a laser configured to generate a beam of optical radiation at an input wavelength;
- and
- a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Micro-Mirror Array (MMA) positioned to receive the beam, said MEMS MMA comprising a plurality of mirrors which have reflective coatings formed of at least a first optical non-linear material (NLM) to convert the input wavelength to a different first output wavelength, said mirrors responsive to command signals to at least tip and tilt in two degrees-of-freedom (2 DOF) to steer the spot-beam in two-dimensions to scan a field-of-regard (FOR).
A laser device, comprising:
- a laser configured to generate a beam of optical radiation at an input wavelength;
- a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Micro-Mirror Array (MMA) positioned to receive the beam, said MEMS MMA comprising a plurality of mirrors responsive to command signals to at least tip, tilt and piston in three degrees-of-freedom (3 DOF) to shape the wavefront of the beam and steer the beam in two-dimensions to scan a field-of-regard (FOR);
- and
- a first optical non-linear material (NLM) in an optical path of the beam to convert the input wavelength to a different first output wavelength while preserving the steering of the beam over the FOR.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.