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US 3,939,706 AGranted
High energy sensor
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorGeorge T. Pinson
Life of this patent
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AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorGeorge T. Pinson
Estimating the term…
A high energy sensor, particularly adapted for use in analyzing a high power laser beam, which preferably utilizes the change in resistance of a thin-film element as a function of temperature to determine the energy of the beam per unit of area. The sensor itself comprises a top platinum resistor element separated from a botton platinum resistor element by a thermal resistor formed of insulating material. On top of the upper resistor is an electrical insulator, and above this insulator is a platinum reflector protected by a dielectric coating, the reflector being utilized to reflect the major portion of incident wave energy. The assembly is carried on a cooled beryllium oxide substrate or the like in contact with the bottom resistor. A plurality of such sensors can be arranged in an array, and each individual sensor interrogated in sequence to determine the energy distribution of the laser beam. Alternatively, instead of utilizing thin-film resistors on opposite sides of a thermal resistor, it is also possible to utilize two thermoelectric elements (e.g., thermocouples) with the same overall effect.
An electromagnetic wave energy sensor comprising a substrate of electrical insulating material, a first thermally sensitive electrical element carried on said substrate, a layer of electrically insulating thermally resistive material covering said first electrical element, a second thermally sensitive electrical element deposited on said thermally resistive material on the side thereof opposite said first electrical element, dielectric material covering said second electrical element and adapted to become heated by wave energy incident on the sensor, a layer of metallic reflective material deposited on said dielectric material for absorbing a fixed percentage of incident wave energy, the sensor being positioned with respect to incident wave energy so that said reflective material will reflect the major portion of the incident wave energy, and electrical circuit means coupled to the respective electrical elements for determining the energy per unit of area impinged on said sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.