Method and apparatus for laser beam management
AssigneeLitton Systems, Inc.
InventorsTimothy J. Dodge, Thomas E. Iradi, Divya C. Patel
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Abstract
A method and associated structures are disclosed for locating a laser beam that has a wavelength outside of the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The method comprises positioning a sample of a polycrystalline nonlinear frequency converting compound generally linearly downstream from a laser source, and then detecting the emission from the polycrystalline frequency converting compound to thereby identify the position of the original laser beam. In preferred embodiments, the polycrystalline nonlinear frequency converting compound comprises KTP.
Claims13
A laser beam locator for converting laser light with wavelengths that are outside of the visible spectrum into wavelengths within the visible spectrum, said locator comprising:
- a substrate selected from the group consisting of metals, polymers, glass, and ceramics;
- and
- a solid layer consisting of a polycrystalline nonlinear frequency converting harmonic generation compound on the surface of said substrate, and in which the many crystals are at generally random orientation to one another.
A laser beam locator comprising:
- a substrate selected from the group consisting of metals, polymers, glass, and ceramics;
- and
- a polycrystalline nonlinear frequency converting compound on said substrate, said compound having the formula MTiO(XO.sub.4), and in which the many crystals are at generally random orientation to one another;
- wherein M comprises potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs), or thallium (Tl), or solid solutions thereof;
- and,
- wherein X comprises phosphorous (P), arsenic (As), or solid solutions of phosphorus and arsenic.
A method of locating a laser beam that has a wavelength outside of the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, the method comprising:
- positioning a sample of a polycrystalline nonlinear frequency converting compound generally linearly downstream from a laser source, said polycrystalline nonlinear frequency converting compound having the formula MTiO(XO.sub.4), and in which the many crystals are at generally random orientation to one another;
- wherein M comprises potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs), or thallium (Tl), or solid solutions thereof, and;
- wherein X comprises phosphorous (P), arsenic (As), or solid solutions of phosphorus and arsenic;
- and
- detecting the emission from the polycrystalline frequency converting compound to thereby identify the position of the original laser beam.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.