Solid state infrared chopper
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorCharles M. Hanson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A chopper is provided of solid state construction. Two layers are provided adjacent one another with the area between the layers defining one or more diffusion zones. One or more voltage potentials may be applied across the second layer to correspond to the diffusion zones. At an initial state the voltage potentials are either zero or some predetermined value which causes the index of refraction of the two layers to be substantially the same. At a second state the voltage potential equals some predetermined value to cause the index of refraction of the second layer to be different from that of the first layer. The difference in index of refraction between the layers creates a diffraction grating in the respective diffusion zone to diffuse that portion of an incident signal passing through the diffusion zone.
Claims23
A chopper for chopping an incident signal, the chopper comprising:
- a first layer of a first material;
- a second layer of a second material, the first layer coupled to the second layer;
- a plurality of first electrodes coupled to the second layer for applying a plurality of corresponding voltage potentials across the second layer to create a plurality of corresponding diffusion zones between the first and second layers.
A method for chopping a signal comprising:
- providing a first layer of a first material;
- coupling a second layer of a second material to the first layer;
- and
- applying a plurality of voltage potentials across the second layer to create a plurality of corresponding diffusion zones between the first and second layers.
An imaging system for receiving a signal, the system comprising:
- a detector having an array of sensors;
- and
- a chopper associated with the detector, the chopper comprising:
- a first layer of a first material;
- a second layer of a second material, the first layer coupled to the second layer;
- a plurality of first electrodes coupled to the second layer for applying a plurality of corresponding voltage potentials across the second layer to create a plurality of corresponding diffusion zones between the first and second layers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.