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AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
InventorsWilliam C. Pittman, Richard G. Westrich, Huey F. Anderson
Estimating the term…
The polarization-resolving infrared imager employs the configurations of either first-generation (60 horizontal rows by 1 vertical column of detector elements (pixels)) or second-generation (at least 240 horizontal rows by 4 vertical columns of detector elements (pixels)) infrared imaging detector devices and polarization filters that work in conjunction with the infrared imaging detector devices to separate incoming infrared radiation into portions each having a different polarization orientation. Such polarization separation enables the production of visible images in which various aspects of the scene are differentiated. In the preferred embodiment using the second-generation infrared imaging detector device, polarization-filtering grids are integrated onto the detector. The detector elements in three of the four columns have coupled thereto polarization filtering elements to filter, respectively, horizontal, vertical and 45-degree polarizations of the incoming infrared radiation. Using a scan mirror of sufficient sweep in conjunction with the detector device and the polarization-filtering grid results in one frame of the scene with horizontal polarization, one frame with vertical polarization, one frame with 45-degree polarization and a frame with no polarization distinction, all with one sweep of the scan mirror in real-time scenario. This provides nearly simultaneous infrared scenes at different polarizations from a single cycle of the scan mirror.
In a system for detecting and processing incoming infrared radiation to output visible images therefrom, the system having an optical assembly for gathering and focussing the infrared radiation incident thereon, a tiltable scan mirror having a pre-set scan pattern and a means for directing the infrared radiation in a pre-determined direction, AN IMPROVEMENT for separating the different polarizations of the incoming infrared radiation descriptive of a pre-selected scene so that various aspects of the pre-selected scene can be differentiated, said IMPROVEMENT comprising:
A polarization-resolving infrared imager for detecting and processing infrared radiation to output visible images that have polarization differentiation, said imager comprising:
In a system for detecting and processing infrared radiation, the system having an optical assembly for gathering and focussing infrared radiation incident thereon and a means for directing the infrared radiation in a pre-determined direction, AN IMPROVEMENT for obtaining three different polarizations of a pre-selected scene on a real-time basis, said IMPROVEMENT comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.